Département d'Anglais

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Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill: An Analysis of their Feminist Views
(Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou, 2006) SEDDIKI, Hafida
In this dissertation, I suggest to research the feminist themes in two of the most important essays in British literature : Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and John Stuart Mill's On the Subjection of Women. Nevertheless, before analyzing their essays, I have shed light on the main important factors that awakened women's consciousness; the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers, the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. History showed us that the factors mentioned above influenced greatly women, motivated them to question their Status, and therefore, to ask for their rights. Under these circumstances, Mary Wollstonecraft sprang out in order to defend women's rights. She wrote her pamphlet entitled A Vindication of the Rights of Women, where her ideas were fully expressed. Wollstonecraft's Vindication has long been recognized as a central text in late eighteenth century British or even Anglo-American feminism. It offers a powerful critique of women's education and the assumptions surrounding marriage and family life. Moreover, even more important are the complex discussions of gender difference and its elaboration of the ways in which construction of feminity, both at an ideological level and in terms of conduct of everyday life, serve the interests of male desire. Her work is significant also because of possibilities Of change in gender order and a transformation of the sexual hierarchy is both desirable and possible, which serves to differentiate feminism from a mere concern within the woman question. John Stuart Mill was another advocator of women's rights; he wrote an essay entitled On the Subjection of Women. Mill asserted that women needed a larger ethical framework to change laws that denied their rights, because they were deeply imbedded in contemporary ethical beliefs pertaining to marriage and family life. Therefore, during the nineteenth century, feminists aimed to change the laws pertaining to women including married women's property rights, access to divorce, and child custody. In addition to this, Mill claimed that women's suffrage is an essential step toward the moral improvement of humankind. The essay written by John Stuart Mill was considered as the best for women's demands. Mill described the status of women in Britain as being marginalized. He argued that the legal, political and cultural limitations on women were part ofbygone era characterized by command and obedience. Therefore, women, he argued, have the right to be educated as men and work hand in hand with men in order to contribute in the evolution of society. It follows from what is mentioned above that both Wollstonecraft and Mill were appealing for the equality of the sexes. Thanks to their ideas, great reforms had been achieved in different fields: education, politics and the laws relating to marriage.
War, Peace and Knowledge in William Shakespeare’s Drama
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi Ouzou, 2009) BEN MANSOUR, Salima
This dissertation deals with three representative plays by William Shakespeare with reference to the themes of war, peace, love and knowledge. The three plays are Henry VI, Coriolanus, and The Tempest, written respectively in 1594, 1607 and in 1611. One of the arguments developed in the dissertation is that Shakespeare’s position concerning these themes was determined to a large extent by the intellectual and socio-political contexts in which they were produced. For example, the analysis shows that Henry VI was produced at a time of political turmoil and fear of political instability due to intrigue both at home and abroad, and that Shakespeare observed an ambiguous position towards war and peace. He praised the ideal of peace, he put more emphasis on the danger of war which can lead the country back to the chaos of the War of the Roses. War remained in the background, but it did not disappear completely as Elizabeth I and Henry VI were depicted as royals in love with knowledge. In Coriolanus, Shakespeare did not fail to poke fun at the war mongers. The times changed with the ascension to power by King James known for his pacifism. As he moved to the writing of The Tempest, Shakespeare depicted the Renaissance man par excellence in the shape of Prospero. The latter introduced revolutionary ideals in the practice of politics. Prospero was regarded as the best representative of this Renaissance man also who linked up the practice of politics with that of ethics. Knowledge became the best means to impose power and ensure political stability. The study is carried from the new-historicist perspective since it pays attention to the political and intellectual contexts of their production and consumption.
Family and Anti- Family in Selected Novels by Thomas Hardy
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2009) BENSAFI, Fatiha
This dissertation is an attempt to examine Thomas Hardy’s Marxist ideas in tackling family issues. It implies that the author did not stand apart from the new thoughts brought by socialist philosophers, and venture to say that he was their mouthpiece. Hardy’s questioning of the bourgeois family and the heralding of the Marxist views such as Engels’ in the Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, are conveyed by portraying families completely different from the Victorian cliché. Hardy’s portrayal suggests his divergence from the views of that time. He seems against the idealisation of the family which he depicts as an economic institution governed by the patriarchal –capitalist ideology and man’s dominance. I have tried to make it explicit that Hardy’s criticism of the capitalist system and the Bourgois family has known a gradual development. I have suggested that it is through the Mayor of Casterbridge , Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure that one can trace the ways Hardy both scrutinizes and questions the Victorian family within a capitalist ideology by examining family kinship and human relationship. In addition, conjugal problems and family burden are two major elements tackled in the novels stated above. The analysis of the Mayor of Casterbridge is an attempt to show the author’s anxiety about the system which gives the husband the absolute right to sell his wife and daughter. In the study of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, I have tried to render the author’s overt protest against capitalism and patriarchy by which the lower class is exploited by the bourgeoisie and children by their parents. The analysis of Jude the Obscure is devoted to the examination of Hardy’s overt attack on the marital laws and his seemingly advocation of free cohabitation and the abolition of the family. Yet Hardy’s confusing attitude can be grasped in the three analysed novels. In the Mayor of Castrebrigde, the author presents the most striking scene in the Victorian literature; the wife Sale scene. It is thanks to this that one can notice his hostility towards the patriarchal system. Nevertheless the end of the novel reveals Hardy’s enculturation of the same Victorian values. Indeed Farfrea’s marriage with Elisabeth –Jane is a genuine picture of a bourgeois marriage. In Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the author portrays Tess as a fallen woman who deserves punishment, and in Jude the Obscure, though at the beginning, he exposes liberal ideas concerning women and family, at the end, the author reproduces the same Victorian ethics which he has criticised earlier. This is due to the weight of the rigid values which the novelist cannot transcend easily.
Analysis of Interlanguage in Algerian Brevet Papers in English: A Case Study of Learners in Tizi-Ouzou
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2009) ISSELNANE, KARIMA;
This research is meant as a step in trying to understand how Algerian EFL learners construct interlanguage, which can be defined as a linguistic bridge between the learners’ first language and the language they are learning. It aims at determining the types of errors that are most recurrent, and their origins. Moreover, the purpose of the study is to classify and then analyse the types of writing errors that Algerian middle school pupils still make after the implementation of the third school reform undertaken in 2003. This work strives to contribute to understanding the sources of errors that are involved in the mental processes of EFL learners with Kabyle or Arabic L1s. 200 middle school pupils have participated in this study. After four years of English learning in the middle school, their level is supposed to be pre-intermediate. To conduct our research, we have sought our data from interviews written by Algerian middle school pupils during the first Brevet Exam held in 2007. The 655 total errors analysed in this study are divided into two main categories: interlingual errors and intralingual errors. Interlingual errors include spelling, auxiliaries, articles, pronouns, lexical and semantic errors, prepositions, and adjectives. Intralingual errors include wrong verb form, nouns, state verb concord, and subject-verb agreement. It is assumed that the causes of these errors are the result of the following: Interference from Kabyle or Arabic, interference from French, overgeneralisation, simplification, wrong hypothesis making, pupils’ inadequate knowledge regarding certain structures, the complexity of the English language, insufficient practice of grammatical rules, and the overwhelming pressure of the exam. The findings of this study indicate that first language interference still plays an important role in the learning process, since a major proportion of the errors are due to mother tongue interference. Furthermore, it reveals that the most important errors still made are those related to spelling, use of different auxiliaries and modal verbs, and wrong verb form. Suggestions are provided as to how to eliminate these errors in the second chapter.
A Genre Analysis Study of Algerian Magister Dissertations in Linguistics and Didactics: The Case of English Department of the University of Algiers
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou, 2009) Amara, Farida
The investigation of generic discourse in academic writing is gaining a sweeping interest among genre analysts. However, research into post-graduate writing as a genre is still in its infancy. This study is an attempt to analyse the genre of Magister dissertations produced by Algerian post-graduates in Linguistics and Didactics at the University of Algiers. The analysis is meant to investigate the schematic structures of three part-genres: Introductions, Abstracts and Acknowledgements and compare them to what was reported in similar genre studies. To reach this aim, I employed, as starting theoretical frameworks, Samraj’s (2008) 3-move CARS model developed for Master’s theses introductions, Samraj’s (2002) move structure of Abstracts and Hyland and Tse’s (2004) move pattern of Acknowledgments. It was found that the introductions do not share a common rhetorical structure and only half the texts supported Samraj (2008) framework. Furthermore, Move 2 and 3 were more commonly found than move 1 and new steps were identified in the first and the third move. The corpus of abstracts displayed a rhetorical structure similar to that proposed by Samraj (2002) although an additional move was identified. The acknowledgments’ move pattern, in turn, was quite different from Hyland and Tse’s model (2004). In fact, almost all the acknowledgements were framed around a unique thanking move instead of three moves. Overall, some shared shaping forces are behind the students’ rhetorical practices such as: the discourse community in which the genre occurs, the nature of the DIs’ discipline and lack of formal instruction in dissertation writing. Therefore, post-graduate students of the English Department of Algiers need an explicit learning of the dissertation genre in order to raise their awareness of the genre characterising features and help them make informed writing choices.
Harold Pinter, Edward Albee and LeRoi Jones: Their Ideas of the Absurd
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou, 2009-03) Abdelli Fatima
This present research paper has explored the Theatre of the Absurd in two communities as represented by three dramatists, Harold Pinter from England and Edward Albee and LeRoi Jones from the United States of America. What is sought is the analysis of the absurdist aspects of their plays and their worlds. My dissertation fell into four-chapters. In the first chapter, I have singled out the principal aspects of the philosophy of the Absurd and the Theatre of the Absurd. The emphasis was put on the aspects that are applicable on the plays under study: Pinter‟s The Caretaker, Albee‟s The Zoo Story and Jones‟s Dutchman. In the second chapter, I have focused in particular on the study of the main themes, characters, as well as language in Pinter‟s The Caretaker. His message, which consists in showing the absurdity of his characters‟ existence, is transmitted through different techniques. I have followed the same method in the third chapter, where I have studied Albee‟s The Zoo Story. Albee‟s aim is to convince people that our indifference and alienation results in the fact that our behaviour is analogous to that of animals inside a zoo. The last chapter of this simple work is devoted to the analysis of Jones‟s Dutchman. The latter exposes the absurd behaviour and revolt of a black American in front of his oppressor. His confrontation to his condition results in his death. Consequently, the main character represents any oppressed man on earth, and so his death is a sacrifice meant to motivate his fellowmen. The four chapters are followed by a general conclusion that summarizes the universal or international aspects of the philosophy and the Theatre of the Absurd explored in the three plays. I concluded by saying that although Pinter, Albee, and Baraka represent two or three different communities, their works show similar situations of real characters who behave in an absurd way. Finally, I closed by saying that the three dramatists share universal themes and characters in their drama, and that these characters are just samples that can exist in any society in the world.
Teaching Reading Strategies and Skills in the Algerian Middle School: The Case of Tizi-Ouzou
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou Faculty of Letters and Humanities, 2009-05) AMMOUR, Kamila
This dissertation addresses the issue of reading strategies instruction in the Algerian Middle School in the light of the ‘Interactive Approach’ to reading. It examines the middle school syllabuses, the reading activities suggested in the textbooks together with the teachers’ reading instruction practices, using analytic categories from formal research. Specifically, it seeks to determine whether reading strategies instruction is integrated within English Language Teaching programmes so that learners could develop appropriate reading strategies. Accordingly, the study conducted is a ‘context evaluation’; a study technique aiming to improve a programme by evaluating its strengths and weaknesses. The final results of the study reveal that many underlying factors contribute to the inappropriate reading strategies instruction in the Middle School. First, the Algerian Middle School syllabuses do not provide the teachers with some instructional hints concerning reading strategies instruction. Second, some weaknesses of the reading activities provided in the textbooks are noted. Finally, the teachers are not appropriately prepared to adopt the new teaching paradigms grounded in the educational philosophy of the recent educational reform. Accordingly, the work ends with some suggestions and recommendations that are likely to improve reading strategies instruction in the Algerian Middle School.
Teaching Writing Skills and Strategies in the Algerian Secondary School Syllabuses and Textbooks
(Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) BENAISSA, Amel
The following research seeks to analyze the process dimension of the writing syllabuses and their corresponding secondary school textbooks, namely At the crossroads, Getting Through and New Prospects. It starts with the literature review of the nature of writing and of the learning theories dealing with writing instruction. These two aspects are developed in two separate chapters forming the theoretical part. The major paradigm of analysis is borrowed from the theories which support the teaching of writing as process. Our choice of using process as category of analysis is not made at random. It is principally determined by our realization that it informs the preparation of the syllabuses. The second part of our research is practical in nature. In its first chapter, it investigates how the syllabuses designers have implemented their view of writing as a process in the preparation of their instructional plan. The fourth chapter, for its part, is devoted to the decision made by the textbook writers always with respect to the skills and strategies of writing as process. The final finding of the research reveals that the secondary school program supports the process dimension of writing. Yet, the syllabus designers failed to confirm it. As such, the flows of the writing syllabuses are reflected in the textbooks.
Paralysis and Resistance in James Joyce’s Dubliners and Mohammed Dib’s La Grande Maison
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) FERHI, Samir
The following dissertation explores the theme of paralysis and resistance in James Joyce’s Dubliners and Mohammed Dib’s La Grande Maison. However, hinging upon the new historicist theory, this comparative study will reveal that although the two writers chronicle two different periods of their peoples’ history, their preoccupations in their early works were not different. On the one hand, the Irish writer James Joyce wrote Dubliners in a period characterized by the dominance of Irish Catholicism and the British imperial system which in his view created Ireland’s paralysis, on the other hand, the Algerian writer Mohammed Dib also chronicles in his first novel, La Grande Maison, the oppression and the social, economic and political upheavals to which his countrymen were subjugated during French colonialism. It is also attempted to prove that in spite of the paralysis image which dominates and reoccurs in both texts, Joyce like Dib has given alternative ways how to resist and surmount paralysis. At the end, I hopefully endeavoured to prove that the authors’ visions and conceptions about the idea of resisting paralysis remain different. For, in the case of Joyce’s characters, though at the end of each story he did not give literal indications whether spiritual liberation will be attained or just paralysis will ultimately prevail, yet he makes it evident that in order to resist and escape from paralysis, Irish people have either to die or exile themselves physically or spiritually from Dublin’s paralysis. On the contrary for Dib’s characters, the only way for them to overthrow and surmount paralysis is through national and political consciousness by using revolutionary means. In order to achieve this, I divided the dissertation into two parts, each part contains two chapters. The first chapter deals with the historical background of Ireland and Algeria, while the second chapter is devoted to short biographies of the authors by putting a great emphasis on their educational and artistic careers. The second part also contains two chapters; the first chapter will be concerned with the analysis of the theme of paralysis and its motifs. While in the second, I will deal with attempts of these characters to resist paralysis by taking into account Joyce’s and Dib’s differing, or opposing conceptions on the idea of overcoming paralysis.
The Algerian Middle School Writing Syllabus and its Implementation: A Case Study of some Teachers of Tizi-Ouzou.
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) DAOUD, Kahina
The following magister dissertation seeks to analyse the instructional writing plan as laid down in the Algerian Middle School syllabuses and as implemented inn the textbooks and delivered in the classroom. Accordingly, it has resorted to the evaluation of the writing syllabuses, the four Middle School course books and the teacher practice of the skills. To this end, we have appealed to the process theory of learning writing skills and strategies, textbook evaluation, classroom observation and the questionnaire technique. The aim behind the research is the evaluation of the instructional plan motivated by the rather weak results that brevet students obtained in English in 2007 and 2008. The writing skill being the medium through which students show their real competencies, in these exams, we have tried to examine and evaluate it in order to sort out the weaknesses and strengths in the instructional plan related to this skill. Our dissertation consists of two parts, divided into three parts each. One part is theoretical and the other is practical. In the theoretical part, we made a review of the literature where we have showed that writing theories have gradually moved to the recommendation of teaching writing as a process rather a product. In the second part, we have analysed in this order the syllabuses, the textbooks and the teacher practice. On the whole, we have concluded that the instructional plan related to the writing syllabuses, the textbooks and teacher practice contain positive points, but the idea of process is not sufficiently fleshed out in its three components. The syllabuses and the textbooks are basically task-based, but the tasks are mostly of the pedagogic type; the sequencing of the skills is too systematic and gives primacy to the spoken skills without regard to the students’ needs in terms of taking the Brevet Exam. The teacher profile is not taken into account since no teacher development syllabus is included in the syllabuses proper or in the textbooks. The whole impression is that of putting old wine into new bottles.
Implementation of the Principles of CLT for the Teaching of English in the Algerian Middle School: Textbooks Evaluation
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) FEDOUL, Malika
Textbook evaluation, in the last three decades, has received much interest among applied linguists. In Algeria also textbook evaluation is witnessing a growing interest, especially after the general educational reform launched by the Algerian educational authorities, starting from 2001. The present study is an attempt to investigate the implementation of the CLT principles in the Algerian Middle School textbooks of English. The analysis is meant to investigate the implementation of communication principle (communicative methodology), tasks, the four language skills, culture and authenticity principles. To achieve this goal, we have employed the following theoretical frameworks: Littlewoods’s (1981) model for the weak version of CLT, Brumfit’s (1980) framework for the strong version of CLT, Nunan’s (1989) framework for communicative tasks, methodological steps for developing listening and reading skills adapted from Harmer (2003), activities to develop speaking skills adapted from Harmer (2001), and stages for teaching writing adapted from Sarosdy (2006). In order to evaluate the implementation of the cultural component, we have borrowed a model proposed by Mairitsch (2003) adapted from Byram (2000). Finally, the authenticity evaluation checklist is adapted from Widdowson (1983) and Kramsch (1993). The analysis of the methodology used in the textbooks to achieve communicative competence revealed that the approach is similar to that proposed by Littlewood (1981). The tasks are varied; while some of them meet the requirements of communicative tasks proposed by Nunan (1989) others do not. The analysis of the four skills displayed divergences in the methodology used for the teaching of the four skills in the four, mainly, listening and reading. Culture components proposed by Mairitsch (2003) are all included in the textbooks; however, Spotlight on English One and Two lack sociocultural skills component. Most of the texts included in the textbooks do not contain the characteristics of authentic texts and proposed by Widdowson (1983) and Kramsch (1993), mostly they are either non-authentic or simplified. It was argued that textbook designers need to take into account the shortcomings that might hinder achieving the aim of teaching English in the Algerian Middle School, which is communicative competence. More consideration, we think, should be given to develop communicative skills in reading and writing in Book 1 and 2 and the integration of more authentic and genuine texts. Key words: communicative syllabus, textbook evaluation, communicative competence, CLT, communicative methodology, tasks, the four skills, culture, authenticity. x
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Aimé Césaire’s Une Tempête and Dev Virahsawmy’s Toufann as Intertexts
(2010) HALIL, Houria
This dissertation is entitled “William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Aimé Césaire’s Une Tempête and Dev Virahsawmy’s Toufann as Intertexts”. It aims to investigate how William Shakespeare, as a Western bard, influences and gives an impetus to the non-Westerners mainly the postcolonial writers and playwrights to follow his path, and sometimes, to respond to his negative portrayal of the non-westerners. The post-colonial writers tend to answer back what Shakespeare embedded about non-westerners in his works in general and The Tempest in particular. Accordingly, in this research, we have investigated in The Tempest, Une Tempête and Toufann how Aimé Césaire and Dev Virahsawmy were influenced, positively and negatively, by William Shakespeare. In order to realize the objective of this research, we have opted for two important literary theories. These theories concern the Russian theorist Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogism, and the Martinican psychiatrist Frantz Fanon’s postcolonial theory. We have divided our dissertation into two chapters. In the introduction we have introduced and given some explanation of the theme of our research including the review of literature in which we have mentioned some works and critics that in one way or another dealt with the three playwrights and studied them from different perspectives. Afterwards, we have introduced our problematic which concentrates on the analysis of how the three playwrights clash over the referent of colonialism and all what the latter implies on the one hand, while on the other hand, Césaire and Virahsawmy through their adaptations have stylized to a great extent the English national icon “Shakespeare”. To analyze this theme, we have divided our research paper into two chapters. In the first chapter which is entitled Shakespeare, Césaire and Virahsawmy: Life, Times and Influence, we have provided the reader with useful information about the historical events which took place in England, Martinique and Mauritius when, respectively, The Tempest, Une Tempête and Toufann were written and performed. The second chapter contains two sections. The first section which is entitled Césaire and Virahsawmy as Hidden Polemics explains the clash and the conflict of ideologies among the three playwrights that can be shown at the level of the setting, characters and themes, as well as language whereas the second section is devoted to the analysis of how Césaire and Virahsawmy have stylized Shakespeare by imitating his way of writing and borrowing from him many aspects related to the form as well as to the content in relation to the setting, characters and themes, in addition to language. Finally, in the conclusion, we have given an overview about the ideas that are developed in the present dissertation at the same time we have confirmed our hypotheses which have been introduced in the introduction.
A comparative Study between the Algerian New Prospects and the Tunisian Skills for Life: English Language Textbooks of the Last Year Secondary Education
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) Imerzoukéne, Sonia
The present work aims at comparing and contrasting two English language books designed for the Tunisian and Algerian students of the last year of secondary education-Skills for life and New Prospects- and the syllabuses on which they are based. Its major aim is to highlight the similarities and differences that exist between these two textbooks and the syllabuses they flesh out in relation with the CBA, an approach adopted in both countries. This objective is to be attained by analysing the language, social and technological skills and language aspects (grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation), then checking whether they are in conformity with the CBA principles. The study’s issue of the study is identified through six questions: Do the two textbooks reflect CBA assumptions and principles? Do the two syllabuses reflect and implement the CBA? Are there any similarities between the two textbooks’ content and procedures? Are there any similarities between the two syllabuses regarding design and content? Are the materials of both textbooks organized in a similar way? Do both countries aim at achieving similar terminal objectives at the end of the school year in question in particular and in secondary education in general? The analysis and comparison of the results has ended up in the following conclusions: The content of both textbooks is similar and conform to the CBA. The language skills are emphasised in both textbooks, though with a different presentation. The intercultural and socio-linguistic perspective lacks importance in both textbooks, though both syllabuses emphasise this aspect of language teaching. The approach adopted in both textbooks to teach the socio-linguistic dimension is not in conformity with CBA since there is no contrastive analysis between the culture of the students and that of English speaking countries, which does not comply with one of the major tenets of the CBA. Both textbooks and syllabuses give prominence to the writing skill regarding the fact that the school level in question ends with a national written examination based on written responses (baccalauréat) exam. Both syllabuses rely on task-based which is among the features of a CBA syllabus (the use of tasks). The Algerian syllabus unlike the Tunisian syllabus is project-based. Both of them aim at reaching similar objectives at teaching English secondary education terminal classes. Both of them are articulated around similar linguistic, methodological, and socio-cultural objectives. In both syllabuses the language skills, intercultural competence and technological skills are termed as strategies and the language aspects as functions and patterns to be mastered by the students. In general, the study indicates that the English language textbooks and syllabuses of both Tunisia and Algeria represent a similar designed work since many similarities are noticed with the consideration of the approach adopted and of the social differences existing between the two countries. The study, therefore, implies that further research about the English language textbooks and syllabuses between the different countries of the developing world would highlight findings of a paramount importance for these countries and the field of education.
The Other in Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) LACEB, Rafik;
The Great Gatsby is a canonical work of literature. It is found in most of the university curricula and high school programs. In sum, it is a classic of the 1920s. Gatsby is a reflection of that period of gendered, ethnic, and racial tensions. The main characters of the narrative are all from old white established Anglo‐Saxon backgrounds. It is described to be about the suppression of otherness and change required to maintain the illusion of identity. The novel has long been noted for its author’s regional obsession with the East and the West. My aim in the present dissertation is to realize a thematic study of the novel, by looking for the way women, Jews, and Blacks and Orientals are placed in the position of “Other (s)” in relation to the identity of the main characters; an identity the author identifies with, barricades, and tries to maintain its supremacy. As the United States ended the settlement of the West with the closing of the Frontier, the beginning of the twentieth century required Americans to look for a new sense of manifest destiny. The twenties are renowned for their intolerance and broad‐scale nativism. The Great Gatsby is said to be the perfect novel of the Jazz Age, which mirrors its immediate issues. This dissertation is divided into four chapters. The first one is an attempt to put the novel in the context of various tensions which reflect the conservative and nativist character of the decade. The chapter also informs the reader about the major literary orientations and current of the time. It ends with the way the novel is liable to be approached from the point of view of looking for the discourse of Orientalism within it. Chapter II is about the demonstration of Fitzgerald’s ideal notion of male identity which is to be a member of Tom Buchanan’s group. Tom is the stereotyped masculine character who is even “more of a man than” Nick. Nick refuses identification and/or associations with women. Women for Nick/Fitzgerald are weak, irresponsible, absurd, dishonest, and destroyer. Chapter III focuses on the overt and oblique expressions of Fitzgerald’s anti‐ Semitism and dislike of ethnic immigrants. Ethnic immigrants were often linked with the organized crime, and constituted‐by their half whiteness‐a threat to the purity of Anglo‐Saxon identity and the homogeneity of the Nordic element. Nordics for Fitzgerald are responsible for “all the things that go to make civilization”, and are set‐that is my argument‐ in opposition to the Semite or Jewish immigrant who is the anti‐thesis of development. Chapter IV pays attention to the Fitzgeraldian ideal of whiteness and its supremacy, domestic and foreign. The major threat to “civilization going to pieces” is to end by getting “intermarriage of blacks and whites”. This chapter explains the way Fitzgerald associates Gatsby with blackness, and how Gatsby reflects the “natural segregation” of the two races. However, the second half of this last chapter is a suggestion of the study of the novel in relation to the global Western myth of the superiority of whiteness. Blackness in the United States of the time was parallel to what the colonial subject meant to imperial powers. The focus is on references to the brotherhood with English imperialism and to the early imagined geographies of the rising imperial States. N.
The Representation of the Renaissance Woman/man in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Othello
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010-10-20) LEGOUI, Kahina
This modest dissertation has for purpose the exploration of the major Renaissance themes in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (1596) and Othello (1603). It aims to examine Shakespeare’s representation of the Renaissance woman/man through his Renaissance Venetian characters. To fulfil our study, we have relied on the New Historicist theoretical assumptions that stress the importance of the social, historical and cultural contexts in the study and interpretation of literary texts. Indeed, the Renaissance context of the plays under study determines largely Shakespeare’s dramatic representation of the Renaissance females and males. We have divided our work into three chaptars. We have devoted the first chapter to the general historical background that represents a necessary step for our analysis. We have introduced first the main aspects of the Italian Renaissance focusing on the emerging philosophy of Humanism and Individualism with its new perception of man. Then, we have given an insight to the Elizabethan/ Shakespearean England, stressing the English interest in the Italian Renaissance. In the second chapter, we have tried to examine the Renaissance woman/man as a representative of the divergent Renaissance themes of subjectivity, individual will, independence, self-interest, tradition, communal ties, and social conventions. In the third chapter, we have examined the emotional life of the Renaissance woman/man in relation to the prevailing social conventions about racial difference. Finally, we have concluded that the Renaissance woman/man lives in a state of ‘inbetweeness’ embodying the ambivalent attitudes and thoughts of the transitional period. Therefore, the Renaissance woman/man can never be identified as an individual who has completely transgressed the impositions of the collective organic life.
Gender, Race and Generation in Algerian Secondary School Textbooks
(2011) Boukheddad, Chafiaa
The present research is an attempt to evaluate the Algerian new reform-based English Textbooks designed for Secondary School Education with regards to gender, race and generation. Our particular interest in conducting a Magistér dissertation on these issues was triggered by the function that school textbooks have as“powerful agents of socialization”. It can be argued that coursebooks, with all their aspects, have the power of altering students’opinions and beliefs on many socio-cultural matters such as gender, race and generation since the majority of classroom teaching is carried out by the use of them.In relation to this, critical theorists reject the claim that schooling constitues a valu-neutral process and argue that schools often operate with the intent to reproduce the values and privileges of the dominant culture (Darder, 1991). Hence,school textbooks have effects on students’cognitive and emotional formation. Therefore, recent trends in English Language Teaching (ELT) research necessitates the study of coursebooks and instructional materials from various perspectives including their cultural, social, and psychological qualities and effects (Kramsch 2000). Gender, race and generation as represented in school textbooks are worth studying because students are exposed to many words and images effecting their knowledge, perceptions and world views. It is believed that by focusing on how characters are portrayed in an EFL textbook , an infinte number of messages or values are passed on to students. Such values, then, may turn into stereotypical thinking of students towards others in society, inevitably building onto the malpractices such as hatred, intolerance, or belittling of others. Therefore, Our intention in the research at hand is to unveil the way characters:Female, male, groups minorities and elders are represented in the new manuals since one of the aims of the latest reform is to promote values and not demote them. To reach this aim, Sadker and Sadker‘s seven categories of II bia(invisibility, stereotypes, linguistic bias,unreality, fragmentation, selectivity and cosmetic bias) were used as our theoritical starting to investigate and explore the different forms of bias that may be found in At the Crossroads, Getting Through and New Prospects designed for S1, S2 and S3 Respectively. To realize our research,both quantitative and qualitative analysis were performed. Through content anlysis (CA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) the results obtained have displayed that the textbooks in question are far from being bias-free with regards to all the aspects selected for evaluation. It has been found that there is a significant tendency to underrepresent females, ethnic groups and elders. The invisibility of these characters is recorded both in text and illustrations. The findings further show some stereotypes especially concerning the aspects of occupations and personal traits. Additionally,both quantitative and qualitaive analysis have confirmed the presence of these forms of bias (selectivity, fragmentation, unreality, cosmetic bias). As far as linguistic bias is concerned, it has been observed that the authors of the textbooks have been sensitive in their use of language in the portrayal of ethnic groups and elders. Furthermore, there is a remarkable tendency to use an inclusive and neutral language in the description of both genders. On the basis of these findings ,we come to the conclusion that that authors of the textbooks were not guided by specific checklists that would prevent the production of biased instructional materials. Hence, it is highly recommended for the Algerian Ministry of Education to elaborate checklists for identifying bias,because, besides the overt role schools play on students ‘mental development, there is also an implicit and “covert message” that the school endorses to students.
The Representation of the ‘Other’ (the Poor and Women) in Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2011) BEDRANI, Ghalia
So many studies are carried out on the issue of otherness. Some are carried out in terms of skin and color by which we mean racism. Others are brought in terms of human geography and this is what Edward Said calls ‘Orientalism’. By this, he refers to the westerners’ thought that all that is from the East is inferior and that the Orientals need the westerners’ intervention to civilize them and to shed light on their darkness and obscurity. There are also other criteria of otherness like class and gender othering (the poor and women). The following research paper is, therefore, about solely class gender minorities. The otherness of these categories is related to the circumstances of each period of time. Our task is limited to studying the status of the poor and women during the Victorian Era. During that period, there were so many paradoxes and issues in the social life. The bourgeoisie was enjoying life in total wealth and prosperity while the lower class was suffering and starving. This was what led to a big gap between classes at that time. Though they played a great role in enriching the others through hard work, the poor were marginalized and remained in a state of poverty. At the same time, women stayed at home and cared for the family while men dominated all the public affairs. The process of othering of either women or the poor is explained from several perspectives, but the most influential ones are supported by psychoanalytic studies like those of Freud. Julia Kristeva studies the process of othering in different times using Freud’s categories as a basic reference for her theory. For her, before Freud’s findings about the unconscious side of human beings (ego) nobody knows that he is a stranger to himself. After Freud’s “Conscious” and “Unconscious,” people start to understand that strangeness is inside themselves; thus, we are all strangers to ourselves. In the same perspective, this dissertation aims to explain the process of othering in Gaskell’s North and South from the psychological and existential sides. In other words, we aspire to approach Kristeva’s ideas about the Other v as they are developed in her book Étrangers à nous-mêmes to Gaskell’s novel in order to study the issue of otherness. By doing so, we have reached three results. First, the poor are marginalized due to their state of poverty whereas the rich are strangers to themselves due to their peculiar behaviour towards the poor who generally push them by their human side to discover their harshness and savageness. This is the case for the heroine Margaret Hale who helps the protagonist John Thornton to change his mind and to leave out his state of unconsciousness. Second, we realized that men are not the only oppressors of women. In North and South, the poor women are othered by the rich ones due to many reasons like the difference in the social status and blind jealousy. Finally, we deduced that all humans, men or women, poor or rich, are in reality strangers to themselves; thus, they are the oppressors of themselves. Most of all, we realized that the women are oppressed at the domestic level in the same way as the workers are oppressed at the work place.
Assia Djebar’s Fantasia, an Algerian Cavalcade (1985) and Yvonne Vera’s The Stone Virgins (2002): A Comparative Study
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou, 2011) BENNAI, Kahina
This dissertation is concerned with the issue of feminism in two novels belonging to the postcolonial literature, by exploring feminine enunciation in the works of the Algerian writer Assia Djebar’s Fantasia, an Algerian Cavalcade (1985) and the Zimbabwean author Yvonne Vera’s The Stone Virgins (2002). It postulates that even though the lives of Algerian and Zimbabwean women were shaped by different historical forces and social traditions, common themes exist in their writings because of their common postcolonial background. Both Djebar and Vera examine the relations of women to history in a postcolonial setting, and disclose the double oppression women experienced during colonial and postcolonial times as colonized and gendered subjects. In exploring feminine enunciation in the two novels, we intend to compare the events evoked by the two writers, and to draw some similarities between the two struggles for independence provoked by the French and British colonial invaders and next, by the discourse of neo-nationalism in the two countries Algeria and Zimbabwe, respectively. This study also explores the two authors’ respective language and style. The colonial language and poetic style engaged in Djebar’s and Vera’s selected narratives negotiate the liberation of the subaltern in accordance with the basic ideas of postcolonial gendered subaltern, as articulated by Gayatri Spivak, in particular. One of the main themes in the works of Djebar and Vera is that of women’s body. Both writers impose the materiality of the female body and experience it within the contexts of colonialism, oppositional nationalism, and feminist discourses through details of sexual violence that the women of the colonized nation endured in colonial and post-independence periods.
The Idea of Post-War America in Selected Novels by John Steinbeck and John Dos Passos
(2011) KHOUDI, Mohamed Amine;
This dissertation attempts to study the idea of the ‘Other’ according to John Dos Passos (1896-1970) and John Steinbeck (1902-1968). We have analyzed the position of the two authors towards major post-war issues. Throughout our thesis, we have referred to the numerous social, racial, gender, political, and economic issues that arose as a result of the aftermath of the First World War. Our appropriation of the New Historicist theory has enabled us to make a historical and literary diagnosis of John Dos Passos’s case and John Steinbeck’s fiction. We have endeavored to demonstrate that both Dos Passos and John Steinbeck share the same idea, position, and vision towards a fragmented, class-based, ‘white supremacist’ and capitalist post-war America. To reach our objective, we have selected some ‘target’ novels that will be decisive throughout our analysis. These novels are Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat (1935), Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939), and John Dos Passos’ trilogy U.S.A (1938). The study of Of Mice and Men and Dos Passos’ U.S.A is investigated from the perspective of racial discrimination and gender issues. Indeed, the Hispanic community of Tortilla Flat, the unique black character of the novella Of Mice and Men ‘Crooks’ ,and the two Italian Italian-born anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti experience the same hatred, racism, and discrimination. In addition, we investigated women status within post-war American society. This study also explores another post-war theme,i.e, the struggle proletariat vs. big business, this proletariat theme is an influential part of Dos Passos’ trilogy U.S.A and Steinbeck’s epic novel The Grapes of Wrath. Our ‘proletariat’ reading attempts to demonstrate that the two authors share the idea that post-war America is composed of twonations; one of them belongs to the rich and privileged and the other one to the have-not and the powerless
Project-Based Learning in the Algerian Secondary School Syllabuses and Textbooks
(2011) AIMEUR, Roza
The present work represents an attempt to investigate the implementation of ProjectBased Learning in the Algerian Seconadry School syllabuses and their corresponding textbooks, namely At the Crossroads, Getting Through and New Prospects. It strives to find whether these instructional documents, issued within the framework of the recent reform of the Educational System, favour the integration of the pedagogy of the project into English Language Teaching. To this end, we have first conducted a thorough examination of the syllabuses in relation to the principles of the project-based syllabus proposed by Finch (2008), Nunan (2004) and others and Dubin’s and Olshtain’s framework for the components of the language syllabus that they offered in their book bearing the title Course Design: Developing Programmes and Materials for Language Learning (1986). We have then drawn attention to the textbooks relying on Fredricka L. Stoller’s model (1997) for the completion of project work in the language classroom. For the sake of collecting more information about the issue addressed in this study, we have adopted a checklist as a research technique. Although some drawbacks are noticed, our research findings reveal that the conception of learning proposed in the textbooks and in the syllabuses they flesh out give prominence to Project-Based Instruction

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