Die retoriese rol van literêre feeste, met toespitsing US Woordfees en die Amsterdamse Weerwoordfestival

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The establishment of literary festivals as a type of event that is presented both nationallyand internationally has expanded tremendously in recent years, but it has not as yetreceived the necessary attention to fully understand its impact on and sociocultural functionin a host community. This thesis attempts to formulate a working definition for thephenomenon, in order to gain more insight in its sociocultural function and impact in a hostcommunity and thus to contribute towards a more substantial discourse on the subject. Thehypothesis is firstly that literary festivals come into existence due to specific needs in thehost society and secondly that the strategic application of rhetorical strategies have apositive sociocultural impact.It is argumented that literary festivals function according to the principles of Aristotle'srhetoric, by convincing festival visitors that books, reading, writing, debating and freedom ofspeech are of great aesthetic, moral and educational value. The eventual aim is to causefestival visitors to show greater appreciation for literary texts, as illustrated by theirincreased participation in reading, writing and other literary activities. The following theoriesserve as points of departure: the system theory as expounded by Itamar Even-Zohar, GerardHauser's application of rhetorics to the public sphere, the ritual theories of Victor Turner andJeremy Boissevain, as well as festival theories by Mikhail Bakhtin, Donald Getz, HenriSchoenmakers, Paul Kaptein, William Sauter, Don Handelman, Temple Hauptfleisch andMichael Kamp.The programmes, festival contents and other relevant texts that form part of two selectedliterary festivals, i.e. the Stellenbosch University's (SU) Wordfest (Woordfees) and theAmsterdam Weerwoordfestival, are scrutinised in order to prove that these festivals arestrategically constructed to have a persuasive effect on festivalgoers. A festival's survival andsustainability is determinated by its establishment of a strong own character; goodmanagement (also in times of crisis); effective networks; and the persuasion of both targetgroups and interest groups that supporting the festival is to their own advantage.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University