Thesis (M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008. / Directed by Amy Vines; submitted to the Dept. of English. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 28, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85).

Texte remanié de : Ph. D. / Revision of author's thesis (Ph. D.).

This dissertation studies the use of the epic genre to legitimize totalitarian power. It focuses on the writings of a group of Dominican authors who worked at the service of the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Most specialists of the period agree that the wealth of texts produced by these men of letters articulated an ideological system that allowed General Trujillo's brutal regime to remain in power for three decades (1930-1961). Their governmental positions, as well as their prestige as writers and orators, granted them unrestricted access to the public school system and to the means of mass communication. They used this access to promote their notions of national identity, while naturalizing Trujillo's totalitarian power by building consensus in favor of what came to be known as "The New Fatherland." Their work in this respect was so effective that almost fifty years after the fall of the dictatorship their ideas about what it meant to be Dominican still plays a significant role in the anti-Haitian sentiment that fills the editorial pages of Dominican newspapers. These Trujillista authors and public servants, however, did not constitute a homogeneous front. An underlying current of texts produced by some them effectively departed from the main tenets of the official ideology, questioning the basic assumptions upon which lay its definition of dominicanidad. However, far from generating a unified discourse, they expressed divergent views on the Dominican racial and national identity. This fissure in the inner circle of power took the shape of a struggle between two generic forms in the field of cultural production. Whereas the dominant discourse followed the linear structure of the "epic of the victors," identifying the Dominican identity with Spanish culture and the Catholic faith, the oppositional texts incorporated the digressive form of an "epic of the vanquished," highlighting the contributions of the African diaspora to the emergence of a Caribbean consciousness. / text

The focus of the dissertation is on the performance of the yoiks, what the yoikers tell the audience and what the yoikers mean with their narratives. The results demonstrate that the verbal art of yoik includes both song and spoken messages. The analysis of the yoik tradition is couched within performance theory. The discussions of the performance give keys to understanding storytelling, oral history, verbal art and a means to recognize when a yoiksong, vuolle, begins or when it stops and why the performer yoiks its vuolle the way he or she does. I argue that an inside perspective in conjunction with performance theory, provides a highly fruitful method to research in yoik tradition. In order to understand the tacit knowledge in the performance, it has been highly relevant to discuss the seminal work by the Sami author Johan Turi and to compare his theories with Sami scholars like Israel Ruong, Nils Jernsletten and Harald Gaski. In the 1900s there were three broader documentation projects of yoik tradition in Sweden. The first one was conducted in the 1910s by Karl Tirén, who used the phonograph and wax cylinders. In the 1940s the Institute of Language and Folklore (ULMA/SOFI) undertook a documentation project and in the 1950s the Swedish Radio did so too. Now, it was now possible, with the modern technology, to analyse the yoik tradition in new ways. It enables re-listening to the stories that was told and to see them in a context where the performers’ artistic skill, together with their social background and their relation to their audience is made visible. It has been discussed if there was an epic yoik tradition in South Sami areas. One hypothesis says that epic yoik was found only in northern areas in close connection to Finnish culture. However, this study shows that there was an epic yoik tradition in southern Lapland and probably the last of these epic singers passed away in the 1960s. The yoikers presented here are all good representatives of an epic yoik tradition. Sara Maria Norsa, Nils Petter Svensson, Jonas Eriksson Steggo and Knut Sjaunja are my main informants in the archive material, where their performances are described with accuracy. This makes it possible to analyse the events they are participating in. They are all in fact telling their lives’ stories by describing reindeer herding. This dissertation demonstrates the yoik tradition in its context, and I show that the vuolle has a structure where one can recognize when it begins and when it ends. The yoik tradition is not only music or song, the story that is told is equally important. The way of presenting a vuolle is also a part of the yoik tradition and one has to consider both the spoken and the sung messages in order to understand what the performer means. In short, yoik must be recognized as verbal art or storytelling.

In this study it is assumed from a central theoretical argument that the Bible based, scripturally true liturgical song, possesses an exceptional bonding structure. The set literary archetypes of the dramatic, epic and lyric - or the dramatical, epical and lyrical - are woven together to form the canvas for the hymnical praise of the worshipping community. The aim of the study is to dissect the relationship in which the archetypes stand to one another and to establish which trans–generical phenomena and movements can be detected in order to determine what their meaning is for liturgical songwriting. This is done on the basis of an analysis of the Book of Revelation, specifically pertaining to the hymnographical corpus in the book. To do this the most obvious meta–theory of this study is the literary theory, while the basis, principles and guidelines of the hymnographical basistheory are determined by theological biblical science. In the first main chapter (meta–theory) of the study the questions of what literature is and whether the Bible is literature, are explored and answered. The conclusion to this is that the Bible is true literature and that this religious script plays a central, unique and prominent role in the progression of the christian–western cultural world. In the process of determining the different approaches to the study of literature, note was taken of the various theoretical assumptions and theories and of the influence that each has and can have on theological biblical scientifical research. In the second main part (inter–disciplinary theoretical aspects) the investigation proceeds from the study of meta–theoretical literary terrain identification to the determining of the connection, link, sym–biosis and synergy between the literary meta–theory and the theological basistheory of this study. Shared and partly overlapping study terrains of the literary sciences and the bibilical sciences are explored. This leads to the demarcation of both an inter–disciplinary and multisubdisciplinary field of study, for which an approach and a method to further explore had to be developed. In the third main part (basistheory) the perspectives gained in the first two parts are unlocked to the advantage of the biblical scientifical study of Revelation. The last book of the Bible is analysed macro–structurally by means of a narratological reading and accompanied by a cursory–exegetic explanation, after which the meaning of the corpus of hymnical microtexts in their context within the macro–structure are further unlocked by means of detailed exegesis. In this way basis–theoretical hymnographical priniciples in Revelation can be identified. These are integrated in the fourth and last main part and are then concretised, using a song as example, in guidelines for hymnography. In this final main part (the outcome of the study) the investigation reaches its set aims as well as the overall goal in that it could be verified that the canvas of the liturgical song should be integrated successfully not only wordperfect, but also Wordperfect in all its facets through literary quality and biblical–principled motivation. This should allow the flame (= liturgical song) of the sacrifice of thanksgiving (= worship) to burn brightly in a time of diverse positions on church song. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Liturgics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

In this study it is assumed from a central theoretical argument that the Bible based, scripturally true liturgical song, possesses an exceptional bonding structure. The set literary archetypes of the dramatic, epic and lyric - or the dramatical, epical and lyrical - are woven together to form the canvas for the hymnical praise of the worshipping community. The aim of the study is to dissect the relationship in which the archetypes stand to one another and to establish which trans–generical phenomena and movements can be detected in order to determine what their meaning is for liturgical songwriting. This is done on the basis of an analysis of the Book of Revelation, specifically pertaining to the hymnographical corpus in the book. To do this the most obvious meta–theory of this study is the literary theory, while the basis, principles and guidelines of the hymnographical basistheory are determined by theological biblical science. In the first main chapter (meta–theory) of the study the questions of what literature is and whether the Bible is literature, are explored and answered. The conclusion to this is that the Bible is true literature and that this religious script plays a central, unique and prominent role in the progression of the christian–western cultural world. In the process of determining the different approaches to the study of literature, note was taken of the various theoretical assumptions and theories and of the influence that each has and can have on theological biblical scientifical research. In the second main part (inter–disciplinary theoretical aspects) the investigation proceeds from the study of meta–theoretical literary terrain identification to the determining of the connection, link, sym–biosis and synergy between the literary meta–theory and the theological basistheory of this study. Shared and partly overlapping study terrains of the literary sciences and the bibilical sciences are explored. This leads to the demarcation of both an inter–disciplinary and multisubdisciplinary field of study, for which an approach and a method to further explore had to be developed. In the third main part (basistheory) the perspectives gained in the first two parts are unlocked to the advantage of the biblical scientifical study of Revelation. The last book of the Bible is analysed macro–structurally by means of a narratological reading and accompanied by a cursory–exegetic explanation, after which the meaning of the corpus of hymnical microtexts in their context within the macro–structure are further unlocked by means of detailed exegesis. In this way basis–theoretical hymnographical priniciples in Revelation can be identified. These are integrated in the fourth and last main part and are then concretised, using a song as example, in guidelines for hymnography. In this final main part (the outcome of the study) the investigation reaches its set aims as well as the overall goal in that it could be verified that the canvas of the liturgical song should be integrated successfully not only wordperfect, but also Wordperfect in all its facets through literary quality and biblical–principled motivation. This should allow the flame (= liturgical song) of the sacrifice of thanksgiving (= worship) to burn brightly in a time of diverse positions on church song. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Liturgics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

My first exposure to Brecht and his theories was as a high school drama student. One of our year twelve assessment tasks was to write and perform our own Brechtian drama using three or more alienation techniques. I wrote a piece about Religion and Fundamentalism, an issue that I felt strongly about at the time. By carefully following my teacher’s instructions and adhering to the assessment criteria I received a VHA. I concluded from this experience that political theatre could be made by following a simple recipe and combining key ingredients. As my knowledge of theatre and my own creative practice developed I came to understand the great complexity of Brechtian theory and the extreme difficulty of creating effective political theatre, that is, theatre that changes the world. Brecht’s theories have been so thoroughly absorbed into contemporary theatre practice that we no longer identify the techniques of Epic Theatre as necessarily political, nor do we acknowledge its radical origins. I have not yet seen a professional production of a Brechtian play but I’ve absorbed on countless occasions the brilliant reinterpretations of Brecht’s theories within the work of contemporary dramatists. My approach to creating political drama is eclectic and irreverent and I’m prepared to beg borrow and steal from the cannon of political theatre and popular media to create a drama that works, a drama that is both entertaining and provocative. Hoods is an adaptation for young audiences of my original play Kingswood Kids (2001). The process of re-purposing Kingwood Kids to Hoods has been a long and complex one. The process has triggered an analysis of my own creative practice and theory, and demanded an in-depth engagement with the theories and practice of key political theatre makers, most notably Brecht and Boal and more contemporary theatre makers such as Churchill, Kane, and Zeal Theatre. The focus of my exegesis is an inquiry into how the dramatist can create a theatre of currency that challenges the dominant culture and provokes critical thinking and political engagement in young audiences. It will particularly examine Brecht’s theory of alienation and argue its continued relevance, exploring how Brechtian techniques can be applied and re-interpreted through an in-depth analysis of my two works for young people, Hoods and Children of the Black Skirt. For the purposes of this short exegesis I have narrowed the inquiry by focusing on four key areas: Transformation, Structure, Pretext, Metatext.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [264]-274) and index.

Thesis--Johns Hopkins University, 1905. / "Originally published 1911." Bibliography: p. 143-144.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references.