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Set in an imagined pre-colonial/ medieval southern African kingdom, A Smoke that Thunders or Godtouched is an epic fantasy novel that tracks the lives of three magical Black girls taking on the gods and the patriarchy.

Landscape in Roman literature is manifest with symbolic potential: in particular, Vergil and Ovid respond to ideologically loaded representations of abundance in nature that signal the dawn of the Augustan golden age. Vergil's Eclogues foreground a locus amoenus landscape which articulates both the hopes of the new age as well as the political upheaval that accompanied the new political regime; Ovid uses the same topography in order to suggest the arbitrary and capricious use of power within a deceptively idyllic landscape. Moreover, for Latin poets, depictions of landscape are themselves sites for poetic reflection as evidenced by the discussion of landscape ecphrases in Horace's Ars Poetica. My thesis focuses upon the depiction and refiguration of the locus amoenus landscape in the post-Augustan epics of the first century AD: Lucan's Bellum Civile, Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica, Statius' Thebaid and Silius Italicus' Punica. Landscape in these poems retains the moral, political and metapoetic force evident in the Augustan archetypes. However, I suggest that Lucan's Neronian Bellum Civile fundamentally refigures the landscapes of Latin epic poetry, inscribing the locus amoenus with the nefas of civil war in such a manner that it redefines the perception of landscape in the succeeding Flavian poets. Lucan perverts the landscape, making the locus horridus, a landscape of horror, fear and disgust, the predominant landscape of Latin epic; consequently, the poems of Valerius, Statius and Silius engage with Lucan's refiguration of landscape as a means of expressing the horror of civil war. In the first part of my thesis I examine archetypal landscapes, including those of the Augustan poets and Lucan's Bellum Civile. Taking an approach which engages with literary reception theory and the concept of the â horizon of expectationâ as a framework within which literary topographies can be understood as articulating a response to the thematics of civil war, in the second part of my thesis I demonstrate the manner in which landscapes represent a coherent and paradigmatic response to Lucan's imposition of his civil war narrative within the literary landscape of Roman literature.

Ma thèse propose une analyse attentive de la ré-écriture de l'histoire articulée dans trois romans du collectif d'écrivains italiens publiant sous le pseudonyme Wu Ming: "Q", "54" et "Manituana". Partant du pamphlet publié par les Wu Ming en 2008 sur leur conception du roman historique et de l’écriture romanesque en général, the New Italian Epic (NIE), je propose deux angles d’approche pour mettre en évidence la relecture de l’histoire se dessinant dans les romans cités ci-dessus: la notion du regard oblique (qui est mentionnée dans le NIE); et le concept de multitude. La technique du regard oblique implique une réflexivité de la narration, une mise en abîme du processus narratif qui est effectuéé par le biais d’un point de vue insolite. Ce dernier peut provenir d'un animal, d’un objet animé, ou même d’un objet mystérieux comme le flux immatériel. Cette technique a déjà des précédents littéraires dans l’oeuvre d’écrivains tels que Italo Calvino ou Thomas Pynchon, mais dans la nouvelle forme qu’elle acquiert dans les textes des Wu Ming, elle permet l’articulation d’une relecture transversale de l’histoire. Cette relecture transversale émergeant dans les romans des Wu Ming est analysée dans la première partie de la thèse. La conceptualisation du regard oblique que je développe dans cette partie se base sur la théorie de l'anamorphose de Jacques Lacan, ainsi que sur le concept de la "troisième personne" proposé récemment par le philosophe Roberto Esposito. La seconde partie de la thèse aborde la problématique de la confrontation de l'écriture des Wu Ming à la situation socio-politique internationale contemporaine, soit comment leur ré-écriture de l'histoire s'insère dans la situation biopolitique globale. Dans les romans des Wu Ming on voit surgir une interprétation de cette situation globale qui dépasse les notions classiques de l'État et du citoyen. Le concept du biopolitique se prête à diverses interprétations: dans ses écrits des années 1970, Michel Foucault, qui est un des théoriciens majeurs du biopouvoir et de la biopolitique, ne parvient pas à proposer une interprétation unique et précise de ce dernier concept. Plusieurs philosophes italiens ont repris ce discours en le développant chacun à sa manière. Certains, comme Paolo Virno et, un peu plus tard Toni Negri, voient dans la notion de la Multitude une possibilité pour équilibrer le rapport pouvoir/personne et par conséquent pour développer de nouvelles possibilités révolutionnaires pour la déconstruction du biopouvoir. Les Wu Ming semblent suivre la voie positive de la multitude, qui selon leur conception correspond plus à une interprétation néo-marxiste de l’histoire. / My thesis presents an attentive analysis of the rewriting of history, articulated in three novels of the group of Italian authors publishing under the pseudonym Wu Ming: "Q", "54" and "Manituana". Starting from the pamphlet published by the Wu Ming in 2008, on their conception of the historical novel and the romantic writing in general, the New Italian Epic (NIE), I propose two ways to put in evidence the review of History that emerges from the novels mentioned above: the notion of the oblique gaze (mentioned in the NIE); and the concept of the multitude. The technique of the oblique gaze implies a reflexion on the narration, a "mise en abyme" of the narrative process which is made by the way of an unusual point of view. This technique already has some litterary precedents in the works of writers such as Italo Calvino or Thomas Pynchon,*but in the new form that it aquires in the texts of the Wu MIng, it allows the articulation of a transversal review of history. This transversal review emerging from the novels of the Wu Ming is analysed in the first part of the thesis. The conceptualization of the oblique gaze that I develop in this section is based on the theory of the Anamorphosis of Jacques Lacan, in addition to the concept of the "Third person" suggested recently by the philosopher Roberto Esposito. The second part of the thesis focuses on Wu Ming’s analysis and interpretation of the contemporary socio-political situation, namely how their re-writing of history is inserted in the global biopolitical situation. In the novels of the Wu Ming we observe the emergence of an interpretation of this global situation which subverts the classical notions of the State and the citizen. The concept of biopolitics lends itself to different interpretations: in his writings of the 1970's, Michel Foucault, who is one of the major theorists of biopower and biopolitics, does not succeed in suggesting a unique and precise interpretation of this concept. Many Italian philosophers have worked on this notion, each one of them developping it in her own way. Some, such as Paolo Virno and, some time later Toni Negri, see in the concept of the multitude a possibility to balance the rapport power/people and therefore to develop new revolutionary possibilities for the deconstruction of the biopower. The Wu MIng seem to follow the positive reading of the multitude, which according to their conception, corresponds more to a neo-marxist interpretation of History. / Nella mia tesi esamino l’emergenza di una riscrittura della Storia proposta dai tre romanzi: Q, 54 e Manituana, del collettivo di scrittori italiani che pubblicano sotto lo pseudonimo Wu Ming, i quali, attraverso una nuova proposta di romanzo storico e lo sguardo della Moltitudine, rimettono in questione la struttura del biopotere. Da un’attenta analisi dei testi sopracitati fuoriescono le peculiarità di un nuovo modo di concepire il romanzo storico in cui, fra le varie caratteristiche emerge quella dello “sguardo obliquo”, tecnica basata nell’esporre al lettore la narrazione facendola provenire da un punto di vista che non è quello che solitamente ci si attende, ma piuttosto un punto di vista insolito che può provenire da animali, oggetti animati, o addirittura da oggetti misteriosi come flussi immateriali. Questa tecnica ha già visto alcuni illustri precedenti letterari nelle sperimentazioni di scrittori quali Italo Calvino o Thomas Pynchon, ma nella nuova forma che fuoriesce dalla scrittura dei Wu Ming acquista la particolare capacità di leggere la storia in un contesto che si accosta in modo accentuato alle problematiche del contemporaneo. L’analisi di questa lettura trasversale, che copre la prima parte della tesi, è stata effettuata con l’aiuto di alcune teorie come quelle dell’Anamorfosi di Jacques Lacan, ma è attraverso il concetto della “terza persona”, riproposto recentemente da Roberto Esposito, che ho inquadrato lo sguardo obliquo come essenza estranea al rapporto dialogico io/tu. Nella seconda parte della tesi affronto la problematica dell’allineamento della scrittura dei Wu Ming alla situazione socio-politica internazionale contemporanea; detta in altre parole cerco di far emergere come la loro riscrittura della storia si inserisca nella situazione biopolitica globale. Nei romanzi dei Wu Ming, infatti, si scorge un’interpretazione del contemporaneo che sorpassa le categorie classiche di Stato e cittadino in favore di un’idea di egemonia universale esercitante un bio-potere globale. Il concetto di biopolitica si apre a varie interpretazioni. Già dalle prime iniziative negli anni Settanta Michel Foucault si era trovato in una situazione di ambigua difficoltà nel poter dare un’interpretazione unica e precisa dei concetti da lui stesso proposti. Vari filosofi italiani hanno ripreso questo discorso incompiuto sviluppandogli intorno una parte importante del proprio pensiero, ognuno però scegliendo una propria strada. Alcuni di loro come Paolo Virno e, successivamente, Toni Negri vedono nella categoria della “Moltitudine” una possibile via per equilibrare il rapporto Potere/persona e quindi ottenere nuove possibilità rivoluzionarie per poter decostruire il biopotere. I Wu Ming sembrano seguire la strada positivista della moltitudine, la quale si allinea alla loro natura marxiana.

Ma thèse propose une analyse attentive de la ré-écriture de l'histoire articulée dans trois romans du collectif d'écrivains italiens publiant sous le pseudonyme Wu Ming: "Q", "54" et "Manituana". Partant du pamphlet publié par les Wu Ming en 2008 sur leur conception du roman historique et de l’écriture romanesque en général, the New Italian Epic (NIE), je propose deux angles d’approche pour mettre en évidence la relecture de l’histoire se dessinant dans les romans cités ci-dessus: la notion du regard oblique (qui est mentionnée dans le NIE); et le concept de multitude. La technique du regard oblique implique une réflexivité de la narration, une mise en abîme du processus narratif qui est effectuéé par le biais d’un point de vue insolite. Ce dernier peut provenir d'un animal, d’un objet animé, ou même d’un objet mystérieux comme le flux immatériel. Cette technique a déjà des précédents littéraires dans l’oeuvre d’écrivains tels que Italo Calvino ou Thomas Pynchon, mais dans la nouvelle forme qu’elle acquiert dans les textes des Wu Ming, elle permet l’articulation d’une relecture transversale de l’histoire. Cette relecture transversale émergeant dans les romans des Wu Ming est analysée dans la première partie de la thèse. La conceptualisation du regard oblique que je développe dans cette partie se base sur la théorie de l'anamorphose de Jacques Lacan, ainsi que sur le concept de la "troisième personne" proposé récemment par le philosophe Roberto Esposito. La seconde partie de la thèse aborde la problématique de la confrontation de l'écriture des Wu Ming à la situation socio-politique internationale contemporaine, soit comment leur ré-écriture de l'histoire s'insère dans la situation biopolitique globale. Dans les romans des Wu Ming on voit surgir une interprétation de cette situation globale qui dépasse les notions classiques de l'État et du citoyen. Le concept du biopolitique se prête à diverses interprétations: dans ses écrits des années 1970, Michel Foucault, qui est un des théoriciens majeurs du biopouvoir et de la biopolitique, ne parvient pas à proposer une interprétation unique et précise de ce dernier concept. Plusieurs philosophes italiens ont repris ce discours en le développant chacun à sa manière. Certains, comme Paolo Virno et, un peu plus tard Toni Negri, voient dans la notion de la Multitude une possibilité pour équilibrer le rapport pouvoir/personne et par conséquent pour développer de nouvelles possibilités révolutionnaires pour la déconstruction du biopouvoir. Les Wu Ming semblent suivre la voie positive de la multitude, qui selon leur conception correspond plus à une interprétation néo-marxiste de l’histoire. / My thesis presents an attentive analysis of the rewriting of history, articulated in three novels of the group of Italian authors publishing under the pseudonym Wu Ming: "Q", "54" and "Manituana". Starting from the pamphlet published by the Wu Ming in 2008, on their conception of the historical novel and the romantic writing in general, the New Italian Epic (NIE), I propose two ways to put in evidence the review of History that emerges from the novels mentioned above: the notion of the oblique gaze (mentioned in the NIE); and the concept of the multitude. The technique of the oblique gaze implies a reflexion on the narration, a "mise en abyme" of the narrative process which is made by the way of an unusual point of view. This technique already has some litterary precedents in the works of writers such as Italo Calvino or Thomas Pynchon,*but in the new form that it aquires in the texts of the Wu MIng, it allows the articulation of a transversal review of history. This transversal review emerging from the novels of the Wu Ming is analysed in the first part of the thesis. The conceptualization of the oblique gaze that I develop in this section is based on the theory of the Anamorphosis of Jacques Lacan, in addition to the concept of the "Third person" suggested recently by the philosopher Roberto Esposito. The second part of the thesis focuses on Wu Ming’s analysis and interpretation of the contemporary socio-political situation, namely how their re-writing of history is inserted in the global biopolitical situation. In the novels of the Wu Ming we observe the emergence of an interpretation of this global situation which subverts the classical notions of the State and the citizen. The concept of biopolitics lends itself to different interpretations: in his writings of the 1970's, Michel Foucault, who is one of the major theorists of biopower and biopolitics, does not succeed in suggesting a unique and precise interpretation of this concept. Many Italian philosophers have worked on this notion, each one of them developping it in her own way. Some, such as Paolo Virno and, some time later Toni Negri, see in the concept of the multitude a possibility to balance the rapport power/people and therefore to develop new revolutionary possibilities for the deconstruction of the biopower. The Wu MIng seem to follow the positive reading of the multitude, which according to their conception, corresponds more to a neo-marxist interpretation of History. / Nella mia tesi esamino l’emergenza di una riscrittura della Storia proposta dai tre romanzi: Q, 54 e Manituana, del collettivo di scrittori italiani che pubblicano sotto lo pseudonimo Wu Ming, i quali, attraverso una nuova proposta di romanzo storico e lo sguardo della Moltitudine, rimettono in questione la struttura del biopotere. Da un’attenta analisi dei testi sopracitati fuoriescono le peculiarità di un nuovo modo di concepire il romanzo storico in cui, fra le varie caratteristiche emerge quella dello “sguardo obliquo”, tecnica basata nell’esporre al lettore la narrazione facendola provenire da un punto di vista che non è quello che solitamente ci si attende, ma piuttosto un punto di vista insolito che può provenire da animali, oggetti animati, o addirittura da oggetti misteriosi come flussi immateriali. Questa tecnica ha già visto alcuni illustri precedenti letterari nelle sperimentazioni di scrittori quali Italo Calvino o Thomas Pynchon, ma nella nuova forma che fuoriesce dalla scrittura dei Wu Ming acquista la particolare capacità di leggere la storia in un contesto che si accosta in modo accentuato alle problematiche del contemporaneo. L’analisi di questa lettura trasversale, che copre la prima parte della tesi, è stata effettuata con l’aiuto di alcune teorie come quelle dell’Anamorfosi di Jacques Lacan, ma è attraverso il concetto della “terza persona”, riproposto recentemente da Roberto Esposito, che ho inquadrato lo sguardo obliquo come essenza estranea al rapporto dialogico io/tu. Nella seconda parte della tesi affronto la problematica dell’allineamento della scrittura dei Wu Ming alla situazione socio-politica internazionale contemporanea; detta in altre parole cerco di far emergere come la loro riscrittura della storia si inserisca nella situazione biopolitica globale. Nei romanzi dei Wu Ming, infatti, si scorge un’interpretazione del contemporaneo che sorpassa le categorie classiche di Stato e cittadino in favore di un’idea di egemonia universale esercitante un bio-potere globale. Il concetto di biopolitica si apre a varie interpretazioni. Già dalle prime iniziative negli anni Settanta Michel Foucault si era trovato in una situazione di ambigua difficoltà nel poter dare un’interpretazione unica e precisa dei concetti da lui stesso proposti. Vari filosofi italiani hanno ripreso questo discorso incompiuto sviluppandogli intorno una parte importante del proprio pensiero, ognuno però scegliendo una propria strada. Alcuni di loro come Paolo Virno e, successivamente, Toni Negri vedono nella categoria della “Moltitudine” una possibile via per equilibrare il rapporto Potere/persona e quindi ottenere nuove possibilità rivoluzionarie per poter decostruire il biopotere. I Wu Ming sembrano seguire la strada positivista della moltitudine, la quale si allinea alla loro natura marxiana.

This is an investigation of the epic poetry produced in and about the Ibero-American world during the early modern period (sixteenth to eighteenth centuries) in trilingual perspective: in addition to the more familiar Spanish- and Portuguese-language texts, consideration is also––and, for the purposes of the thesis, above all––given to material in Latin. Latin was the third of the international literary languages of the Iberian imperial world; it is also by far the most neglected, having fallen between the cracks of modern disciplinary boundaries in their current configurations. The thesis seeks to rehabilitate the Latin-language component as a fully-fledged member of the Ibero-American epic tradition, arguing that it demands to be analysed with reference not only to the classical and classicising traditions but to those same themes and concerns––in this case, the centre|periphery binary––as are investigated for counterparts when in Spanish or Portuguese. The crucial difference is that––while the ends may be the same––the means of thematising these issues derive in form and signifying power from interactions with the conceptual vocabularies and frameworks of the Greco-Roman epic tradition. How is America represented and New World space figured––even produced––in a poetic idiom first developed by ancient Mediterranean cultures with no conception whatsoever of the continent of the western hemisphere? At the core is one such long neglected Ibero-American Latin-language epic by a figure who lived across the Iberian imperial world: the 'De Invento Novo Orbe Inductoque Illuc Christi Sacrificio' (Faenza, 1777) by Catalan-born Jesuit José Manuel Peramás. Peramás’s epic––which has never been the subject of a literary-critical study before––is offered as a test case: an exercise in analysing a Latin-language Hispanic epic qua Hispanic epic and setting it into Ibero-American literary-cultural context. This is to be understood in relation to the field of so-called ‘New World poetics’: an at present emergent zone of inquiry within Iberian colonial studies which until now has been developing almost completely without reference to the Latin-language portion of the corpus.

L’étude du long poème épique de Lion de Bourges permet de mettre en évidence un parcours individuel modelé par la recherche d’un ordre politique et féodal, au sein duquel le héros tente d’inscrire son action, celle d’un ordre familial, au travers du lignage et de la parentèle, et celle d’un ordre personnel, à la fois recherche des origines et du père, qui devient une quête d’identité. L'idéal chevaleresque s’inscrit donc dans trois perspectives complémentaires. C’est d’abord face à l’instabilité des structures et du pouvoir royal, l’aspiration au rétablissement d’un ordre politique, mais l’inachèvement des actions entreprises et la constante réapparition du mal font que cette quête de l’ordre reste imparfaite. C’est ensuite l’effort pour la restauration d’un ordre familial mis à mal par les entreprises des traîtres et les aléas de l’aventure, mais là encore l’engagement et les efforts du héros ne permettent d’obtenir que des résultats imparfaits ou insatisfaisants. C’est donc à un niveau supérieur, dans la quête d’un ordre intérieur et dans un élan vers la perfection que l’itinéraire personnel de Lion de Bourges peut trouver son véritable sens. Cependant, son ultime tentative pour s’approcher du sacré ne conduit qu’à un échec : le contact avec le surnaturel chrétien est réservé au personnage du Blanc Chevalier, revenant secourable, et le héros doit se contenter d’une forme intermédiaire de merveilleux féerique. En définitive, ce poème témoigne, de manière originale et fort cohérente, de la vision pessimiste de l’idéal humain et de l’engagement héroïque, qui devient prédominante dans l’épopée française tardive. / The long epic poem Lion de Bourges portrays the personal quest of a hero, first, to set in order a feudal political structure; then his own family structure (through ancestry and parentage); and finally, his personal life; for seeking his origins and father becomes a search for his own identity. The chivalric ideal therefore is seen through three complementary perspectives. Initially, when faced with the instability of social structures and royal power, Lion seeks to re-establish political order, but both Lion’s inability to complete his goals and the constant reappearance of evil cause this quest to remain incomplete. Afterwards, Lion’s effort to bring his family back together is derailed by traitors’ plots and the fortunes of adventure, so there again the hero’s efforts produce only imperfect or unsatisfactory results. It is thus only at the highest level, the quest for personal order, for spiritual perfection, that the private itinerary of Lion de Bourges might find its true goal. However, his last desire, to reach sanctity, leads to failure as well: contact with the Christian supernatural is reserved for the White Knight, a helpful spirit, and the hero must content himself with a lesser form of supernatural, the enchanted marvelous world. Clearly, this poem demonstrates, in an original and highly consistent way, the pessimistic view of the human ideal and of heroic engagement that predominates in late French epic.

This dissertation concurs with the Jungian postulation that certain psychological archetypes are inclined to be reproduced by the collective unconscious. In turn, these psychological archetypes are revealed to emerge in literature as literary archetypes. It is consequently argued that science fiction has come to form a new mythology because the archetypal images are displaced in a modern, scientific guise. This signifies a shift in the collective world view of humanity, or a shift in its collective consciousness. It is consequently argued that humanity’s collective consciousness has evolved from mythic thought to scientific thought, courtesy of the numerous groundbreaking scientific discoveries of the past few centuries. This dissertation posits as a premise that Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s supposition of humanity’s collective consciousness evolving towards what he calls the Omega Point to hold true. The scientific displacement of the literary archetypes reveals humankind’s evolution towards the Omega Point and a cosmic consciousness. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

This thesis is a narratological study of Nonnus of Panopolis' Dionysiaca, focussing on the figure of the narrator whose interventions reveal much about his relationship to his predecessors and his own conception of story-telling. Although he presents himself as a follower of Homer, whom he mentions by name in his poem, the Dionysiaca are clearly influenced by a much wider range of sources of inspiration. The study of narratological interventions brings to light the narrator's relationship with Homer, between imitation and innovation. The way he renews and transforms epic narratorial devices attests to his literary skills as he strives for ποικιλία in his poem. His interventions hint at sources of inspiration other than Homer, such as lyric poetry, historiography, and didactic epic. Another innovation is the way the narrator intervenes not to draw the narratee's attention to the contents of his text, but to underline his own role as story-teller. Some interventions signal a change in tone or the integration of another genre; the expected proems and invocations to the Muse become spaces for a display of ingeniousness, a discussion of the sources and a reflection on the role of the poet. The efforts made by the Nonnian narrator to renew well known devices also denotes his mindfulness of his narratee, whom he involves in the story through metaleptic devices, or by drawing on a shared cultural background to enhance the narrative with allusions to extradiegetic references. The study of narratorial interventions proves that the Dionysiaca were not written only in an attempt to recreate a Homeric epic, but are a compendium of influences, genres, and myths, encompassing the influence of a thousand years of Greek literature.