MASTERS School of English Student No: 9910994F / Literary criticism on the short fiction of Raymond Carver investigates frequently the narrative omissions whereby Carver renders the plight of middle and lower class America. Neither exclusively formal nor exclusively thematic critiques of Carver’s short stories explicate adequately the purposes and effects of these narrative omissions. This study, which is framed by Wolfgang Iser’s reader-response theories of ‘negation and ‘negativity’, and Michael Fried’s notion of aesthetic ‘absorption’, provides a formal and thematic reading of eight of Carver’s stories. This study argues that the reader’s investments in these omissions generate various indices of sympathetic identification. In tandem with such an inquiry, this study also examines the apparent antagonism between the realist and postmodernist strains discernible across Carver’s narratives. This antagonism is caused by Carver’s omissions, which simultaneously create the illusion of mimetic transparency and negate this transparency. The omissions that operate across Carver’s stories make the reader conscious not only of how he or she interprets the author’s words, but also how he or she interprets the world. Carver’s neo-realism, this study proposes, therefore has a far greater potential for social realism than traditional modes of realist representation.

Esta dissertação apresenta detalhes da vida e obra do artista plástico brasileiro Mário Gruber Correia (1927-2011), durante os primeiros vinte anos de sua vida profissional, que se caracteriza por dois eventos importantes: a exposição 19 Pintores, em que recebeu o primeiro prêmio de pintura, em 1947, e sua primeira exposição individual de pintura, chamada Restauração do mundo, em 1967, ambas em São Paulo. Por volta de 1946, o artista já havia se integrado ao círculo de intelectuais e artistas da Biblioteca Municipal de São Paulo, atual Biblioteca Mário de Andrade, datando desta época seu interesse pelo surrealismo e pelo realismo de cunho social. Dois anos depois, o artista apresenta o personagem Moleque Cipó, que procura pesquisar as mudanças da psique do brasileiro, por consequência das mudanças ocorridas no Brasil e no mundo. Em Santos, sua cidade natal, Mário Gruber cria o Clube da Gravura, em 1951, após retornar da França, onde havia estudado gravura em metal. Na década de 1950, Mário Gruber cria um mundo pessoal, em que mostra locais e atividades praticadas pelo Moleque, principalmente o Carnaval, espelhando suas emoções. Nesse período, foi professor de gravura nas oficinas do MAM SP, em 1953, e da FAAP, entre 1960 e 1964. Ao se aproximar os anos 1960, o artista e seu personagem Moleque vivem, num crescendum, a angústia existencial. É nesse período que Mario Gruber faz análise, abrindo as comportas do inconsciente, permitindo a manifestação do fenômeno da abertura para a presença de um Ser fantástico, que aparece para curar o Moleque. É a chegada do futuro Astolfo, que estará na exposição Restauração do mundo como um boneco astronauta. / This dissertation presents life and art details for the Brazilian plástic artist Mário Gruber´s. The first twenty years of his Professional life, between two main events: The exposition 19 Pintores, in 1947, and his first individual painting expo, named Restauração do mundo (world restoration), in 1967. Both in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. During this period, the artist that had already been interested in surrealism, practices socialist realism, then changing tho realism with social content where He creates the Moleque Cipó (liana´s kid). Through this personage the artist investigates changes in the psyche of Brazilians, based on changes happening in Brazil as well as overseas. From Santos, his hometown, where the artist created the Engraving´s Club after returning from France where He had studied metal engraving, He presents the Moleque´s activities, mainly Carnival, showing his different emotions until He reaches agony. That is when an opening fenomenon happens for the Being that intervenes in order to cure the Moleque. It is the Astolfo´s fantastic presence.

Marietta Shaginian’s Soviet production novel, Hydrocentral (Gidrotsentral’), represents a case of canonical limbo. Without exception, the novel is listed as a Soviet literary classic in reference works and compendia of Russian literature since the time of its publication in 1931 up to the present day, and yet its fame as an exemplary work of socialist realism (the officially mandated artistic and literary method established by the Soviet government in 1934) was extremely short-lived. This dissertation attempts to explain the reasons for the novel’s “in-between” status as a Soviet “classic” work of literature, but not an exemplar of socialist realism. Although Hydrocentral was published three years prior to the adoption of socialist realism, this dissertation argues that there is little doubt that Hydrocentral was one of a handful of Soviet literary works contributing to the formulation of its central tenets. Per the official definition, socialist realism “demands from the artist the truthful, historically concrete depiction of reality in its revolutionary development. At the same time, truthfulness and historical concreteness of the artistic depiction of reality must be combined with the task of ideologically remolding and educating [the working people] in the spirit of socialism.” Shaginian’s novel did, in fact, fulfill all the official requirements of socialist realism: it is a concrete, historically-grounded portrayal of life in rural Armenia at the inception of the first Five-Year Plan (1928-1932) in which objective reality (bytie) is characterized as unceasing dialectical movement. As a paean to inspired, creative socialist labor, Hydrocentral was also written with the express purpose of inculcating a socialist work ethic in Soviet citizens. Part I of this dissertation offers a structural explanation of the novel’s limbo status by demonstrating how the principle of multiplicity undergirds the novel’s structure at every level. Shaginian uses two types of multiplicity, conventional, as in artistic, not true-to-life (uslovnaia) and real, everyday (bytovaia) multiplicity, combining them in a way that achieves Shaginian’s to achieve unique vision of objective reality (bytie) as unceasing dialectical development. Part II of the dissertation demonstrates how the nature of this objective reality (bytie) has its philosophical underpinnings in German Idealism as espoused by Hegel and Goethe, as well as in the dialectical materialism of Karl Marx. At the phenomenological level, Hydrocentral is, a Marxist, materialist philosophical overlay that conceals deeper Idealist – and even Modernist – epistemological undercurrents.

In recent decades, the EU has significantly expanded its presence and influence in many of the former Soviet states. This essay have examined how the relationship between the EU and Russia has change since The Eastern Partnership was introduced 2009 and the extent to which it can be seen as a contributing factor. The Eastern Partnership is a joint initiative involving the EU, its Member States and six Eastern European Partners. Among this six this essay has focued on Ukraine and its part in the relationship between EU and Russia. This essay have been a theory-consuming case study that analyzes and explains the EU and Russia`s actions concerning the EaP, with the help of Mearsheimer`s theory of offensive realism. The analysis showed that the relations between EU and Russia had changed and deteriorated. The Eastern Partnership has provoked Russia and has made them feel restricted in their sphere of power. There has been a conflict over the six countries, including Ukraine, between the EU and Russia.

Under 2011 så utbröt det våldsamma oroligheter i Libyen och Syrien med många civila offer. FN:s säkerhetsråd utfärdade i mars 2011 en resolution om upprättandet av en No-Fly Zone i Libyen. Ryssland har sedan länge haft en uttalad inställning mot att stater lägger sig i andra länders inre angelägenheter. Ryssland avstod från att rösta i fallet Libyen vilket möjliggjorde en humanitär insats. Men avseende Syrien så har Ryssland använt sitt veto två gånger för att stoppa resolutioner som möjliggör en humanitär insats. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka om Rysslands agerande kan förklaras utifrån realistisk teori inom internationella relationer. Forskningsfrågan som ska besvaras är: Hur påverkade Rysslands egenintressen dess agerande i FN:s säkerhetsråd i samband med konflikterna i Libyen och Syrien. Undersökningen genomförs som en kvalitativ textanalys.  Den utförs som en analys av meningsinnehåll i ett utvalt material med användning av indikatorer som är logiskt härledda från realistisk teori. Realistisk teori beskriver staters agerande och att de har intressen. Resultatet av undersökningen är att Ryssland värderade principen om interventioner beslutade av säkerhetsrådet och relationen till väst högre än sina ekonomiska intressen i Libyen och att den geopolitiska betydelse Syrien har för Ryssland innebär att Ryssland vill förhindra att de geopolitiska förutsättningarna i regionen ändras till fördel för USA och Europa, en sådan förändring skulle innebära en risk för att den makt som Ryssland kan utöva genom sina olje- och gastillgångar minskar. / In 2011 violence broke out in Libya and Syria with many civilian casualties. The UN Security Council made a decision in March 2011 authorizing a No-Fly Zone over Libya. Russia have maintained a clear standpoint regarding the non-interference in states internal affairs since long. Russia abstained in the Libya case which made it possible to authorize a humanitarian intervention. But regarding Syria, Russia has vetoed resolutions twice. Thus effectively blocking all efforts to make a humanitarian intervention possible. The purpose of this paper is to study if Russia’s actions can be explained from a realist theory perspective. The scientific question to be answered is: How did Russia’s interest affect their actions in the UN Security Council regarding the conflicts in Libya and Syria. The study is designed as a qualitative text analysis. It is performed by the use of indicators, logically deducted from the theory, to analyze meaningful contents in the texts of the empiric material. Realist theory in International Relations describes the actions of states and that they have interests. The result of the study is that Russia valued the principle of interventions authorized by the Security Council more than its economic interests in Libya and that the geopolitical importance of Syria means that Russia wants to prevent that the geopolitics in the region change advantageously for USA and Europe which would mean a risk that the power Russia can exercise through its oil and gas assets could diminish.

Det finns både skillnader och likheter mellan Stanislavskij och Brecht. En av de tydligaste är att de har olika ismer i grunden, Stanislavskij är naturalist och Brecht är realist. Dessa ismer gränsar till varandra i det att de båda vill ge en så realistisk bild av verkligheten som möjligt, men tar olika vägar i synen på verkligheten och hur denna ska avbildas på bästa sätt. Där Stanislavskij vill ha total inlevelse vill Brecht fjärma och hålla distans. Där Brecht bara låter skådespelaren ge utlopp för sina känslor i det inledande repetitionsarbetet låter Stanislavskij känslan vara med som en röd tråd genom hela processen från rollskapande till färdig föreställning. Jag har även kommit fram till att politiken, i synnerhet kommunismen och den socialistiska realismen, tilläts större utrymme hos Brecht än hos Stanislavskij. Vidare ansåg både Stanislavskij och Brecht att publiken hade en jämförelsevis stor roll i teaterns varande. Brecht menade att publikens möjlighet till kritisk eftertanke var det viktigaste för teatern i det stora hela, detta samtidigt som underhållningsfaktorn vägde tungt. Stanislavskij å sin sida strävade istället efter publikens beständiga upplevelse av den verklighet som skådespelarna åskådliggjorde på scenen, för honom var det viktigare att publiken trodde på vad de såg än att de blev roade.

In this essay i argue that there are three different variables that may be able to control the outcome of certain foreign policy choices. These three variables are External Threats, government division and public opinion. The Essay also tries to identify former president Bush motives behind the 2003 Iraqi War. It is partly argued that the three variables had a certain amount of influence on Bush decision making process. But the main focus lies on the motives behind the attack. There are several official motives identifies through different types of statements from different members of the elite group, the main motives being the threat that the Bush administration felt the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was responsible for and of course weapons of mass destruction, as you will notice while you read this essay there are more but in some way smaller motives that doesn't take as much place as the threat and WMD aspects.

This thesis defends Epistemic Structural Realism (ESR) against both Ontic Structural Realism (OSR) and Traditional Scientific Realism (TSR). It is argued that TSR cannot properly explain what actually happens throughout radical theory changes in science / in the sense that a plausible version of Scientific Realism should, somehow, satisfy Scientific Anti-Realists&rsquo / concerns about the link between &ldquo / truth&rdquo / and &ldquo / success&rdquo / of our scientific theories. On the other hand, it is claimed that OSR is not a form of Scientific Realism but rather basically a modified form of Pragmatism. To that effect, it is further argued that Modern Physics does not provide convincing reasons to accept the conclusions that advocates of OSR derive from it. It is finally asserted that a Structural Realist understanding of Scientific Explanation is not possible. In that regard, it is argued that a defense of Structural Realism by No Miracle Argument (NMA) against Pessimistic Meta Induction Argument (PMIA) will be effective if and only if the NMA is formulated by the predictive success of scientific theories, rather than constructing it on the explanatory power of them.

Generally labelled as fantastic in nature, Maupassant's short stories pose a serious problem. The very term "fantastic" is itself highly ambiguous; there have been many attemps to define what makes a work of literature "fantastic" in nature, but none of these attempts have managed to capture the essence of the genre in its entirety. / What is most striking in Maupassant's narratives is precisely his rejection of the fantastic almost as soon as it occurs. Contrary to the more traditional literature of the fantastic, his narratives remain anchored in a realistic world, rendering the reader's experience even more unsettling. In a sense, Maupassant manages to tame the fantastic by normalizing it. / We intend, therefore, to position our work at the meeting point of these two concepts---realism and fantasy---in order to determine if the definition of "fantastic realism" we will be striving for can be verified through our analysis of the following stories: "Apparition", "La chevelure", "Le Horla" (first version), "La main", "La peur", "Magnetisme" and "Sur 1'eau". (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Russell’s claim that only structural knowledge of the world is possible was influentially criticized by Newman as rendering scientific discoveries trivial. I show that a version of this criticism also applies to the “structural realism” more recently advocated by Worrall, which requires continuity of formal structure between predecessor and successor scientific theories. The problem is that structure, in its common set-theoretical construal, is radically underdetermined by the entities and relations over which it is defined, rendering intertheoretic continuity intolerably cheap. I show that this problem may be overcome by supplementing the purely formal relation of intertheoretic isomorphism with the semiformal “Ontological Reductive Links” developed by Moulines and others of the German “structuralist” approach to the philosophy of science.