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A total of sixty-four orations survive from the hand of Libanius. Four of these speeches were delivered under the reign of Constantius II (AD 337-361) and thus form a distinct chronological cluster in the Libanian corpus. The Constantian orations include Or. 59 To Constantius II and Constans (AD 346-9), Or. 11 The Antiochikos (AD 356), Or. 61 Monody on Nicomedia (AD 358), and Or. 61 For the teachers (AD 360-1). This study adopts a diachronic approach and analyses the historical and literary context of each Constantian oration with a particular focus on Libanius' self- presentation. The study suggests that Libanius' self-presentation was characterised by adaptability and versatility; it shows Libanius exploring a range of different genres and communicating with attentiveness to context and audience. The thesis also argues that Libanius' attitude to and engagement with Constantius' court fluctuated significantly from the delivery of Libanius' panegyric in the mid- to late 340s where Libanius supported Constantius after his defeat in the battle of Singara, over Libanius' encomium to Antioch in 356 where Libanius emphasised the strong connection between the Emperor and the city following the devastating reign of Gallus Caesar, to the delivery of For the teachers in 360-361, where Libanius publically voiced his criticism of the Emperor's cultural and religious policies after Libanius himself had lost imperial funding. Furthermore, the study displays the continued importance of oratory in Late Antiquity and emphasises the central role of sophists both as commentators and mediators in society.

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The work of Maya Deren, Marguerite Duras and Margarethe von Trotta, three filmmakers who are also authors, inhabits a space between patriarchy and polemic feminism. The result, a refocusing and re-arrangement of traditional literary and cinematic discourse, may be termed a feminine authorship. The principles of this authorship mainly derive from Laura Mulvey’s controversial but influential application of psychoanalytical theory to feminine cinema in “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (Screen, 1975), an investigation of the “male gaze” in film. Her propositions have been further developed by critics such as Teresa de Lauretis (1980), Mary Anne Doane (1987) and Judith Mayne (1990) as well as Mulvey herself (1981). Mulvey’s approach shares with classical psychoanalysis an emphasis on the unconscious and its visual manifestations in dream and memory. Deren, Duras and von Trotta encode the latter in spatial imagery expressive of both women’s repression and their hidden resourcefulness, most frequently drawing on the gothic novel and the exotic tale. In order to accomplish their vision, the three filmmakers variously offer original interpretations of well-established modes and genres such as surrealism (Deren), the nouveau roman (Duras), and the documentary (von Trotta), but none could have done so without conceding to a number of compromises with patriarchal discourse, partly for economic, partly for ideological reasons. This thesis asserts (in contrast to Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Peggy Kamuf) that these compromises need not be read as a flaw, but contribute to a discourse in its own right. By analyzing authors from diverse cultural, social and linguistic backgrounds who, moreover, cannot be clearly categorized within the alleged dichotomy of patriarchy and feminism, this study seeks to expand the definition of feminism across national and ideological boundaries. In so doing, it may contribute to the study of other women authors and filmmakers whose views and methods have been similarly unorthodox.

The political popular theatre which has developed in the West since the 1960s challenges the current hegemony in Western cultures by attacking its basic models of knowledge, yet little critical attention has been paid to the dramaturgies particular to this form. An application of the Possible Worlds theory, the concept of ludic framing, and feminist "standpoint" theory to the Irish stage plays written by Margaretta D'Arcy and John Arden after they left the "legitimate" stage, shows how the dramaturgy of this theater is a critical part of its strategic challenge to the status quo. This analysis shows how D'Arcy and Arden foreground the encompassing Theatre Possible World, within which the performance takes place, in order to cast doubt on the natural character of generally accepted meanings, and to induce the audience to consciously choose the frames within which it makes sense of action.

This thesis shows the condition of outsidedness in the fiction of two Indo-English authors: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Salman Rushdie. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala focuses on the intercultural encounter from the European perspective. Salman Rushdie writes from the expatriate's point of view. Astride the cultural frameworks of India and the West at once they examine the ironic similarities of prejudice and intolerance in both societies. These authors' novels are examined through concepts elaborated by the Russian literary theoretician, Mikhail Bakhtin, such as exotopy or outsidedness, heteroglossia, dialogism, etc. They confirm Bakhtin's contention that cultural confrontation is a potentially enriching source of literary and artistic creation. Jhabvala treats the intercultural encounter within the colonial and post-colonial frameworks and shows the fragile dialogue that does occur between her European characters and India. Rushdie on the other hand centres mainly on contemporary India although he does satirize certain aspects of colonial India. He uses a plethora of historical, literary, cultural and linguistic referents from both eastern and western traditions to subvert the hegemonic discourse of either and to celebrate cultural hybridity.

Criticism. Inspired by Hermann Broch's essay Creation litteraire et connaissance and Maurice Blanchot's L'Espace litteraire, $ underline {Cr 'eation, 'ethique et v 'erit 'e}$, Broch et Blanchot questions both the possibility and the necessity for a writer to maneuver within the realm of Fiction (i.e. inevitably the realm of Lies), while following an ethical code of Truth. / Fiction. $ underline {En trompe-l'oeil}$ is a novella about Mance Dussault who, after parting from her lover, is compelled to redefine her own identity, by herself and outside of the gaze of the Other. Her quest is complicated by the fact that she is torn between her passions from the past and her current dreams which are luring her into a state of being never experienced before. Furthermore, the veil of novelty could hide a side of reality darker than suspected.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-209). / Microfiche. / vii, 209 leaves, bound 29 cm

vii, 130 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel, playwright and educator, has blazed a trail in American theatre, opening new avenues for female playwrights. In 2005 Vogel's student Sarah Ruhl burst onto the scene with her play The Clean House. As one of the most produced playwrights of 2005, Ruhl has been celebrated as the new voice of American theatre. There are similarities, as might be expected between teacher and former student, but some of the similarities suggest something more: a dynamic shared between Vogel's and Ruhl's plays which suggests an ongoing theatrical conversation and may suggest directions for future American drama. / Committee in Charge: Dr. John Schmor, Chair; Dr. Jennifer Schlueter