Diplomarbeit : Germanistik : Graz, Karl-Franzens-Universität : 1990. / Bibliogr. p. 93-98.

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Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava, the originator of the style of Russian bards, was the first to express his nation's disillusionment over the country's political system and government in a new and alternative way. / For this purpose, he used the direct impact of his poetry, a part of which he would sing for audiences, accompanied only by his guitar. This sort of communication between the writer and his interlocutors remained in sharp contrast with the means traditionally used by the official Soviet mass culture. The spreading of guitar poetry was impossible to control by authorities, since for popularization it used not only public gatherings, but also a new piece of technology at the time, tape recorders, a medium brilliantly used by Magnitizdat. / As opposed to Okudzhava's prose, the body of his poetry is largely understudied. One of the possible approaches to his poetic works may be that of classifying them according to their themes. / In the poetry of Bulat Okudzhava, several distinctive thematic categories can be distinguished. The themes that dominated the poet's creative years interpenetrate and overlap one another, as well as provide a reference for his secondary themes. / In the present thesis, the dominant themes will be analyzed from a biographical and historical angle. War will be the first major theme explored. This will be followed by a description of Okudzhava's works dealing with the cult of Stalin and the associated personal tragedy of the author, who witnessed the execution of his father and deportation of his mother. Subsequently, the themes of work, creator and creativity, poet and poetry, music and painting will be discussed. Other themes typical for Okudzhava are those of the city (especially Moscow), the street (especially the Arbat), nature, folklore, and Georgia. The body of the present thesis will conclude with the description of the basic thrusts of Okudzhava's ethics and philosophy, that are most clearly expressed in his "philosophical" verses (concerning belief, hope, love, destiny, women, friends, and man's inner world). / Since Okudzhava's poetry is heavily grounded in the historical context of the Stalin and post-Stalin era and is an alternative voice to what was imposed by official literature, it is natural and valuable to see it against the background of the Socialist Realist canon of Soviet state-controlled literary production.

The purpose of this biographical study was to determine what influence Vice President Thomas R. Marshall (1854-1925) had on the events and personalities of the Wilson era. An only child and the son of a country doctor, Marshall distinguished himself early as an exceptional student and country lawyer. His political heritage was that of the Democratic party, strong in his northeastern Indiana county but weak in the larger Congressional district. An early defeat for public office (1880) convinced Marshall that he could do more for the party as a worker on the local, district, and state levels with his oratory and his legal acumen. Despite his lack of ambition to hold public office, Marshall in 1908 found himself his party's compromise candidate for governor of Indiana. Elected essentially on a platform that supported local option at the expense of prohibition, the upstate Hoosier lawyer became the head of his state for a four-year term (1909-1913), expanding the progressive or melioristic programs of his Republican predecessors.Midway through his incumbency Thomas Marshall had achieved national reputation as one of the most popular and successful Democratic governors, and supporters began to advance his cause as a Presidential nominee at the 1912 Baltimore Convention. The more active campaigning of the Woodrow Wilson forces achieved the nomination of their candidate, and the political machinations of Indiana's Thomas Taggart succeeded in placing Marshall as a running-mate with Wilson on the Democratic ticket, eventually achieving his election as Vice President.With the frugality of a Scotsman Marshall and his wife, Lois, entered smoothly into Washington society, occasionally entertaining but more often being invited as guests to state functions and private parties. As Vice President (1913-1921) Marshall proved to be an utterly loyal supporter of the Democratic administration and a capable and well-liked presiding officer of the Senate.Correspondence between Wilson and Marshall reveals the President's use as well as his appreciation of the Vice President. More often than not Marshall was a solid party asset on the campaign trail, journeying throughout the country every two years on behalf of the Democratic Congressional candidates. During the war years he was one of the active speakers at Liberty Loan drives, stimulating a patriotic and pecuniary response from the people. He provided distinctive introductory remarks for the allied war missions when they visited the United States Senate, and on occasion represented Wilson as his official emissary before foreign diplomats and monarchs.The last two dozen months in office were the most disappointing to him and the most challenging to his reputation. He was tempted by certain men to usurp the Presidency during Wilson's incapacitating illness and by others to manipulate the Senate debating procedure during discussion of the League of Nations Covenant. He refused to be a party to the former, and though a believer in the Covenant he was powerless to prevent its defeat by the Republican majority whose rights on the Senate floor he steadfastly protected.Noteworthy about Marshall were his unpretentiousness, his natural gift of humor, his exceptional speaking ability, and his occasional self-derogation. His reputation has been overshadowed by the President's personality and by other prominent persons and events of the time. Some written criticisms by administration officials, preserved and transmitted by historians, have obscured his role and personality. Thomas R. Marshall unquestionably had superior talents and did in fact use them in meaningful but unostentatious ways as President of the Senate and as servant of the President and of his country.

Madame Butterfly is analyzed as a cultural icon. Puccini s Madaina Butterfly and the Butterfly icon, i.e. the submissive Oriental beauty who cannot live after her Western lover betrays her, permeate Western stereotypes of Eastern culture. Through this mindset, miscommunication develops. This concept was popularized in David Henry Hwang's play M. Butterfly, which builds upon Puccini's opera. Through the character's misperceptions of each other, the opera's tragic ending is repeated in Hwang's play after the French diplomat Gallimard realizes that his ideal woman is actually a male spy. Traditions regarding homosexuality and cross-dressing help Song to create Gallimard's feminine ideal. The theater contributes through tan and onnagata roles where men are trained to create perfect feminine illusions. These stereotypes are problematic because they do not allow for the complexities that exist in the theater, on film, and in actual events. Through increased sensitivity and awareness, individuals can see past the stereotypes to see other's complexities. / Department of English

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