La scène théâtrale postdramatique, telle qu'Hans-Thies Lehmann la décrit, a souvent recours à la mise en place d'éléments de réel et de fiction qu'elle proclame comme tels. Ce faisant, elle se rallie à la discipline de la performance et porte le spectateur à percevoir le théâtre en tant que « processus » de création et de représentation. La série photographique Untitled Films Stills de Cindy Sherman interpelle le public d'une façon similaire, par l'ambiguïté entre le réel et le simulacre que le sujet photographié, toujours Sherman, met en place. Nous constatons que plutôt que de présenter des illusions parfaites, le photographique et le postdramatique témoignent d'une volonté de produire des instants fictionnels qui s'affichent pour produire un discours sur le réel, leur pratique et sur les actants qui y participent. Le premier chapitre de ce mémoire convoque quelques théories concernant l'œuvre de Cindy Sherman. Le courant photographique dans lequel sa pratique s'inscrit, ses inspirations majeures, soit Diane Arbus et Andy Warhol, tout autant que l'inscription de sa démarche artistique sur son propre corps, confèrent à l'artiste une grande singularité. Nous appliquant par la suite à l'examen des illustres Untitled Films Stills, nous relevons les raisons pour lesquelles cette série évoque en nous un caractère énigmatique. Nous appuyant sur les théories de Rosalind Krauss, Régis Durand et Arthur Danto, nous soulevons la dualité entre le réel et la fiction que met en lumière l'œuvre de Sherman. Une fois l'œuvre initiatrice exposée, nous définissons les composantes esthétiques générales du théâtre postdramatique en nous attardant davantage au texte, à la présence et à la réception du public. Nous effectuons cette réflexion en regard de l'ouvrage intitulé Le Théâtre postdramatique d'Hans-Thies Lehmann. Nous nous intéressons ensuite à la notion de performance et plus particulièrement à l'idée de « présent continu » et de « marge » du théâtre tels que décrits par Josette Féral. Nous montrons par la suite pourquoi il est judicieux de recourir à la forme postdramatique pour créer notre essai scénique, qui divulgue notre point de vue sur l'œuvre de Cindy Sherman. L'essai scénique produit dans le cadre de cette maîtrise est l'exemple auquel nous recourrons afin de montrer que l'utilisation de quatre caractéristiques stylistiques du théâtre postdramatique (la mise en musique, l'irruption du réel, la parataxe et la simultanéité des actions) peut engendrer un discours à la fois sur l'œuvre citée, notre point de vue par rapport à celle-ci, ainsi que sur l'acte théâtral. Nous présentons comment nous avons décortiqué sur la scène, ce que l'instant et l'acte photographique chez Cindy Sherman condensent et camouflent partiellement à notre avis, révélant ainsi notre point de vue quant à l'œuvre initiatrice de ce projet. Étaler sur scène les souvenirs populaires, qu'évoquent en nous les photographies de Cindy Sherman, nécessite un examen attentif de ce qu'elles renferment. Écrire, mettre en scène et agir à titre de performeuse au sein d'un spectacle qui divulgue notre point de vue sur une œuvre, suppose non seulement de se commettre en tant que personne, mais également d'exposer la mémoire de sa propre culture. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Théâtre postdramatique, Cindy Sherman, Untitled Films Stills, Photographique, Réel

Ce mémoire est né du désir de comprendre le rôle du motif de la catastrophe inaugurale dans les rhapsodies de la mémoire du théâtre québécois des années 1980 à nos jours. Pour cela, nous avons choisi un corpus d'envergure, c'est-à-dire les œuvres complètes de deux auteurs qui marquent fortement le paysage théâtral contemporain : Daniel Danis et Normand Chaurette. Notre travail de recherche fait apparaître le caractère structurant du motif non seulement au sein des pièces considérées séparément, mais aussi dans l'ensemble des œuvres. En effet, celles-ci s'articulent autour d'une même problématique. Elles inscrivent leur cheminement dans sa remise en jeu, et le redéploiement autour de celle-ci d'un nombre limité de motifs. Notre démarche comparatiste nous permet de mettre en valeur les choix et les partis esthétiques des deux auteurs en montrant la complémentarité de démarches rarement rapprochées. Au sein des deux œuvres, la catastrophe inaugurale provoque les mouvements qui animent le texte. Le premier que nous identifions est « horizontal » : la catastrophe déclenche le mouvement des corps dans un espace donné. Nous l'abordons à l'aune du concept de « déterritorialisation » élaboré par Gilles Deuleuze et Félix Guattari dans L'Anti-Œdipe et Mille Plateaux. Ce mouvement est situé au sein d'un espace territorial caractérisé par une certaine organisation sociale, dont il va venir éprouver les rapports de pouvoir. Au sein du texte, ce mouvement est lui-même emporté par un autre : celui du retour. Les œuvres de notre corpus présentent en effet une dimension métapoétique, et réfléchissent sur leur propre genèse. Au centre de cette réflexion se trouve à nouveau l'événement catastrophique, qui, par son intensité, vient confronter le langage au silence de l'expérience sensible. C'est à l'aune du concept de « répétition », élaboré par G. Deleuze dans Différence et répétition, que nous interrogeons la dimension métapoétique de la forme rhapsodique, cherchant à comprendre comment le langage met en scène l'opération de sélection par laquelle il est parvenu à sa propre forme stylisée. Loin de résoudre les paradoxes qu'elle met en scène, la rhapsodie épouse les conflits qu'elle représente pour remettre sans cesse en jeu les interrogations qui la travaillent : comment transmet-on la mémoire catastrophique? Quels rôles l'écriture dramaturgique peut-elle tenir dans cette transmission? ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : dramaturgie québécoise des années 80 à nos jours, mémoire, catastrophe, rhapsodie, conflit des codes, mouvement.

Constitutive rhetoric theory posits that community identity is rhetorically created. There are various approaches to constitutive rhetoric, though most rhetoricians have chosen to focus on the works of Maurice Charland and Michael McGee, whose approaches focus on audience so much that often the rhetor has no agency. This project blends their ideas with those of James Boyd White to create works of criticism that highlight an increased amount of agency for the rhetor. As examples, I have chosen four case studies from the year 1954: the Brown v. Board decision, the Army-McCarthy hearing (specifically McCarthy's heated exchange with Joe Welch), the addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, and the first article in the first dated issue of Playboy. Each chapter is designed to provide an example of what a constitutive analysis in the style of White would look like. The project begins with a description of the theories and analyses, including constitutive rhetoric, postmodernism, and textual analysis. The Brown v. Board analysis begins with a brief history of the case, moves to a rhetorical analysis, and then connects the analysis to ideas of constitutive rhetoric. The McCarthy sections examines the "Have you no sense of decency?" exchange between Welch and McCarthy. It begins with a brief explanation of McCarthy's reputation, and then utilizes an understanding of conspiracy rhetoric in the rhetorical analysis in order to explain McCarthy's constitutive efforts. The Pledge of Allegiance analysis provides a brief a summary of the Congressional arguments made to add the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, then provides a textual analysis of the Pledge (with the addition), emphasizing the power of those words, especially given the epideictic nature of the Pledge. The Playboy research focuses on the first 1954 article, which directly addresses the question of American identity. The article is contextualized with Hugh Hefner's self-proclaimed Philosophy of Playboy. Finally, all of these case studies are tied together again with further explanations of constitutive rhetoric, showing that White's understanding of constitutive rhetoric can be used to bolster Charland and McGee's in order to give agency to the rhetor.

No description available.

In this thesis, I will explore the different notions of performance as a political tool and gender/sexuality as a performative act that forms identity, within lesbian and gay academic and activist rhetoric. I posit that the extensive, and often contradictory, use of "performance" within lesbian and gay discourse serves as a useful entry point to explore existing theoretical precepts of identity formation, and the processes of representation and signification. Through this exploration, effective theoretical and practical techniques can be developed to subvert the dominant discourses of normative (hetero)sexuality that continue to create a "reality" which is physically and psychically harmful to those who do not adhere to these discourses. / Lesbian and gay activists have used various performance techniques as political tools to de-stabilize notions of identity and the fixity of the representational process. Some lesbian and gay academics have developed a "queer" theoretical perspective that concurrently binds and privileges fluid concepts of representation, identity formation, and gender/sexuality performativity. In this thesis, I argue that the convergence of performance and performativity within the work of Annie Sprinkle yields an especially clear potential for the disruption of a signification process that consistently demonizes the sexual "Other."

The experimental choral psalm settings of Charles Ives (1874-1954) show rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic innovations that pre-date many of his composing contemporaries such as Schonberg and Stravinsky. Of these works, only Psalm 67 is performed regularly. Regardless of their historical significance, the remaining experimental settings; Psalms 14, 24, 25, 54, 100, 135, and 150 are rarely performed due in part to their level of difficulty.This study presents a series of learning sequences for these psalm settings that can be implemented into typical rehearsal periods for advanced or auditioned choral ensembles. The sequences includes choral exercises and drills that introduce pertinent scalar and tonal structures, harmonic considerations, and varying rhythmic patterns. Various techniques are applied including musical chunking and octave displacement.A preliminary study was performed for the learning sequences designed for portions of Psalm 25. Participants and observers found the learning sequences to be effective in fostering an efficient use of rehearsal time. Revisions to the sequences were made according to suggestions from choral music faculty observers and completed participant questionnaires. Upon completion of the revisions for the method for Psalm 25, similar learning sequences were developed for the remaining psalm settings. Gregg Smith, conductor of the Gregg Smith Singers and editor of the psalm settings, was also interviewed regarding his editing, rehearsing, and performing experiences with these works. / School of Music

The Algerian war of 1954 to 1962 is generally acknowledged to have been the apogee of France's uniquely traumatic retreat from overseas empire. Yet, despite the war's rapid establishment as the focus for a vast body of literature in the broadest sense, the experience of those years is only now beginning to be acknowledged by the French nation in anything like a balanced way. The present study seeks to contribute to the continuing elucidation of this historical failure of assimilation by considering the specific role played by prose fiction in contemporary and subsequent perceptions of the relevant events. Previous research into this aspect of the Franco-Algerian relationship has tended either to approach it as a minor element in a larger conceptual whole or to attach insufficient importance to its fundamentally political nature. This thesis is conceived as an analysis of the images of the Algerian war communicated in a representative sample of French literature produced both during and after the conflict itself. The method adopted is an ideological one, with particular attention being given in each of the seven constituent chapters to the selected texts' depiction of one of the principal parties to the conflict, together with their attendant political mythologies. This reading is primarily informed by the Barthesian model of semiosis, which is drawn upon to explain the linguistic foundations of the systematic literary obfuscation of this period of colonial history. By analysing points of ideological tension in the fictional imaging of the war, we are able to identify and to evaluate examples of both artistic mystification and demystifying art. It is argued in conclusion that the former category of narrative has never ceased to predominate, thus enabling French public opinion to continue to avoid its ultimate responsibility for the war and its conduct.

No description available.

With the publication of her novel, My Brilliant Career, in 1901, Miles Franklin became the darling of the Sydney literati. Great things were expected of the little girl from the bush. But five years later, nothing had eventuated; her talent, Miles thought, was barely recognised in Australia. In the hope of gaining greater writing opportunities, she shipped to Chicago where she became involved in social reform. It was hard work and ill paid, and though she bewailed the fact that it sapped her writing energy, she nonetheless felt a commitment to the cause such that she remained for almost a decade. In her spare time, though, she continued to write -- and not just prose. More and more she wrote for the theatre, attempting to push into a world of which she had always dreamed. Blessed with a beautiful singing voice, she had long desired to be on the stage. This was impossible, though; her voice, she believed, had been ruined by bad training in her youth. To write for the stage, then, though a poor substitute, was at least in the field of her original ideal. Miles' plays, though, are not remembered today, and are little thought of in scholarship, are considered, in fact, to have failed. This gives the false impression that they were always little thought of. Her correspondence, however, reveals that at least five of the plays were produced, indicating a certain level of success. Miles Franklin's theatrical work, then, is surely worthy of further examination. This thesis looks at five of the plays in the light of Miles' life and in the light of the society in which she found herself. In turn, it uses the plays to reveal something of the nature of the playwright herself and to show that Miles Franklin's theatrical writing did not fail as once thought. In addition, it provides a complete bibliography of the plays (inclusive of locations), lists the duplications as they appear under alternate titles and provides synopses of a large number. This will make up for a gap in Miles Franklin scholarship and will facilitate other scholars in accessing the plays. This thesis, then, is an introduction to a new facet of Miles Franklin scholarship.

This dissertation is a comparative study which traces the development of a distinctive aesthetics in the late twentieth century novels of the Austrian writer, Christoph Ransmayr. The three novels, Die Schrecken des Eises und der Finsternis, Die letzte Welt and Morbus Kitahara, while quite different in terms of spatial and temporal orientation, share several key features which contribute to the operation of what I define and examine as the aesthetics of humility in the texts. These recurrent thematic, structural and symbolic elements in the three novels relate to the texts??? critique of scientific modernity, their privileging of myth (both thematically and stylistically), the representation of nature and the texts??? readings of apocalypse and transformation. The theory of myth developed by Hans Blumenberg in Arbeit am Mythos provides an interpretative framework to explain the re-emergence of myth as a contemporary response to the ???absolutism of reality??? which the systems and technologies of scientific modernity have produced in the twentieth century. The first part of this thesis examines the representation in individual novels of the collapse and breakdown of selected metanarratives of modernity. The second part consists of an examination of three core myths which function to restructure the narrative of human existence in each novel. This thesis determines that the development of the aesthetics of humility in Ransmayr???s novels is dependent on the reader???s recognition of the changed perspective and the changed perception which characters in each novel experience. To different extents the characters in each novel abandon a rational perception of reality. The aesthetics of reality acknowledges a textual consciousness and privileging of the projected Other of reason; nature, myth, fantasy, irrationality and barbarity. The human subject no longer occupies the privileged central position in humanist cosmology. Displaced from the centre to the periphery of civilization, the human subject is also represented as having lost control of its physical and psychical environment. Human pretensions to power and influence over itself and its environment are negated in the texts??? revelation of the transience of life. This loss of status and place is related on a seemingly moral level to the novels??? representation of the human potential for brutality and cruelty. The ultimate disappearance of the human subject in each novel is related to the subject???s gradual objectification in the text and the final dissolution of its identity.