By fusing many of the established hypotheses on the source of the grotesque in Irish literature, this study establishes that these writers' impatience with all boundaries and limitations, physical or mental, led them to exploit the indeterminacy of the grotesque to achieve their particular aesthetic and epistemological objectives. / After an initial chapter on the relevant theoretical and national considerations, the prodigious cloacal visions of Beckett and Joyce are compared, with emphasis on their use of the grotesque to demythologize the creative process. A fourth chapter compares O'Brien's and Beckett's exploitation of the grotesque to undermine hegemonic philosophical and epistemological systems. / Like most writers of the grotesque tradition, Joyce and O'Brien assume a degree of moral responsibility by affirming, explicitly or implicitly, some traditional or utopian values and standards, while Beckett's deliberations on the complex relationship between Nature, the mind and the body end in negation, impotence and the hope of silence.

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The present study first establishes a framework for examining sociologically how ideas are formed with particular reference to the examination of Chinese intellectuals' conceptualization of democracy. The basis for this framework is K. Mannheim's sociology of knowledge, together with A. Gramsci's sociology of intellectuals and P. Bourdieu's notion of intellectual field. Deriving the insights from these scholars we hope to establish a more coherent conceptual framework for the analysis of intellectual production. With this framework in hand, the next step was to determine a reasonable approach to the examination of the ideological formation of Chinese intellectuals. The source of information for the study came from the first-hand intensive interviews with the selected intellectuals. Besides, the present study also scrutinizes the works of these intellectuals whose works have spanned the years especially from the May Fourth Movement (1919) to the June Fourth Incident (1989). Their perceptions of democracy, freedom and human rights provide vital clues for determining the complete picture of the evolution on the idea of democracy in contemporary China. No one intellectual has managed to suggest what democracy is, but using the theoretical framework and examining the interviews, writings and speeches of these intellectuals over a period of several years have allowed this researcher to develop a systematic and a more integrated view of democracy as formulated by Chinese intellectuals. In the process of analyzing the ideological production of Chinese intellectuals, this writer has also discovered the emergence of new and different relationships which have developed between Chinese intellectuals and the state. At the same time as they have become more independent, the nature of their critique has changed. In the past Chinese intellectuals criticized only the corruption of government and never the system of government itself. But post-Mao intellectuals have thrown off the fetters of their predecessors and turned their attacks on the system of their repressive Communist regime. Those who, in an earlier era, were fiercely loyal to the Communist ideals now speak only of the myth of a Communist utopia. Their criticism of the crises in China and their critique of state socialism reveal not only their scepticism of socialist praxis but also their wishes to make China more democratic. One point which deserves special attention is that the present research finds that the sixth generation of intellectuals has become more conscious about their independent role, rethinking a new relationship with the state and they have distinguished themselves from the establishment. The most significant finding of the present research is the fact that the ideological formation is greatly affected by the social location, the educational orientation and generational location of intellectuals. More importantly, a deeper understanding of how Chinese intellectuals conceive the ideas of democracy is significantly determined by the particular socio-historical and socio-cultural contexts in which the ideas are formed. The present study also observes that intellectual radicalism is greatly constrained by the socioeconomic and political opportunities that intellectuals have access. With different social locations and socio-economic-political opportunities to which intellectuals access, they may adopt different strategies in coping with the state. After the June Fourth massacre, many Chinese intellectuals with critical thinking were forced to exile overseas. The writer also finds that these exiled intellectuals have deeper reflection of democracy and also their relationship with the state especially when their socio-political circumstances have changed. Adding these observations together, it is highly indicative to us that Chinese intellectuals have struggled for a more autonomous social position and endeavored to have a new relationship with the state.

Although Halsey Stevens is a distinguished American composer whose works are widely accepted, and although he has forty-one published works for various choral combinations to his credit, of which four are conceived for combined choral and instrumental forces, there is at present no survey of this choral literature in existence. Since this music receives wide acceptance, the author has felt the need to provide a survey in the hope that the discussions and descriptions will enable choral conductors to discover a source of beautiful music, and to choose works pertinent to their own needs from this body of literature.Chapter I consists of a review of literature pertinent to Stevens and his style.Chapter II is an overview of analysis, including a discussion of analysis in relation to choral music.Chapter III presents a summary of stylistic characteristics as found in Stevens’ choral music. A discussion of the author’s conclusions ends the chapter.The survey is presented in chapters IV and V. Chapter IV deals with the short works. Those which are longer in duration, principally comprising combinations of choral and orchestral forces, constitute chapter V. Campion Suite, for a cappella choir, has been included with this section of longer works, since it is the author’s opinion that it is best performed as an entity.A brief data summary precedes discussion of each work. This summary includes publication information, date of composition, place of composition, any dedicatory information, voicings and instrumentations, sources of text, vocal ranges, and timings. The discussion of the work following the summary is intended to provide a succinct description, sufficient to enable a prospective director to decide whether the work is suitable to his performance needs. Musical examples are included to illustrate various aspects of Stevens’ style as well as to show unusual and interesting features of his music.Appendix I contains the musical examples referred to in the survey, while appendix II lists the published choral music in chronological order.

This dissertation offers both a theoretical investigation into the relationships between narrative, knowledge and personhood and a literary critical analysis of a group of Samuel Beckett's works in which narrative, knowledge and personhood are the central themes. / I present an account of the notion of narrative and explore the nature of justified narrative assertions. I then turn to skeptical and anti-realist arguments about the ability of narratives to represent truthfully the world. Such arguments are widespread in postmodernist and poststructuralist circles, and in order to evaluate them, I consider particular arguments of Jean-Francois Lyotard, Christopher Norris and Hayden White, all of whom question the ability of narratives to be true. The positions of these theorists rely upon deep conceptual confusion, and, after sorting out their claims, I conclude that they offer no compelling reasons to doubt that narratives can accurately and truthfully represent the world. / Next, I offer an analysis of the relationship between the notion of personhood and narrative. I argue against postmodernist and poststructuralist critiques of subjectivity, and, drawing on the work of various contemporary philosophers, I defend notions of subjectivity and selfhood while acknowledging and examining the essentially narrative nature of such phenomena. The concept of a "personal history" receives detailed analysis, as does the notion of a "situated self." While agreeing with particular criticisms of what is often called the "modern self," I argue that there are specific normative projects of modernity, namely autonomy and self-realization, that are worth preserving. / Finally, I explore the themes of narrative, knowledge and personhood in the nouvelles of Samuel Beckett. These works represent crises of narrative and personhood, and they depict the epistemic and ethical difficulties encountered by persons under conditions of modernity, conditions in which individual lives often lack narrative unity and meaning. I read Beckett as a critic of culture whose work, while deeply critical of certain trends in modern culture, points to the need for individual subjects to find true and meaningful narratives in which they can participate as co-authors.

Diss. Uppsala : Univ., 2003.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2006.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of History, 1998. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 353-373).

The art on the Berlin Wall has been looked at often for its social and political meaning. Instead, I intend to look at the artwork and text which appeared on the Berlin Wall as art. In this paper I will discuss the formal aspects of the art on the Berlin Wall as well as its import as an example of public art and as a forum created through visual representation.

Pour étudier le changement en relations internationales, cette thèse se penche sur l’adhésion de trois pays d’Europe centrale à l’OTAN en 1999. L’analyse s’intéresse aux facteurs permettant le passage du statut d’ennemi à celui de partenaire ou d’allié. L’hypothèse retenue est que ces évolutions sont tributaires d’un processus de socialisation. Mais celui-ci peut être entravé par la faiblesse des interactions, l’utilisation politique du passé et l’absence de réconciliation ou de reconnaissance mutuelle entre acteurs. Par ailleurs le changement est influencé par les dynamiques nationales. Pour intégrer l’Alliance atlantique, les Etats d’Europe centrale durent modifier leurs ordres institutionnels et politiques. Mais cela ne fut pas le résultat des seules pressions de l’OTAN. Si celle-ci souhaitait exporter un modèle libéral et démocratique et s’arrogea au cours de la décennie quatre-vingt-dix des compétences et pratiques d’autres organisations, elle ne disposait pas des outils et du savoir institutionnel nécessaires. De fait les trajectoires vers l’adhésion furent marquées par trois dynamiques : une forte concurrence entre candidats, la singularité des parcours nationaux en raison des rapports de force internes et de l’héritage communiste et la politisation de l’enjeu atlantique à des fins de légitimation ou de stigmatisation. Ce processus démontre donc qu’il n’y eut pas une stricte équivalence entre transformations post-communistes et processus d’adhésion. Ainsi cette thèse suggère que l’étude du changement en relations internationales ne peut s’astreindre d’une réflexion prenant en compte les passés douloureux et les arènes domestiques. / In order to analyse the dynamics that make change possible change in international relations, this dissertation studies the adhesion of three Central European countries to NATO in 1999. The analysis deals with the factors that allow the switch from the status of enemy to partner or ally. By doing this, the thesis builds on the hypothesis that these evolutions are dependent on a socialization process. However a lack of interactions and of reconciliation, a political use of the past or non-mutual recognition between States can hinder the process. What’s more change is influenced by domestic dynamics. In order to join NATO, Central Eastern European countries modified their institutional and political orders. But this process was not the result of the very pressures of NATO. If the Atlantic Alliance wanted to export a liberal and democratic model and took over the competencies and practices of other organizations, it did not have the tools and the institutional knowledge to do so. So the paths towards adhesion were marked out by three dynamics: a strong concurrency between candidate countries, the singularity of each national way due to domestic political games and the heritage of communism and the politicization of the Atlantic issue as a tool to legitimize or stigmatise. This process shows that there was not a strict equivalence between post-communist transformations and the adhesions. Hence this study suggests that the analysis of change in international relations should take into account the influence of painful pasts and of the domestic arenas.