No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis examines the concept of intimate suffering in the narratives of Alberto Asor Rosa, Esther Tusquets and Elsa Morante during a historical period marked by the collapse of the Italian and Spanish Fascist regimes. The critical perspectives developed are: the explicit perception of intimate suffering; the process of becoming aware of intimate suffering and the reactions to it; the interaction between physical and psychological suffering; the methods of communicating intimate suffering to a community; the obstacles to perception of intimate suffering and its fictional representation, and W1derstanding and decoding implicit suffering. The thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter One discusses and documents the existing critical scholarship on Tusquets, Asor Rosa and Morante, while it also introduces the central concepts of 'implicit' and 'explicit' suffering, as proposed in this thesis. Chapter Two investigates the representation of 'explicit' suffering in Tusquets' Habiamos ganado la guerra (2007) and Asor Rosa's L 'Alba di un Mondo Nuovo (2002). The aim of this chapter is to examine the way in which the characters become explicitly and unambiguously aware of the unexpressed suffering within their private spheres and develop the means to express it. Furthermore, this section also considers how the autobiographical genre may contribute to depicting and representing' explicit suffering'. Chapter Three elucidates the transitory process of awareness of intimate suffering from the implicit to the explicit stage, taking Tusquets' Con la miel en los labios (1997) and Morante's La Storia ([1974J 1995) as case studies. This chapter studies the intimate mechanisms and processes manifested in the characters. of both works, as a means of gaining awareness about their intimate suffering, on the one hand; while exploring the genre of auto-fiction and its capacity to feature the discourse of representation and the process of awareness of intimate suffering, on the other. Chapter Four continues and develops the concept of 'implicit suffering', investigating the process through 'which the characters of Morante's L'Isola di Arturo ([1957J 1995) and Tusquets' EI amor es un juego solitario (1979) perceive their intimate suffering indirectly, and are unable to recognise it and deal with it. By drawing on the methodology of Medical Humanities, Gender studies, Comparative Literature, Sociology and Psychology, this thesis introduces a new interpretative framework capable of positioning Morante's, Tusquets' and Asor Rosa's works within the cultural and historical trend of recovery of historic memory, and approaches the crucial aspect of the representation of suffering during the totalitarian regimes of Italy and Spain.

The thesis takes as its subject three long poems by Beroalde de Verville (1556-1629) - Les Cognoissances Necessaires (l 583), De L'Ame et de ses facultes (1563), and De I'Ame et de ses excellences (l593). On the evidence of these three texts, but with reference also to Béroalde's other writings, it shows that the scientific and the religious are allied themes which play a central part in Béroalde's work. Les Cognoissances Necessaires is situated in the tradition represented by the Microcosme of Scéve and the Sepmaine of Du Bartas. At the same time its individuality is demonstrated. Order is its constant theme, and order is itself associated with function and mechanism. We suggest that throughout the poem Béroalde prefers the analytic to the pictorial, and that this is in keeping with an initial emphasis on active enquiry. But enquiry is kept within the framework of a universe superintended by God, in a way that suggests a Calvinist ethic. We go on to show that in De L'Ame et de ses facultes the emphasis remains firmly on function. Béroalde uses the model of medieval and Renaissance treatises on soul, but in order to explain the operation of the cosmos seen as a totality. The accent of the poem is more properly scientific, and in it the alchemical, the medical and the psychological each play their part. In De L'Ame et de ses excellences the accent shifts to the ethical. We argue for a connection with a current of neo-stoic writing. But a central concern for the place of enquiry remains. Béroalde makes knowledge the basis of a code of conduct, and stresses that it is positive and practical value. The thesis ends by arguing that Béroalde's reputation is unjustly limited to that of the author of Le Moyen de Parvenir alone, and that he should be given credit as properly scientific writer.

The opening chapters of the thesis illustrate, with the help of authentic documents, details of Dancourt's biography both from the point of view of his domestic life and his career at the Comédie Française. Then follows a study of his prologues from which we gain an insight into his dramatic theories and aspects of life in the contemporary theatre. Chapter IV offers a review of Dancourt's complete works, and traces his evolution in choice of subject-matter and manner of presentation. His plays are studied in relation to a wide variety of dramatic works his predecessors and contemporaries. Chapter V concerns that part of Dancourt's work which is devoted to topics of contemporary interest. These include his satire of certain individuals, his exploitation of contemporary events and his satire of rival forms of entertainment. All these points are treated with reference to the relevant historical, social and literary background. The next two chapters centre around the 'social' content of Dancourt's plays which dramatize the manners of fashionable Parisian society, both aristocratic and bourgeois. These plays are explained with reference to the realities from which they sprang, as well as to works by writers of other forms of literature. Chapter VIII illustrates the importance of rustic themes in Dancourt's plays. Unlike in the previous chapter, the emphasis is placed on the dramatic qualities of these comedies and on their character portrayal rather than on what light they throw on the social scene. Finally, Chapter IX offers an estimate of Dancourt's success as a playwright at the Comédie Française and at Court both during his lifetime and posthumously. A comparison is made between his success and the criticism offered by contemporary and eighteenth-century commentators whose opinions are studied in the light of prevailing trends of literary criticism.