abstract: This dissertation theorizes nineteenth-century public performance of spiritual media as being inherent to the production of autobiography itself. Too often, dominant social discourses are cast as being singular cultural phenomena, but analyzing the rhetorical strategies of women attempting to access public spheres reveals fractures in what would otherwise appear to be a monolithic patriarchal discourse. These women's resistant performances reap the benefits of a fractured discourse to reveal a multiplicity of alternative discourses that can be accessed and leveraged to gain social power. By examining the phenomena of four nineteenth- century Spiritualists' mediumship from a rhetorical perspective, this study considers how female spirit mediums used their autobiographies to operate as discursive spaces mediating between private and public spheres; how female mediums constructed themselves in the public sphere as women and as spiritual authorities; how they negotiated entry into volatile and unpredictable publics; how they conceived of the vulnerability of the female body in the public sphere; and how they coped with complications inherent to Victorian era constructions of feminine corporeality. In conclusion, this dissertation offers a highly situated performative theory of subaltern publicity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. English 2012

[pt] Esta tese discute criticamente e questiona pressupostos teóricos que orientam a recepção de escritas de si como textos referenciais definidos pela tripla identificação entre autor, narrador e personagem. Em seu lugar, sugere-se um modelo que acentua o caráter construtivo de discursos (auto)biográficos, ambiguamente localizados entre fatos e ficções. Neste âmbito, propõe-se analisar comparativamente autobiografia e romance autobiográfico, a partir de conceitos tais como biografema e espaço biográfico. Tais conceitos possibilitam uma dinâmica relacional que proporciona construções (auto)biográficas alternativas que buscam dar conta da flexibilidade e complexidade inerente ao conceito de identidade como concebido no cenário contemporâneo. Baseado na hipótese de que textos referenciais recebem menor investimento afetivo por parte do leitor quando comparados a textos cujos processos de deciframento são mais complexos, como no caso de textos literários, evidencia-se a criação de um espaço relacional entre o primeiro tomo da autobiografia do romancista inglês Anthony Burgess, O pequeno Wilson e o grande Deus (1993), e um romance de sua autoria, Enderby por dentro (1990). A partir deste espaço, são abordados fragmentos autobiográficos recorrentes nos dois títulos que, por serem construídos por meio de estratégias distintas, provocam diferentes efeitos e afetos. Quando comparados, tais efeitos geram novas dimensões de compreensão acerca da complexidade da identidade da figura em foco. Neste sentido, a tese busca comprovar a hipótese de que na escrita (auto)biográfica, a própria motivação e finalidade documental referencial pode ser minimizada em favor da proposta estética, que tem o potencial de proporcionar maior complexidade à identidade (auto)biográfica. / [en] This thesis critically approaches and questions theoretical grounds that argue that so-called writings of the self are referential texts defined by the triple identification of author, narrator and character. Another model is suggested, one that stresses the constructive nature of (auto)biographical discourses which are ambiguously located between factuality and fictionality. In this regard, we propose to compare autobiography and autobiographical novel, using concepts such as biographeme and biographical space. These concepts can generate a relational dynamics that makes it possible to build alternative (auto)biographical constructions, which, in turn, can keep the flexibility and complexity inherent to the notion of identity in contemporary studies. Based on the hypothesis that referential texts are not as affectively received by the reader as texts whose deciphering processes are more complex – literary texts, for example –, we point to the creation of a relational space between the first volume of Anthony Burgess s autobiography, Little Wilson & Big God, and his novel Inside Mr. Enderby. Considering such space, we approach autobiographical fragments of the said author that recur in both titles, which, as they are structured through different strategies, provoke different effects and affects. When compared, such effects generate new dimensions of understanding regarding the complexity of the identity of the figure which is focussed. Following this line of thought, the thesis tries to prove the hypothesis that in (auto)biographical writing referentiality can be minimised in the name of aesthetic purposes, since art would have the potentiality to confer more complexity to (auto)biographical identity.

Bakgrund: Att leva med hjärntumör innebär både emotionella och kroppsliga förändringar som kan påverka patienters liv. Tidigare forskning visar att anhöriga till patienter som lever med hjärntumör anpassar sin vardag efter patienternas sjukdom och dennes oro kring sjukdom och förlopp. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva patienters upplevelser av att leva med hjärntumör. Metod: En kvalitativ innehållsanalys med fokus på det manifesta innehållet utfördes och var baserad på fyra självbiografier. Resultat: Patienter som lever med hjärntumör upplever att deras tillvaro förändras. Vardagen formas av en rädsla och oro inför den osäkra framtiden. Stödet från familj och vänner ger patienterna styrka att inte ge upp kampen mot tumören. Att kunna acceptera sin situation bidrog till en positiv förändring i vardagen och se livet och sig själv med nya ögon. Slutsats: Patienters upplevelser av att leva med hjärntumör var att deras tillvaro förändrades. Deras vardag blev präglad av rädsla och oro inför en osäker framtid, men också tankar kring döden. Familj och vänner hade en betydande roll i deras tillfrisknande och gav dem stryka och stöd till att kämpa. För att kunna gå vidare i livet upplevde patienterna att deras acceptans var betydelsefull. / Background: To live with a brain tumor can give emotional and physical changes that effects the patients’ entire life. Previous research shows that next of kin of a family member with a brain tumor must adapt their day after the needs and worries of that family member. Aim: To describe patients’ experiences of living with a brain tumor. Method: A qualitative content analysis with a focus on the manifest content, it was based on four autobiographies. Result: Patients who lives with a brain tumor can experience their life situation changing. Each day shapes of worry and fear because of an insecure future. The support from family and friends give them strength to fight the tumor. Since they accepted their situation, it gave them a positive change in everyday life and they saw life and themselves in a new way. Conclusion: The patients experiences by living with a brain tumor were that their life changed. Their everyday life was influenced by fear and worry. Family and friends had an important role in the patients´ recovery. To move on with their life, they had to accept the tumor.

Giorgio Vasari nasceu em 1511, na cidade de Arezzo, Itália. Em 1574, quando morreu, deixou atrás de si uma enorme quantidade de pinturas por toda a Toscana, uma série de empreendimentos arquitetônicos em Florença que realizou para o duque, bem como a obra pela qual talvez seja mais conhecido: o livro das Vite de’più eccelenti architetti, pittori e scultori italiani da Cimabue insino a tempi nostri descritte in lingua toscana da Giorgio Vasari pittore Aretino con una sua utile e necessaria introduzione a le arti loro (As vidas dos mais excelentes arquitetos, pintores e escultores italianos de Cimabue até os nossos tempos descritas em língua toscana por Giorgio Vasari pintor aretino com uma introdução útil e indispensável para as diferentes artes). Tão impressionante quanto o sucesso de sua carreira, são a quantidade e a variedade de registros sobre si mesmo que Giorgio Vasari foi capaz de produzir. Hábil também como escritor, registrou uma autobiografia como pintor e arquiteto, que julgou pertinente inserir na segunda edição de seu livro, além de um diálogo em que explica a decoração do Palazzo Vecchio. Também guardou cuidadosamente o registro de boa parte de suas encomendas, e deixou uma série de papéis esparsos que seus descendentes reuniriam com orgulho no chamado Zibaldone, em que estariam preservadas as invenzione do cavaliere Giorgio Vasari. Conhecedor e amante das artes, como se apresenta não apenas em sua autobiografia, mas ao longo de todas as Vite, detinha os meios técnicos necessários para realizar os ciclos decorativos internos das duas casas que adquiriu com o sucesso de sua carreira. Uma em Arezzo, sua cidade natal, a outra em Florença, local de sua realização profissional. Nesses ciclos expressou, ainda que de forma menos evidente do que os padrões contemporâneos exigem, e sempre limitado pelas convenções de sua época, o entendimento que tinha de si mesmo e de sua trajetória. Nesse trabalho, dedico-me a analisar essa documentação deixada por Vasari, procurando os traços de sua descrição de si mesmo, e tentando entender seus limites, suas possibilidades, suas inovações e suas motivações. Procuro compreender esse material a partir de um horizonte de expectativas individual do próprio Vasari, relacionando-o ao contexto de possibilidades que se abriam ao artistas durante esse período do qual ele não apenas fez parte, mas também ajudou a construir conceitualmente para a disciplina histórica: o Renascimento. No primeiro capítulo tento entender os limites dentro dos quais operava sua autorrepresentação escrita recorrendo a fontes mais antigas. A análise dessa figuração retórica através do texto aparece no segundo capítulo, em que realizo o comentário mais extenso de seus escritos. Essa tarefa bipartida é condensada no terceiro capítulo, em que procuro delimitar sua representação pictórica através de exemplos anteriores e contemporâneos, antes de realizar a análise do material vasariano propriamente dito. / Giorgio Vasari was born in 1511 in the town of Arezzo, Italy. In 1574, when he died, he left behind a huge amount of paintings throughout Tuscany, a series of architectural projects in Florence wich he performed for the Duke, and the work for which is perhaps best known: the book of the Vite de’più eccelenti architetti, pittori e scultori italiani da Cimabue insino a tempi nostri descritte in lingua toscana da Giorgio Vasari pittore Aretino con una sua utile e necessaria introduzione a le arti loro (The lives of the most excellent italian architects, painters and sculptors from Cimabue to our times described in the Tuscan language by Giorgio Vasari aretine painter with a useful and indispensable introduction to the different arts). As impressive as the success of his career, is the quantity and the variety of records about himself that Giorgio Vasari was able to produce. Also skilled as a writer, he recorded an autobiography as a painter and architect, wich he judged appropriate to insert in the second edition of his book, as well as a dialogue in which explains the decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio. He also kept carefully the record of most of his works, and left a number of scattered papers that his descendants proudly gathered in the so-called Zibaldone, in wich would be preserved the invenzione of Cavaliere Giorgio Vasari. Connoisseur and lover of the arts, as he presents himself not only in his autobiography, but all over the Vite, he held the technical means to carry out the internal decorative cycles of the two houses he acquired with the success of his career. One in Arezzo, his hometown, the other in Florence, site of his professional achievement. These cycles expressed, albeit in a less obvious way than contemporary standards require, and always limited by the conventions of his time, his understanding of himself and his career. In this work, I dedicate myself to examine this documentation left by Vasari, looking for traces of his description of himself, and trying to understand its limits, possibilities, innovations and motivations. I try to understand this material from a perspective of Vasari‟s individual expectations, but also relating it to the context of possibilities that opened to artists during this period in which not only he took part, but also helped to form conceptually for the historical discipline: the Renaissance. In the first chapter I try to understand the limits within which Vasari operated his written self-representation using older sources. The analysis of this rhetoric figuration through the text appears in the second chapter, in which I render the more extensive review of his writings. This bipartisan task is condensed in the third chapter, in which I try to delineate his pictorial representation through previous and contemporary examples before performing the analysis of Vasari material itself.

Bakgrund: Varje dag drabbas kvinnor i Sverige av bröstcancer som är den vanligaste cancerformen hos kvinnor. Att få ett bröstcancerbesked är omvälvande och sätter hela livssituationen på spel, särskilt när dessa kvinnor befinner sig mitt i arbetslivet med familj och barn. Det är viktigt för sjuksköterskor att veta hur dessa kvinnor upplever sin situation för att kunna bedriva bästa möjliga vård. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser av hur det är att leva med bröstcancer. Metod: En kvalitativ undersökningsmetod med ett induktivt förhållningssätt valdes där datamaterialet bestod av självbiografier. Resultat: Ur analysen av datamaterialet framkom sju teman; en tid av ovisshet, en vilja att överleva, en påfrestande behandling, hoppfulla tecken, en stödjande omgivning, en förändrad livssyn samt en förändrad kropp. Slutsats: Kvinnor som lever med bröstcancer har ett turbulent liv som medför flera påfrestande behandlingar vilket påverkar deras livskvalitet. Upplevelsen är individuell och det krävs stöd från både närstående och vårdpersonal för att kvinnor ska orka ta sig igenom sjukdomsprocessen då de känner sig utlämnade i sjukdomen. / Background: Every day women in Sweden suffer from breast cancer, that also is the most common cancer form for women. Getting a breast cancer diagnosis is overwhelming and puts the whole life situation at stake, especially when these women are in the middle of working life with family and children. It is important for nurses to know how these women experience their situation in order to provide the best care possible. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe women's experiences of living with breast cancer. Method: A qualitative survey method with an inductive approach was chosen where the data consisted of autobiographies. Results: From the analysis of the data, seven themes are shown; a time of uncertainty, a willingness to survive, an urgent treatment, hopeful signs, a supportive environment, changing view of life and a changed body. Conclusion: Women with breast cancer live a turbulent life that causes several stressful treatments that affect their quality of life. The experience is individual and requires support from both close relatives and healthcare professionals, to help the women get through the disease process as they feel exposed to the disease.

x, 196 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This project critiques the performance of class identity through the works of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century colonial and early national period authors using the lens of humor, primarily as posed by Elliot Oring and Henri Bergson's theories of laughter and the ridiculous. My argument is that under the guise of laughter these works conceal the underpinnings of an American class system which can be revealed through close reading and historical research. In my dissertation, I examine the performance of each author in his or her own autobiography and the reflection of that performance within the larger frame of the development of American status structures. The characters in the texts of the authors I work with in this project demonstrate the use of the comic persona to, as scholar Robert Micklus states, "locate the butt of ridicule anywhere but in their own mirrors"; however, in my project I examine this within the context of class. Chapter I examines the work of Madame Sarah Knight, The Journal of Madame Knight, and William Byrd II's The Secret History of the Line --both of whom use humor to disguise their class insecurities. In Chapter II, I examine the performance of class hierarchy, as seen through Franklin's Autobiography and John Robert Shaw's John Robert Shaw: An Autobiography of Thirty Years, 1777-1807. In Chapter III, I examine the complications of race involved in class relations, using John Marrant's autobiography, A Narrative of the Life of John Marrant, a Free Black. Chapter IV examines David Crockett's humorous performance of the middle landscape frontiersman as part of a valorized national identity in The Narrative of David Crockett. The ideology that prompts the so-called invisibility of class in United States society today requires us to examine it under a critical lens; this project uses humor as that lens. In questioning the laughter of early American texts, we can see the class divides of early American society being created--an important step to realizing how these divides are maintained in our world today. / Adviser: Gordon Sayre

Relying on Lucien Goldmann's theory of genetic structuralism, this study examines the relationship between ideology (world vision) and the autobiographical form in South African writing. The five autobiographers selected for discussion represent different social groups in the South African social formation. The central argument of this thesis is that there is a relationship between autobiographical self-portraiture and the collective interests, values and attitudes of particular social groups in South Africa. Therefore, most South African autobiographies are more concerned with the articulation of collective consciousness than with the celebration of individual talents and achievements. Chapter 1 on Peter Abrahams explores the values underpinning the ideology of liberal humanism and their influence on the process of self-representation within the mode of autobiography. The second chapter examines the apparently contradictory conceptions of self-identity in Bloke Modisane's autobiography. Chapter three focuses on the conflict between Naboth Mokgatle's ethnic loyalty to the Bafokeng tribe and his newly acquired radical working class consciousness. The fourth chapter examines the liberal-Christian ideology in Alan Paton's two volumes of autobiography. The fifth and final chapter explores counter hegemonic modes of self-definition in Sindiwe Magona's two-volumed autobiography. In all the five chapters there is an attempt to link the authors' self-presentation to specific social classes or groups. The thesis argues for a literary-sociological approach to the analysis of autobiography and seeks to challenge the deconstructive theoretical perspectives on autobiography which, by rejecting the validity of humanist assumptions regarding human subjectivity, deny any possibility of meaningful socio-political action. / English Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (English)

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo estudar e compreender a trajetória e o contexto de vida de Gustavus Vassa (que se auto denominava, também, Olaudah Equiano) (1750- 1797), um africano que atuou como marinheiro nas embarcações do Atlântico, tendo por base sua autobiografia escrita e editada em 1789. O objetivo principal é verificar a validade desse texto enquanto fonte histórica, analisar a vida desse sujeito como marinheiro durante o período e discutir sua memória em relação ao continente africano. Pretende-se a partir de tal texto reconstruir aspectos do cotidiano dos marinheiros que trabalhavam no Atlântico durante o século XVIII, e analisar a maneira pela qual o seu autor apresenta a memória de sua comunidade de origem, a comunidade Igbo, da atual República da Nigéria, na África ocidental. Esse trabalho foi baseado principalmente na autobiografia desse homem que se intitulava Olaudah Equiano, o africano, mas que possuía um nome de batismo ocidental, Gustavus Vassa. A obra desse marinheiro tem sido reeditada desde sua primeira edição em 1789 e hoje faz parte do cânone de textos conhecidos como literatura afro-americana. São diversos os estudos ligados a outras áreas de pesquisa, como Literatura, que utilizam desse relato para estudar o cotidiano dos escravos e ex-escravos no período em questão. Nossos principais objetivos nesse trabalho foram verificar a validade desse texto enquanto fonte histórica, analisar a vida desse sujeito como marinheiro durante o período e discutir sua memória em relação ao continente africano. Procuramos colocar à prova o texto de Gustavus Vassa enquanto fonte histórica acerca do cotidiano dos marinheiros e também em relação a seu passado em África. Pretendemos, a partir do texto desse africano, reconstruir um pouco do cotidiano dos marinheiros que trabalhavam no Atlântico durante o século XVIII. Além disso, podemos também observar que muitos desses marinheiros eram africanos ou afro-americanos que engajavam-se nessa lide com o objetivo de ascender socialmente, ou mesmo para sobreviver de uma forma mais digna do que os outros escravizados nas plantations do novo mundo. / The paper aims to study and understand the biography and life context of Gustavus Vassa (who also called himself Olaudah Equiano) (1750-1797), an African who worked as a sailor in the vessels of the Atlantic. Our study is based on his autobiography, written and edited in 1789. Our main objectives in this work were to verify the validity of the text as a historical source, analyze the life of this subject as a sailor during the period of his life and discuss his memory in relation to the African continent. By analyzing the text, we also seek to reconstruct aspects of the daily life of sailors that worked in the Atlantic during the 18th century and analyze the way the author presents the memory of his native community, the Igbo who currently reside in the Republic of Nigeria in West Africa. The work was based on the autobiography of this man, who called himself Olaudah Equiano, the African, but had a western forename, Gustavos Vassa. This sailor‟s work has been reedited since its first edition in 1789 and today is part of the canon of known texts of african-american literature. There are several studies connected to other research areas, such as Literature, that use this account to study the daily life of slaves and former slaves in the period in question. We tried to put to the test Gustavus Vassa‟s text as a historical source about the lives of sailors, as well as his past in Africa. Based on this African man‟s text, we sought to reconstruct a bit of the everyday life of sailors who worked in the Atlantic during the eighteenth century. In addition, we also observed that many of these sailors were African or African-Americans who commited to this activity in order to ascend socially or even seeking a better life than other slaves in the plantations of the New World.

A presente dissertação examina o apagamento dos limites entre autobiografia e ficção na obra tardia (textos publicados nos anos 70) de Clarice Lispector, concentrando-se nas seguintes obras: Água viva (1973), A via crucis do corpo (1974) e A hora da estrela (1977). Nessa época ocorreu uma mudança drástica na escrita da autora, pois ela se envolveu com novos projetos estéticos, cujos elementos contrastam com seus textos anteriores. Lispector tende a indicar em alguns de seus últimos textos as circunstâncias de produção dos mesmos, proporcionando ao seu leitor referências sobre o tempo e o lugar de produção dessas obras, como também determinadas informações sobre a sua história pessoal no momento da escrita. As incursões autobiográficas que marcam a ficção tardia da autora tiveram estreita relação com sua produção de crônicas semanais para o Jornal do Brasil de 1967 a 1973. O modo de composição da escritora também se modificou nos anos 70, Lispector enfatizou a heterogeneidade, ao contrário dos primeiros escritos, onde predominava a homogeneidade. A heterogeneidade também se manifestou na linguagem, pois a autora interpõe trechos sublimes e artisticamente elaborados a outros escritos num estilo coloquial, e até mesmo, indecoroso. Nos seus últimos anos, Clarice Lispector parecia bastante envolvida com um tema que apareceu com freqüência na sua ficção na década de 70: a pobreza existente no mundo. Além de acrescentar à sua obra temas relacionados à crueldade social como a prostituição e crimes sexuais. No entanto, esses fatos não constituem apenas temas nas narrativas da escritora, mas, a condição mesma sob a qual ela escrevia / The present dissertation searchs for the deletion of the boundaries between autobiograghy and fiction in Clarice Lispectors late literary work (the texts published in the seventies), focusing on the following books: The stream of life (1973), Body crucifixion (1974) and The hour of the star (1977). In this time a radical change occured in the authors writings due to she was involved in new aesthetic projects whose elements differ from her previous books. Lispector tends to indicate in some of her last narratives the circumstances of production of these books, providing her readers with references about time and place of these productions, and also some information about her personal story at the moment of the writing. Her autobiographical experiences which characterize Lispectors late literary work had a close connection with her production of weekly chronicles for Jornal do Brasil from 1967 to 1973. The writers mode of composition changed as well in the seventies, Lispector emphasized the heterogeneous mode, on the contrary, in her first books the homogeneous mode prevailed. This heterogeneous characteristic was also present in the language, for the author mixed sublime passages with other writings in a colloquial and, even, offensive style. In her last years, Clarice Lispector seemed to be very involved in a theme which became usual in her fiction in that decade: the existence of poverty in the world. Furthermore, Clarice added to her fiction themes concerning social cruelties, as prostitution and social crimes. However, these facts do not represent only themes in the writers narrative, but the condition itself why she wrote

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A literatura brasileira contemporânea apresenta como uma de suas características o retorno do autor, explicado pela participação do escritor, no século XXI, no circuito midiático. A presença assídua de escritores em programas de rádio e televisão, em lançamentos de livros, em feiras literárias, em palestras e congressos etc. confere-lhes uma identidade imagética suficientemente forte para despertar nos leitores o desejo por conhecer mais amiúde o que eles têm a dizer para além do texto literário. Sua participação como personagem literário, no entanto, apesar de conter referências autobiográficas, está longe de representar uma verdade biográfica, mas, ao contrário, cria uma aura de indecisão a respeito das referências narradas. A autoficção, desse modo, seria uma crítica à noção de sujeito e ao demasiado apelo do real em nossos dias. Bernardo Carvalho é um autor exemplar de uma escrita autoficcional. Nove noites é um romance que, além de fornecer signos extratextuais importantes para a construção de uma identidade autoficcional, textualmente baralha os conceitos de verdade e mentira, ficção e realidade, resultando num texto híbrido, característico da mitificação a que se submete o autor contemporâneo. O presente trabalho, preocupado em ofertar uma novidade para os estudos literários, amplia o corpus analisado e não se limita à análise do já canônico Bernardo Carvalho. Sete outros autores somam-se a este para uma maior abrangência do panorama da literatura brasileira contemporânea. Clarah Averbuck, Milton Hatoum, Ivana Arruda Leite, Marcelo Mirisola, Cíntia Moscovich, João Gilberto Noll e Silviano Santiago completam a pesquisa em torno da autoficção / The contemporary Brazilian literature presents as one of its features the return of the author, explained by the participation of the writer, in the twenty-first century, in the media circuit. The constant presence of writers in radio and television programs, book launches, literary fairs, lectures and conferences etc. gives them an imagery identity strong enough to awaken in readers the desire to know in a more detailed way what they have to say beyond the literary text. His participation as a literary character, however, although it contains autobiographical references, it is far from being a "true" biography, but, instead, it creates an aura of indecision about the narrated references. The autofiction thus would be a criticism of the notion of subject and the exaggerated appeal of the real today. Bernardo Carvalho is an example of an author writing autofiction. Nove noites is a novel that, in addition to providing important extratextual signs to build an autofictional identity, literally shuffles the concepts of truth and lie, fiction and reality, resulting in a hybrid text, characteristic of myth-making submitted by the contemporary author. This work, concerned about offering something new to literary studies, extends the corpus analysis and it is not limited to the analysis of the already canonical Bernardo Carvalho. Seven other authors are added to him for a more comprehensive panorama of the contemporary Brazilian literature. Clarah Averbuck, Milton Hatoum, Ivana Arruda Leite, Marcelo Mirisola, Cíntia Moscovich, João Gilberto Noll and Silviano Santiago complete the search about the autofiction