This thesis offers an interdisciplinary approach to the period between c. AD 400 and 650 in the Lincoln region, considering in depth not only the archaeological evidence, but also the historical, literary and linguistic. It is argued that by using all of this material together, significant advances can be made in our understanding of what occurred in these centuries, most especially with regard to Anglian-British interaction in this period. It is contended that this evidence, when taken together, requires that a British polity named *Lindēs was based at Lincoln into the sixth century, and that the seventh-century Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Lindsey (Old English Lindissi < Late British *Lindēs-) had an intimate connection to this British political unit. In addition to investigating the evidence for Anglian-British interaction in this region and the potential legacies of British *Lindēs, this thesis also provides a detailed analysis of the nature of the Anglo-Saxon population-groups that were present in the Lincoln region from the mid-fifth century onwards, including those of *Lindēs-Lindissi and also more southerly groups, such as the Spalde/Spaldingas. The picture which emerges is arguably not simply of importance from the perspective of the history of the Lincoln region but also nationally, helping to answer key questions regarding the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the nature and extent of Anglian-British interaction in the core areas of Anglo-Saxon immigration, and the conquest and settlement of Northumbria.

Writing in 2001, musicologist Axel Klein concluded that Stanford’s reception history has been significantly impacted by the complicated national identities surrounding both the composer and his music. A lifelong devotee of the nineteenth-century Austro-Germanic tradition, Stanford’s status as an Irish-born leading figure of the ‘English’ Musical Renaissance has compromised the place that the composer and his musical output occupy within the history of Western music. Stanford is well-known for being an outspoken critic on matters musical and Irish. Although his views seldom appear ambiguous, there is still a sense that the real Stanford remains partially obscured by his opinions. Through an examination of his symphonic works, this thesis seeks to readdress our understanding of Stanford and his relationship with Ireland and the musical community of his time. Although A. Peter Brown has stated that the symphony was not a central genre for the composer, it is my argument that, on the contrary, the symphony was a pivotal form for him. Considering these works within the broader history of the symphony in Europe in the nineteenth century, and through a critical examination of Stanford’s relationship with Ireland, this thesis seeks to demonstrate that these seven works can be read as an allegory for the composer’s relationship both with his homeland and with the musical community of his time. His struggle to combine the universality of symphonic expression with a need to articulate his Irish identity parallels Stanford’s own attempts to integrate himself within both British and European musical communities, and further demonstrates, in his eventual rejection of it, that it was only when he attempted to forge a more individualistic path through his music that he found a way of expressing his individual Irish identity.

Many questions are still left unanswered regarding the period c. 450-700 AD, when hordes of Anglo-Saxon migrants landed on the British Isles and by doing so made the starting point in the foundation of England. Who were these Germanic tribes? The theories of how the migration proceeded are today many. The two major theories today concerns whether it was a question of a mass migration or a gradual migration proceeded by smaller groups of military elite. Another interesting point, well worth discussing, is the concept of cultural identity, and especially of these Anglo-Saxon migrants. How do you strengthen your identity as a newcomer in foreign country? Is this reflected in the material culture, in the way you build your houses or how you choose to bury your dead? The purpose of this essay is to shed more light on the migrants that were to become the English.

Negli ultimi anni l’autore americano John Edward Williams (1922-1994) è stato riscoperto grazie all’incredibile successo del suo terzo romanzo, "Stoner" (1965), ripubblicato negli Stati Uniti nel 2006 e apparso in Europa tra il 2009 e il 2013. Per molto tempo Williams era stato uno scrittore poco considerato dal pubblico e dalla critica perché la sua prosa misurata ed elegante era in controtendenza rispetto alle forme dominanti nella letteratura americana della seconda metà del Novecento. Oggi egli è apprezzato soprattutto come maestro di stile, ma l’analisi dei suoi tre romanzi principali ("Butcher’s Crossing", "Stoner", "Augustus") rivela anche altri aspetti originali della sua opera. Innanzitutto, Williams sfida le rappresentazioni egemoniche dell’eroismo americano: i suoi protagonisti sono, infatti, caratterizzati dalla capacità di sopportazione, dalla pazienza e dal senso di responsabilità verso il loro lavoro. Inoltre, egli si distanzia dalle narrazioni trionfalistiche della storia statunitense: tracciando la parabola discente dell’impero americano dalla fine dell’Ottocento fino al secondo dopoguerra, i suoi romanzi mostrano come una nazione fondata sulla conquista, la distruzione e le disuguaglianze sociali sia destinata all’autodistruzione. Nel primo capitolo di questa tesi viene tratteggiata la carriera di Williams come romanziere, accademico, critico e poeta, esaminando le sue posizioni letterarie nel contesto culturale degli anni Sessanta e Settanta. I tre capitolo successivi sono invece dedicati a "Butcher’s Crossing" (1960), "Stoner" e "Augustus" (1972), analizzati in relazione ai loro sottogeneri (western, "academic novel" e romanzo storico) e ad alcuni temi che emergono nell’opera di Williams (la relazione tra l’uomo e la natura, l’eredità puritana, la raffigurazione dei personaggi femminili). / In recent years, the American author John Edward Williams (1922–1994) has been rediscovered, thanks to the incredible success of his third novel, "Stoner" (1965), which was republished in the United States in 2006 and appeared in Europe between 2009 and 2013. For a long time, Williams had been neglected as a writer because his restrained and elegant prose was antithetical to the dominant forms of late-twentieth-century American literature. Today he is considered a master of style, but an analysis of his three major novels ("Butcher’s Crossing", "Stoner", and "Augustus") reveals other original elements in his fiction. First, Williams challenges hegemonic representations of American heroism: his protagonists are characterized by endurance, patience, and a sense of responsibility to their jobs. Moreover, Williams distances himself from triumphalist narrations of American history: tracing the descending parable of the American empire from the end of the nineteenth century to the second half of the twentieth century, his novels show that a nation founded on violence, conquest, and social contradictions is bound to destroy itself. In the first chapter of this thesis, I trace Williams’s career as a novelist, academic, critic, and poet, examining his literary positions in the cultural context of the sixties and seventies. The study then proceeds by analyzing "Butcher’s Crossing" (1960), "Stoner", and "Augustus" (1972) in relation to their subgenres (Western, academic novel, and historical novel) and some themes that emerge in Williams’s writing (the relationship between man and nature, the American Puritan heritage, and the representation of female characters).

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1952 S22 / Master of Science

The Anglo-Saxon patron often commissioned images in which he or she bears a visual rendering of his or her donation. The donor’s model is often overlooked in modern scholarship because there is no existing framework with which to address larger issues raised by the image type. This thesis proposes a framework developed through a close reading of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Using the Old English literary trope of the tacen, or in modern English, the token, this thesis seeks to reframe the donor’s model in order to understand how the model creates meaning. Like the donor’s model found in medieval donor portraits, the tacen in Anglo-Saxon literature is a held object that in large part symbolizes the gift giver’s relationship with the community. This thesis argues that beyond merely a model used to attribute patronage, the tacen found in Anglo-Saxon donor portraits acts simultaneously as a visual record of an event and an object used to teach and encourage viewers. Viewing the donor’s model as a tacen also surpasses the purely historical function of the image type by allowing the representation of the model to transcend both time and space. Using the concept of the tacen as a framework for analysis demands that an entirely new set of questions be asked of Anglo-Saxon donor portraits (and potentially all medieval donor portraits) in which a model is featured. This thesis strives to answer the how instead of the what. And in doing so it has the potential to foster a greater understanding of the image type that spread, by the requests of patrons, throughout the Anglo-Saxon world and the wider medieval world. Beyond cultivating a greater understanding of the medieval donor portrait, this thesis underlines the profound connections between medieval literature and art and highlights the advantages of interdisciplinary scholarship. / text

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis investigates British fictional representations of India in novels, plays and poetry from 1772 to 1823. Rather than simply correlating literary portrayals to shifting colonial context and binary power relationships, the project relates representations to the impact of India on British popular culture, and print capitalism’s role in defining and promulgating national identity and proto-global awareness. The study contends that the internal historical development of the literary modes – the stage play, the novel and verse – as well as consumer expectations, were hugely influential in shaping fictional portrayals of the subcontinent. In addition, it argues that the literary representations of India were contingent upon authors’ gender, class and their lived or lack of lived experience in the subcontinent. The project seeks to use literary texts as case studies to explore the growing commoditisation of culture, the developing literary marketplace and an emerging sense of national identity. The thesis proposes that the aforementioned discourses and anxieties are embodied within the very literary forms of British India narratives. In addition, it seeks to determine shifts in how Britain’s relationship with the subcontinent was imagined and how events in colonial India were perceived by the general public. Furthermore, the project utilises literary texts as sites to explore the discursive and epistemological strategies that Britons engaged in to either justify or confront their country’s role as a colonising nation.

This investigation is concerned with the determination of the exact nature of Anglo-Spanish relations during World War I. It examines the nature of these relations in an attempt to define Spain's commitment to her neutrality policy and the amount of pressure placed upon Spain by Britain in order to force Spain to adopt a policy of at least "benevolent neutrality." Most historical accounts heretofore have accepted the idea that Spain simply refused to abandon her neutrality policy.