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This thesis proceeds in two modes, utilizing both a critical and a creative lens to think about the use of simple language in formal writing. It examines the production of a register that categorizes insider/outsider status (the mechanics) as well as interrogating the (un)conscious attempts of authors seeking to prise into or remain removed from established cultural identity (the intention). It investigates the use of the vernacular and the informal in American writing in general and how it is ultimately reflected and reworked through an autobiographical channel: an examination of voice, register, and code-switching in my own writing. The first section, ‘Listening to Writing,' is a forensic analysis of Vonnegut and Saunders, two exemplars of literary informality in American writing. It seeks—employing the work of Sarangi, Milroy, Hunston & Thompson and others to pinpoint, at a microanalytical level, what makes the conversational conversational, and the sociolinguistic work of Austin (performativity), Giles, Coupland, and Gumperz (accommodation and identity), and Auer (code switching)—to investigate the authors' specific manipulation of pitch and register to create effect. It also appraises the historical and cultural imperative of the American abhorrence of intellectualism and hence the disdain for high-flown language and how that is reflected in not only the literature but also the very social self-positioning of the authors. The second section, ‘My Ice Age,' is an autobiographical foray into outsider/insider, normal/abnormal categories and boundaries, extending the investigation of voice and register as examined above to explore the complex nature of belonging and alienation, of community and identity, from being a white boy in an Inuit settlement to being from an Inuit settlement in Los Angeles to the complexities of belonging and alienation that arise from being gay. The juxtaposition of two different tones in ‘My Ice Age' is used to reflect the juxtapositions of geographic and temporal otherness, the distance (formality) and increased vernacular in the Los Angeles sections reflecting a need to fit in, to forge a place for myself both geographically and socially through the use of voice and register. Both the critical and the creative lenses elucidate use of simple language and variations of registers to create sociological bonds/alienation. Simple language—and humour—forges communion with reader. The adoption of the vernacular, therefore, has a purpose beyond mere stylistics, in that it also is used in a social and community building (or razing) way. In other words, the use of informality becomes a performative speech act.

The creative component of a Doctor of Creative Arts thesis submitted under the general title The shelter of honour. / Doctor of Creative Arts

This thesis attempts to identify authors' attitudes toward late eighteenth century London prostitutes. Through the examination of several selected sources, one can isolate feelings that eighteenth century writers had about prostitution and those who practiced it. In these works, prostitutes were always rendered as of the lower orders, which the authors acknowledged and emphasized in their writings. What is striking is that none of these authors acknowledged the culpability of the male in the client-prostitute relationship. Therefore, in a close examination of eighteenth century authors' views of prostitutes, one can find both classist and sexist attitudes. The incorrect formulation of the situation is ironic, given that most of the writers of such works were attempting to reform English society and devalue the debauchery and lust that prostitution represented to them. The thesis begins by providing historical background of the lives of prostitutes in late eighteenth century England, showing that the prostitutes provided services to men of higher social and economic classes than they were, and were often young and economically disadvantaged. The main textual chapters are divided into three sections: the first examines works directly related to the Magdalen Charity for repentant prostitutes, namely sermons and titles written to govern or establish the charity, and finds that the authors of these works viewed the prostitute as someone who needed to be instructed in the correct ways to live her life. The second analyzes short works written to address what their writers saw as the problem of prostitution, and discovers that although these writers found different reasons for the causes of prostitution, they all agreed that prostitutes debased society and needed to reform so that the nation would not be ruined. The third researches works of fiction and advice literature, and determines that although women in these works were presented as wealthier than actual prostitutes were, they nonetheless were of the lower orders and should protect themselves from clever and seductive men. The conclusion emphasizes the ways that this study provides new insight into the problem of prostitution and how that relates to race and class in modern society.

During the first two decades of the 17th century King Philip III (1598-1621) of Spain and Portugal launched an effort to standardize all shipbuilding in the Iberian Peninsula. These efforts of standardization constitute an important collection of information about Iberian shipbuilding practices of that period. This thesis will analyze the content of the three sets of ordinances, issued in 1607, 1613 and 1618, in the context of the history of the Iberian Peninsula, the regulation of the Carrera de Indias (Indies Trade), and Spanish shipbuilding practices based on written sources of that period.

This thesis attempts to identify authors' attitudes toward late eighteenth century London prostitutes. Through the examination of several selected sources, one can isolate feelings that eighteenth century writers had about prostitution and those who practiced it. In these works, prostitutes were always rendered as of the lower orders, which the authors acknowledged and emphasized in their writings. What is striking is that none of these authors acknowledged the culpability of the male in the client-prostitute relationship. Therefore, in a close examination of eighteenth century authors' views of prostitutes, one can find both classist and sexist attitudes. The incorrect formulation of the situation is ironic, given that most of the writers of such works were attempting to reform English society and devalue the debauchery and lust that prostitution represented to them. The thesis begins by providing historical background of the lives of prostitutes in late eighteenth century England, showing that the prostitutes provided services to men of higher social and economic classes than they were, and were often young and economically disadvantaged. The main textual chapters are divided into three sections: the first examines works directly related to the Magdalen Charity for repentant prostitutes, namely sermons and titles written to govern or establish the charity, and finds that the authors of these works viewed the prostitute as someone who needed to be instructed in the correct ways to live her life. The second analyzes short works written to address what their writers saw as the problem of prostitution, and discovers that although these writers found different reasons for the causes of prostitution, they all agreed that prostitutes debased society and needed to reform so that the nation would not be ruined. The third researches works of fiction and advice literature, and determines that although women in these works were presented as wealthier than actual prostitutes were, they nonetheless were of the lower orders and should protect themselves from clever and seductive men. The conclusion emphasizes the ways that this study provides new insight into the problem of prostitution and how that relates to race and class in modern society.

Many scholars of the Reconstruction era have examined James Webb Throckmorton??s political career between 1860 and 1867 and have revealed that his racist views helped hasten the end of Radical Reconstruction in Texas. However, these scholars have not explained the motivations behind Throckmorton??s political ideology, nor have they explained adequately the origins of the North Texan??s racism. This dissertation focuses on these critical issues by examining the development of Throckmorton??s personal and political beliefs between 1850 and 1874. It shows that Throckmorton??s political ideology was influenced by four primary factors: his early experiences on the North Texas frontier, his desire to create a community on the frontier that was primarily designed to be a haven for white settlers, his commitment to political conservatism which evolved from his early affiliation with Whig political ideology, and his quest to bring economic improvement to the North Texas region. In contrast to other scholarly works on Throckmorton which claim that the North Texan??s political views were contradictory and inconsistent, this study demonstrates that Throckmorton??s ideological beliefs remained constant and changed little over time. His commitment to preserving the whiteness of the frontier, to protecting the settlers of his home region, to conservative political ideology, and to internal improvements, especially railroads, never wavered during one of the most turbulent periods in Texas politics. This study also reinforces several important conclusions about the South in the nineteenth century: The region was never a homogeneous society; southern racism was multifaceted; and southern settlers migrating westward, especially those from the Upper South, viewed the frontier as a potential escape from the political and social dominance of large slaveholders.

This thesis examines the specifically literary aspects of the Midlands Enlightenment. This movement of cultural, social, political, and economic modernisation took place in the Midlands in the late eighteenth century. The movement involved leaders in many fields of culture, science, technology, and commercial enterprise. A major channel for its development and dissemination wiS literary. The rise of the reading public ensured a wide readership for literary works and lent high cultural status to the enlightenment project, for those involved in this movement appropriated many literary genres to their cause. The thesis consists of an introduction, describing the Midlands Enlightenment, followed by chapters on key figures, their circles, and their writings: Erasmus Darwin, Anna Seward, Richard Lovell Edgeworth and Maria Edgeworth, and Robert Bage. The Industrial Revolution in Britain had its origins in the Midlands, led by members of the Midlands Enlightenment, including Matthew Boulton, James Watt, James Keir, Joseph priestley, Josiah Wedgwood. These men were all members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and they made major contributions to science, technology, commerce, and education, as well as contributing to a growing regional political consciousness. Their ideas on many kinds of social, cultural, political, and economic reform were discussed and disseminated not only through such circles as the Lunar society but also through writing of various kinds, including educational treatises, poems, novels, scientific reports, and other kinds of literature. Women were also able to participate in this enlightenment through print culture and education. The thesis will show how the incorporation of the ideas of the Midlands Enlightenment required innovation in literary form as well as theme and content. The thesis will constitute historical recuperation and increase understanding of the way writing and literature were implicated in broader social, political, and economic development.

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy