Inaug.-Diss.--Halle. / Vita.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 209-216).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Virginia, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-55).

A number of historians have studied the meanings of reputation in early modern English society through the medium of defamation cases in the church courts. More recent work has tended to focus on the gendering of participation in ecclesiastical litigation and the differences in the ways that men and women constructed and maintained their good names. This thesis takes a broader approach, and places defamation cases firmly in their legal and social context. The main focus of this thesis is a sample of defamation cases from the Chester consistory court in the later seventeenth century; this is supplemented by material from the church courts of Sussex and various secular tribunals in both Cheshire and Sussex. A discussion of the law forms an important part of this thesis for it shaped both the patterns of participation in litigation and the content of insults that were alleged. A central objective of this thesis is to discuss the complexity of the gendering of reputation in this period and to show that reputation was not as rigidly polarised around gender as has previously been thought. It explores the ways in which reputation was constructed for both men and women and relates this to both the sorts of social relationships which tended to produce litigation, and the mechanisms of social control which operated within communities. It is argued that defamation litigation reveals much more about attitudes to gender relations, reputation and social order than has been realised hitherto, and that reputation was experienced not as an abstract value, but in relation to the social situations of individual women and men.

[No Abstract Submitted] / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Although a few summaries of the results gained in certain limited areas of Tristan scholarship have appeared, a comprehensive historical study of its development has not yet been made. In this dissertation the ideas and achievements of successive generations of critics are presented and conclusions drawn as to the trends in intellectual history which account for the distinct changes in methods, attitudes and interests. The opening chapter discusses the theories on the origins of the medieval Tristan romances in oral and literary tradition. After examining the earliest speculations about the geographical birthplace of romance it then presents the views of the Romantics concerning the historical and mythological sources of the legend and the language of the first Tristan poem. As shown in the review of subsequent origin research, opinions about the oral diffusion became sharply divided; when this, the "insular-continental debate," subsided, scholars turned their attention first to reconstructing the archetypal poem and later to interpretation of the extant material. The first of three chapters dealing with Gottfried's Tristan describes the recovery of manuscripts, studies of the transmission, and preparation of editions. The second surveys the changing patterns in Gottfried criticism up to the beginning of the twentieth century: after an enthusiastic reception among the early Romantics Gottfried's poem, though still admired by the minority which posited mythological origins, was condemned by most literary historians on grounds of immorality and blasphemy. Later critics were preoccupied with eliciting the poet's biography from his work and assessing the extent of his dependence on Thomas of Brittany. The question of Gottfried's originality maintained its prominent position in twentieth-century interpretations, examined in the next chapter. To most critics the novelty in his treatment lay in the association of Tristan-love with religion, and the problems arising from this relationship were frequently discussed in terms of the medieval "Zeitgeist." Implicit throughout this study and elaborated in the conclusion are the links between Tristan scholarship and intellectual history. For example, the eighteenth-century idea of human nature influenced the early theories of origins; when the Enlightenment aversion to the medieval period had been overcome, the new interest in history, mythology and the age of chivalry among the Romantics accounted for some approaches to the material, but other attitudes (e.g., denigrations of Gottfried's poem and the lack of interest in producing a reliable edition) reflected current nationalistic tendencies and hostility towards the French—from whom Gottfried borrowed the theme. Later developments (source studies, genealogical research into manuscripts and extant versions, quasi-mechanical reconstructions, biographies) typified the scientific outlook of positivism. Gottfried's independence of Thomas, at first underplayed for political reasons, finally attracted attention in the twentieth century when interpretation became the primary concern among scholars. Both the general interest in finding an adequate definition of Tristan-love and the methods adopted in interpretations of Gottfried's amatory doctrine showed the marked impact exerted by "Geistesgeschichte" on literary criticism. Depth psychology and modern political ideologies (National Socialism and Marxism) have also determined the approach taken by some scholars. It appears that Tristan scholarship is now moving in new directions, for in recent research into the structure and symbolism of Gottfried's poem hypotheses about the metaphysical background have been displaced by intrinsic study of the work itself. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

An optical character recognition system was developed using the Lexiphone, a direct-translation reading machine for the blind, interfaced to a digital computer. The system was designed to read alphanumeric typewritten characters. In the development stages one serifed type-style was used exclusively. Three additional different, but serifed, type-styles were also used. Classification was performed by a method referred to as "component deletion". This method extends a nearest neighbours classification scheme enabling feature vectors differing in length by one two-bit segment to be compared by making their dimensionality the same. The method includes the classification of equal length vectors. The component deletion technique provided similar results to exact matching yet required significantly less training. Using carbon ribbon print, recognition was better than 92% for the four type-styles combined. The use of cloth ribbon for the type-style used in the development lowered recognition by a few percent. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

This thesis examines the myth and legend of Don Juan and the development of the dramatic character prior to 1800.

The study seeks to evaluate Naga ga di etelane and examine the author’s craftsmanship in integrating theme and character. A closer analysis of the play indicates that the theme is encapsulated in three facets: • Exile • Wandering and • Rootlessness / Mini-Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / African Languages / Unrestricted

Abstract This study of leader character located within the emerging construct of Responsible Leadership (RL) is conducted from a virtue business ethics perspective. A review of the leadership literature reveals that although there is a need for leaders of character, little is known about the concept of leader character from a research perspective. Leadership researchers note that current research methods are not satisfactory for gaining an understanding of the enigmatic nature of leader character. To address this shortcoming, this research examines the concept of leader character from a philosophical virtue ethics perspective. The emerging construct of RL is a normative theory of leadership that considers leaders’ responsibilities within our global societal context and resonates with the moral and societal themes of virtue ethics. The nature of this study of leadership is from a humanities perspective that seeks to apply moral philosophy to understand the whole of leadership, and is in contrast to a social science study of leadership. The works of the moral philosophers Aristotle and Alasdair MacIntyre are interpreted by applying the method of hermeneutics in gaining an understanding of character. This virtue understanding of the concept of character, which forms the foundation of the concept of leader character, is informed by business ethics research from an Aristotelian and MacIntyrean perspective. The conceptual foundation of RL is extended by exploring leader character, which lies at its core, taking the form of a virtue model of leader character. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / National Research Foundation (NRF) / Business Management / PhD / Unrestricted