Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

This manuscript examines the cultural history of rural North China, as seen through the production, circulation, content and interpretation of graphic wood-block prints, known as nianhua. The spatial focus is on a fixed set of print producing villages on the North China plain. The temporal focus encompasses the late 1800s through the early 1960s. In examining how nianhua were produced and distributed in late 19th and early 20th century North China, I show that the village print industry was prescriptive in organization. This organization was a basic factor in delimiting form and iconography in print, since it imposed limits on the free appropriation of texts, and directed the way in which they were read. Having accounted for these factors, I consider how perceptions of the social, physical and ethical world were put into print, and how print in turn configured perceptions of the world. Since print is thus socially derived, print and its interpretation are considered in terms of responses to social change, and the capacity of print to effect change. The environment in which village print is structured is variously considered to be formed by the following: the physical space of the home; late-imperial narrative structures (and their residual perpetuation beyond the decline of the political regime); narrative structures produced through technological change and expanded translocal experience; and state-centred reform beginning in the Republican era, and reaching its conclusion under communism. I conclude that narratives which began as superscriptive and authoritative structures, were appropriated and re-structured by the specific conditions of the production, distribution, and display of print in the village. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

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M.A. / The inability and shortcomings of current scientific models, methods and theories to fully and effectively explain certain phenomena and provide certain solutions to everyday problems, is a great cause for concern. The ruling Newtonian scientific paradigm that serves as the foundation for current scientific methods and theories, provides an insufficient ontological basis for studying and explaining complex and interdependent phenomena and questions. The attempt to explain and address problems and phenomena from this deterministic and fragmented viewpoint, was generally unsuccessful - an instance that is especially prominent in the social sciences. As with most fields of study, Development studies is also affected by the abovementioned reality. Development theories and approaches are still being distinguished by singular and fragmented approaches and views, where only single facets of the development process are being addressed. These theories and approaches also try to find solutions for development problems from a Western, First World perspective. Local communities' meaning-giving context was, and still is, rarely considered as part of the development equation and development as viewed by the West, was consequently "enforced" on these communities. In recent years there has been a shift in emphasis to a search for approaches that are inclusive, non-deterministic and process-driven which would better explain complex behaviour, problematique and phenomena. This tendency is also to be found in all the fields of scientific inquiry, including Development studies. In view of the abovementioned reality, it is subsequently necessary to examine the holistic ontology as it provides a clear and essential, albeit supplementary, alternative to the Newtonian scientific paradigm. The holistic ontology, which manifests concepts like linearity, causation, determinism, objectivity and inductive reasoning, differs from the Newtonian scientific paradigm in that it represents an opposite reality where concepts such as process, context and recursive relationships play a central role. The holistic ontology is also non-linear, non-causal and non-deterministic in nature. This dissertation then focuses on the holistic ontology as applied to development studies. The topics that receive attention in this dissertation are the meaning and goals of the concept of "development", the evolution of development theory, the concept and nature of holism and how the holistic ontology can be applied and operationalised in terms of development. It becomes evident that holism can contribute in a positive manner towards the whole development discourse and that this approach will sensitise developers (on a conscious level) of the importance of communities' recursive relationships and meaning-giving context in the development process. The holistic ontology thus provides, for the first time, a clear and definite alternative to the current fragmented Newtonian-based approaches from where development can be implemented.

Though previous scholarship has placed emphasis on the anti-familial rhetoric employed by ancient Christians, Christian discourse on motherhood was actually quite mixed. I demonstrate this point by examining specific representations of motherhood in fourth-century Latin sources. In the first and last chapters, I look at the use of motherhood in figurative language, especially as it was used to understand the nature of God and the character of women's asceticism. Though one might expect some Christians to have excluded motherhood from their frame of reference, even the most strident proponents of asceticism used motherhood to "think with," suggesting the appropriation of motherhood as a Christian means for signification. Other chapters address representations of specific mothers, including Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine; Monica, the mother of Augustine; and Melania the Elder and Paula, two aristocratic mothers devoted to asceticism. In each instance, Christians offered qualified praise – and, sometimes, qualified criticism – of motherhood as a vocation for Christian women. The result of this study is a more nuanced understanding of Christian motherhood in the fourth century, one that shifts the focus from the repudiation of reproduction and the evils of parenthood to a greater emphasis on the ambiguity of the family. Finally, this provides important insights into the negotiation of the ascendance of asceticism and the melding of Roman and Christian values. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2017. / April 5, 2017. / Christianity & the family, late ancient Christianity, motherhood / Includes bibliographical references. / Nicole Kelley, Professor Directing Dissertation; Laurel Fulkerson, University Representative; Matthew Goff, Committee Member; David Levenson, Committee Member.

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黃微子. / "2007年9月". / 論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2007. / 參考文獻(leaves 93-99). / "2007 nian 9 yue". / Abstract also in English. / Huang Weizi. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2007. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 93-99). / Chapter 第一章 --- 香港想像和主流意識形態 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一節 --- 香港想像的蹤跡 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二節 --- 主流意識形態的主體 --- p.7 / Chapter 第三節 --- 《香港風情》的“風情´ح --- p.12 / Chapter 第四節 --- 合法化香港和現代化大陸 --- p.16 / Chapter 第二章 --- 天堂的光和地洞的火 --- p.20 / Chapter 第一節 --- “浮出歷史地表´ح --- p.20 / Chapter 第二節 --- 天堂般的燈火 --- p.24 / Chapter 第三節 --- 地洞中的墮落 --- p.30 / Chapter 第四節 --- 曖昧的光影交疊 --- p.36 / Chapter 第三章 --- 學習現代和重置傳統 --- p.42 / Chapter 第一節 --- 學習現代 --- p.42 / Chapter 第二節 --- 重置傳統 --- p.48 / Chapter 第三節 --- “不爭論´ح與整合 --- p.53 / Chapter 第四章 --- 觀看、移情和越界追逐 --- p.60 / Chapter 第一節 --- 觀看、移情 --- p.60 / Chapter 第二節 --- 越界追逐 --- p.65 / Chapter 第三節 --- “香港化´ح與“中華性´ح --- p.71 / Chapter 第五章 --- 從預言到跨越 --- p.78 / Chapter 第一節 --- 書寫與建構 --- p.78 / Chapter 第二節 --- 呈現與遮蔽 --- p.83 / Chapter 第三節 --- 從1997到2007 --- p.85 / 參考文獻 --- p.93

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (February 23, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 396-416).