A temática desta tese é a representação da natureza no pensamento social e na literatura brasileira entre as últimas décadas do século XIX e as primeiras do século XX, e suas relações com a emergência de um sentido de modernidade na cultura do país. As fontes pesquisadas foram obras de caráter político, historiográfico, sociológico e literário, compreendendo narrativas de ficção e de não ficção. Os eixos principais adotados em sua abordagem foram: a busca de relações entre os aspectos da natureza brasileira e a formação histórica, política e social do país; a concepção do conflito e da violência na descrição da atividade humana no território; a imagem do sertão na formação da sensibilidade e do sentimento da vida brasileira; a inserção do espaço natural nos projetos de modernização concebidos pela intelectualidade do país, no sentido da promoção do controle, do uso prático e da fruição estética da natureza. / This thesis aims to study the representation of nature in social thought and literature, from the last decades of the XIXth century to the first ones of the XXth, and its connections with the creation of a sense of modernity in Brazilian culture. Its sources consist in works of politics, history, sociology and literature, comprising both ficcion and essay. The main axes adopted to this approach are: the conception of relations between Brazilian natural aspects and its history, political life and society; the use of the ideas of conflict and violence to the description of the human intervention in national territory; the image of the inlands to the development of a brazilian sensibility; the presence of nature in the projects of modernization conceived by the intelligentsia, in order to promote control, best practical use and aesthetical enjoyment of nature.

This study is focused on some individuals' experience of the concept of culture in their everyday life. Some questions about culture were asked to some persons living in a small village in the isle of Gotland and some persons in the capital of Sweden, Stockholm, in the autumn in 2007 in a field study. The study showed that peopele tend to shape their own life world in the continuous activity in their near surroundings, in the garden and in reading literature and listening to music. There were some differences in the life world depending on where they lived,  in the country side or in town. Urban life has more offers as to popera and theatres but negatively more violence and stress. A study of literature on the ethnological concept of culture is included. The answers of the individuals also led to different topics such as nostalgia, mind, fear, feelings, body and soul which were enlightened by scientist from the respective fields.

This thesis studies fictional narratives of the countryside by writers of rural origin in English and Chinese literature in relation to the "countryside ideal." The term, borrowed from Michael Bunce, describes an ancient as well as modern theme in literature, which sees the countryside as a desirable "home." The conventional construction of the countryside by urban writers sustains this ideal with simplistic and static images. My thesis extends the discussion beyond the idyllic countryside in the mainstream of Anglo-American culture and the genteel culture in China to concentrate on Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), Shen Congwen (1902-1988), and Mo Yan (b. 1956), who all have personal relations with the countryside and who enrich its image with accounts of actual life, reconnecting it to authentic home place. I discuss fictional narratives of the rural homelands of the three writers not as unmediated transcriptions but as cultural constructs, which are shaped by different literary traditions and responsive to specific historical contexts. My approach is mainly text-based, but supplemented by references to each writer's cultural and historical contexts. The Introduction situates these writers and their rural homelands in relation to the specific interest in the countryside in each writer's cultural milieu. Chapter One reads Hardy's reconstruction of the countryside in light of the struggle for existence in a Darwinian natural world. Hardy's sombre-looking rural landscapes highlight the complex difficulties of rural life and the moral and intellectual qualities required to survive in such a world. Chapter Two studies Shen Congwen's justification of rural culture in the midst of nationalist aspirations for globalization. His multi-layered fictionalization of the rural homeland centres on the image of water, a root symbol of Chinese culture, merging traditional Chinese culture with modernist vitalism. Chapter three examines Mo Yan's reconstruction of the rural homeland after the severe disruption of Chinese culture during the Mao era. Mo Yan's magic realist reconstruction testifies to the repression of the genius loci of his rural homeland by politics and expresses a desire to be reconnected with the original homeland through sensual bonds rather than detached observations. These writers' narratives redefine the countryside in relation to "home" as a centre for meaningful activities. The fact that they reappropriate and situate rural life and work in specific cultural traditions and diverse forms of modernity is manifested in their unique and irreplaceable literary constructions. I will offset Hardy's writing against that of the two Chinese writers, in order to clarify their rich and diverse cultural implications. Whereas Hardy subjects his fictional rural landscape to a scientific approach, Shen Congwen reconfirms traditional Chinese culture, linking it with the ideals of the May Fourth movement for renewal and revitalization. Mo Yan, for his part, combines the rural perspective and faith in the land with a modernist use of magic realism. Fictionalizations of the rural homeland thus reveal complex interactions with modernity.

From Preface: In this thesis it is proposed to examine the pastoral vision, symbolized by Eden, which permeates Clare's poetry, as it is reflected in The Shepherd's Calendar, the sonnets (certain of which will be analysed in detail) and a group of lyrics. This pastoral vision, while including time and space, transcends them in such a way that Eternity becomes an important concept in Clare's pastoral poems. The final chapter of this thesis will, therefore, concentrate on this aspect of Clare's pastoral vision, not by attempting to define Clare's understanding of Eternity, but by illustrating it in four of his lyrics. Because of the lack of a full and reliable text of the complete works of John Clare and the inability of the present writer to establish for certain the chronological order of his poems, there will be no attempt in this thesis to show a development in Clare's poetry. Nor will there be an attempt to evaluate in the light of Clare's "madness" those poems known to have been written while he was in a mental asylum - a non-literary study requiring knowledge associated with the discipline of psychology; and the present writer concurs in the opinion that "it is the continuity of Clare's life and ways of thought and feeling which claims one's attention, rather than the disruptions of insanity".

This thesis studies fictional narratives of the countryside by writers of rural origin in English and Chinese literature in relation to the "countryside ideal." The term, borrowed from Michael Bunce, describes an ancient as well as modern theme in literature, which sees the countryside as a desirable "home." The conventional construction of the countryside by urban writers sustains this ideal with simplistic and static images. My thesis extends the discussion beyond the idyllic countryside in the mainstream of Anglo-American culture and the genteel culture in China to concentrate on Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), Shen Congwen (1902-1988), and Mo Yan (b. 1956), who all have personal relations with the countryside and who enrich its image with accounts of actual life, reconnecting it to authentic home place. I discuss fictional narratives of the rural homelands of the three writers not as unmediated transcriptions but as cultural constructs, which are shaped by different literary traditions and responsive to specific historical contexts. My approach is mainly text-based, but supplemented by references to each writer's cultural and historical contexts. The Introduction situates these writers and their rural homelands in relation to the specific interest in the countryside in each writer's cultural milieu. Chapter One reads Hardy's reconstruction of the countryside in light of the struggle for existence in a Darwinian natural world. Hardy's sombre-looking rural landscapes highlight the complex difficulties of rural life and the moral and intellectual qualities required to survive in such a world. Chapter Two studies Shen Congwen's justification of rural culture in the midst of nationalist aspirations for globalization. His multi-layered fictionalization of the rural homeland centres on the image of water, a root symbol of Chinese culture, merging traditional Chinese culture with modernist vitalism. Chapter three examines Mo Yan's reconstruction of the rural homeland after the severe disruption of Chinese culture during the Mao era. Mo Yan's magic realist reconstruction testifies to the repression of the genius loci of his rural homeland by politics and expresses a desire to be reconnected with the original homeland through sensual bonds rather than detached observations. These writers' narratives redefine the countryside in relation to "home" as a centre for meaningful activities. The fact that they reappropriate and situate rural life and work in specific cultural traditions and diverse forms of modernity is manifested in their unique and irreplaceable literary constructions. I will offset Hardy's writing against that of the two Chinese writers, in order to clarify their rich and diverse cultural implications. Whereas Hardy subjects his fictional rural landscape to a scientific approach, Shen Congwen reconfirms traditional Chinese culture, linking it with the ideals of the May Fourth movement for renewal and revitalization. Mo Yan, for his part, combines the rural perspective and faith in the land with a modernist use of magic realism. Fictionalizations of the rural homeland thus reveal complex interactions with modernity. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

La presente tesis doctoral aborda el tema rural en el estado de Tamaulipas, México. Estudia los casos de dos municipios: Casas y Güémez. Analiza los factores que son inhibidos por el sistema ejidal para alcanzar el desarrollo de las familias ejidatarias. Tiene como su centro de análisis al Ejido, como fenómeno político agrario y mediante una metodología deductiva, a lo largo de siete capítulos, describe y explica la presencia de agentes internos y externos en la compleja problemática que enfrenta el campesino ejidatario. Para ello hace uso de la cartografía existente sobre la tenencia de tierra en México y en Tamaulipas. Al mismo tiempo, con el uso de estadísticas oficiales y otras recabadas en campo se procede a estudiar aquellos factores que inhiben la posibilidad de acceder al desarrollo integral de los productores ejidatarios. La tesis, puede describirse en dos grandes planos, uno teórico-conceptual que se aborda en cuatro capítulos, abordando los estudios, los conceptos, la legislación histórica y actual de los ejidos. La relación de los ejidatarios con la pobreza, la marginación y el desarrollo desde una perspectiva oficial. Y la otra parte, práctico-analítica, que profundiza en el estudio de la geografía, la economía, educación, salud, vivienda, ingreso, política y legislación del ejido en un contexto estatal, municipal y ejidal. En conclusión, el ejido continúa como objeto de estudio desde diversas ópticas, ésta tesis las integra y las discute para convocar al diseño de políticas rurales que respondan a las demandas particulares de la regiones. Estudiando más desde adentro hacia fuera; la tesis redunda en la participación importante del ejidatario en conseguir el desarrollo, como él la ha pensado. El abordaje de los agentes centrales, nos ha permitido saber que la calidad es su estructura primordial, que no se trata de contar con servicios o derechohabiencias cuya calidad no cumple con la demanda requerida. / The following doctoral dissertation deals with the rural topic in Tamaulipas, México. It studies the cases of two town councils: Casas and Güémez. It has as its core analysis the Cooperative land, as an agrarian political phenomenon and by means of a deductive methodology. Throughout seven chapters, it describes and explains the presence of inner and external agents in the complex issues that the cooperative countryman faces. To achieve this, it makes use of the existent cartography over the tendency of land in Mexico and in Tamaulipas. At the same time, with the use of official statistics and some other gathered in field, it proceeds to study those factors that inhibit the possibility to access the integral development of the cooperative producers. This dissertation can be described in two aspects, one theoretical-conceptual that is developed in four chapters as follows: getting into the studies, the concept, the historical and current legislation of the cooperative land. The previous aspects have an impact on the relationship of the cooperative members with poverty, marginalization and development from an official perspective. On the other, it presents a practical-analytical perspective, which analyzes in depth the study of the geography, the economy, education, health, housing, income, policies and legislation of the cooperative land in the state, town council and cooperative contexts. In conclusion, the cooperative land continues as an object of study from different perspectives, which are discussed in order to design rural policies that satisfy the particular demands of the region. This study was carried out from the inside to the outside, and the results have shown that the important participation of the members of cooperative in achieving the development, as it has been thought. In this research it was found out that the main participants, cared about quality as its main structure.

Institute for Rural Development / MRDV