Art is the outward, visual manifestation of the undying soul of a people. The genius displayed in the day to day articles produced in traditional tribal society is equally present in the art produced by the Contemporary African Artist. The Contemporary African Artist finds himself in an interesting position, in that he is, at one time, a part of two different worlds, two different cultures, has taken place, the and his art provides evidence of the acculturation that coming together of indigenous, traditional African culture and 'European' or 'Western' culture. It follows that the contemporary African artist's work would display characteristics and elements derived from both of these worlds, since art is not created in a vacuum, but is, invariably, the outward, visible expression and symbol of an artist's environment, culture, emotional and intellectual responses and his beliefs. The study of Contemporary African Art reveals that despite the many divergences from the traditional or classic forms, a great many traditional influences and characteristics still persist in the same. An analysis of Contemporary African Art will also show that a significant body of works bear a marked influence of Christian teachings and biblical themes, as well as the influence of exposure to various forms of Swedish Medieval, Byzantine, Romanesque and Carolingian art.

Currently the most influential accounts of personal autonomy, at least in the Englishspeaking world, focus on providing conditions under which agents can be said to exercise self-control. Two distinct accounts of personal autonomy have emerged in this tradition: firstly, hierarchical models grounded in the work of Harry Frankfurt; and secondly, systems division models most famously articulated by Gary Watson. In this thesis I show the inadequacies of both of these models by exploring the problematic views of the self and self-control underlying each model. I will suggest that the problems faced by these models stem from the fact that they endorse a problematic fragmentation of the self. I suggest that a Nietzschean account of personal autonomy is able to avoid these problems. The Nietzschean account can largely, I show, be drawn from Nietzsche’s understanding of both the ‘man of ressentiment’ and his opposite, the sovereign individual. On this picture wholeness of self – rather than fragmentation of the self – is required in order for us to be most fully autonomous. Furthermore, this wholeness of self requires the kind of integrity which is opposed to the problematic fragmentation endorsed by Frankfurt and Watson.

The nineteenth century in Germany posed a repressive environment for-women as they were defined as inferior to men and forced into the subservient roles of housewives and mothers. This thesis examines the portrayal of femininity in three contemporary writers of the period, Louise Aston, Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer and Louise von Francois. The first chapter endeavors to situate the writers in their social environment. It examines the mechanics that supported the patriarchal system, such as socializing women through education and categorizing them as inferior to justify and support their traditional roles. Chapters two, three, and four respectively deal with each author, presenting an introduction to their particular conditions and a brief summary of their lives. Following this, the individual tests are analyzed for their portrayal of femininity. These writers' visions of femininity differ greatly. Aston, whose career spanned the revolution of 1848, openly promotes liberal-humanist ideas and advocates the emancipation of women. Her heroines bear male an female traits and rise to positions of power and leadership. Birch-Pfeiffer's women are strong and independent. She frequently reverses the traditional gender roles. However, she upholds the moral code of her time, including the idea of the woman as exemplar of chastity and virtue . Francois idealizes the traditional role of women. However, she elevates that role by extolling motherhood and marital fidelity as supreme virtues. Despite these differences, there are similarities. All three writers offer an alternative picture of femininity despite this adherence, to a greater or lesser degree, to the traditional values of their time. In addition, they all criticize the patriarchal structures of society, revealing their discontent more or less openly. Finally, their portrayal of femininity was in each case based on their particular circumstances of the individual writers lives. Aston exploited the revolutionary times to present a strong claim for female emancipation; Birch- Pfeiffer, in need o f money, adapted strongly to the taste of her audience, finding in turn, interested recipients for her ideas; and Francois, a very private and proud person, chose to upgrade the women's role within the tradition, in attempt to avoid public attention. Within their circumstances, each one of the authors presented the best possible version of femininity as an alternative to traditional values. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

Leaving aside the classical world, Dance as an art form (as distinct from folk-dance) emerges with the renaissance. Combinations of dance and drama are seen in the court entertainments sponsored by Catherine de Medici in France and in the masques of Ben Jon-son, John Milton and Henry Lawes , the composer, in England. These dance-dramas shared the contemporary fondness for lavish sensuous spectacle, with mythological and allegorical subjects full of youth and beauty. The seventeenth century saw, in this new form of art, the development of stage and set-design as well as the emerging importance of the individual performer. The foundation of Richelieu's L 'Academie Française (1635) which concerned itself with language and literature was paralleled by Louis XIV's L'Academie Nationale de Musique et de la Danse (1661). The baroque and rococo characteristics of other arts are reflected in the ballets of Lully and Rameau. In the eighteenth century, theoretical works appear in which the dance is treated as parallel to the other arts. The Lettres sur la Danse (1760) of Jean-Georges Noverre (a friend of Garrick) stresses "nature" and design as do the literary treatises from Dryden to Samuel Johnson, (e.g. Dryden's An Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668), Johnson's Preface to Shakespeare (1765), and Lives of the Poets (1779-81). Carlo Blasis' Treatise on the Art of Dancing (1803) is as much concerned with perfection of technique as the most ardent proso-dists of the period. The so-called "Classical Ballet", however, was the expression of romanticism at the beginning of the nineteenth century as much as in literature and the other arts. It sought to add strangeness and wonder to beauty and to escape from reality into fairyland or dreamland. It dominated ballet throughout most of the century and is seen in well-known works like Giselle, Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty. Literary and artistic parallels abound, of course. However, the Dance is the last of the arts to develop a critical theory as it is the last of the arts to emerge as an aesthetically self-conscious, serious and professional form of expression from what had been vestigial and fragmentary. Even musical and dramatic renditions have left at least the score and the script. But the Dance, after its last performance, was largely a matter of fast-fading memory and variable hearsay. This thesis will endeavour to trace the development and changes in aesthetic outlook of the latter eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through a comparative study of the writings of Jean-Georges Noverre, Heinrich von Kleist and Théophile Gautier. As far as one can judge from any available materials and sources of reference, bringing together these three writers whose work contains both literature and dance criticism, poetics and what might be called "balletics", has not been undertaken before; this is also the first time that Kleist has been given a significant place in a discussion of dance theory. It is the chief aim of this study to point out and elucidate the pattern of relationships between dance as an art form and literature. The relationships of theory and practice in the arts are no less complex here than in any other periods. Noverre, for example, as a theorist, was a consistent and articulate late eighteenth century classicist (looking forward to romanticism); but as a professional man of the theatre, he had a keen eye for popular taste, even if it catered to fashions he must have considered antiquated or cheap. Gautier, on the other hand, though he possessed no practical knowledge of the dance, he analyzed it so persuasively, so variously, and had such a wide audience that he strongly influenced the public taste for these aspects of romantic dance. It is doubtful whether Kleist was known to the world of dance, whether he was really influenced by it, or had any direct influence on it in any way. Yet, his essay Ueber das Marionettentheater (1801) might well serve as a manifesto for the new romantic form of dance when it was just being born. As a result of the analysis of these writers, it becomes apparent that all three, Noverre, Gautier, and Kleist, represent stepping-stones in the development of dance from the early stages of superficial extravaganzas, through the clearly defined measures of eighteenth century dance, to the natural expression of spontaneous movement in the next century. Hence, they can be said to define the basic progression from classicism to romanticism in the art of dance. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

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

Fairy Tales have been an important part of peoples' cultural heritage since time immemorial. From a very early age on, children hear stories about witches, giants, dwarf's, and magicians which make up their first entry into the literary world. Only recently have scholars begun to research just how much influence these stories have on children and how they might have a different impact on girls than on boys. This thesis will investigate the world of fairy tales in relation to their historical context and their differing relevance for male and female readers. I will examine the fairy tales of the brothers Grimm and of Ludwig Bechstein because these three scholars count among the most important fairy tale narrators in the German-speaking region. I will limit my examination to the witch in fairy tales because of all the figures she seems to have the most impact on the audience.

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