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This dissertation is comprised of a collection of poems preceded by a critical preface. The preface reconsiders the value of discontinuous poetic forms and advocates a return to lyric as an antidote to the toxic aspects of what Tony Hoagland terms “the skittery poem of our moment.” I consider poems by Wendy Xu, Kevin Prufer, Sharon Olds, and Stephen Dunn in depth to facilitate a discussion about the value of a more centrist position between the poles of supreme discontinuity and totalizing continuity. Though poets working in discontinuous forms are rightly skeptical of the hierarchies that govern narrative and linear forms, as Czesław Miłosz notes in The Witness of Poetry, “a poet discovers a secret, namely that he can be faithful to real things only by arranging them hierarchically.” In my own poems, I make use of the hierarchies of ordered perception in lyric and narrative forms to faithfully illuminate the collapsed structures of my own family history in the shadow of Detroit. I practice the principles I advocate in the preface, using a continuous form to address fractured realities in a busy, disordered age when poets often seek forms as fragmented as their perceptions. These poems are distinctly American, but because there is no true royalty in America, our great cultural and economic institutions—television, music, film, magazines, and big business—take the place of the castle (the book’s emblem) while Michael Jackson ultimately rises as the commanding dead king whose passing prompts contemplation of the viability of popular culture, family, history, and geography. The fallen structures that litter the work are many: the twin towers, chess rooks, bounce castles, nuclear families, the auto industry. However, the sole structure cohering the whole is that of a lyric voice whose authority is derived through lived experience and presented in rich, continuous poetic forms.

Summaries in Spanish and English / Text in Spanish / The aim of this dissertation is to analyse those poems in which the image of the knife, el cuchillo, appears in the collection El rayo que no cesa, by Miguel Hernandez. The poet manifests his all-encompassing tragic view of life by means of this recurring negative symbol. The poetry of Miguel Hernandez is autobiographical: The universal themes of nature, love and death reveal a close link between the course of his life and the evolution of his poetry. El rayo que no cesa is central to the evolution of Hernandez's poetry: it is the product of the crisis of conscience that propelled the poet toward a radical change of world-view. The book reveals his frustration with love within the rigid norms of the society of his time. The poet expresses his bitterness by means of destructive images such as knife, sword, and ray/flash, images that project the tragic fate that threatened his entire existence. / Esta disertacion tiene por objeto analizar los poemas en que aparece la imagen del cuchillo en el libro El rayo que no cesa, de Miguel Hernandez, y demostrar que la insistencia de este simbolo negativo revela la cosmovisi6n tragic a que de 1a vida tenia el poeta. La poesia de Miguel Hernandez es poesia autobiogr&fica. La trayectoria de su vida esta intimamente ligada a la evolution de su obra en los temas universales de la naturaleza, el amor y la muerte. El rayo que no cesa es libro clave en su evolution pues es fruto de la crisis de conciencia que motiva en el poeta una metamorfosis ideol6gica. Este libro desvela su amor frustrado debido a las normas rigidas de la sotiedad de la epoca. Miguel Hernandez expresa su amargura con imageries destructivas como cuchillo, espada y rayo, imagenes que presagian la amenaza de un destino tragico que abarco toda su existencia. / Classics and Modern European Languages / M.A. (Spanish)

Fyodor Dostoevsky is often regarded as a proponent of the rights of the poor and downtrodden in Russian society in the 19th century. This view is usually based on the work of his youth - his first short novel and his early short stories. An examination of his major novels - all of which were written during his mature years between 1861 and 1879 - shows, however, that his views were far removed from those of the progressive members of Russian society of his day (the 11 intelligentsia11 ) and that his opinions became more reactionary with advancing age. By the time of his death in 1881, Dostoevsky had long been an opponent of democratic ideals and a keen supporter of the autocratic regime of Tsar Alexander II. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Russian)

Shunij Iwai is a significant director of the Japanese New Independent cinema, who is best known for the fascinating visual style he adopted from the 1990s onwards. Rejecting the obsession with Japaneseness in Japanese cinema, Iwai developed a unique style of aestheticism through the use of backlighting, a technique he refined in partnership with cinematographer Noboru Shinoda. In existing academic studies on backlighting, cinematic lighting has generally been understood as a representational element that works to fulfill the needs of narration. Examples of such studies include Sharon A. Russell's (1981) semiotic study on the lighting style of French cinema, Patrick Keating's (2010) discussion of lighting convention in classical Hollywood cinema, and Lara Thompson's (2015) analysis on the use of light as a narrative tool in narrative cinema. By contrast, lighting in Shunji Iwai's films works in a different way. This difference prompts me to review the general conceptualization of cinematic lighting and turn to a materialist perspective, a non- representational attempt to study the sensation of lighting in cinema. By adopting Deleuze's concepts of cinema and sensation, this project provides an analytical trajectory for studying lighting in cinema. I argue that lighting as an aesthetic materiality renders a new understanding of the film world of Shunji Iwai as something derived from the Deleuzian poetics of sensation. This argument can be a starting point for critically rethinking lighting as a means for producing a circulation of cinematic affects.

Titcomb's compositions and writings are the products of a life lived in New England, mainly in Amesbury and Boston. Because the innovations that came about from the Oxford movement reached that part of this country first, Titcomb was one of the first church musicians to become involved with its innovations. Chapter 1 is devoted to a biographical account of his early life in Amesbury, and documents his work at the Church of the Messiah in Auburndale and Christ Church in Andover, where he took the two positions immediately after his high school graduation. Chapter 2 treats the fifty years that he worked at St. John the Evangelist, building up the choir and its repertoire to such an extent that other churches invited the group to give liturgical recitals. Chapter 3 discusses his teaching activities at the New England Conservatory, Boston University, the Wellesley Conference, and his work with the Schola Cantorum at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, all of which influenced many young musicians who brought their craft to churches throughout the United States. Chapters 4-6 are devoted to his choral, organ, and miscellaneous works: examples from unpublished manuscripts will be discussed; premiers are documented, and excerpts of correspondence from the composer are given concerning specific works. His compositional style will be discussed with assessments of individual works, and examples will be given from the different styles and genres to which he contributed. Chapter 7 discusses his writings, which deal specifically with the work of an organist and choirmaster in an Episcopal church. Titcomb's ideas concerning the musical life of a parish will be examined, including his thoughts on the performance of hymns, the choice of fitting music for the liturgy, and the accompaniment of Plainsong.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of English at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1998. / At the centre of this dissertation is the paradox to be found in the fact that although John Steinbeck was the recipient of some of the highest accolades ever to be bestowed upon a writer during this century, his work - and even his person - have, over the years, been subjected to severe attacks from sometimes impercipient critics. !n the thirties, he was branded as a California regionalist of some distinction, but the general consensus among the critics seemed to be that he was unlikely to achieve greatness due to major artistic flaws that were perceived to be present in his work. These flaws included his purported indecency, vulgarity, sexual licence and demagoguery. Reverse reasoning, by which his 'weaker, later works' (especially post World War 11) are compared unfavourably with 'the better earlier ones' of the thirties, is also dealt with. Other aspects that receive attention are his world-view (which is often misunderstood and compared unfavourably with that of other authors) and the fact that his deceptively lucid works are easy to read and therefore often underrated by critics as well as careless readers. Although criticism which centres upon ethical, sociological and political issues instead of artistic merit, is briefly dealt with, emphasis is placed on three elements that are intrinsic to Steinbeck's fiction and their role in the acceptance of his work. These elements, namely allegory/myth, non-teleological thinking and his approach to religion, are dealt with in general terms but also with particular reference to his novel To a God Unknown. To a God Unknown was specifically chosen as a focus for this study because it is believed that it reveals many of the 'flaws' that Steinbeck has been criticised for. It is also considered to be of seminal importance in his canon and therefore a harbinger of later works. As such it reveals a great deal about the author's outlook on life, early influences on his work, theoretical and practical approaches to his writing, and the various techniques employed to achieve his goals. The novel is also a typical example of one of Steinbeck's works of fiction that enjoys a wide and continued readership in spite of the adverse criticism that attended its appearance. This anomaly is central to the study. Virtually all of the works in Steinbeck's canon as well as the reviews and criticisms of internationally recognised Steinbeck scholars and critics collectively served as a 'pool of reference' in the compilation of this dissertation. Other sources included works on American and world literature and history; philosophy; psychology; biography; mythology; theology, and other aspects that have a bearing upon the subject matter. Extensive use was made of the excellent facilities and services provided by the university library as well as by various institutions and individuals on the Internet. The conclusion is reached that it is essential to take cognisance of the Oriental aspect of the Transcendentalist influence on Steinbeck's world-view in order to understand the confluence of apparently irreconcilable philosophical and mythological anomalies in Steinbeck's fiction.

It is the purpose of this thesis to present the artistic development of the socialist writer Günter Kunert. He is considered to be one of the important representatives of the literature of the German Democratic Republic where he has spent most of his life. His artistic creativity stretches over three decades. The different artistic and ideological periods of the development of this writer are presented in chronological order. An attempt is being made to explain why Kunert's work is of a politically provocative nature and why it shows such strong criticism towards the socialist country whose citizen he is. The thesis follows the writer from his early socialist didactical works to the "Subjektivierung" of his writings in the present time. In conclusion, the thesis attempts to understand the deep-rooted reasoning of an author who in spite of his unmistakably critical position towards the GDR intends to remain there.