Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / A scholarly treatise on art, written by an American artist in the first half of the nineteenth century, and almost completely ignored in the history of American art and thought, provided the original incentive for the study of Washington Allston as critic. An additional incentive derived from the paradox of a reputation which was phenomenal in the artist's lifetime, but which had deteriorated almost to a nullity by the end of the century in which he lived. An examination of the reputation and influence of Allston as critic, and an effort to trace the development of his thought, involved a scrutiny of biographical material available in legal documents, manuscript notes, correspondence, memorabilia, biographies and biographical sketches; references to the artist in newspapers, magazines and literary works; an examination of American criticism; and the history of criticism and of American thought, with particular reference to the developments in New England. [TRUNCATED]

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University. / The purpose of this study is twofold: first, the collection and discussion of neglected bibliographical material in order to demonstrate the availability of Arnold's writings to the American public and to show that Arnold's works were more widely reviewed and read before 1870 than has been realized; and second, to discuss Arnold's influence-on an acerbated post-Civil War cultural \ debate, a debate which, in turn, affected his reputation. Clough might easily have advanced Arnold's reception in America, but both in his article for the North American Review and in his.letters to C. E. Norton he attempted to·keep Arnold's poetry from making its way. Nevertheless, most other reviews of Arnold were favorable; a volume of his poetry was published before the Civil War and individual poems appeared in popular anthologies; reviews of his criticism frequently started with praise of Arnold as a poet; most American critics placed him among the three major living English poets; both young and old American men of letters were familiar with his verse. A major factor in the initial reception of his literary criticism was Arnold's reputation as a poet [TRUNCATED]

From Introduction: Au cours d'une interview accordée à deux critiques littéraires, le 9 novembre 1976 , Ionesco déclare : Un retour à la métaphysique me semble, à notré epoque, indispensable. Ce point de vue nous semble être d'une importance fondamentale, tant par la référence à un probleme spécifiquement moderne, que par la formulation d'une profonde préoccupation de l'auteur. Ionesco résume par là un débat qui informe continuellement son oeuvre théàtrale. Ce débat, et cette quête, sont les thèmes essentiels que nous voudrions mettre à jour dans cette oeuvre . Nous proposons donc d'étudier le désir et l'effort que manifeste et que tente l ' homme moderne, imbu d'une culture matérialiste, laïque et profane, pour retrouver la vie spirituelle de ses ancêtres son aspiration à la connaissance du sacré . Ce sujet, aussi vaste qu'il est élémentaire, exige l'examen de l'oeuvre complàte afin d'en dégager les constantes.

The critical reflection at the start of this thesis outlines the ideas that have informed the production of my novel Any Belgian. The novel explores how cities offer creative possibilities for a writer, particularly in suggesting locations and for influencing the development of character and plot. The critical reflection also surveys the work of writers and critics who have commented on the nature of cities as palimpsests, and as places that serve as an emotional refuge. It also reflects on the creative processes involved in constructing my novel, detailing the decisions made about its form. The use of images in the novel is also discussed and a justification is made for their use as a device to deliberately involve the reader in the construction of meaning. References to cinema and other visual arts are prominent in the novel, and there is a reflection on how they are used as an effective way to express the thoughts of the narrator in his attempts to make sense of a set of multi-layered past experiences. It was also important to undertake fieldwork for research in the writing of the novel. This process is described and related to the writings of critics such as Walter Benjamin and other writers who have recorded their walks in urban locations. The narrative for Any Belgian works on several levels and the complexity of its layers are addressed in the conclusion to the thesis. What has been produced is a novel that attempts to raise questions about the possibility of accurately recording urban experiences, especially when a narrator is confronted with the challenge of describing the permanently shifting relationship between recollections and the city locations which give rise to those recollections.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis demonstrates the development of F.R. Leavis's critical vocabulary through an examination of his critical practice. The social and political dimension of his critical orientation is examined by means of a reading of his own early pamphlets and articles; and of Q.D. Leavis's Fiction and the Reading Public (1932). This chapter indicates the nature of Leavis's approach to literature and criticism. An analysis of Leavis's preliminary considerations on poetry illustrates the gradual advancement of his critical terminology under the influence of T.S. Eliot. The judgements produced are examined and their value and reasoning are accounted for. Leavis's work on the novel is examined, showing how the critical terminology was transferred from criticism of the poetry to criticism of the novel. The source and function of Leavis's categories of 'tradition' and 'morality' are analysed. The ensuing critical judgements are assessed to show how and why such judgements were of ambiguous value. Leavis's study of Lawrence demonstrates centrally the advantages and disadvantages of Leavis's critical method. A discussion of the 'two cultures' debate illustrates Leavis's continuing polemical engagements and how this affects his critical priorities. Finally, an examination of Leavis's later work on Dickens and T.S. Eliot shows how Leavis's critical vocabulary matured a metaphysical, almost 'religious', dimension in its striving to maintain a connection between his concepts of 'art' and 'life'. Throughout this thesis, Leavis's criticism is examined by means of a rehearsal of his major arguments. This is combined with a discussion and assessment of the integrity of and sources for those arguments and an analysis of their resultant literary judgements. The thesis presents an objective account of the nature and function of Leavis's critical vocabulary, with a demonstration of its sources and an assessment of its achievements.

vii, 50 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Emmanuel Levinas has recently been given much attention for the resources that his writing could provide for an ethics of the non-human. While some commentators dismiss the humanistic biases of Levinas' analyses in favor of expanded sites of application, others argue that Levinas' anthropocentrism is central to his philosophy. This debate is resolved by demonstrating that Levinas' analysis oflanguage and separation in Totality and Infinity is an analysis of the hW11an on!.v. For Levinas, ethics signifies the peculiar way ofbeing in the world that is found in the site of the human. This way of being in the world is the emergence of concems about justice, the emergence of reason and discourse, but it does not restrict moral consideration to hwnans. Despite Levinas' own tendency to align the non-human animal against the ethical, there is nothing in Levinas' analysis that prevents granting full moral consideration to the non-human. / Adviser: Ted Toadvine

This thesis constitutes the first extensive study of tragedy during the Napoleonic era. The new tragic productions of this period have been sidelined by French theatre history, allegedly because they were tired copies of seventeenth-century classical models, conduits for propaganda, and suffocated by censorship. I challenge this judgement by excavating this period’s theatre and by applying renewed critical approaches, notably André Lefevere’s notion of rewriting which posits that all productions are subject to poetics and ideology. This thesis is comprised of two principal axes. The first focuses on poetics to contend that new productions were not simply copies of classical plays. Although tragedy was based on the imitation of seventeenth-century models, which scholars refer to as classiques, these examples were rewritten during the eighteenth century, an activity which continued under Napoleon. Therefore, there was no stable example to imitate, rather there was a particular contemporary understanding, which I label the ‘classique’ model to underline its specificity. Using contemporary treatises to form a generic framework, I examine how new tragedies performed at the Comédie-Française depart from this inheritance, reconsidering the passage from theatrical Classicism to Romanticism. The second axis engages with Napoleonic cultural politics by rethinking the terms ‘propaganda’ and ‘censorship’. Although tragedy was used for its propagandistic properties, this policy was not always successful. Moreover, the works’ reception reveals that playwrights and the public appropriated tragedy’s rewriting of historical narratives as a means of mediating the Revolution. Finally, I examine censorship, investigating how the State’s bureaucratic and the Comédie-Française’s lateral systems combined to control and tailor tragedies in performance and print for contemporary audiences. Consequently, this thesis sheds light both on the transition from Classicism to Romanticism in the theatre, and the public and the regime’s use of tragedy as a means of reconstructing the French nation after the Revolution.

From Introduction. In hierdie studie word 'n poging aangewend om 'n sekere aspek van, en 'n sekere ontwikkeling binne die Afrikaanse Poesie toe te lig. Onder Afrikaanse Poësie verstaan ons enige digwerk in Afrikaans, sy dit epies, liries of dramaties. Omdat ons o.m. belangstel in 'n sekere ontwikkeling, is ons uiteraard op 'n chronologiese indeling aangewys. Verskeie faktore (geskiedenis, kwaliteit van digwerk of gebrek aan kwaliteit, ens.) het daartoe bygedra dat ons in die Afrikaanse Poësie vyf groot periodes het wat vrywel onbestrede aanvaar word: die tydperk van die Genootskappers (vóór 1900); die tydperk van die Driemanskap (tussen 1900 en 1920); die insinking van die twintigerjare (1920 tot 1934); die vernuwing van Dertig (1934 tot 1945); die jongste tydperk (tot 1962). Hierdie algemeen aanvaarde indeling dien ons doel. Dit is egter noodsaaklik om dit onomwonde te stel dat die geesteshouding van die digter, soos ons dit uit die gedig leer ken, van groter belang is by ons studie as die ontstaansdatum van die gedig.