Text in German / Classics and Modern European Languages / M.A. (German)

published_or_final_version / Comparative Literature / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The present study looks at the influence that two of the major cultural forces of the twentieth century had on the output of Carlo Emilio Gadda. It grew out of a search for ways of discussing Gadda and in particular his 1957 novel Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana that would be accessible to the widest possible audience. Ten chapters in length, the study treats first the influence that Christianity and in particular Italian Catholicism had on the avowedly atheist writer over five chapters, paying attention to the saints and holy places used in Gadda’s output, then moves on to consider the importance of his scientific training as an engineer and his interest in physics in the second half. Aside from examining the text of Quer pasticciaccio and other works such as Cognizione del dolore and La Madonna dei filosofi, I have used biographical information and in particular data gleaned from research in Gadda’s own personal library. The aims of the study are to introduce the reader unfamiliar with Gadda to his work, to offer a new framework by which the Gadda scholar may consider the Gran Lombardo, and to suggest new solutions to the unending puzzle that is Quer pasticciaccio.

Synopsis The aim of the thesis is to analyse the category of the narrator in a detective story. This category can be considered firstly as an independent textual element and secondly in its connection to the plotline. In the structure of detective stories, apart from fabula and sujet, we can discern two mutually influential plotlines. One of them is the story of the crime (past), the other is the story of the reconstruction (investigation of the crime). The way they approach each other on different levels (the setting, characters) helps us to understand the structure of the whole story. The reader can actualize the narrative also thanks to the mediator, the mediator between the text and the reader being the narrator. In the detective story Distant Star the narrator is unreliable, which expresses itself in different ways. The unreliability is supported by the fact that it is a subjectivized narration of a character who can be identified as the narrator. 'The narrator - character' does not have a single focalization in this story. He comments (e.g. by use of brackets) upon his previous stands. The point of view of the narration changes along with the character. 'The narrator - character' can at the same time be considered as the author's alter ego. We may encounter the author himself thematized in the text...

Scotland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries produced some of the most renowned thinkers and scholars whose works are still widely read and admired. This cadre of enlightened philosophers established a framework for critical thinking and reasoning, as well as a foundation for composition studies. One of the literary geniuses whose work drew on this expertise was Arthur Conan Doyle, best known for giving the world Sherlock Holmes in the late 1880s. But Doyle’s contributions are more than mere stories; the Edinburgh native endowed his character with the philosophy he himself gleaned growing up in a culture that prized reasoning, critical thinking, elocution, and elegant composition. This dissertation explores the influences Doyle drew from the great minds of the Scottish Enlightenment and connects them to the character of Sherlock Holmes. In addition, it proposes that Holmes’s philosophy establishes a basis for composition classes, where students are introduced to the concepts of critical thinking, reasoning, and logic, and the key role these concepts play in argumentative writing.

THE GREATEST IS LOVE is a collection of ten short stories showing the painful manifestations of romantic relationships in the lives of contemporary American characters from many walks of life. As in the stories of D.H. Lawrence, these characters are often driven towards what may be bad for them, finding that love overrides their rational thoughts. In “The Mechanic” a woman whose legal career has left her isolated becomes irresistibly attracted to her friend’s ex-husband. Three stories center on one character, Charles, whose early failures both in college and at work lead him to become a detective, only to be tempted to betray his new calling by a woman who leads him astray. As in Italo Calvino’s Difficult Loves, the stories in THE GREATEST IS LOVE combine the pain and comedy of passion. Even when it is challenging, love offers characters irresistible glimmers of hope.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: William H. Goetzmann. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

The primary objective of this M.A. thesis is to examine the portrayal of Switzerland and the role of the Swiss detective in the modern Swiss crime novel, with special focus on the works of three modern Swiss authors of different social status: Friedrich Glauser, Friedrich Durrenmatt and Hansjorg Schneider. While the crime novel is generally considered trivial entertainment for mass audiences within the realm of German literature, the case is somewhat different in Switzerland, a country with a small state mentality. The forthcoming analysis will demonstrate how these authors employ the crime novel as an educational device to convey a very important message to their fellow countrymen about the society in which they live. In their portrayal of Switzerland, the authors cover a wide range of circumstances relevant to their respective time periods, often dealing with controversial issues. Consequently, the Swiss detective plays a major role, as he must often solve difficult cases while faced with tremendous pressure from society. By focusing exclusively on Switzerland, this analysis will ultimately prove that the modern Swiss crime novel contains not only an entertainment aspect, but also important political, sociological and historical elements that distinguish the phenomenon from its international counterparts.

This thesis analyses the function of the detective in Alfred Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz. I argue that the modernist metropolis Berlin challenges the way in which crimes are solved by complicating the process of identifying those responsible for them. The ambivalence of life makes it impossible to get to the truth of crime. This ambivalence, partly created by the urban context, leads to the reinvention of the role of the detective. No longer located in the individual, the function of the detective is shared among author, narrator, protagonist, reader, and the city, whereby the protagonist Franz Biberkopf (on the intra-textual level) and the reader (on the extra-textual level) are the major players. However, neither Biberkopf nor the reader succeeds in this process, but are forced to accept the solution suggested by the text. The thesis adopts a narratological approach in analysing the narrative processes of veiling and unveiling facts and circumstances. It demonstrates how Biberkopf’s specific perception of urban space and his attempt to give it a particular shape in his imagination, as well as the complex relationship of story and discourse in the novel, contribute to the obfuscation of fact and fiction. / Thesis (Master, German) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-17 10:47:07.25