This thesis examines the ministerial call in three novels by William Golding, specifically The Spire, Darkness Visible, and Rites of Passage. The central character of each novel, a Christian minister, has a vision, or series of visions, which dominates his life. The call and vision(s) of Golding's ministers are examined in light of Jacques Ellul's The Humiliation of the Word, a work examining the differences between the word and the image. The ministerial call, in this thesis, is linked to Ellul's ideas about the word; the vision, in this thesis, is linked to Ellul's ideas of the image. As a result of following their vision(s) rather than their call, the ministers fail, and their lives end in despair and ruin.

After 1815's eruption of Mount Tambora, the following period was named the "Year without a Summer" and experienced irregularly cold weather, failed crops, rampant disease, and riots. In the summer of 1816, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley met in the Alps and wrote "Darkness," "Mont Blanc," and Frankenstein respectively. This thesis focuses on these works' depictions of nature in light of how these features may have been impacted by the climate. It argues in Chapter One that the volcanic eruption caused global climate changes that affected these writers. In Chapter Two, it illustrates differences in nature's representation between first generation and second generation Romantic works. The conclusion synthesizes the arguments made in Chapters One and Two, suggesting that 1816's climate affected these writers in such a way as to produce an environment from which science fiction could emerge in Frankenstein. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

No description available.

The primary intention of this study is to establish the theoretical significance of silence within the sphere of the twentieth-century Southern African novel in English. Clearly a feature of recent writing, silence is less overtly thematised in earlier work. Since relatively little critical and theoretical attention has been paid to silence as a positive phenomenon, however, modes of reading it are sought within the broader sphere of the social sciences, and specifically its tradition of social constructionism. Care is taken to address the pressures of the local context, identified in terms of the postcolonial paradigm as relating to language and to culture. A deliberate theoretical innovation is the renunciation of the trope of penetration in favour of the notion of an interface between intact language-culture systems, given an understanding of culture as existing between subjects in relations of power. Fictional narrative which addresses cross-culturality is thus read as a process of cultural translation, and the volitional deployment of silence as an act of resistance to its power. The significance of language is registered in the use of speech-act theory, in the insistence on meaning as generated in spatially and temporally situated conversation, and in the exploration of the influence of pronominal relations on identity. Emerging from my investigation is a recognition of the measure offered by silence of the autonomy of character as subject, and a corresponding recognition of the constitutive capacity of the reader to site the power of narration amongst the polyphonic voices within the culture of the text. The postcolonial paradigm indicates the need for a regional rather than a national perspective; thus the interfaces considered in the case studies include, in Plaatje's Mhudi, orality and literacy, tribal membership and non-sectarianism, Tswana and English; in Paton's Too Late the Phalarope the private domain and apartheid as public hegemonic discourse, narration as possession, and the tragic as structuring textual relations; and in Head's Maru the constitution of a postcolonial identity that resists and transcends the discursive hostility of racism, and the dislocation, displacement and alienation of exilic refuge from apartheid. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.

I first became enamoured with vampire Gothic after reading Bram Stoker's Dracula in high school, but gradually became dissatisfied with the Australian adaptations of the sub-genre. In looking for examples of Australian vampire Gothic, a survey of more than 50 short stories, 23 novels and five movies made by Australians reveals fewer than half were set in an identifiably Australian setting. Even fewer make use of three key, landscape-related tropes of vampire Gothic - darkness, earth and ruins. Why are so few Australian vampire stories set in Australia? In what ways can the metaphorical elements of vampire Gothic be applied to the Sunburnt Country? This paper seeks to answer these questions by examining examples of Australian vampire narratives, including film. Particular attention is given to Mudrooroo's Master of the Ghost Dreaming series which, more than any other Australian novel, succeeds in manipulating and subverting the tropes of vampire Gothic. The process of adaptation of vampire Gothic to the Australian environment, both natural and man-made, is also a core concern of my own novel, Vampires' Bane, which uses earth, darkness and a modern permutation of ruins to explore its metaphorical intentions. Through examining previous works and through my own creative process, Vampires' Bane, I argue that Australia's growing urbanisation can be juxtaposed against the vampire-hostile natural environment to enhance the tropes of vampire Gothic, and make Australia a suitable home for narratives that explore the ongoing evolution of Count Dracula and his many-faceted descendants.

This thesis is designed to outline the systematic-theological and theological-historical basis for the Eschatological Gospel of Both Comings of Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha Mashiach). This cohesively combines Jesus‘ First Coming (for redemption, reconciliation and restoration) with His Second Coming (for the Rapture/Resurrection of the Church/Body of Christ and judgment at the Day of the Lord/Yahweh) into the complete salvation of the Church. The historical writings of the Patristic, Ante- and Post-Nicene Fathers are examined to ensure the continuity of this Eschatological Gospel message being communicated through their writings to the Early Church. The remainder of Church history is examined to ensure the Eschatological Gospel continued to be communicated by the Church as a part of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. Then, in keeping with the eschatological prophetic intent of the Parable of the Wheat and Tares (Weeds) in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, of both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan coexisting and growing until ―the end of the age,‖ the antithesis of the Eschatological Gospel is examined—Satan‘s plan of lies, deception and heresy throughout history, culminating with the explosion of activity since 1948. This satanic plan is described as being not only insidiously deceptive by recruiting converts to the kingdom of darkness in rebellion and opposition to the kingdom of God, but also as preparing the way for the End-time/Last Days‘ ten-nation confederacy to be led by the antichrist. Biblical chronology is used to trace the history of both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness to the present day. Finally, the ―Signs of the Times‖ in modern history are examined, thereby showing the need for the Eschatological Gospel to be taught in the twenty-first century, especially as the day of the Lord Jesus Christ‘s Parousia rapidly approaches. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D.Th. (Systematic Theology)

The aim of this diploma theses is to find philosophical, religious and ideological motifs in the work of Ladislav Fuks and subsequently interpret their origin, intertextuality and meaning in the text. The emphasis is put on proving the semantic functionality in the story. For our research, we have selected following works: Mr. Theodore Mundstock, The Cremator, and Addressing from the Darkness. We will study philosophical and theological literature, as well as materials from the archives and from the estate of Ladislav Fuks in order to base all the findings on the biographical author, too. The thesis is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter we deal with basic literary characteristics of the selected books and their literary reception. The second chapter discusses Ladislav Fuks' relationship to philosophy, being anchored in both his friends' testimonies and the archival research of his estate. The third chapter is the most important and the most comprehensive one since it deals with the interpretation of philosophical motifs in each of the selected books. In the fourth chapter we compare individual philosophical motifs from different works with each other. We summarize the findings at the end of the theses.

This thesis focuses on Conrad's representation of space and atmosphere in the "impressionistic" works published between 1897 and 1904, notably The Nigger of the "Narcissus" (1897), "Heart of Darkness" (1899), Lord Jim (1900), and Nostromo (1904). The many conflicting statements regarding the nature of Conrad's impressionism lead one to ask two fundamental questions: What constitutes this strange and elusive phenomenon, and how does it bear upon interpretation? This thesis works towards defining the elusive quality of Conrad's writing by investigating and assessing the contribution of impressionist techniques in the creation of a pervasive space and atmosphere; secondly, it considers how the various constituent elements interact with, and complement one another to form a dominant mode of fictional space in each work; and, thirdly, it indicates the possible impact that these particular Conradian configurations of space and atmosphere might have upon the interpretation of his impressionist works. The thesis argues that the existential condition of isolatio~experienced by Conrad's heroes and narrators is a consequence of epistemological frustration and fragmentation, which, in turn, is a function of impressionist ontology. There is a definite and complementary relationship between each of these notions in Conrad's fiction. The mysterious atmosphere in his works results from the interplay between various configurations of theme, narration and description, and these novelistic elements correspond roughly with the notions of existential isolation (the dominant theme), epistemology (narrating, telling and (re)telling as a method of knowing and understanding the space in which the characters find themselves) and, lastly, the ontological dimensions of the various modes of fictional space (as realized in description). The evocation and invocation of cosmic space in The Nigger of the "Narcissus," the mapping of a dorriinant symbolic space in "Heart of Darkness," the (re)constructions of Jim's psychological space in Lord Jim, and, finally, the "transcription" and "inscription" of a mythical space in Nostromo, indicate a definite development from epistemological to ontological issues. Phrased in more theoretical terms, this development is a movement from asking predominantly epistemological questions like "How can I interpret this world of which I am a part?" "What is there to be known?" "Who knows it ... and with what degree of certainty?", to asking predominantly ontological questions, such as "Which world is this?" "What kinds of worlds are there ... and how are they constituted?". Such questions, categorized by McHale as the dominant characteristics of Modernist and Postmodernist fiction respectively, are already present in Conrad's texts, thus undermining any clear-cut division between these broad categories. Indeed, this thesis suggests that these categories are at best tenuous, and that they should perhaps be used heuristically, rather than definitively

Ursula K Le Guin wrote The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) because she wanted to explore the limitations of gender and sexuality in a way that reflected the ongoing epistemic changes in her society. She created the Gethenians, an ambisexual, androgynous species that live most of their life without an assigned sex, making their entire society lack the concept of gender. Le Guin writes in her essay “Is Gender Necessary? Redux” (1988) that she wanted to erase gender to find out what was left. This essay will examine how the themes of gender and sexuality are explored in the Left Hand of Darkness, questioning if gender was actually erased. It is Le Guin’s linguistic choices and assumption that androgyny is masculine that assigns male gender to the Gethenians, without them having a biological sex. This renders the female experience invisible, creating a severe imbalance between the male and female part of them. However, by using Genly Ai - one of the main narrators, a male character from Terra (Earth) - gender is still presented as something fluid and non-binary, even though the Gethenians are generally perceived as more masculine. Sexuality, on the other hand, is more fluid and open, presenting a completely different idea than the norm present in the world of the reader. On Gethen, sexuality is celebrated when it is controlled and separate from everyday life, contrary to the celebration of a constant, masculine and aggressive view on sex. In conclusion, The Left Hand of Darkness presents the reader with a safe and comfortable version of androgyny, ultimately leaving many readers wanting more from the thought experiment. / Ursula K Le Guin skrev Mörkrets Vänstra Hand (1969) eftersom hon ville undersöka de begräsningar som är associerade med kön och sexualitet på ett sätt som reflekterade de pågående epistemiska förändringarna i samhället. Hon skapade folket Gethenians, en ras av människor som är androgyna och ambisexuella vilket gör att de lever majoriteten av sina liv utan kön i ett samhälle där konceptet genus inte existerar. Le Guin skriver i sin uppsats ”Is Gender Necesarry? Redux” (1988) att hon ville radera genus för att ta reda på vad som finns kvar. Denna uppsats kommer att utforska hur två teman, genus och sexualitet, hanteras i Mörkrets Vänstra Hand, samt ifrågasätta huruvida genus faktiskt blev raderat. Det är, i slutändan, Le Guins lingvistiska val och antagande att androgynitet är maskulint som ger Gethenierna ett manligt genus, även om de saknar ett fysiskt kön. Detta gör att den kvinnliga upplevelsen blir helt osynlig och skapar en tydlig obalans mellan den feminina och den maskulina sidan av dessa varelser. Dock, genom användningen av Genly Ai - en av berättarna, en manlig karaktär från Terra (Jorden) - så presenteras kön fortfarande som någonting icke-binärt och diffust. Sexualitet å andra sidan, presenteras som mer öppet och naturligt i jämförelse med normerna som existerar i läsarens värld. På Gethen är sexualitet firat när den är kontrollerad och en separat del av livet, i motsats till normen som firar en konstant, maskulin och aggressiv version av sex. Sammanfattningsvis presenterar Mörkrets Vänstra Hand läsaren med en trygg och bekväm version av androgynitet, vilket gör att många läsare vill få ut mer av/känner att något saknas i tankeexperimentet.

In this dissertation, the affinities between the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel and the Maronite Prayer of the Faithful especially the use of light metaphor are examined and new hypothetic proposals are suggested: the former has influenced the latter; both of them might have shared the same milieu or have been influenced by an existent Antiochene liturgical hymn. These proposals are discussed according to reflections on the Fourth Gospel, the Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church, the light metaphor, the work done on the Prologue from a socio-rhetorical perspective and the study conducted on the first English edition of the Maronite Prayer of the Faithful. / New Testament / M.Th. (New Testament)