anglicky : Title of the thesis : Emma Bovary and Thérèse Desqueyroux : destructive women or victims ? Keywords : literature, G. Flaubert, F. Mauriac, Emma Bovary, Thérèse Desqueyroux, destructive women , victims, comparison Abstract : The thesis deals with two female characters of French novels from the 2nd half of the 19th century, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and Thérèse Desqueyroux by Françoise Mauriac. The life and work of the two authors are briefly described as well as the time when they lived. The longer part of the thesis presents a content analysis and a formal analysis of the novels. The thesis places particular emphasis on the analysis of the story, the main characters and turning points in their lives. The aim is then to compare the two heroines based on the previous analysis of the novels and to highlight what they have in common and in what they differ and to answer the question of whether or not Emma Bovary and Thérèse Desqueyroux are victims, victims of circumstances, or whether they are inherently destructive and rightly described as monsters. All the important points of the thesis are summarized in the conclusion.

Hero characters and their narratives serve as important sites for negotiating a culture’s values. Informed by sexism in Western cultures, female heroes often construct and perpetuate women’s statuses as second-class citizens. However, female heroes also can and sometimes do work against such representations. This thesis argues for a third wave feminist interpretation of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men comic books as a text that brings multiple feminist perspectives into conversation with each other and that opposes certain patriarchal systems. Through narrative and formal analysis, I explore female X-Men Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde as characters who reject gender essentialism and misogynist value systems and whose relationship addresses concepts of difference in third wave feminism. Using similar methods, I also explore an interpretation of villain Danger as a failure to integrate radical feminist ideologies into third wave feminism. I believe that Astonishing X-Men provides an example of how norms of the mainstream superhero comic book medium, which scholars have criticized as sexist, can be reworked for a new generation of feminists. / text

The decades after World War II were a time of growth and change for queer people across the country. Many chose to move to major metropolitan centers in order to pursue a life of openness and be part of queer communities. However, those people only account for part of the story of queer history. Other queer people chose to stay in small towns and create their own queer spaces for socializing and community building. The Gulf Coast of Florida is a place where queer people chose to create queer community where they lived through such actions as private house parties and opening bars. The unique place of the Gulf Coast as a tourist destination allowed queer people to build and join communication networks that furthered the growth of a sense of community leading ultimately to the founding of Bay AIDS Services and Information Coalition in 1989.

The school has an anti-racist mission where teachers, especially social studies teachers, have a central role. Previous research shows, however, that the school often lacks in counteracting racism, which raises questions about how teachers see racism as a phenomenon and school as an anti-racist place. There is a lack of knowledge about how social studies teachers perceive the anti-racist work and whether and, in such cases, how they implement anti-racism within the framework of social science teaching. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate social studies teachers' perceptions of and implementation of an anti-racist mission in upper secondary school. This was done through five semi-structured interviews which were analyzed with Michael Lipsky's (2010) theory of grassroots bureaucracy which is supplemented by Gert Biesta and Sarah Robinson's (2015) theory of cultural and structural factors, Nicholas Abercrombie, Stephen Hill & Brian Turners (2006) definitions of individual and structural racism and Emma Arnebacks (2012) identified courses of action against racism. The results show that no teacher has an explicit anti-racist attitude, but they perceive the task as aimed at counteracting students 'tendencies to express "problematic" thoughts or opinions, which is a description of purpose that is influenced by teachers' understanding of racism as an individual phenomenon. The attitude to the assignment is positive, but it is perceived to be fraught with challenges that arise partly because of a perceived limited scope for action, and partly because of the teachers believing that there is a measure of anti-racism in the teaching. The teachers also perceive the social studies teacher's special role in an anti-racist assignment partly negatively as it is described as becoming a workload. Criticism is directed at a deficient teacher education that structurally limits the anti-racist work as they feel that it has to a low degree equipped them with competence in racism despite the subject's special relevance, and partly because the entire teacher education was not characterized by this which could even the workload. The teachers believe that they implement the anti-racist mission, and the courses of action are mediating, democratizing, and partly relationally characterized where concrete strategies in social studies are to provide knowledge and practice critical reflection in the students. Important knowledge is mainly about democracy and human rights, and an important skill is critical thinking. The study's conclusions are that social studies teachers do not perceive the school as an explicit anti-racist place, but rather in an implicit way. The fact that the mission is not explicitly carried out can mean that anti-racism is lacking when knowledge of racism is limited, especially when a structural reflexivity is lacking. Although teachers may neglect different expressions of racism in school, the implementation is still often consistent with the curricula's formulations of the anti-racist mission.

The perception that the epistolary form was rejected by novelists during the Romantic Era has largely been accepted by scholars. However, in looking at the period's two most prominent authors, Walter Scott and Jane Austen, we see that the epistolary form remained vibrant long after its supposed demise. Throughout their careers, both Austen and Scott employed embedded letters as a tool to create authenticity. Both Austen and Scott use what I call "literary letters" to create a sense of realism in their novels that contributed to the rise of the novel. Scholars often claim that Austen eschewed the epistolary form with Lady Susan and solidified her rejection by revising both Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice from epistolary novels to third person narration. But a careful examination shows that Austen followed Richardson's tradition with Lady Susan, that Sense and Sensibility was not originally written in epistolary form, and that Austen retained sixteen critical letters in Pride and Prejudice. In fact, Darcy's five-page letter to Elizabeth signals Austen's continued reliance on the form as it completely changes the dynamics of the novel and transforms Elizabeth from a static protagonist to a dynamic heroine. Further indication that Austen found value in the form is seen in her later and often considered more mature novels, Emma and Persuasion, where she found innovate ways to turn the epistolary form into an embedded narratological device. The value of letters in Scott's novels is often overlooked. For instance in Heart of Midlothian, Jeanie Down's claim that letters cannot feel is often cited as an argument that oral testimony is more valuable than written, yet it is a letter that ultimately gets her an audience with the queen. In fact, in both Heart of Midlothian and Redgauntlet, Scott explains the legal implications of the written testimony, its preference over oral testimony, and its power in persuading both in and out of court. And in Guy Mannering, Scott relies on embedded letters to develop important plot points including the identity of the lost heir, create believable characters, and explore the conflict between Scottish traditions and law. And although Redgauntlet is often considered the moment Scott eschewed the epistolary form, the way he employs letters to create the illusion that his characters are authentic historical figures helps him explore notions of national identity.

The objective of this thesis is to present a study of the political impact of Communism on four individuals who at one stage in their lives thought that Communism was the best political system on earth, and who subsequently became disillusioned ot the point where they considered Communism the worst political system on earth. This thesis tries to answer some of the questions arising from such a study. How did these four people become so enamoured of Communism and later so thoroughly disillusioned with it? What is there about Communism which could so strongly attract and later so thoroughly repel intelligent people? Was disaffection due to the weakness of the people involved, or was it due to weaknesses in the Communist system? Where is the truth to be found regarding the essential nature of Communism: in the official reports and propaganda of the Russian government, or in the opinions of the Communist Party members, or in the writings of those who have been in close contact with the system? The problem is to determine the nature of the attraction of Communism and the nature of its repellent aspects as seen by four of those who have strongly felt, in turn, that attraction and that repulsion.

Austen, Dickens, and Eliot each responded to discussions of their time concerning class, gender, and social change. One of the ways they addressed these issues, and sought to find solutions to the problems facing their culture, was through benevolence. Knightley, in Emma, uses benevolence as a means of mediating self-interest and sympathy. By acting out of sympathy, through benevolence, he achieves the self-interested benefits of reinforcing the class system and achieving his romantic conquests. Likewise, Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby learns how to use benevolence as a means of social mobility from his mentors, the Cheerybles. Throughout Nicholas Nickleby the hero learns how to engage in benevolence out of sympathy, and by doing so he establishes himself as a gentleman and reaps social, economic, and romantic advantages. Eliot's Bob Jakin in The Mill on the Floss engages in benevolence out of true sympathy unhindered by self-interest. His freedom from social constraint and self-interest allows him to truly help Maggie Tulliver when no one else can. These authors' depictions of benevolence all illuminate ways that nineteenth-century literary authors sought to navigate the “Adam Smith Problem" of sympathy vs. self-interest. Benevolence, in these novels, is not disinterested (regardless of their motivation) but is influenced by the character's and author's perception of class, gender, and social change in the nineteenth century.

No description available.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

<p>Syftena med denna uppsats har varit flera. Dels att genomföra en undersökande genrediskussion av svensk chick-lit i stort där det som uppfattats som den huvudsakliga kritiken av genren omformulerats till frågeställningar. Huvudfrågan har därmed varit att ta reda på om svensk chick-lit är intressant, men också om den har några litterära kvaliteter och om den är en feministisk backlash. I uppsatsen arbetas även en definition av svensk chick-lit fram, samt empiriskt grundad teori ur materialet. Avsikten är att detta arbete ska kunna verka som förebild för andra utredningar av nya och marginaliserade genrer. En undersökning av vilka principer biblioteken, här representerade av Umeåregionens bibliotek, utgår från vid inköp av skönlitteratur i stort och chick-lit i synnerhet har också genomförts.</p> / <p>The aims of this paper have been more than one. One aim is to conduct an investigative genre discussion of Swedish chick lit as a whole, where what is conceived as the main critique of the genre is reformulated into questions. The main questions here are if Swedish chick lit is of interest, if it possesses any literary qualities and if it constitutes a feminist backlash. This paper also draws up a definition of Swedish chick lit and empirically grounded theory from the material. The intent is for this paper to serve as a model for other analyses of new and marginalized genres. A study of the principles adopted by libraries, here represented by libraries in the Umeå district, in fiction purchases as a whole and purchases of chick lit in particular, has also been carried out.</p>