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As women began to establish themselves in the United States workforce in the first half of the twentieth century, one especial group of career women, women writers, began to use the space of their self-authored life writing narratives to inscribe their own understanding of themselves. Roundly criticized for not adhering to conventional autobiographical standards, these women writers used purposeful political strategies of resistance to craft self-authored life writing works that varied widely from the genre of autobiography. Rather than employ the usual ways critiquing autobiographical texts, I explore a deeper understanding of what these prescient women sought to do. Through revision of the terminology of the field and in consideration of a wide variety of critics and approaches, I argue that these women intentionally employed resistance in their writings. In Dust Tracks on A Road (1942), Zora Neale Hurston successfully established her own sense of herself as a black woman, who could also comment on political issues. Her fellow Southerner, Eudora Welty in One Writer’s Beginnings (1984), used orality to deliberately showcase her view of her own life. Another Southern writer, Lillian Smith in Killers of the Dream, employed an overtly social science approach to tell the life narrative of all white Christian Southerners, and described how she felt the problems of racism should be overcome. Anzia Yezierska, a Russian émigré to the United States, used an Old World European understanding of storytelling to refashion an understanding of herself as a writer and at the same time critiqued the United States in her work, Red Ribbon on a White Horse (1950). Mary Austin, a Western woman writer, saw Earth Horizon as an opportunity to reclaim the fragmentation of a woman’s life as a positive, rather than a negative space.

In my dissertation, I examine the works of six writers (George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart, Clarice and Elisa Lispector, Evgenia Ginzburg and Vasilii Aksyonov) who did not explore their Jewish identity in their texts and were subsequently left out of the canons of Jewish literature in their respective countries. My goal is to recalibrate the concept of the Jewish canon from the charged notion of identity to a theory of shared thematic material in which the works of hyphenated Jewish writers will be considered under the category of ‘Jewish American, Brazilian, or Russian’ if they share definite attributes. This was a transnational study showing that similar forces were at work not only in one country, but across continents, affecting the sensibilities of Jewish writers in remarkably similar ways. On a larger scale their de-thematized narratives share thematic tropes and belong to a ‘minor, liminal, marginal narrative,’ a narrative which attempted to work within the scope of the master narratives produced by the hegemonic culture. I have claimed that even though these six writers did not thematize identity in their texts, because of the negative political and social situation for the Jew in the first half of the twentieth century in western civilization, this situation and the writers’ own alterity produced similar and overlapping narratives. / text

ix, 226 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation argues that American women writers have revised sacred texts to challenge patriarchy, racism, and colonialism and rewritten American history to reveal how biblical scripture has been implicated in these processes. I focus on the literary strategies of Toni Morrison, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Lucille Clifton to rewrite sacred texts and create myths for a new society. In different ways, these writers redefine Christianity, often by countering the erasures of women in biblical scripture, recovering suppressed texts such as those from the gnostic tradition, and creating new sacred texts. Chapter I traces the history of feminist scriptural revision from the early feminist movement to its resurgence in the late-twentieth century. In this period, a number of authors rewrote religious scripture from a pre-Christian tradition; Elaine Pagels' The Gnostic Gospels played a critical role in the attention given to scripture suppressed by Christianity and the potential it holds for writers interested in recovering alternative epistemologies. Chapter II focuses on Morrison's Beloved and Jazz , which are concerned with the way biblical theology is proliferated through apocalyptic narrative strategies and omniscient narration. This chapter investigates the shift Morrison makes between biblical and gnostic concerns in the first two books of her trilogy. Chapter III analyzes the final book in Morrison's trilogy, Paradise , and compares it to Silko's Gardens in the Dunes . Here, Morrison relies on gnostic sources to scrutinize the effects of biblical notions of utopia on literature and its implications for social relations. Gardens uses the same sources but puts them to different uses, subverting their authority in a rewriting that supports Native survival through a program of cultural syncretism. Chapter IV examines the poetry of Lucille Clifton, who, although initially revising Christianity through her refiguring of the Lucifer character, rejects that tradition following the events of 9/11. Clifton's work in Mercy marks a juncture in women's revisions of sacred texts in its departure from Christianity and its introduction of a new sacred text and moral code not predicated upon hierarchy. In conclusion, I consider how these writers extend feminist and anti-racist traditions of scriptural revision explored in the introduction. / Adviser: Shari Huhndorf

Abstract : The following dissertation provides a comparative analysis of four Québécois and Canadian literary authors—Fulvio Caccia, Ying Chen, Wayson Choy, and Lawrence Hill—and the manner in which they have responded through varied use of genre to present-day racial and ethnic discourse, as it occurs within both wider society and the Canadian and Québécois literary institutions more specifically. The dissertation begins with an introductory chapter that takes up the central concepts that inform the study, namely, those of ethnic literature, écriture migrante, race, ethnicity, hybridity, transculture, and comparative literature. The main body of the dissertation is divided into two parts, the first dealing with the francophone authors Caccia and Chen, the second with the anglophone authors Choy and Hill. In the first part, the writers are shown to employ defamiliarizing and ‘unreadable’ literary strategies drawn from the nouveau roman (or French new novel) and fantastic literary genres in an effort to resist common understandings of race and ethnicity, with the creation of a universal, deracialized literary space resulting to differing degrees in each case. In the second part, the study focuses on the use that Choy and Hill have made of more traditional and readable literary forms—realist and autobiographical in nature—in the attempt not so much to reject outright the discourse of race and ethnicity but to resignify the meaning of these latter terms in ways that allow for the production of a more open sense of identity. In this regard, by informing and historicizing certain cultural realities (here, Chinese Canadian and African Canadian respectively), Choy and Hill seek to challenge the reductive views that have in the past affected these often marginalized segments of Canadian society. Ultimately, the dissertation attempts to explore how the four authors in question participate in a shared project of sorts through their contestation of dominant racial and ethnic discourse, despite the different stylistic approaches they may take. A secondary aspect of the project addresses, through recourse to reader-response theory, some of the difficulties that may arise when a mainstream readership approaches works of ethnic literature. / Résumé : La thèse qui suit présente une analyse comparée de quatre auteurs québécois et canadiens—Fulvio Caccia, Ying Chen, Wayson Choy et Lawrence Hill—et la façon dont ils sont intervenus face au discours de la race et de l’ethnicité tel qu’il existe à ce moment dans la société et dans les institutions littéraires du Canada et du Québec—et cela à partir d’un emploi de divers genres littéraires. L’introduction de l’étude passe en revue les concepts centraux qui sous-tendent la thèse, à savoir ceux de la ‘littérature ethnique’ (ethnic literature), l’écriture migrante, la race, l’ethnicité, l’hybridité culturelle, la transculture et la littérature comparée. Le texte principal de la thèse comprend deux parties, la première portant sur les écrivains francophones Caccia et Chen, la deuxième sur les écrivains anglophones Choy et Hill. La première partie cherche à rendre compte de comment Caccia et Chen ont recours dans leurs écrits à des procédés littéraires défamiliarisants et ‘illisibles’ tirés du nouveau roman et de la littérature fantastique dans le but de subvertir les lieux communs sur la race et l’ethnicité, avec comme résultat la production d’un espace littéraire qui est à différents degrés universel et déracialisé. La deuxième partie traite de l’emploi que font Choy et Hill de styles littéraires plus traditionnels et lisibles—de nature réaliste et autobiographique—avec l’objectif non pas de rejeter tout court le discours de la race et de l’ethnicité, mais de réinscrire ces dernières notions de telle façon à rendre possible une vue de l’identité plus ouverte. À cet égard, en remettant dans leur contexte social et historique certaines réalités culturelles (ici, sino-canadienne et afro-canadienne respectivement), Choy et Hill arrivent à contester les idées réductives qui dans le passé ont été faites de ces secteurs souvent marginalisés de la société canadienne. En fin de compte, la thèse tente de mettre en lumière la manière dont les quatre auteurs en question participent en quelque sorte à un projet partagé en conséquence de leur opposition au discours dominant de la race et de l’ethnicité, bien que leurs approches stylistiques soient sensiblement différentes. En s’appuyant sur les théories de la lecture, un aspect secondaire de l’étude aborde quelques-uns des problèmes qui peuvent se produire lorsqu’un lectorat de la société majoritaire cherche à lire un texte migrant.

本論文在結構上，除去「緒論」與「結論」外，「本論」共分成五章。第一章「三大英雄史詩的產生及其內容」，第二章「三大英雄史詩的情節類型」，第三章「三大英雄史詩生存的社會背景」，第四章「三大英雄史詩的流傳」，第五章「從比較文學看三大英雄史詩」。 　　第一章，是對「三大英雄史詩」作一個整體性的論述。英雄史詩與民族的關係不但非常密切，而且能成為該民族文學的活水源頭與象徵，變成後期文學攫取養分的精神寶庫。本論文以中國少數民族文學裡最具代表性的「三大英雄史詩」《格薩爾》、《江格爾》、《瑪納斯》為對象，它們比諸世界上其他民族的英雄史詩雖然內容相同（歌頌英雄的戰績），但是在類型上卻有很大的不同（已定型或仍在繼續生長）。了解「三大英雄史詩」的形成、發展、茁壯、消退，將會讓我們更清楚「英雄史詩」在民族文學史以至於世界文學史上的重要地位。 　　對英雄史詩的整體了解之後，我們進入英雄史詩的內部結構。「三大英雄史詩」作品內容都有大同小異的情節，經過比較和分析，可以找出相對固定的情節，也就是所謂的「情節板塊」。本論文大膽使用「板塊」這個概念，整理出《格薩爾》板塊13個、《江格爾》板塊10個、《瑪納斯》板塊20個。由於英雄史詩的情節大多是相對固定的「板塊」構成。歌手按一定的情節模式構造的「板塊」，以不同的方式連接拼綴起來，加上藝術的加工和個人的即興發揮，一個個完整的故事便千姿百態地呈現出來。因此只要掌握「情節板塊」，不管史詩故事如何的離奇怪異，都可以輕易指出它的故事結構。本論文第二章利用「板塊」來分析比較「三大英雄史詩」，這應該是「三大英雄史詩」結構分析的研究裡較為突出並呈現整貌的一坎。 　　透過英雄史詩作品的結構掌握到英雄史詩的內部之後，第三章是探討英雄史詩的生存的社會環境。宗教與娛樂的社會功能，是英雄史詩能夠廣泛流傳的重要條件，透過了解這兩項重要的條件，我們才能進一步知道英雄史詩能夠生存的背景環境。 第四章「三大英雄史詩」的流傳，本論文從四個方面下手，即「三大英雄史詩」的演唱環境、說唱藝人的傳承、書面版本的傳播、以及「三大英雄史詩」的跨族流傳現象。整章完全環繞「流傳」這個主題，從各種不同的面向，討論「三大英雄史詩」的傳播過程。因為藝人傳承在過去是比較被忽略的，而「三大英雄史詩」的版本也過於繁瑣散亂，無法理出頭緒，所以本章較費心力是在整理藝人傳承的發展以及書面版本的匯整。 　　本論文對「三大英雄史詩」的了解是先從外在大環境的分析開始，然後深入史詩內部結構剖析，再回到「三大英雄史詩」的生存環境，探討史詩的社會功能而明自「三大英雄史詩」的流傳現象。最後一章則從比較文學的角度來探討，「三大英雄史詩」的地位與影響力。 　　對「中國少數民族文學」而言，精華之所在是「民間文學」，而「民間文學」燦爛耀眼的地方在「史詩」，史詩則以「三大英雄史詩」聞名。反過來說，研究「三大英雄史詩」正是採擷到史詩的粹精。

本論文是以新加坡與馬來西亞（簡稱新馬）為範圍的「土生華人」文學研究，主要對象是被稱為「峇峇」的土生華人從19世紀至今所產生的文學，亦兼及印尼地區土生華人（馬來語）文學的比較研究。 本論文架構除「緒論」與「結論」外，內文共分為五章。緒論除介紹本論文的研究動機與目的、研究方法與主體架構外，主要為研究對象的釐清與相關名詞的界定，並回顧峇峇的語言及文學的研究概況。 進入「本論」第一章「峇峇的語言使用」，筆者分別從峇峇的母語——峇峇馬來語和峇峇福建話，進而是「父語」福建話、再到外來語的英語和華語著手，透過這四種語言在新馬地區尤其峇峇社會中個別的使用狀況與相互消長的分析，以對峇峇社會的語言與文字使用的歷史有更深入的瞭解。可以說，峇峇的語言使用是與近現代華人移民海外及西方殖民東南亞的歷史是發展息息相關的。 第二章「峇峇的馬來語翻譯文學」。首先是介紹峇峇馬來文報刊雜誌的出版概況，此為羅馬化峇峇馬來語書寫之始。其次從所得的文獻資料並配合第一章的研究心得，從外部的出版概況，條析出峇峇馬來語翻譯文學從興起、繁盛到沒落三個階段的發展情形；接著從作品內部進行剖析，發覺翻譯作品從作品的展演形式看，又可分為前、後兩期不同的階段。最後第四小節，筆者嘗試透過田調期間所得的一本「峇峇馬來語籤詩翻譯本」的研究，談談中國通俗文學及民間信仰對峇峇文化的影響，以及峇峇人在以峇峇馬來語翻譯中國籤詩文時所透露出來的多元文化意象。 接著進入第三章，著重探討「峇峇馬來語創作文學」，從所得資料彙整的結果看來，峇峇馬來語的書面創作量不及翻譯文學，尤其散文體的作品寥寥可數。然而，缺乏書面的創作文本並不代表峇峇沒有創作文學，「峇峇文學即是峇峇馬來語翻譯文學」這樣的想法也只是長久以來因書面創作的匱乏而對外界造成的假象。事實上，因文化的接觸和語言的掌握，早期的峇峇社會非常熱衷於馬來語詩歌的吟誦或創作，惟傳統上多屬於民間的即興創作，詩文的流傳也多以口耳相傳，較少以書面語呈現及保存。峇峇馬來語的詩歌體裁源自馬來古典文學的班頓（Pantun）及莎雅爾（Syair）體，因此相較於中國通俗小說翻譯作品，這類文學形式更具馬來色彩，也更能凸顯峇峇被馬來文化涵化的事實。從早期（峇峇）馬來語詩歌在峇峇社會的流行程度看，若當初這些詩歌能被紀錄下來，其作品數量的豐盛絕不亞於峇峇馬來語翻譯文學作品。因此第三章主要是針對筆者這些年來所收集到的峇峇馬來語詩歌作品進行統整分析，以反駁峇峇文學只有「翻譯作品」而沒有「創作文學」的質疑。 第四章分別介紹峇峇的漢語文學及英語文學。無可否認，以峇峇馬來語作為峇峇母語（或「族語」）的地位，峇峇馬來語文學之於峇峇文學的「核心性」是不容撼動的，但若從「人」（民族）的角度檢視，在肯定其作為民族文學的重要表徵的同時，以峇峇文化發展上語言使用的多元現象看，我們也不應忽略峇峇人當中有用其他語言書寫文學的事實。在峇峇社會的發展進程中，各語言之間一直是相互影響的，呈現在文學上的情況也與此相去不遠。因此，第四章主要是承前三章語言使用多元的文路，對峇峇的文學書寫歷程中較隱性的漢語文學及英語文學進行概觀介紹，以作為峇峇馬來語文學發展的一個補充瞭解。我們發現，峇峇馬來語的興起與峇峇漢語能力（文學）的衰退脫不了關係，而峇峇馬來語（文學）的沒落則或多或少歸因於峇峇英語文學的興盛。 在前四章的基礎上，第五章筆者嘗試把峇峇文學擺在民族文學的位階上，與其他相關文學：（第一節）印尼土生華人文學、（第二節）馬來文學和（第三節）馬（新）華文學進行比較分析。尤其針對學界在印尼土生華人（馬來語）文學、印尼語發展、以及印尼新文學發展上的研究成果所導致的聯想：「(新馬)峇峇文學、馬來語以及馬來新文學之間的關係」，峇峇文學將如何自處？本章最後筆者將峇峇文學擺在「國家文學」的氛圍中去瞭解，在新、馬多元民族的社會中，各民族文學之間的認定是如何？而峇峇文學又是否可以在強勢的政治取向及意識型態包圍下，在眾主流（民族）文學之中找到自我的定位？ 最後是本論文之結論。筆者承前文的研究脈絡，輔以民族文學界定的三條件（族屬、創作語言、內容題材）檢視峇峇文學作為「民族文學」的契合或可行性（非單指文本存在的必要性和文學性問題），並在各系語言文學的比較分析中，檢討峇峇文學對於峇峇社會文化發展的回應及影響。