Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Heidelberg, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-406) and index.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Heidelberg, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-406) and index.

The central tenet of the study is that language and madness are bound together, language both including madness and perpetuating the exclusion of madness as 'other'. The first chapter considers the representation of madness in Atwood's novels The Edible Woman, Surfacing and Alias Grace from the perspective ofFoucauldian and Kristevan theories oflanguage and madness. Alias Grace becomes the focus in the second chapter. Here the syntax of madness is traced during Grace's stay in the mental asylum. Language, madness and sexuality are revealed as a palimpsest written on Grace's body. The final chapter looks at Grace's incarceration in the penitentiary and her dealings with the psychologist Dr. Simon Jordan where Grace's narrative tightly threads language and madness together. Underlying each chapter is a concern with how language and madness are in permanent interaction and opposition writing themselves onto society and onto Grace. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

This thesis argues that George MacDonald's literary influence upon C. S. Lewis-concerning the themes of pain, suffering, evil and goodness-was transforming and long-lasting. It is argued in the opening chapter that MacDonald's work had a great deal to do with the change in young Lewis's imagination, helping to convert him from a romantic doubter to a romantic believer in God and his goodness. A review of both writers' first works suggests that such influence may have begun earlier in Lewis's career than has been noticed. The second chapter examines how both authors contended with the problems that pain and suffering present, and how both understood and presented the nature of faith. Differences in their treatment of these subjects are noted, but it is argued that these views and depictions share fundamental elements, and that MacDonald's direct influence can be demonstrated in particular cases. The view that MacDonald was primarily a champion of feelings is challenged, as is the idea that either man's later writing displays a loss of faith in God and his goodness. The third chapter, in specifically refuting the assertion that MacDonald's view of evil was inclusive in the Jungian or dualistic sense, shows how both authors' work maintains an unmistakable distinction between evil fortune and moral evil. The next two chapters examine fundamental similarities in their treatment of evil and goodness. Special care is taken in these two chapters to trace MacDonald's direct influence, especially regarding the differences they believed existed between hell's Pride and what they believed God to be. The fifth chapter reviews their ideas and depictions of heaven in summing up the study's argument concerning the overall influence of MacDonald's writing upon Lewis's imagination-in particular the change in Lewis's understanding of the relations between Spirits, Nature, and God.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2008. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 14, 2009). Thesis advisor: Thomas Haddox. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The central tenet of the study is that language and madness are bound together, language both including madness and perpetuating the exclusion of madness as 'other'. The first chapter considers the representation of madness in Atwood's novels The Edible Woman, Surfacing and Alias Grace from the perspective ofFoucauldian and Kristevan theories oflanguage and madness. Alias Grace becomes the focus in the second chapter. Here the syntax of madness is traced during Grace's stay in the mental asylum. Language, madness and sexuality are revealed as a palimpsest written on Grace's body. The final chapter looks at Grace's incarceration in the penitentiary and her dealings with the psychologist Dr. Simon Jordan where Grace's narrative tightly threads language and madness together. Underlying each chapter is a concern with how language and madness are in permanent interaction and opposition writing themselves onto society and onto Grace. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Dans ce travail nous analysons le rapport de l’individu au mimétisme dans l’œuvre de l’écrivain Chilien Roberto Bolaño (1953-2003). La notion du mimétisme est étroitement liée à celle du désir. En effet, selon le penseur français René Girard, l’individu ne désire pas par soi-même, mais il imite un modèle. Le désir est ainsi déterminé par ce médiateur. Cette forme de désir opère de manière inconsciente car le sujet est sûr de l’autonomie de son choix. Jacques Lacan enrichi cette lecture inspiré d’une idée typiquement hégélienne : le désir de reconnaissance. Pour Lacan, l’individu, avec une idée figée de soi-même (que Lacan appelle l’Imaginaire) est investi par le désir en forme de pulsion. Le mimétisme est double, non seulement l’individu imite des modèles pour tenter de correspondre à cette image figée, mais il destine son effort à être reconnu par les autres (que Lacan appelle le grand Autre ou le Symbolique). Cette étude utilise l’approche méthodologique que nous venons de décrire pour analyser l’œuvre de Roberto Bolaño. Bolaño, un des écrivains le plus importants de la littérature hispano-américaine des dernières années, est un auteur qui place au cœur de ses textes la problématique de l’autonomie du sujet. Cette problématique est surtout visible dans les deux thématiques, à notre sens dominantes, de son œuvre : l’art et le Mal. En effet, dans les textes de Bolaño il est toujours question d’artistes qui luttent pour faire reconnaître leur autonomie (c’est pour cette raison que ces artistes s’inscrivent souvent dans les mouvements d’avant-garde opposés à la tradition). De même, dans l’œuvre de l’écrivain chilien la violence est causée soit par la violence mimétique (les rivalités causées par une lecture erronée de la nature du désir : l’autre est un obstacle à la satisfaction du désir et non un médiateur de celui-ci) soit par les actes répondant à l’obsession d’un manque chez l’individu : généralement celui de ne pas pouvoir arriver à satisfaire une pulsion ayant son origine dans l’Imaginaire. / In this work we analyze the link between the subject and mimetic desire in the works of Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño (1953-2003). The concept of mimetic is closely related to the notion of desire. In fact, for French thinker René Girard, the individual doesn’t desire by himself, but he imitates a “model”. Desire is thus determined by the mediator. This type of desire operates in an unconscious way, because the subject is confident about the autonomy of his choice. French psychanalyst Jacques Lacan enhances this theory in a typically Hegelian way: the desire of recognition. For Lacan, the individual projects himself in a fixed image (called by Lacan the Imaginary); this fixation assails him in the form of a drive. Here mimetic desire is doubled: it doesn’t only imitate models to try to match with this fixed image, but also aims its effort to be recognized by others. Our work uses this methodological approach to study the works of Roberto Bolaño. Bolaño, one of the most important Hispanic American writers of the last years, puts the issue of the autonomy of the subject in the heart of his writings. This topic is mainly noticeable at the two main themes of his work: art and Evil. As a matter of fact, Bolaño’s writings always highlight the struggle of the artist who wants his autonomy recognized by the Other (for this reason, Bolaño’s artists are often members of the avant-garde, thus opposed to tradition). Correspondingly, violence can be caused in one hand by mimetic desire (rivalries provoked by an erroneous interpretation of desire’s nature: the Other is saw more as an obstacle for desire’s satisfaction than its mediator) or, on the other hand, by acts that meet the obsession of a lack: one that generally consist in a drive (originated in the Imaginary) that can’t be satisfied.