Thesis (MA (Hons))--Macquarie University, Division of Humanities, Department of English, 2006. / The original thesis contains the novel "Stranger, I" as an integral part of the thesis. However this novel has been omitted in this digital copy. Bibliography: p. 93-97.

Honors project (B.A.) -- Carson-Newman College, 2009. / Project advisor: Dr. Shannon Collins. Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-89).

Thesis (M.A.R.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-90).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: J. Ritchie Garrison, Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.R.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-90).

High school is bad enough with cliques, coursework, and the impending threat of college – now some old evil is coming to Solomon Starek High School (SSH for short). It’s up to transfer student Ella, older than time and unthinkably powerful, to stop it. Ella’s certainly up to the task, but the world’s changed since the last time she was in it. Society has merged magic with science, and Ella’s not sure she’s up for that. Can her new classmates help her stop what’s coming, or will they fall short? This excerpt tracks Ella’s first days at school, and sets the stage for the chaos to come.

This thesis is an extended reading of the topos of the ghostly as it is staged in the modernist writings of T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Bowen and D.H. Lawrence. As I argue, their distinct appropriations of haunting are innately tied to their individual theories of the aesthetic; there are also a number of recurring motifs throughout their respective oeuvres, which time and again evoke a ghostly register. Consistently appearing in the texts I read here, most of which were published between the years 1919 and 1935, are figurations of the ghostly as a symptom of ‘ontological uncertainty’, as well as renderings of purgatorial subjectivity, and aporias of mourning. I locate my reading in response to the scholarly fields of haunting studies, mourning modernisms and Gothic modernisms. In a move common to contemporary theoretical studies of haunting, I draw also from the latter work of Jacques Derrida, a theoretical lens that facilitates my reading of a complex modernist ethics of mourning and alterity, one that often courts the ghostly, but resists what Derrida terms ‘hauntological’ work. The Derridean figure of the ethical apparition, in its status as the Absolute Other, is consistently complicated or rejected in these texts. This resistance mirrors a purgatorial mode of subjectivity that recurs in a range of guises in the modernisms I read here. In uncovering the economies that lie beneath these haunted subjectivities Jacques Lacan’s metapsychology of the subject helps also to conceptualise Bowen and Lawrence’s handling of the spectral. Bowen’s is a distinctly visual imagination, and her staging of a haunted subjectivity is elucidated by calling upon Lacan’s formulation of the gaze. Lawrence, whose work is consistently concerned with a-symbolic bodily registers, bypasses a number of the purgatorial aporias staged in the writings of Woolf, Eliot and Bowen. Viewing his appropriation of haunting through a Lacanian understanding of feminine jouissance suggests Lawrence’s welcoming of a radical ghostly other that may transcend the aporias of subjectivity, ethics and mourning that characterise these haunting modernisms.

The practice of secondary world building, the creation of a fantasy realm with its own unique laws and systems has long been a tradition within the genre of fantasy writing. In many notable cases, such as those publications by J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft, folklore exhibited in the world of the reader has been specifically used not only to construct these fantasy realms, but to add depth and believability to their presentation. The universe of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series demonstrates this same practice of folklore-as-world-building, yet her construction does much more than just create a fantasy realm. By using both folklore which predates her writing as well as created elements which while unique to her secondary world specifically reflect the world of the reader, Rowling is able to create a fantasy realm which is highly political, complex and multivocal, yet still accessible to young readers through its familiarity. Specifically through her use of cryptids, belief representation, and folk narratives both invented and recontextualized, Rowling is able to juxtapose her fantasy universe to the real-world of the reader, in effect inventing a believable secondary world but also demonstrating to young readers the ways in which her writing should be interpreted.

Orientador: Alvaro Luiz Hattnher / Banca: Aparecido Donizete Rossi / Banca: Vera Helena Gomes Wielewicki / Resumo:Com o intuito de descrever e verificar os recursos mais recorrentes utilizados na criação de fanfictions sobre Harry Potter por autores brasileiros, discute-se neste trabalho o movimento de consumidores a uma cultura participativa nas últimas décadas, suas implicações nos debates sobre propriedade intelectual e o impacto da evolução da tecnologia na produção e circulação de produtos midiáticos. O surgimento das fanfictions e os mecanismos existentes na reinterpretação de narrativas originais também são abordados, bem como os números expressivos que representam o sucesso dos livros de J.K. Rowling como fenômeno editorial e como comunidade na internet. Tendo em vista a atividade significativa de fãs brasileiros da série e sua produção de histórias inspiradas em Harry Potter, três fanfictions representativas da produção do fandom no Brasil foram analisadas e constatou-se que os recursos mais frequentes em seu desenvolvimento são: universo alternativo, foco em personagem secundário, o subgênero slash e extensão da linha do tempo, premissa que evidencia predileção de autores e leitores por maior espaço para criação própria / Abstract: In order to describe and verify the most common resources used in the creation of Harry Potter fanfictions in Brazil, this study presents the movement of consumers towards a more participative culture in the last two decades, its implications to debates on intellectual property and the impact of technological evolution on the production and circulation of media content. The work also examines the history of fanfiction and the existent mechanisms of reinterpretation of original narratives, as well as the expressive numbers that represent the success of J.K. Rowling's books both as an editorial phenomenon and fandom on the internet. Given the significant production inspired in the Harry Potter series by Brazilian fans, three representative fanfictions are analyzed, in the light of the specific ways the original is rewritten. Alternative universe, focus on secondary characters, slash and timeline expansion, which were found to be the most recurrent procedures in the rewritings, evince partiality for personal creation on the part of authors and readers / Mestre

Games, movies, television, and interactive media make use of World-Building. World-Building essentially creates an elaborate invented universe in order to give a story context. In other words it generates a back-story designed to enhance the cathartic experience and promote engagement by the reader, viewer or participant. Some examples of World-Building include Halo, World of WarCraft and Game of Thrones. Stories need context to be fully understood and experienced. One describes a situation, the environment, sensations, smells, sounds and sensory perception to give the audience a fuller, richer experience. World-Building provides context through history, textures, laws, physics and motivations. The written portion of this thesis describes the process of generating a fantasy world. The visual portion uses a character-driven narrative to examine larger themes such as psychological transformation and pursuing one’s dream against the odds. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection