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

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

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.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 600-624).

This study examines pedagogical patterns associated with wizard, witch, and fairy archetypes in fantasy literature. The fact that magic exists in fantasy literature as a mysterious and elusive element allows narratives to maintain and validate various means of knowledge acquisition – one archetypal form, such as a wizard, pursues a radically different mode of pedagogical engagement with magic than another archetypal form, such as a fairy. According to Carl Jung, archetypes are anchored by ancient elements of mythological lore, yet continuously shape-shift in the present day. My qualitative research process involved close readings of selected passages in popular works of fantasy literature, selected for analysis based on their salient educational themes as well as a presence of witches, wizards, and fairies. I examine how archetypes in fantasy literature frame various approaches to education, investigating whether these pedagogical multiplicities tend to re-codify magic itself. I investigate how these archetypes acquire, dispel, manipulate, and embody magic with opposing or unique tactics, while considering how each archetype confronts the unknown. I also reflect on the relevant folkloric and mythic dimensions of each archetype, examining the extent in which the magical discourse surrounding each archetype relates to ideas about teaching and learning. Each archetype presents pedagogic nuances, subtle parallels, layers, and metaphorical veins of meaning. How does education in fantasy literature establish broad and vexing challenges to the realities that we are familiar with or conscious of in the everyday contemporary educational field? Are there idiosyncratic pedagogical possibilities (and impossibilities) through archetypal representations in fantasy literature, allowing for multifaceted and meaningful representations of teaching and learning? I find that each archetype’s distinct pedagogical model includes variations as well as overlapping representations of creative agency, amplified possibilities, enhanced notions of growth, radical receptivity, calls for empathy, and visions of transformation. After examining each archetype in consecutive chapters, my conclusion summarizes the prismatic meaning of their pedagogical engagements, while reflecting on the implications and cross-pollination of education and magic. The intersection of praxis and knowledge for each archetype induces a mythopoeic imagination in relation to education, as each reconciles and renews significant transformational elements of pedagogy.

Christian providence in the primary (real) world operates as the model for the spiritual movement of Eru/Illuvatar in Tolkien's secondary (imaginative) world. Paralleling the Christian God, Illuvatar maintains a relationship with his creation through a three-fold activity: preservation, concurrence, and government. Preservation affirms Eru's sovereignty as Creator, and concurrence guarantees creaturely freedom, while paradoxically, government controls, guides, and determines those wills in Time. The union of these three activities comprises the providential relationship of Illuvatar in Tolkien's imaginary world. The following thesis endeavors to carry the argument for providence into The Silmarillion with a declarative and analytical detail that distinguishes Illuvatar's providence from other temporal manifestations. Finally, the analysis reveals not only the author's authentic orthodox perspective, but Illuvatar's role in the imaginative world emerges as a reflection of Tolkien's authorial role in the real world. / by David C. Powell. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This thesis discusses twentieth century children's fantasy fiction. The writers whose creative output is dealt with include Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, Pat O'Shea, Peter Dickinson, T.H.White, Lloyd Alexander and, to a lesser extent, C.S.Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien. These authors have been chosen because their books, whilst being of a broadly similar nature, nevertheless have a sufficient diversity to illustrate well many different important aspects of children's fantasy. Chapter I examines the sources of modern fantasy, presents the attitudes of different authors towards borrowing from traditional sources and their reasons for doing so, and looks at the changing interpretation of myths. Chapter II talks about the presentation of the primary and secondary worlds and the ways in which they interact. It also discusses the characters' attitudes towards magic. Chapter III looks at the presentation of magic, examines the traditional fairy-tale conventions and their implementation in modern fantasies, and discusses the concepts of evil, time, and the laws governing fantasy worlds. Chapter IV deals with the methods of narration and the figure of the narrator. It presents briefly the prevailing plot patterns, discusses the use of different kinds of language, and the ideas of pan-determinism and prophecy. The concluding chapter considers the main subjects and aims of children's fantasy, the reasons why the genre is so popular, and its successes and failures.