Thesis--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 301-307).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Iowa, 2009. / Thesis supervisor: Cheryl Herr. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 234-250).

Descriptions of food are very prominent in Barbara Pym's twelve novels. They are used on one hand for purely comic purposes. But more significantly, they evolve into a language with a structure and set of rules. To expose the language of food inherent in Pym's fiction, I have employed a combination of social history, structural anthropology and semiology. Roland Barthes' application of structural linguistics to food, and his concern with its' symbolic nature hold particular bearing to this study. The language of food functions on three interrelated levels in Pym: a social level where groups are defined and hierarchised; a gendered level where the sexes are defined and differentiated; and a more personal level where an individual either communes or alienates him/herself from a given group. Identity, whether national, social, sexual or individual, is confirmed in relation to eating habits and roles surrounding food preparation and consumption. With the help of complex strategies of irony, Pym uses the language of food to signal an interest in social and gender reform by presenting the artificiality of social constructs and gender stereotypes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 195 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-195). Abstract available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2006 Aug. 21.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: Hal Wylie. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Ann L. Ardis, Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract not available

Food has a near-ubiquitous role in the fiction of Charles Dickens. From the action that does and does not take place, to the appearance and essence of the characters, and to the language and style in which they were written, virtually every aspect of Dickens's novels and short stories is, to some extent and at one time or another, connected with food. This thesis explores the nature and implications of food in Dickens and, in addition to its introduction and conclusion, it has been divided into three chapters: (a) Language, Style, and Subject/theme; (b) Plot and Setting; and (c) Characterization. As well, the parallel between food's omni-presence in Dickens's fiction and its centrality in the so-called 'real world' has meant that the literary concept 'realism' is a recurrent concern.

No description available.