In this thesis, I will apply Michel Foucault¡¦s knowledge/power theory to discuss gender politics in two Renaissance plays ¡V Ben Jonson¡¦s Epicoene or The Silent Woman and William Shakespeare¡¦s The Taming of the Shrew. The first chapter aims to delineate Foucault¡¦s discursive discipline and its exertion in Renaissance male-female relations. According Foucault, discourses are functional and regulative: they powerfully frame sciences and knowledges that have effects upon our souls and actions. Thus, ¡¥truth¡¦, or the so-called ¡¥self-evident¡¦ and ¡¥commonsensical¡¦ empowers articulators to discipline and control others. Gender discourses in the name of masculine or feminine ¡¥nature¡¦ are similarly little more than instrument of domination. Precisely, the phallo-centrical discourse of Renaissance age empowers contemporary men by subjecting, or explicitly formulating and shaping the ¡¥feminine nature¡¦ of obedient silence. The patriarchal assessment codifies two genders -- one subordinate to the other -- as a key element in its patriarchal view of the social order, and buttressed its gendered division of power. In other words, what lies beneath the discourse is patriarchal consideration for male domination. As long as contemporary women keep silent, the normative power would enable their fathers and husbands to regulate ¡¥womanly conducts¡¦ of all occasions. Then, I would examine how Morose and Epicoene wield disciplinary power by setting up certain ¡¥behavior norms¡¦ in Epicoene. Morose¡¦s ¡¥truth¡¦ of having his family members hold their tongue and make signs has been internalized by Mute: Mute is hence drilled to self-discipline himself to answer the family head¡¦s questions in rigidly prescribed signs or gestures. Mute reifies the formidable outcome of silent conformity to ¡¥reality¡¦: he takes for granted the ¡¥natural¡¦ routine of body language. However, Morose¡¦s wife Epicoene keeps correcting Morose¡¦s mistakes to reinforce her version of ¡¥right¡¦ and ¡¥wrong¡¦. In order to rehabilitate Morose, Epicoene and other characters further label his insanity in public. The conclusion they draw results from the same complicity to put badness to Morose¡¦s ¡¥crazy¡¦ will to discourses and goodness to the ¡¥reasonable¡¦ tolerance of their opinions. In The Taming of the Shrew, Katherina is frightening to the Renaissance males equally because of her undisciplined behavior, or her automatic discourse and self-assertion. The male characters in the play try their best to eschew from Katherina so as to defend themselves against the fear that they will not be capable of keeping ¡¥domestic order¡¦. In one word, talkative women as Katherina are frightening to Renaissance men because of their threat to the original ¡¥orders¡¦. Petruchio hence invalidates Katherina¡¦s judgments ever since they first meet: the purpose of his deliberate pretense of misunderstanding her words is to grant her discourses no influence on him since disciplinary power lies in influencing others¡¦ deeds. He vanquishes resistance from Kate by making her conformable to his ¡¥knowledge¡¦¡Xfemale obedience to male domination. Katherina¡¦s new identity is thus constructed according to Petruchio¡¦s ¡¥rules¡¦: by labeling goodness to female obedience and badness to female transgression, he thus produces another Kate obedient to his intentions. From this aspect, the gender politics between Petruchio and Katherina is essentially a battle for discourse; disciplinary power lies in voicing and reinforcing particular ¡¥truths¡¦. In one word, systematic knowledges are never power-free, but quite the contrary.

ABSTRACT This thesis is focused on Foucauldian analysis of power, madness, and sexuality in Virginia Woolf¡¦s Mrs. Dalloway. Michel Foucault¡¦s assertion of power aims to explicate the positivity of exercises of power and power-knowledge nexus. Foucault¡¦s study of madness and of the history of sexuality manifests the power confrontation between reason and madness, heterosexuality and homosexuality. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf also presents these two power confrontations through the stories of the two main characters, Septimus Warren Smith and Clarissa Dalloway. Woolf, in this novel, not only explores the power relationships between human beings and the social systems but also demonstrates the two main characters¡¦ different solutions toward the power conflicts. The Introduction begins with an overview of the theoretical frame of Foucauldian power and an explanation of the connection between Foucauldian approach and Mrs. Dalloway. In Chapter One, I discuss the cause of Septimus¡¦s madness and the power conflict between Septimus and the doctors, i.e. the power confrontation between reason and madness. In Foucauldian term, the power confrontation between reason and madness signifies the power relation between taboo and transgression. Only through incessant movements of transgression, can the limit of taboo be sensed and emancipated. Chapter Two chiefly deals with the same-sex love between Clarissa and Sally. Their choice of marriage displays the power of the norm of heterosexuality. In this chapter, I, further, present Woolf¡¦s feminist point of view toward women¡¦s subordinate position in the marriage. In Chapter Three, I mainly describe the similarities between Septimus and Clarissa and their different resolutions toward power struggles. Both of them have the homosexual inclination; however, in the moral and sexual norm of heterosexuality, they have a sense of alienation from the circumstance they live in. This sense of alienation generates their feelings of being between the two poles of life and death. They both deeply realize the power of the social norms and try to solve their impasse between life and death in the power struggles. Septimus¡¦s suicide symbolizes his resistance against the power of reason and his attempt of ending the power conflicts; on the other hand, Clarissa¡¦s choice of continuing her life conveys a message of hope of survival to counterbalance the power confrontations. In Conclusion, I reiterate the research of Mrs. Dalloway with the synthesis of Woolf¡¦s and Foucault¡¦s point of view toward power, madness, and sexuality. Both Woolf and Foucault lead readers to understand that ¡§norms¡¨ are socially and culturally constructed, and they endeavor to inspire readers to liberate those so-called norms.

This dissertation explores how five specific intellectuals challenge hegemony in education and society, and express uncomfortable truths about hegemony faced by local communities in their academic practices. Their actions of free speech in regards to dangerous truths are similar to those of the ancient Greek parrhesiastes. This word, parrhesiastes, was used to describe the male citizen in ancient Greece, who had and used his rights to free speech or parrhesia. The activity of speaking freely, parrhesiazesthai, however, is not without its risks. Such speech is dangerous to the status quo, as well as the parrhesiastes. The activity is engaged despite the consequences and the parrhesiastes faces dangers and risks. It is argued that the five scholars who participated in this study are specific parrhesiastic scholars. They are specific intellectuals in their relations with academia, communities, and movements; and parrhesiastes in their actions to assure their rights to and exercise of freedom. While the ancient parrhesiastes served a critical and pedagogical role in transforming citizens to serve the best interests of the city, the specific parrhesiastic scholar, in the case of these five scholars, argues for changes in society for the benefit of citizens whose interests have been ignored or trampled. Foucault acknowledged that the work of specific intellectuals could benefit the state to the detriment of local communities or could work to transform the state to include the interests of specific communities. Specific parrhesiastic scholars choose the latter. The focus of this study is the intersection of technologies of the self with technologies of power. This intersection, which Foucault terms governmentality, comes closest to a utilitarian exploration of resistance to power and the formation of freedom, and understanding of how individuals negotiate their particular positions in truth games for resistance and freedom. The basic conditions necessary for parrhesiazesthai are "citizenship" and understanding the distinction between positive and negative forms of parrhesia. The parrhesiastic practices of the five scholars are explored through three analytical frames: (1) self-knowledge and resisting repression, seduction, and desire; (2) political activity and tactics; and (3) the self within systems of subjugation.

<p>Skolan styrs av olika styrdokument, dessa dokument finns på nationell- kommunal- och</p><p>skolnivå. Det är kommunen som ansvarar att upprätthålla målen som står skrivna i de olika</p><p>styrdokumenten. Syfte med arbetet är att studera texterna som styr skolan, specifikt</p><p>förändringen av begreppet elev. Studien fokuserar på eleven i tre styrdokument, SOU</p><p>1992:94, Lpf 94 och en kommunal skolplan. Metoden som används är textanalys med två</p><p>inriktningar, innehållsanalys och diskursanalys. Med hjälp av innehållsanalysen framkom det</p><p>att begreppet elev används i både individ- och grupperspektiv samt att användandet av vilka</p><p>ord som används förändrades genom styrdokumenten. I diskursanalysen ändrar elev</p><p>betydelsen från SOU 1992:94 till skolplanen. I SOU 1992:94 är elev del av en grupp och i den</p><p>kommunala skolplanen är eleven enskild. De slutsatser som framkommer ur studien ligger i</p><p>linje med Foucaults syn på diskursen. Begreppet elev används för att reglera och normalisera</p><p>både undervisning och skolsituationen. En mer betonad mening av begreppet elev hittades i</p><p>den kommunala skolplanen än i de andra två styrdokumenten.</p> / <p>Schools are controlled by several policy documents; these exist at national- local authorityand</p><p>school level. It is up to each local government to hold responsibility and maintain the</p><p>goals specified in the policy documents. The purpose of this essay is to study the texts that</p><p>control schools and specific changes in the use of the term pupil throughout the policy</p><p>documents. The study focuses on the term pupil in the governing documents: SOU 1992:94,</p><p>Lpf 94 and one sample school curriculum. The research method used is text analysis</p><p>comprising two specific branches: content analysis and discourse analysis. Using content</p><p>analysis the term pupil can be seen in an individual and group perspective where the usage of</p><p>the word shifts throughout the policy documents. In discourse analysis the term pupil changed</p><p>meaning from the top document SOU 1992:94 to the bottom document, school level. In SOU</p><p>1992:94 the pupil is part of a group whereas in the school curriculum document the pupil is</p><p>viewed as an individual. The conclusions that can be made from this study are in agreement</p><p>with Foucault’s view. The term pupil is used to regulate and standardise in both education and</p><p>school situations, and a more specific meaning of the word pupil can be seen in the school</p><p>curriculum than in the other two documents.</p>

Diss.--Frankfurt am Main Universität, 2005. / Bibliogr. p. 303-313.

Reproduction de : Thèse doctorat : Génie informatique, automatique et traitement du signal : Reims : 2006. / Titre provenant de l'écran titre. Bibliogr. f. 175-187.

Thèse doctorat : Génie des Matériaux : Villeurbanne, INSA : 2006. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. p. [155]-161.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-162). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-37).

The purpose of this essay is to examine Judith Butler’s approach to the problem of ethics, and the ways in which she attempts to reformulate notions of morality and responsibility based on an understanding of the subject as inherently bound to others within a context of normative structures that exceed its own influence. For Butler, this bond implies that the subject’s constitution is structured within what she calls a ”scene of address,” where it emerges into a social field by being appealed to by others, and replying to that appeal by giving an account of itself. By setting out to examine the way in which she puts two influential thinkers—namely Foucault and Levinas—to work, I will examine her notion of scenes of address more closely, and try to show how it enables her to pose the problems of ethics and morality in novel ways. I will argue that her ethics should be understood as one of relationality, since it moves away from the self-sufficient, autonomous subject as the outset for ethics, towards an understanding our very being as dependent on the being of others. This, I propose, puts it in contrast with many established ways of thinking about ethics, both within the Western philosophical tradition, and in views of ethics more generally. Thus, I hope to show that Butler’s ethics constitutes a valuable resource with regard to the question of ethical responsibility. Finally, I will propose that it carries significant implications that point towards ethical nonviolence, and that these are of increasing importance to us today.