The medieval historian engaged with the systems of power and authority that surrounded him. In his account of the Peasants' Revolt in late medieval England, the ecclesiastical historian Henry Knighton (d. 1396) both reinforced and challenged the traditional order. This thesis explores the ways in which his ideological perspectives shaped his understanding of the events of June 1381 and how this understanding was articulated through the structure, language, and cultural meaning of the historical text. The reconstruction of authorial intention and reclamation of both Knighton and the medieval reader as active participants in the creation of history challenge a historiography that has long disregarded Knighton as an unremarkable historical recorder. Instead, they reveal a scholar whose often extraordinary approach to the rebels and traditional authorities expresses a great deal about the theory, practice, and construction of power and authority in late medieval England.

This study deals with the characteristics of Arabic historiography in Iraq down to the time of Abu Ja'fer Tabari (d. 310/923). The historical annals of Taberi provide both the specific focus of the study and a methodological approach. Since Tabari's work may be regarded as an anthology of the writings of the early historians, our first question concerns the characteristics of Iraqi historiography as they are reflected in the annals. Then we are concerned with the ways in which Tabari's work differed from his predecessors. Part One of the study comprises a historical survey of the main historians of the period including Tabari. Part two deals with certain specific characteristics of history writing, suoh as the khabar element, based upon illustrative material provided by a translated portion of the annals, which itself appears as an Appendix to the study. Again drawing upon the translated material, we deal with certain problems, such as the nature of the sources, with which Tabari was confronted in compiling his own work.

The "Discours preliminaire" opening Francois-Xavier Garneau's Histoire du Canada depuis sa decouverte jusq'a nos jours in 1845 has often been held for a rather didactic discourse regarding the historian's methods. This thesis proposes a new reading of the text according to three different perspectives. We will first retrace, through eleven editions, the editorial history of the "Discours" and, by the same means, of Garneau's Histoire. This reconstitution more particularly reveals the impact of the Histoire on the public at its first publication and the successive readings' influence on the work's form. We will then analyse the ideological content of the "Discours preliminaire" and, lastly, taking into account recent studies on the art of the essay, consider its form. These two last efforts at grasping the specificity of the "Discours" reveal a text not of purely functional value, but one full of doubt and uncertainties which provides a vivid illustration of French Canada's crisis following the Union Act of 1840.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The prologue studies the Tory publication of Milton's Character of the Long Parliament (1681). It argues that the provenance of this tract is best explained if Milton did in fact attempt to include the Digression in his History of Britain. Further ambiguities in Milton's early reputation are discussed in a review of the History's reception. Chapter I surveys Milton's response to the long­ standing demand for a national history and briefly reconsiders his ideas on history and historiography. Chapter II proposes that his political sympathies led Milton to look to the British legends for his historical subject. The strong Protestant and Tudor associations of such native myth have been largely overlooked, and yet they bear strongly on Milton's proposals for a British historical poem. His reappraisal of the myths in the History indicates his disillusionment with his original historical project: and reflects his changing opinion of the national character. Chapter III charts Milton's response to the legends surrounding Lucius, Constantine and the early British church, and traces conflicts between his need to deny church history and his desire to rewrite it. It then turns to his curiously muted views on the Saxon church. Chapter IV compares the use of Gildas's De Excidio in the History with Milton's relative silence on Arthur. Milton's regard for this ancient British jeremiad recalls that of the Reformers and suggests the instability of his commitment to purely classical styles of historiography in his time. Chapter V surveys the conflicting ideological and religious pressures on the history of the Saxons and the Conquest and compares Milton's shifting response to these in his political tracts with his views in the History. The Epilogue returns to Milton's view of the national character, with special reference to the Digression. Presenting his references to climate theory in a wider context, it argues that in moving from a loosely predestinarian position to a belief in free will, Milton first sought some determining natural force to explain England's conduct through the ages.

The Iranian artist Shirin Neshat has been living in self-imposed exile since the late 1970s, as she chose not to return to her home country following the ‘79 Islamic Revolution. Through her works Neshat examines Iran before and after the revolution and follows political and civil transformations through strong photographs of women in her country of birth.  My own use of the term exile deals with the analysis of the state of exile in relation to artistic work as a globalized and underlying motivation for art and artists. The new definition of exile is analyzed in relation with the artist’s photographs and the verbal and visual statements. The verbal and visual photographs in the work of Neshat are related to the term exile through different allegories and metaphors that are to be found in lyricist Rumi’s classical poetry, the Bible and the Quran. The artist’s use of the visual photographs where women appear with hijab covering their hair and with weapons in their hands- in some pictures without any audience at all, in others decorated with different calligraphic texts- are combined with the verbal photograph which is created through music (song) and language. The verbal and visual statements complete one another in a united effort to visualize exile as a term, therefore every attempt to separate these two a part, will inevitably deprive the audience of the statement itself, which is in this case the psychoanalytical inner exile. One does not have to be outside her home to feel the state of exile; it can be felt mentally even if one is at home. The inner exile is a global experience. This form of exile is born when the community is categorized from two extremes, with one side of the equation possessing power and the other being classified as weak and ”the other”. I use the status of women in Iran as an example in my investigation, where women are at home but are still very much outside of it, alienated for their gender (sex).

Xenophon of Athens probably did not write his Anabasis until thirty years or more after the events which it describes. This remarkable gap, taken together with the absence of a prologue, the presence of a number of prominent themes and authorial concerns, and the complex literary construction of the work, has made the task of explaining it problematic. Situating the text in the context of Xenophon's later life and wide-ranging literary output, in this dissertation I argue that apologia is the defining element in the work. Through his elaborate narrative structure and representation of his own character, Xenophon is defending himself, his social class, and his teacher, Socrates. In Books 5 and 7 (of 7) he is occupied with a rigorous defence of his conduct on the retreat, answering charges of deceiving the soldiers, hubris, corruption, and mercenary service, while in Books 3 through to 7, he is defending the memory of Socrates. For from the point of his introduction into the text at the opening of Book 3, following the decapitation of the Greek High Command at the Greater Zab River, Xenophon the character is acting as a pupil of Socrates would have done had he found himself in similarly dire circumstances. His actions, counsel, and moral bearing during the course of the retreat are a testimony to the value of his teacher's training, and powerfully undermine the charges of impiety and corrupting the youth levelled against Socrates in 399. At the same time, the outstanding leadership performance on the retreat of Xenophon's character reflects on himself as the historical figure behind the exemplar. By highlighting its different forms and bringing out its pervasiveness, the dissertation demonstrates that apologia is the major factor in the formation of the text.

Šio magistrinio darbo objektas yra Lietuvos kariuomenės karininko Stasio Zaskevičiaus (1892–1968) refleksija apie 1918 – 1945 m. Lietuvos politinio – visuomeninio gyvenimo įvykius. Šią refleksiją autorius pateikia memorialinėje studijoje „Vieni metai mūsų tautos gyvenime“, kuri leidžia sužinoti ir analizuoti autoriaus politines pažiūras, požiūrį į svarbius Lietuvai istorinius įvykius. Magistriniame darbe buvo formuluojama tokia tyrimo problema – kuo pasižymi St.Zaskevičiaus memorialinėje studijoje atsispindinčios autoriaus politinės pažiūros ir požiūris į istorinius įvykius. Darbo tikslas – remiantis antruoju ir trečiuoju St. Zaskevičiaus memorialinės studijos „Vieni metai mūsų tautos gyvenime“ sąsiuviniais, ištirti ir aprašyti St. Zaskevičiaus požiūrį į Lietuvos istorijos įvykius 1918 – 1945 m. Rengiant darbą buvo išsikelti tokie du uždaviniai: 1) įvertinti St.Zaskevičiaus požiūrį į nepriklausomos Lietuvos politinį – visuomeninį gyvenimą 1918 – 1940 m.; 2) išanalizuoti St.Zaskevičiaus požiūrį į Antrojo pasaulinio karo įtaką Lietuvos politiniam ir visuomeniniam gyvenimui; 3) įvertinti St. Zaskevičiaus santykį su dabartine istoriografija; Mokslinis darbo naujumas yra tas, kad tiesiogiai nagrinėtas St. Zaskevičiaus rankraštinis palikimas, t.y. pirminis egodokumento plačiąja prasme tipo šaltinis, kuris dar nebuvo jokiu pavidalu publikuotas, todėl memorialinė studija „Vieni metai mūsų tautos gyvenime“ niekada nebuvo bent kiek išsamiau analizuota ir vertinta moksline ar istorine... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of this master thesis is a reflection of Lithuanian army officer Stasys Zaskevičius (1892–1968) about political - social life in Lithuania in 1918 – 1945. The author provides a reflection in a memorial study "One year in our nation’s life“, allowing to learn and analyze the author’s political views, views on important historical events. Research problem of this master thesis was formulated in this way – what are characteristics of St.Zaskevičius’ political views and approach to historical events reflected in memorial study. This master thesis is archaeographycal analysis basicly dedicated to St. Zaskevičius manuscript’s exploration. The goal of the work – with reference to the second and third parts of St. Zaskevičius memorial study “One year in our nation’s life”, explore and describe St. Zaskevičius approach to historical events in Lithuania 1918 – 1945. There are two objectives: 1) to evaluate St.Zaskevičius approach of independent Lithuania’s political - social life in 1918 - 1940; 2) to analyze St.Zaskevičius approach of the Second World War impact on the Lithuania’s political and social life; 3) to evaluate St. Zaskevičius views relation with conpemporary historiography.

Re-Membering Ancient Women: Hypatia of Alexandria and Her Communities is a recovery of Hypatia of Alexandria (355-415 ACE) as a skilled rhetorician and instructor of note who taught in Alexandria, Egypt. This work addresses Hypatia as a missing female figure from the history of rhetoric and follows the work of feminist historiographers in the field of Rhetoric and Composition including Andrea Lunsford, Jan Swearingen, Susan Jarratt, and Cheryl Glenn (among others) who note the exclusion of women from ancient schools of rhetoric, yet assert their participation in rhetorical activities. In its recovery of Hypatia, the work recreates the historical milieu of Roman Alexandria including Alexandria’s ethnically and religiously diverse population. As a woman of Greco-Egyptian decent, Hypatia’s public work was supported by Egyptian, Greek, and Roman legal and social customs that enabled her to lecture in public and private, administer her own school, and advise high-level political leaders. Using feminist and post-modern theories as a lens and fusing disciplines such as Rhetoric and Composition, Classics, History, Philosophy, Communication Studies, Critical Theory, and Women’s Studies, this project demonstrates that although primary texts authored by women are scarce, historians may still recover women and their activities for expanded historical traditions of rhetoric by examining secondary texts. The concept of community is used as a heuristic in order to discover communities in which Hypatia engaged and led to the discovery of women Neoplatonists of the fourth century ACE and Neopythagoreans from the sixth through second centuries BCE. The Neoplatonists and Neopythagoreans usually married only those who shared their belief system; hence, women were commonly educated and participated in their communities to secure the survival of their respective group. Included is a sustained critique of historiographical methods that may allow feminist historiographers to return to the ancient period to conduct much needed further research.

In this two year master’s thesis, using concepts borrowed from media archaeology, I examine the construction, content and function of the alternative historical narrative that is mediated through the partnership between Google and Belgian museum and archives centre the Mundaneum. This alternative narrative presents Belgian bibliographers Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine as having prefigured the Internet and as having created an analogue “paper Google.” Through a close-reading of publicly available material related to the Google/Mundaneum partnership, I examine a set of issues relating to the interplay of dominant and alternative narratives, to the narrative function of realized and imaginary media, and to the implicit messages that this particular narrative mediates. In the study, I find that the examined alternative narrative is constructed both in opposition to and with support from the dominant narrative, and that recognition from international actors is used in order to confirm Europe’s place in Internet history. Furthermore, I note a tendency in the text to confuse and to conflate different media technologies. I argue that this confusion renders the narrative more flexible and dynamic, making it possible to connect the media created by Otlet and La Fontaine to any modern technology. Finally, I find that, by attaching different connotations or “media imaginaries” to the media depicted, the texts are able to present knowledge organization as a medium for peace, the Mundaneum as an important actor in information society, and Google as a company with its roots dug deep in European soil. / I den här masteruppsatsen diskuterar jag, utifrån begrepp lånade från mediearkeologi, det alternativa historiska narrativ som målas fram genom partnerskapet mellan Google och det belgiska museet och arkivet Mundaneum. Narrativet framställer de belgiska bibliograferna Paul Otlet och Henri la Fontaine som föregångare till Internet och uppfinnare till ett ”the paper Google.” Genom en närläsning av öppet tillgängligt material med anknytning till Google/Mundaneum-partnerskapet undersöker jag frågor som rör samspelet mellan dominerande och alternativa narrativ, verkliga och imaginära mediers narrativa funktion, och de implicita budskap som just detta narrativ förmedlar. I studien finner jag att det undersökta alternativa narrativet konstrueras både i motsats till och med stöd från det dominanta narrativet, och att erkännandet från internationella aktörer används för att bekräfta Europas plats i Internets historia.Jag noterar även en tendens i texten att blanda samman olika medieteknologier, och argumenterar för att denna förvirring i sig gör narrativet mer flexibelt och dynamiskt, och därmed gör det möjligt att sammankoppla medier skapade av Otlet och La Fontaine med vilken modern informationsteknologi som helst. Slutligen konstaterar jag att texterna, genom att fästa olika konnotationer eller “media imaginaries” vid de framställda medierna, framställer kunskapsorganisation som ett medium för fred, Mundaneum som en viktig aktör i informationssamhället och Google som ett företag med djupgående rötter i Europa.