Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [146-157).

Thesis (M.A.)--Liberty University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis is a study of laughter (le "rire") and strangeness ("l'insolite") in five novels (Les Jumeaux du Diable, La Jument Verte, La Vouivre, Travelingue, La Belle Image) by French writer Marcel Ayme (1902--1967). The theoretical notions used are mainly provided by literary and philosophical works from Bakhtine and Ricoeur; they also come from the rich literary tradition of humour and supernatural (le "merveilleux"). An intimate reading of the funniness (la "drolerie") in the stories allows one to characterize each novel in particular, but it also provides essential grounds to some reflections on Marcel Ayme's art of the novel. Among aspects treated, great emphasis is put on supernatural beings (devil, fabulous animal), the splitting of narrative voice, on connivance and transgression, on exacerbation of materiality and resolution of antagonisms, on ambivalence of meaning and on humor as a refusal of seriousness.

Thesis (M.A.)--Villanova University, 2008. / English Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Kassel, Univ., Diss., 2004

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [214]-226).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Divinity School, December 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-322). Also available on the Internet.

No description available.

This thesis sought to demonstrate that humour and the grotesque are the primary tools by which Mda achieve his postcolonial strategies of &quot / writing back&quot / , that is, of asserting an identity in the face of colonial pressures, apartheid and the growing selfishness of many in the new, post-democratic South African society.

The material of this thesis is the area of personal humour roughly covered by τὸ ὸνομαστὶ κωμῳ<greek letter>ε<greek letter>ν - the body of jokes which involve reference or allusion to individuals from the contemporary or near contemporary world, and which gave rise to the ancient compilation of κωμῳδούμεν<greek letter>ι. In an introductory chapter I draw on the combined evidence of plays and fragments to give some impression of the role of this type of satire in Old Comedy as a whole in the later fifth century, stressing in particular the overlap between Aristophanes' choice of targets and his rivals', and suggesting that this indicates the genre's capacity to create publicity for its own exploitation. The second chapter analyses the treatment of personal jokes in the scholia on Aristophanes, and shows that this typically involves a questionable model of satire, largely taken over by modern commentators on the plays, as a reflector of the truth about its targets. In the third chapter I argue that we need to adopt a view of Aristophanes as a much more active creator of publicity and of satirical images which may often owe as much to the appeal of popular stereotypes of disapproved behaviour as to the facts about the individuals to whom they are comically attached. Chapter four concentrates on choral jokes, demonstrating in particular the special scope for inventive satirical colour allowed by the separation of the major choral sections from the concerns of the dramatic episodes. The final chapter focusses on a variety of functional, formal and technical aspects of personal jokes: these include the ways in which jokes are integrated into the composition of dialogue; comically expressive uses of antilabe; the importance of the position of a name within the structure of a joke; and visual elements in personal satire. An index of names and references is included.