Inaug.-Diss.--Leipzig. / Vita. Bibliography: p. [7]-8.

Bitterness and humor, dogmatism and tolerance, unprofessional negligence and scholarly care characterize recent criticism of Swift's "Voyage to the Houyhnhnms." Many scholars have based their conclusions on the findings of earlier commentators rather than on Swift's work itself. Others have imposed a system of their own upon the fourth voyage, sometimes without regard for incontrovertible evidence against their views. Consequently, these scholars often reveal more about themselves than about Swift and his work. Although only a few really new ideas have been presented since 1958 which help to explain the Dean's motivation and intentions, a number of new interpretations of the fourth voyage of Gulliver's Travels clarify some of Swift's purposes. Generally, recent critics can be divided into three groups: those who believe that the Houyhnhnms are Swift's moral ideal for mankind; those who contend that the Houyhnhnms are not Swift's moral ideal; and those who suggest that Swift's moral ideal for man lay somewhere between the Houyhnhnm and the Yahoo.

Thesis--Rostock. / "Anmerkungen": p. [42]-44.

Thesis--Rostock. / "Anmerkungen": p. [42]-44.

Desde sua primeira impressão, em Londres, no ano de 1726, Viagens de Gulliver, de Jonathan Swift, tem sido amplamente lida e, conseqüentemente, reimpressa. No entanto, o evidente sucesso editorial do livro não permite concluir que ele tenha ganhado incontestável aprovação do público nem tampouco pode levar-nos a pensar que suas interpretações foram sempre consensuais. Prova disso reside nos dissensos do período pós-publicação os quais se estenderam e alargaram até a era vitoriana, no século XIX, a partir de quando a obra mais importante de Jonathan Swift adquiriu novas leituras, especialmente no mundo anglo-norte-americano, até que, por fim, ingressasse no panteão dos grandes textos da moderna literatura de língua inglesa. Apresentar algumas das leituras e interpretações de peso do período vitoriano, considerando as nuances da crítica e da historiografia que trataram de Viagens de Gulliver, bem como introduzir os argumentos de alguns autores que, do fim do século XIX até a primeira metade do XX, revisitaram tanto essa obra como certos comentários acerca dela são, pois, os objetivos primordiais deste trabalho. / Since Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift, was printed in London, in 1726, it has been largely read and, consequently, reprinted. However, the evident editorial success of the book does not let to conclude that it had gained incontestable public approval, neither lead to think that interpretations about it were always consensual. A proof for this lays on disagreements from the post-publication period which had spread and enlarged until the Victorian age, in the 19th century; since then the most important book of Jonathan Swift has acquired new readings, especially in the Anglo-North-American world, and after all it got into the pantheon of the great texts of the English modern literature. Presenting some important readings and interpretations from the Victorian age, considering the nuances of the criticism and historiography that dealt with Gullivers Travels, as well as introducing arguments of some authors whom, from the end of the 19th century to the begin of the 20th century, revisited both the book and some commentaries concerning to it, are the prime objectives of this work.

Desde sua primeira impressão, em Londres, no ano de 1726, Viagens de Gulliver, de Jonathan Swift, tem sido amplamente lida e, conseqüentemente, reimpressa. No entanto, o evidente sucesso editorial do livro não permite concluir que ele tenha ganhado incontestável aprovação do público nem tampouco pode levar-nos a pensar que suas interpretações foram sempre consensuais. Prova disso reside nos dissensos do período pós-publicação os quais se estenderam e alargaram até a era vitoriana, no século XIX, a partir de quando a obra mais importante de Jonathan Swift adquiriu novas leituras, especialmente no mundo anglo-norte-americano, até que, por fim, ingressasse no panteão dos grandes textos da moderna literatura de língua inglesa. Apresentar algumas das leituras e interpretações de peso do período vitoriano, considerando as nuances da crítica e da historiografia que trataram de Viagens de Gulliver, bem como introduzir os argumentos de alguns autores que, do fim do século XIX até a primeira metade do XX, revisitaram tanto essa obra como certos comentários acerca dela são, pois, os objetivos primordiais deste trabalho. / Since Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift, was printed in London, in 1726, it has been largely read and, consequently, reprinted. However, the evident editorial success of the book does not let to conclude that it had gained incontestable public approval, neither lead to think that interpretations about it were always consensual. A proof for this lays on disagreements from the post-publication period which had spread and enlarged until the Victorian age, in the 19th century; since then the most important book of Jonathan Swift has acquired new readings, especially in the Anglo-North-American world, and after all it got into the pantheon of the great texts of the English modern literature. Presenting some important readings and interpretations from the Victorian age, considering the nuances of the criticism and historiography that dealt with Gullivers Travels, as well as introducing arguments of some authors whom, from the end of the 19th century to the begin of the 20th century, revisited both the book and some commentaries concerning to it, are the prime objectives of this work.

This thesis discusses Utopian thought and compares the Utopias of Plato, Sir Thomas More, Sir Francis Bacon, and Jonathan Swift in the areas of government, education, and social problems.

In this paper, I consider the success of Jonathan Swift’s The Drapier’s Letters and Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show in changing the political climate of the world around them. By analyzing the political background of America in the 2000s and the Irish reaction to William Woods’ patent in the 1720s, I prove the influence of Stewart and Swift’s satire. I then analyze the specific tactics each employs in order to achieve an audience and influence change, concluding by comparing the similar tactics that each use, including persona, irony, and humor as a veil of serious intent.

No description available.

This thesis argues that all subjects are constructed through discourse or ideology and are incapable of acting or thinking outside the limits of that discursive or ideological construction. Based on Louis Althusser¡¦s theory, ¡§individuals are always-already subjects,¡¨ living in ¡§the system of the ideas and representations which dominate the mind of a man or a social group.¡¨ This Marxist notion serves as the point of departure for the thesis, which defines a subject¡¦s imaginary relation to the world. For Defoe and Swift, their ideological subjection to ¡§the system of the ideas and representations¡¨ is presented in their narratives, which relate the respective subject¡¦s imagination to the world in the eighteenth century. The first chapter begins with Ian Watt¡¦s critique of the eighteenth century individualism, which demands domestic alienation. It argues that if Gulliver¡¦s misanthropy loses its moral dimension, his domestic alienation is questionable. As Gulliver¡¦s counterpart, Crusoe bases his autonomy upon nonreciprocal human relationships, and his self-claimed omnipotence, under constant threats, is false and illusory. The second chapter modifies Helene Moglen¡¦s dualistic interpretation of Crusoe¡¦s consciousness and analyzes his internal contradictions from the perspective of Hegelian dialectics. The course of establishing the colonial hierarchy in Robinson Crusoe further exposes the dialectical reality of colonial tension and contradiction, which also lends itself to interpreting the triangular relationships among the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver, and the Yahoos in Gulliver¡¦s Travels. In the third chapter, the focus of concern shifts to the representation of sexual other. Though Roxana and Moll are constructed to emulate Crusoe and embody the female versions of economic autonomy, these two female-based narratives, Roxana and Moll Flanders, bring to light the paradoxes of eighteenth-century male subjectivity that discriminates men from women in terms of domesticity and individualism. While Roxana is further commodified to be enlisted in the service of imperialist ideology to mask the reality of colonial aggression and imperialist expansion, the same sleight of substitution also underlies Swift¡¦s systematic attacks on women in his Irish Tracts and misogynist poems. Lastly, the fourth chapter aims to bring these two categories of difference together. Through Swift¡¦s and Defoe¡¦s imagination, the racial other and their sexual counterpart enter into a metaphorical alliance. Thus Defoe¡¦s Amazon and Swift¡¦s Yahoo trope not only synthesize what are considered two discrete and separate categories of discrimination, but also demonstrate that their creations of race and gender derive from the same source of reference.