Thesis: Courtly Love was a comprehensive cultural phenomenon brought about by changes in the social environment and influences from the Arab world. The crisis of the aristocracy in fifteenth-century Spain was a major determining factor in the revival of poetic themes and forms inspired by this literary and sentimental ideology. Oblectives: 1. To study the various trends in scholarship from the sixteenth century to the present day so that the term 'Courtly Love' can be redefined as a valid instrument for critical analysis; II. To investigate the socioeconomic background to the revival of troubadour poetry and chivalric idealism in late medieval Spain. The study inquires into: - I. The Origin and Meaning of Courtly Love. The theories are examined chronologically and analytically. For purposes of analysis they are divided into those concerned with the origins of amour courtois and those concerned with the meaning and validity of the concept. 1. Chronological survey: this survey shows the extent to which opinions on the medieval love lyric reflect contemporary literary fashions and political ideas. 2., Theories of origin: include Chivalric-Matriarchal., Crypto-Catharg Neoplatonic, Bernardine-Marianistg Spring Folk Ritual, Feudal-Sociological and the Hispano-Arabic. The Hispano-Arabio theory stresses the impact of Arab medical doctrines and Slid mysticism on European literature; the Sociological theory attributes the emergence of the troubadour movement to social and economic factors. 3. Theories of meaning: include the interpretation of Courtly Love as a collective fantasy fulfilling a psychological function; as an example of the play element in culture; as a figment of the imagination projected on the Middle Ages by nineteenth-century writers and scholars. II. Background to the Troubadour Revival. Courtly Love was from the start an aristocratic phenomenon. A considerable number of the nine hundred poets who flourished in the courts of Spain and Naples during the fifteenth century were related by ties of kinship and dependence to a rebel aristocracy, whose moral authority had been diminished by changes in the art of war and in the structure of society. Many were court officials Jewish conversos and the lesser landless sons of noble families. The rise of the Castilian love lyric is linked with the prevalence of baronial anarchy and with the rapid inflation of the titular nobility. It was a conservative reaction to social crisis by the dominant minority. 1. The aristocratic theory of society: examines the theory of the three estateat different forms of patronage, and the court as a centre of culture. 2* Historical background to the troubadour revival: outlines events during the reign of the Trastamaran dynasty, and attempts to assess the influence of personalities on cultural attitudes. 3. Documents: include decrees issued by Joan I of Aragon and his successor Harti" extollling the benefits of the Gay Science.

Please note: creative writing theses are permanently embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted for these. To request private access, please click on the locked Download file link and fill out the appropriate web form. / MFA Thesis: Holding Pattern, by A.J. Odasso. 35 pages of new poetry submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Poetry), academic year 2015-2016. / 2031-01-01T00:00:00Z

The chief subject of this dissertation is a description of the reflections on the poetry of 19th and 20th century, in connection with questions of national identity, national self-confidence, tradition and openness to European space. I deal with the question, how these topics are (often unconsciously) reflected in the prosodic debates of certain periods (especially during the Czech National Revival or at the time of the formation of independent Czechoslovakia) and how influence the views on how the Czech verse looks or should look, for what purposes poetry is to serve or what threatens the national literature and language. I also follow the changes in the relation of the theory of verse to the poetry itself and compare the concept of the verse and its basic categories in Czech and international theory. This work is composed of four isolated parts, relatively independent of each other. These are partial probes on selected topics from the history of Czech and foreign literature and its reflection. The first chapter focuses on the syllabotonic reform of the Czech verse and on the motivation, which led to its acceptance or rejection. I investigated the reasons, which led some authors to the partial violation of rules and some authors to attempts to establish quantitative verse. The topic of Czech iamb...

Allow me to introduce you to AN ELEPHANT'S STANDING IN THERE, a whimsical story about an elephant standing in a little boy's bedroom that I wrote for my children many years ago. Though my kids have grown up themselves, I've held on to this tale because of the wonderful memories my family and I shared while reading it together. After stumbling back onto the story roughly a year ago while going through some old things, an idea popped into my head. My daughter, a lovely young lady named Kody, had heard this story many times when she was a young girl. She had also developed an exceptional talent for illustration. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be fun if Kody illustrated our story for other families to share?" And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what we've done. From my family to yours, we sincerely hope you enjoy AN ELEPHANT'S STANDING IN THERE, the first in what Kody and I hope will be a long series of stories for children. --Scott / https://dc.etsu.edu/alumni_books/1030/thumbnail.jpg

This study has a primary and a secondary purpose. The primary purpose is to call attention to the question of whether or not Utah verse should be introduced for study into the elementary and secondary schools of Utah. The author does not want to imply that he will give a satisfactory answer to this question. He hopes, however, that this effort will emphasize the question and stimulate thought concerning the same. It seems reasonable to suppose that most of the Utah school officials who are concerned in any way with literary material for school curricula will agree that, if there is any Utah verse that has literary merit, it should be utilized in the Utah schools.

I am a poet. As an undergraduate, I explored the other genres of writing—I wrote short stories, attempted a novel-length piece, and crafted essays. While I found plays interesting, I could not write one satisfactorily. But poetry fit like an extension of myself. I could fuse my voice and my ideas in stanzas and images, and I found myself weighing words and sounds as I constructed the lines. It was only natural that I pursue mastery in poetry when I returned for my Masters of Fine Arts. The material presented in this document is the culmination of two years of specialized study in how to craft poetry. In those two years, I have maintained the idea that this collection be relatable, feminist, and emotionally powerful. While the poetry has certainly evolved over that two-year span, the ideas kept each piece connected to my envisioned whole. The poems revolve around different obsessions I harbored while writing. I meditate on various relationships, personal experiences, and striking images and feelings I felt deserved attention. Of course, this collection is intensely personal, but I believe that it is through the personal that we can reach the general, which is what makes these poems accessible. I also used this manuscript as a device for exploration and play. Some poems follow strict formal guidelines, and others meander to their destination. Some are short and concise, others long and nebulous. But each is refined and given exceptional thought. I believe that readers will clearly see how much study was necessary to write these poems; it is through reading the works of the great poets before me that I was able to come to them. My influences show, not only in allusions, but in the choices I’ve made and the structure of the poems themselves. I submit this manuscript as the culmination of my work, in partial fulfilment of a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.

In the preface, I discuss my poetry and poetics such as the free verse form and the narrative mode. I also discuss my influences such as Adrienne Rich, Sylvia Plath, and Sheri L. Wright. The poems in this manuscript attempt to explore the role of trauma, feminism, and memory in poetry.

"Blue & Red" is about sound, sense, paranoia, and experience. When intuition goes awry and projections are shot in all directions the camera and eye can go, poems are bound to be nearby. From beginning to end, the reader may wonder what landscape the wanderlust traveler walks on. Where he may settle. Is he a boy? What is manhood? Has the prince stolen the key from the queen? "Blue & Red" has tautological hair, performance anxieties, and actualizations. Sentimental at times, we remember. Some traumas are daily. "Blue & Red" stands on the argument that if you put all of your heart, soul, spirit, body, and mind, into a poem, the process will yield an art/entertainment for the thinking person. It rests on the fact that love and gratitude are not lost. It rests on intangible things we must agree on. It lastly rests on the autonomy of the free mind.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs universitet, 1981. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Summary in English. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-294).