鄉土文學是台灣文學的重要文學傳統，其發展始於1930年代，於1960、70年代走進巔峰時期，並在1980年代一度趨於沉寂。直至近年台灣文壇出現一批以鄉土為創作為重心的新世代作家，鄉土書寫漸漸重新成為一股潮流，論者更相繼提出「新鄉土」或「後鄉土」等的概念，用以概括上世紀九十年代以後台灣鄉土文學發展的整體現象，鄉土文學遂再次成為一個重要的研究課題。本文嘗試以回溯台灣鄉土文學發展史的方式切入上述研究課題，並透過深入考察三個新世代代表作家──袁哲生、童偉格、甘耀明──的鄉土寫作，藉以探究台灣鄉土文學從「鄉土」過度「新／後鄉土」的變異情況。 / 本文共分五章。第一章緒論，說明本文的研究動機、範圍、方法和前人研究綜述，並概述台灣鄉土文學的發展狀況，勾勒重要概念，作為後文討論「新／後鄉土」的參照。第二章探討袁哲生如何結合抒情傳統，背離台灣鄉土文學的批判與憂患傳統。第三章探討童偉格如何打破城鄉二元對立格局，揭露台灣當代的城鄉處境；第四章配合甘耀明的「新尋根」理念，探討作家如何在鄉土書寫中重現台灣的歷史記憶與本土文化。第五章結語，總結新世代作家運用當代意識，反思並超越台灣鄉土文學傳統，藉以回應文學潮流的更替以及社會的變遷，為台灣鄉土文學開拓新的發展方向。 / Nativist literature has been an important literary tradition in Taiwan. It gained momentum since the 1930s and reached its pinnacle in the 1960s and 1970s, but fell into decline in the 1980s. However, the trend of nativist literature has revived since the 1990s as a number of young writers chose to focus their creative writing on nativism. Since then the concept of "new nativist literature" and "post nativist literature" appeared in academic discourse to describe this literary phenomenon. This thesis attempts to examine this phenomenon and to explore how "nativist" literature has morphed into "new/post nativist literature" by observing works of fiction by Yuan Zhesheng, Tong Weiger and Gan Yaoming. / This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter introduces the goal, scope and methodology of this thesis and gives a succinct account of the significance of the previous researches; it also summarizes the development of Taiwan Nativist literature and outlines the important concepts to serve as the reference for the later discussion about "new nativist" or "post nativist" literature. Chapter two examines how Yuan Zhesheng re-evaluated the tradition of Taiwanese nativist literature and established a new point of view towards nativist writing with the aid of lyricism. Chapter three investigates how Tong Weiger re-examined the dichotomy of rural and urban Taiwan and how he exposed aspects of contemporary urban and rural Taiwan. Chapter four explores how Gan Yaoming represented Taiwan history in the Japanese colonial period and the Hakka and aboriginal culture in his writing. Chapter five gives a conclusion on how the new generation of contemporary Taiwan novelists added new dimensions to the tradition of Taiwanese Nativist Literature as they re-examine and surpassed it. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 黃納禧. / "2013年12月"--Title page. / "2013 nian12 yue"--Title page. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (M.Phil.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-118). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Huang Naxi.

李鳳琼. / "2005年12月" / 論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2005. / 參考文獻(leaves 147-155). / "2005 nian 12 yue" / Abstracts also in English. / Li Fengqiong. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2005. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 147-155). / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.4 / Chapter 第一節 --- 硏究範圍 --- p.4 / Chapter 第二節 --- 硏究目的及意義 --- p.6 / Chapter 第三節 --- 硏究方法 --- p.10 / Chapter 第二章 --- 「三調之正聲」與「韶夏之鄭曲」 一一劉勰論曹操與當時文體之革新 --- p.11 / Chapter 第一節 --- 「區別部類」´ؤ´ؤ《文心雕龍》上篇區分和序列文體的背景與實踐 --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- 魏晉南北朝辨析文體的風氣 --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- 《文心雕龍》的文、筆二分法 --- p.16 / Chapter 第二節 --- 「務先大體，鑒必窮源」´ؤ´ؤ《文心雕龍》處理文體的原則 --- p.20 / Chapter 第三節 --- 《文心雕龍´Ø樂府》篇與曹操樂府眾作 --- p.23 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- 《文心雕龍´Ø樂府》篇在書中之地位 --- p.23 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- 樂府之「大體」 --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- 詩與樂府的「大體」比較 --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- 《文心雕龍´Ø樂府》篇的評論對象 --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- 曹操雅好音樂 --- p.36 / Chapter 2.3.5.1 --- 音樂類型 --- p.39 / Chapter 2.3.5.2 --- 集結音樂人才與推動鄴下制樂 --- p.44 / Chapter 2.3.6 --- 曹操「傷羈戍」之作 --- p.47 / Chapter 2.3.6.1 --- 〈苦寒行〉 --- p.48 / Chapter 2.3.6.2 --- 〈薤露〉 --- p.52 / Chapter 2.3.6.3 --- 〈蒿里行〉 --- p.55 / Chapter 2.3.7 --- 曹操「傷羈戍」之作與漢樂府同題之作比較 --- p.58 / Chapter 2.3.8 --- 曹操於樂府創作的革新 --- p.59 / Chapter 2.3.8.1 --- 音樂 --- p.60 / Chapter 2.3.8.2 --- 題材 --- p.60 / Chapter 2.3.8.3 --- 語言風格 --- p.62 / Chapter 2.3.8.4 --- 叙事角度 --- p.63 / Chapter 2.3.8.5 --- 主題與功能 --- p.66 / Chapter 2.3.8.6 --- 小結 --- p.67 / Chapter 第四節 --- 劉勰對曹操革新文體之功的評價 --- p.68 / Chapter 2.4. 1 --- 有關曹操樂府作品與鄴下樂府創作的論析 --- p.68 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- 有關曹操革新詔策與章表的論析 --- p.77 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- 小結 --- p.79 / Chapter 第三章 --- 「相王之尊，雅愛詩章」 一一劉勰論曹操與鄴下文風之振興 --- p.80 / Chapter 第一節 --- 劉勰論曹操在鄴下文風之振興中所擔當的角色與發揮的功能 --- p.81 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- 劉勰論「抑丕揚植」的舊談 --- p.82 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- 劉勰論曹丕 --- p.83 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- 劉勰論曹植 --- p.84 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- 曹氏父子的角色與功能 --- p.88 / Chapter 第二節 --- 劉勰論曹操雲集文士 --- p.92 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- 曹操創造安定的創作環境 --- p.92 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- 曹操雅愛文學與禮遇文士 --- p.93 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- 鄴下文士的自由選擇與歸附 --- p.95 / Chapter 3.2.3.1 --- 文士之歸附 --- p.96 / Chapter 3.2.3.2 --- 平等禮遇 --- p.104 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- 曹操對「文才」的賞識 --- p.105 / Chapter 3.2.4.1 --- 鄴下諸子立功的理想 --- p.106 / Chapter 3.2.4.2 --- 鄴下諸子的實際才能 --- p.108 / Chapter 3.2.4.3 --- 文學自覺時代與曹操對文學價値的認知 --- p.110 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- 本節小結 --- p.114 / Chapter 第三節 --- 劉勰論曹操與鄴下創作 --- p.115 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- 劉勰論鄴下作家的創作情態 --- p.117 / Chapter 3.3.1.1 --- 孤獨無偶之苦 --- p.118 / Chapter 3.3.1.2 --- 見知的欣喜 --- p.119 / Chapter 3.3.1.3 --- 六朝擬建安詩的題材 --- p.123 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- 鄴下作品的特色 --- p.128 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- 鄴下作品的風格 --- p.129 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- 本節小結 --- p.133 / Chapter 第四章 --- 劉勰處理文體的方向和他的文學發展觀 --- p.134 / Chapter 第一節 --- 歷史角度：傳統與新變 --- p.135 / Chapter 第二節 --- 強調君主態度與文學發展的關係 --- p.139 / Chapter 第三節 --- 兩相比照的定位方式 --- p.142 / Chapter 第五章 --- 總結 --- p.144 / 【參考書目舉要】 --- p.147

本文是第一部專以清初陶學為研究對象的論文，擬從文人的情懷、詩學的演變、詩歌的用意、意象的運用、注本的闡釋等多角度概述清初陶學的全貌。在方法上，筆者除分析當時文人對陶淵明的評論外，還選取了清初四十家身份不同的文人，比較他們詩作中運用的陶淵明典故，探討他們對「陶淵明形象」的塑造與取捨，並以歷史背景為線索，梳理陶淵明意象在清初文人心目中地位的差異與其變化。 / 基於上述的研究，筆者認為以往學術界把清初陶學只理解為「忠憤」的表現是不夠全面的，尤其是清初關於陶淵明的討論，除了遺民文人有熱烈的參與外，非遺民文人亦有相當數量的研究，而且他們之間還存在着不少的交流，互相回應。正因如此，清初和陶風氣盛極一時，並且出現了一種嶄新、「反其致」的和陶現象--〈反乞食〉詩。 / 這種借用陶淵明的意象互相交流與回應，更多反映在詩歌方面。清初文人借讀陶、評陶、和陶等方法抒發他們於易代間的鬱悶。這種詩歌世界，重現了陶淵明筆下的桃源，在這裏，他們「不知有漢，無論魏晉」，思想上可以暫時脫離現實的痛苦，悠然人間。這也使得清初《陶集》評注本的編撰，一改南宋以來十卷本的「全集」形式，而偏重於四卷本，只收錄詩作的體制。 / The author intends to discuss the reception of Tao Yuanming in the Early Qing Dynasty from the aspects such as the emotions of poets, the changes of poetics, the intentions of poetries, the poetic imageries and the differences of the editions. And, it is the first work focusing solely on the reception of Tao Yuanming in the Early Qing Dynasty. Regarding the research methods, this dissertation not only studies the critiques through the existed methods, but also analyses the existed materials in a different manner. By comparing the literary allusions of Tao Yuanming’s life of 40 scholars lived in Early Qing who had different social background, the thesis discusses how these people constructed the images of Tao Yuanming and how they selected from Tao’s qualities. The thesis also tries to sort out the different attitudes of Tao among scholars of Early Qing and its changes with regard to the historical context. / Based on the research, the author finds out that the existed understanding of the reception of Tao Yuanming in the Early Qing, which focuses on the leftover citizen’s aspect, and which portrays Tao image as a rebellion was largely incomplete. Apart from the vigorous discussions regarding the images of Tao among the leftover citizen, the non-leftover citizen also discussed Tao with great enthusiasm. Under this circumstance, a new form of He Tao Shi(和陶詩) “poems written to match Tao’s , was found in opposite mode in order to response to those leftover citizen. / By appropriation of Tao’s images in their communication and responding each other especially in poems, scholars lived in Early Qing expressed their uneasiness and pain as in the change of the regime through reading, commentary and writing of Tao’s collections. Thus, this special kind of poem allowed the Early Qing scholars to escape from the distress of the reality to an ideal world, a typical example of which was “Peach-Blossom Spring created by Tao Yuanming. This tendency reflected in the editions of Tao’s works in Early Qing Dynasty that Tao’s poems received much attention while other forms of works were not included in the collections of works. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 梁樹風. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 331-376) / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Liang Shufeng. / 提要 --- p.I / 目錄 --- p.III / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一節 --- 研究範圍 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二節 --- 研究旨趣 --- p.7 / Chapter 第三節 --- 相關文獻回顧 --- p.14 / Chapter 第四節 --- 論文架構與研究方法 --- p.17 / Chapter 第二章 --- 清初陶學背景 --- p.24 / Chapter 第一節 --- 明清易代與文人「生死」的抉擇 --- p.24 / Chapter 第二節 --- 陶淵明生存方式對清初文人的啟示 --- p.29 / Chapter 第三節 --- 清初文人寄情陶淵明的表現 --- p.37 / Chapter 第四節 --- 清初遺民的逃禪與蓮社之約 --- p.56 / Chapter 第三章 --- 清初詩學與陶詩評價的關係 --- p.91 / Chapter 第一節 --- 清初詩壇尋「真」對陶詩評價的影響 --- p.91 / Chapter 第二節 --- 清初「詩史」的重視與陶淵明甲子紀年之義 --- p.115 / Chapter 第三節 --- 清初田園詩的復興與陶淵明田園詩內涵的解讀 --- p.130 / Chapter 第四章 --- 清初的擬陶、集陶與和陶 --- p.151 / Chapter 第一節 --- 清初擬陶與集陶的表現與陶文詩意的賞讀 --- p.152 / Chapter 第二節 --- 清初和陶詩的表現與其意義 --- p.162 / Chapter 第三節 --- 清初擬陶、和陶的觴濫--陶淵明〈酒二十首〉 --- p.169 / Chapter 第四節 --- 清初的「反乞食詩」 --- p.184 / Chapter 第五章 --- 清初的陶淵明意象與繪事 --- p.206 / Chapter 第一節 --- 清初陶淵明與菊的意象與繪事 --- p.207 / Chapter 第二節 --- 清初桃源的意象與繪事 --- p.228 / Chapter 第六章 --- 清初《陶集》評注本 --- p.257 / Chapter 第一節 --- 《陶淵明集》版本源流與清初的《陶淵明集》 --- p.257 / Chapter 第二節 --- 清初的《陶淵明集》注釋 --- p.277 / Chapter 第三節 --- 清初《陶集》評注的特色 --- p.319 / Chapter 第七章 --- 結論 --- p.328 / 參考書目 --- p.331 / Chapter 附錄一 --- 清初文人詩作用陶淵明典故語句輯錄 --- p.1 / Chapter 附錄二 --- 清初文人用陶淵明典故的創作時間與數量分佈 --- p.105 / Chapter 附錄三 --- 歷代書目所錄《陶淵明集》 --- p.106 / Chapter 附錄四 --- 宋代《陶集》注本研究 --- p.119 / Chapter 附錄五 --- 清初文人和陶詩附表 --- p.147

陳頌文. / "2002年8月". / 論文 (哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 2002. / 參考文獻 (leaves 127-133) / 附中英文摘要. / "2002 nian 8 yue". / Chen Songwen. / Lun wen (zhe xue shuo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2002. / Can kao wen xian (leaves 127-133) / Fu Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / Chapter 第一章 --- 文學史和文學批評史上的初唐四傑 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一節 --- 問題的提出 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二節 --- 「四傑」名稱的由來 --- p.2 / Chapter 第三節 --- 文學史上的「四傑」 --- p.7 / Chapter 第四節 --- 文學批評史上的「四傑」 --- p.8 / Chapter 第二章 --- 貞觀至武周文學背景和文學思想發展 --- p.11 / Chapter 第一節 --- 緒論 --- p.11 / Chapter 第二節 --- 貞觀年間朝廷的文學宣言 --- p.12 / Chapter (1) --- 貞觀年間君臣論文的性質 --- p.12 / Chapter (2) --- 貞觀年間朝廷的文學思想´ؤ´ؤ以史家文論爲主 --- p.15 / Chapter (2.1) --- 史家對六朝文學的評價與總結 --- p.15 / Chapter (2.2) --- 史家論文的空間 --- p.17 / Chapter (2.3) --- 史家文論的意義 --- p.19 / Chapter 第三節 --- 貞觀至武周的文學硏究槪況 --- p.21 / Chapter (1) --- 類書和總集 --- p.21 / Chapter (2) --- 《文選》硏究 --- p.24 / Chapter (3) --- 詩學硏究 --- p.25 / Chapter (3.1) --- 上官儀 --- p.25 / Chapter (3.2) --- 元兢 --- p.27 / Chapter (3.3) --- 崔融 --- p.28 / Chapter 第四節 --- 貞觀至武周文人干求與入仕情況 --- p.29 / Chapter (1) --- 以文章進身的問題 --- p.30 / Chapter (2) --- 以文章進用的大臣仕途之升降 --- p.32 / Chapter (3) --- 王府的文學風氣 --- p.34 / Chapter 第三章 --- 王勃文學思想析論 --- p.35 / Chapter 第一節 --- 緒論´ؤ´ؤ王勃生平及著作槪述 --- p.35 / Chapter 第二節 --- 可供考察文學思想的篇章背景分析 --- p.36 / Chapter (1) --- 〈平臺秘略論 〉、〈平臺秘略贊〉：王府修撰的意見 --- p.36 / Chapter (2) --- 〈上吏部裴侍郎啓〉：參選士子的意見 --- p.37 / Chapter (3) --- 詩賦序文之言論：翰墨之客的意見 --- p.39 / Chapter 第三節 --- 文論文本分析 --- p.40 / Chapter (1) --- 文學的性質與功用 --- p.40 / Chapter (1.1) --- 「甄明大義，矯正末流」、「緣情體物」與「詩以見志」 --- p.40 / Chapter (1.2) --- 文學與王府 --- p.43 / Chapter (1.3) --- 文學與自然 --- p.44 / Chapter (2) --- 對文學作品的要求及規範 --- p.45 / Chapter (2.1) --- 「氣陵雲漢，字挾風霜」辨 --- p.45 / Chapter (2.2) --- 「甄明大義，矯正末流」辨 --- p.48 / Chapter (3) --- 對歷代文學的評價 --- p.53 / Chapter (4) --- 寫作態度 --- p.56 / Chapter (5) --- 小結 --- p.59 / Chapter 第四節 --- 王通與王勃 --- p.60 / Chapter 第四章 --- 楊炯文學思想析論 --- p.64 / Chapter 第一節 --- 緒論´ؤ´ؤ楊炯生平及著作槪述 --- p.64 / Chapter 第二節 --- 〈王勃集序〉析論 --- p.64 / Chapter (1) --- 〈王勃集序〉的寫作時間 --- p.65 / Chapter (2) --- 〈王勃集序〉的內容分析 --- p.68 / Chapter (2.1) --- 〈王勃集序〉與王勃文學變革 --- p.69 / Chapter (2.1.1) --- 從「龍朔變體」看王勃文學變革的對象 --- p.69 / Chapter (2.1.2) --- 從王勃之志看王勃文學變革的可能性 --- p.72 / Chapter (2.1.3) --- 〈王勃集序〉對王勃硏究的參考價値 --- p.75 / Chapter (2.1.4) --- 小結 --- p.76 / Chapter 第三節 --- 楊炯的文學思想 --- p.76 / Chapter (1) --- 文學的性質及作用 --- p.76 / Chapter (1.1) --- 文學與禮樂 --- p.76 / Chapter (1.2) --- 文學與抒情酬唱 --- p.77 / Chapter (2) --- 對文學的要求與規範 --- p.77 / Chapter (3) --- 對歷代文學的批評 --- p.79 / Chapter (3.1) --- 唐以前的文學 --- p.79 / Chapter (3.2) --- 隋唐以來的文學 --- p.80 / Chapter (4) --- 小結 --- p.82 / Chapter 第五章 --- 盧照鄰文學思想析論 --- p.83 / Chapter 第一節 --- 緒論´ؤ´ؤ盧照鄰生平及著作槪述 --- p.83 / Chapter 第二節 --- 可供考察文學思想的篇章背景分析 --- p.84 / Chapter (1) --- 〈駙馬都尉喬君集序〉 --- p.84 / Chapter (2) --- 〈南陽公集序〉 --- p.84 / Chapter (3) --- 〈樂府詩集序〉 --- p.86 / Chapter 第三節 --- 文本分析 --- p.88 / Chapter (1) --- 文學的性質與功用 --- p.88 / Chapter (1.1) --- 文學與政治 --- p.88 / Chapter (1.2) --- 「安可默而無述」 --- p.89 / Chapter (2) --- 對文學作品的要求和規範 --- p.90 / Chapter (2.1) --- 「立體不拘於一塗」 --- p.90 / Chapter (2.2) --- 「聽歌曲而知亡」 --- p.93 / Chapter (2.3) --- 「妙諧鐘律」 --- p.94 / Chapter (3) --- 對歷代文學的評價 --- p.96 / Chapter (3.1) --- 對唐以前文學的評價和態度 --- p.96 / Chapter (3.1.1) --- 〈雅〉、〈頌〉 --- p.96 / Chapter (3.1.2) --- 屈宋 --- p.97 / Chapter (3.1.3) --- 兩漢 --- p.99 / Chapter (3.1.4) --- 魏晉 --- p.99 / Chapter (3.1.5) --- 南朝 --- p.100 / Chapter (3.2) --- 對貞觀文臣的批評 --- p.101 / Chapter (3.3) --- 對古今文士評論文學的意見 --- p.102 / Chapter (4) --- 創作態度 --- p.102 / Chapter (5) --- 小結 --- p.104 / Chapter 第六章 --- 駱賓王文學思想析論 --- p.105 / Chapter 第一節 --- 緒論´ؤ´ؤ駱賓王生平及著作槪述 --- p.105 / Chapter 第二節 --- 可供考察文學思想的篇章背景分析 --- p.106 / Chapter (1) --- 上長官書信 --- p.106 / Chapter (1.1) --- 〈和道王閨情詩啓〉 --- p.106 / Chapter (1.2) --- 〈上吏部裴侍郎書〉、〈上吏部侍郎帝京篇序〉 --- p.106 / Chapter (1.3) --- 〈與程將軍書〉 --- p.107 / Chapter (2) --- 飲宴酬唱之作 --- p.108 / Chapter (3) --- 個人抒懷之作 --- p.108 / Chapter 第三節 --- 文論內容分析 --- p.109 / Chapter (1) --- 文學的性質及功用 --- p.109 / Chapter (1.1) --- 事、物、情與文 --- p.109 / Chapter (1.2) --- 文學與求仕 --- p.111 / Chapter (2) --- 對文學的要求及規範：雅與俗的取捨問題 --- p.113 / Chapter (3) --- 對歷代文學的評價 --- p.115 / Chapter (3.1) --- 兩漢以前 --- p.115 / Chapter (3.2) --- 兩漢 --- p.117 / Chapter (3.3) --- 魏晉 --- p.117 / Chapter (3.4) --- 南朝 --- p.118 / Chapter (4) --- 小結 --- p.118 / Chapter 第七章 --- 總結 --- p.120 / 參考書目 --- p.127 / 附錄一 --- p.132

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Chinese

Boris Akunin’s historical detective novels have sold more than eight million copies in Russia, and have been translated into nearly a dozen languages. Boris Akunin is the pen name of literary critic and translator Grigory Chkhartishvili. Born in 1956 in the republic of Georgia, he published his first detective stories in 1998. His first series of novels, beginning with Azazel’ and followed by Turetskii gambit, feature a dashing young police inspector, Erast Fandorin. Fandorin’s adventures take place in the Russian Empire of the late nineteenth century, and he regularly finds himself at the center of key historic events. The first book takes place over one summer, May to September 1876, as the intrepid Fandorin, on his first case, unveils an international organization of conspirators—Azazel’—bent on changing the course of world events. The second takes place two years later from July 1877 to March 1878 during Russia’s war with the Ottoman Empire. The young detective again clashes with Azazel’, as he unravels a Turkish agent’s intricate plan to weaken and destroy the Russian state. Both adventures have proven wildly popular and entertaining, while maintaining a certain literary value. The exploration of time and space in Russian literature was once a popular subject of discourse, but since the 1970s it has been somewhat ignored, rarely applied to contemporary works, and even less to works of popular culture. Akunin’s treatment of time and space, however, especially given the historical setting of his works, is unique. Azazel’, for example, maintains a lightning pace with a tight chronology and a rapidly changing series of locales. Turetskii gambit presents a more laconic pace, and, though set in the vast Caucasus region, seems more claustrophobic as it methodically works towards its conclusion. Both works employ a seemingly impersonal narrator, who, nonetheless, speaks in a distinctly 19th century tone, and both works cast their adventures within the framework of actual historical events and locations. This thesis analyzes core theories in literary time and space, applying them then to Akunin’s historical detective literature.

Boris Akunin’s historical detective novels have sold more than eight million copies in Russia, and have been translated into nearly a dozen languages. Boris Akunin is the pen name of literary critic and translator Grigory Chkhartishvili. Born in 1956 in the republic of Georgia, he published his first detective stories in 1998. His first series of novels, beginning with Azazel’ and followed by Turetskii gambit, feature a dashing young police inspector, Erast Fandorin. Fandorin’s adventures take place in the Russian Empire of the late nineteenth century, and he regularly finds himself at the center of key historic events. The first book takes place over one summer, May to September 1876, as the intrepid Fandorin, on his first case, unveils an international organization of conspirators—Azazel’—bent on changing the course of world events. The second takes place two years later from July 1877 to March 1878 during Russia’s war with the Ottoman Empire. The young detective again clashes with Azazel’, as he unravels a Turkish agent’s intricate plan to weaken and destroy the Russian state. Both adventures have proven wildly popular and entertaining, while maintaining a certain literary value. The exploration of time and space in Russian literature was once a popular subject of discourse, but since the 1970s it has been somewhat ignored, rarely applied to contemporary works, and even less to works of popular culture. Akunin’s treatment of time and space, however, especially given the historical setting of his works, is unique. Azazel’, for example, maintains a lightning pace with a tight chronology and a rapidly changing series of locales. Turetskii gambit presents a more laconic pace, and, though set in the vast Caucasus region, seems more claustrophobic as it methodically works towards its conclusion. Both works employ a seemingly impersonal narrator, who, nonetheless, speaks in a distinctly 19th century tone, and both works cast their adventures within the framework of actual historical events and locations. This thesis analyzes core theories in literary time and space, applying them then to Akunin’s historical detective literature.

In my earlier work, ‘First steps towards a rhetorical hermeneutics of literary interpretation’ (2006), I argued that academic reading takes the form of an argument between readers. Four serious weaknesses in that account are its elision of the distinction between reading and discourse on reading, its inattention to non-academic reading, its exclusive focus on ‘interpretation’ as if this constituted the whole of reading or of discourse on reading, and its failure to theorise the object of literary reading, ie. the work of literature. The current work aims to address all of these problems, together with those created by certain other approaches to literary reading, with the overall objective of clearing the ground for more empirical studies. It exemplifies its points with examples drawn primarily from non-academic public discourse on literature (newspapers, magazines, and the internet), though also from other sources (such as reading groups and undergraduate literature seminars). It takes a particular (though not an exclusive) interest in two specific instances of non-academic reception: the widespread reception of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses as an attack on Islam, and the minority reception of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy The Lord of the Rings as a narrative of homosexual desire. The first chapter of this dissertation critically surveys the fields of reception study and discourse analysis, and in particular the crossover between them. It finds more productive engagement with the textuality of response in media reception study than in literary reception study. It argues that the application of discourse analysis to reception data serves to problematise, rather than to facilitate, reception study, but it also emphasises the problematic nature of discourse analysis itself. Each of the three subsequent chapters considers a different complex of problems. The first is the literary work, and its relation to its producers and its consumers: Chapter 2 takes the form of a discourse upon the notions of ‘speech act’ and ‘authorial intention’ in relation to literature, carries out an analysis of early public responses to The Satanic Verses, and puts in a word for non-readers by way of a conclusion. The second is the private experience of reading, and its paradoxical status as an object of public representation: Chapter 3 analyses representations of private responses to The Lord of The Rings film trilogy, and concludes with the argument that, though these representations cannot be identical with private responses, they are cannot be extricated from them, either. The third is the impossibility of distinguishing rhetoric from cognition in the telling of stories about reading: Chapter 4 argues that, though anecdotal or autobiographical accounts of reading cannot be taken at face value, they can be taken both as attempts to persuade and as attempts to understand; it concludes with an analysis of a magazine article that tells a number of stories about reading The Satanic Verses – amongst other things. Each of these chapters focuses on non-academic reading as represented in written text, but broadens this focus through consideration of examples drawn from spoken discourse on reading (including in the liminal academic space of the undergraduate classroom). The last chapter mulls over the relationship between reading and discourse of reading, and hesitates over whether to wrap or tear this dissertation’s arguments up.

This thesis examines selected speculative novels by Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin, Doris Lessing and Marge Piercy. It argues that a specifiable ecological ethic can be traced in their work – an ethic which is explored by them through the tensions between utopian and dystopian discourses. The first part of the thesis begins by theorising the concept of an ecological ethic of respect for the Other through current ecological philosophies, such as those developed by Val Plumwood. Thereafter, it contextualises the novels within the broader field of science fiction, and speculative fiction in particular, arguing that the shift from a critical utopian to a critical dystopian style evinces their changing treatment of this ecological ethic within their work. The remainder of the thesis is divided into two parts, each providing close readings of chosen novels in the light of this argument. Part Two provides a reading of Le Guin’s early Hainish novels, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Word for World is Forest and The Dispossessed, followed by an examination of Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time, Lessing’s The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The third, and final, part of the thesis consists of individual chapters analysing the later speculative novels of each author. Piercy’s He, She and It, Le Guin’s The Telling, and Atwood’s Oryx and Crake are all scrutinised, as are Lessing’s two recent ‘Ifrik’ novels. This thesis shows, then, that speculative fiction is able to realise through fiction many of the ideals of ecological thinkers. Furthermore, the increasing dystopianism of these novels reflects the greater urgency with which the problem of Othering needs to be addressed in the light of the present global ecological crisis.

Disempowered Women? A Feminist Response to female Characters in Malory, Tennyson and Bradley takes an in-depth look at Elayne, Gwenyvere and Morgan of the Arthurian legend. The characters are examined within their contemporary context and from our modem perspective as portrayed in Malory, Tennyson, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Patriarchy, closely connected with the Christian doctrines, is singled out as the main means of propagating women's disempowerment. The inquiry considers different ways in which fictional texts have contributed to creating false perceptions amongst our contemporary audience, about the reality of women's lives in the Middle Ages. It further examines the validity of the assumption that literary women are not real, but mere representations of male ideals about women's role and place in society. Issues of gender equality are raised and the author concludes that the literature studied assigns definite, gender-specific roles to men and women. The work also debates the perceived misogyny of the male authors: is it a conscious act or a reflection of their contemporary society's concerns? / English Studies / M. A. (English)