<p>In my dissertation, <i>De la pen&iacute;nsula Ib&eacute;rica a Italia: concepci&oacute;n y pr&aacute;ctica teatral de las primeras comedias castellanas </i>, I analyze the formation of early modern Spanish comedia, in the context of Italo-Iberian cultural exchanges. My aim is to incorporate the most popular Spanish plays of the first half of the sixteenth century into the larger scenario in which they belong: one that we could name the "formation of the genre of comedy". Works such as Juan del Encina's<i> Eclogues </i>, <i>La Celestina</i> (<i>The Spanish Bawd</i>), and Torres Naharro's <i>Tinellaria</i> and <i>Soldadesca</i> are seen in this light as milestones in a complex thread of contributions leading to the development in the seventeenth century of a Spanish Golden Age "national theater", and specifically in Lope de Vega comedia nueva, as well as to the Italian <i>commedia erudita</i>. Such a reconstruction has long been neglected due to the constitution of the Hispanic and the Italian literary studies, and the asymmetry between the Spanish and the Italian literary traditions, especially regarding the primacy of Italian "comedies" and "authors" in the constitution of a history of "western comedy". </p><p> The formation of the genre of comedy it is seen in a new light within a textual and bibliographical history, grounded in the relationships among authors, printers, and readers. Cultural and merchant networks established between the Iberian and Italian Peninsulas helped to widespread not only books as commodities, but ideas and forms (genres) contained within them that would appeal to new audiences and readers. In my second chapter, I have reconstructed the possible ways in which these plays could have been represented, in contexts such as Alba de Tormes and Rome, by means of the analysis of internal text evidence (prompts, or configuration of the different scenes) and the extant records, both about its actual performances, and other contemporary spectacles. In order to make sense of the scarce available data, I have delved into architectural treatises (Vitruvio, Alberti, Peruzzi, Serlio), woodcuts, and extant Roman documents on contemporary theatrical performances. As a result of this reconstruction, Encina's latest plays, as well as Naharro's <i>Soldadesca</i> and <i> Tinellaria</i>, appear as deeply rooted in the avant-garde conception of the urban Roman scene, they share both techniques, and scene conceptions with avant-garde Italian authors. In my third chapter, I studied the function that comedies, such as Naharro's <i>Tinellaria</i> and <i> Soldadesca</i>, had at the time, insisting on the religious and political denunciations contained in them, as well as in their relationship with some discourses originating in the Lateran council. As a result of that, I have been able to delimit the circles, critical with the papacy of Julius II, in which these ideas originated, together with the political interests of those that voiced them. </p>

The success of the First Crusade by the Christian armies caught the interest and arrested the imagination of contemporaries, stimulating the production of a large number of historical narratives. Four eyewitness accounts, as well as letters written by the crusaders to the West, were taken up by later authors, re-worked and re-fashioned into new narratives; a process which continued throughout the twelfth century and beyond. This thesis sets out to explore why contemporaries continued to write about the First Crusade in light of medieval attitudes towards the past, how authors constructed their narratives and how the crusade and the crusaders were remembered throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It will analyse the development in the way the First Crusade was recorded and investigate the social, religious, intellectual and political influences dictating change: How, why and under what circumstances was the story re- told? What changed in the re-telling? What ideas and concepts were the authors trying to communicate and what was their meaning for contemporaries? The thesis will also aim to place these texts not only in their historical but also in their literary contexts, analyse the literary traditions from which authors were writing, and consider the impact the crusade had on medieval literature. The focus will be on Latin histories of the First Crusade, especially those written in England and France, which produced the greatest number of narratives. Those written in the Levant, the subject of these histories, will also be discussed, as well as texts written in the Empire and in Italy.

<p>Abstract This dissertation is a project that examines the way Middle English romances explore and build a sense of national English/Christian identity, both in opposition to and in incorporation of the Saracen Other. The major primary texts used in this project are Richard Coer de Lion, Firumbras, Bevis of Hampton, The King of Tars, and Thomas Malory?s Morte Darthur. I examine the way crusade romances grapple with the threat of the Middle East and the contention over the Holy Land and treat these romances, in part, as medieval meditations on how the Holy Land (lost during a string of failed or stalemated Crusades) could be won permanently, through war, consumption, or conversion. The literary cannibalism of Saracens in Richard Coer de Lion, the singular or wholesale religious conversions facilitated by female characters, and the figure of Malory?s Palomides all shed light on the medieval English politics of identity: specifically, what it means to be a good Englishman, a good knight, and a good Christian. Drawing on the works of Homi Bhabha, Geraldine Heng, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, and Siobhain Bly Calkin, this project fits into the overall conversation that contemplates medieval texts through the lens of postcolonial theory to locate early ideas of empire.

Self-translation is essentially a translation activity that involves one undertaking the task of rendering his/her own writings. A fundamental difference between conventional or third-party translators and self-translators is the fact that the latter has better access to their original intentions and the original cultural context of their work than the former. In spite of this seemingly ideal condition, together with the fact that self-translation has been practiced for centuries, the amount of academic interest it has received does not accurately reflect its true value and potential. Consequently, this dynamic practice has been underrated and frowned upon in literary studies until recent years. On the other hand, for many years, Yu Kwang-chung has been noted as a prolific and versatile poet and prose-writer but not so much as a translator and still less as a self-translator. This study, therefore, seeks to identify the efforts and contributions made by Yu Kwang-chung within the translation arena and to raise awareness on the usefulness of self-translations in helping us to understand Yu Kwang-chung’s works as a whole. Through conducting detailed investigations on existing literature, this study reveals the conscientious attitude Yu holds towards his translation career. Based on a complementary reading and analysis of Yu’s views on translation and the self-translation strategies he employs in rendering his bilingual book, The Night watchman, this research project identifies two unique features of Yu’s self-translation: in terms of sound, Yu tends to give musicality priority over mere correctness so as to maximize the musical qualities in his self-translation; with regards to sense, Yu’s manipulation on the meanings of imageries and cultural allusions reflects and reinforces the bicultural consciousness that is unique to Yu Kwang-chung’s works and himself as a literary figure. Two contrastive studies are also conducted to contrast the nature and characteristics of self-translation and third-party translations. These two studies demonstrate that Yu treats his self-translations and his translations of other people’s work very differently. While Yu generally follows the original closely when translating the works of other poets, his self-translations are proved to be much more liberal and flexible in nature. Finally, this study attempts to answer the question of whether Yu’s self-translation is a translation or a new creation. Despite the numerous alterations made, Yu faithfully translates the essence of his own originalities and tries to stay true to himself in the English text. In addition, since no translation can be completely new, this study takes the stance that Yu’s self-translation is not a new creation although the few extreme cases found in The Night Watchman may be treated as rewritings of the original. / published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis examines the use and function of the human body as a surface that is inscribed with a number of socially significant meanings and how these inscriptions operate in the specific late medieval cultural production. Drawing on Jauss's notion of the social and political significance of medieval narrative, I seek to determine how specific texts contribute to a regulatory practice by thematizing bodies that are perceived as "other," that resist or defy an imagined social norm or stereotype. Each of the dissertation's four chapters treats a different set of notions about the human body. The first one examines Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale and The King of Tars as representations of ethnographic difference. I argue that the late Middle Ages did not have the notion of "race" as a signifier of ethnic difference: instead there is a highly unstable system of positions that place an individual in relation to Christian Salvation History. Robert Henryson's Testament of Cresseid is at the centre of chapter two that examines the moral issues surrounding leprosy as a stigmatized disease. Reading the text as a piece of medical historiography, I argue that one of the purposes of the narrative is to establish the link between Cresseid's sexual behaviour and her disease. A discussion of the homosocial underpinnings of late medieval feudal society, particularly in light of Duby's notion of "les jeunes," forms the basis of the final two chapters. Chapter three discusses Chaucer's Legend ofLucrece and the narrative function of rape as a pedagogical instrument with the aim to ensure the availability of untouched female bodies for a "traffic in women" between noblemen. Chapter four examines transgressive sexual acts as the objects of jokes in fabliaux, such as Chaucer's Miller's Tale. By using shame and ridicule as their main strategy, these texts, I argue, fulfil an exemplary function and act as a warning to young noblemen to maintain an erotic discipline as future heads of feudal houses and as an upcoming political elite.

<p> The text presented here is a study of the editing and appropriation techniques of three constructivist films and their affect on narrative: Artavazd Peleshian's <i>Our Century,</i> Johan Grimonprez's <i>dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y</i> and Adam Curtis' <i>It Felt Like a Kiss.</i> An analysis of these techniques is done through the lens of the Russian Formalists, Victor Shklovsky and Mikhail Bakhtin and their respective concepts of defamiliarization and familiarization. Attention is paid to formal analysis in relation to historical context.</p>

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

<p> This descriptive study looks at how social justice is being integrated into 11th grade language arts classes in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado. I observed four educators, noting how they addressed issues of social justice through classroom discussions and literature selection. This study will reflect upon on observations in classrooms and interviews with educators that inform ineffective and effective means of incorporating, or not incorporating, social justice into their classrooms.</p>

<p> "Kara kagami" (The Mirror of China) is something of an enigma&mdash;only six of an original ten scrolls survive, and there is no critical edition with comprehensive annotation or previous translation. A work composed for Imperial Prince-cum-Shogun Munetaka by the scion of a distinguished line of Confucian scholars, Fujiwara no Shigenori, on a topic of pressing interest in the thirteenth century&mdash;the fate of Continental China&mdash;it embodies many of the characteristic concerns of Kamakura Japan. Tensions between privatization and circulation of learning, imperial and warrior authority, Japan's envisioning of China and her relations thereto, as well as a larger cosmological narrative all run through the work. Yet they do so ways that challenge now long-held ideas of language, stance towards the Continent and its traditions, and narratives of generic development and resistance. </p><p> This dissertation explores the ways in which "The Mirror of China" defies familiar-yet-pass&eacute; conceptions of medieval Japan. It examines afresh how three issues in medieval discourse&mdash;language selection, portrayals of China, and narrating Japan&mdash;are refracted in "The Mirror of China" in order to better understand text-based claims of political, cultural, and philosophical authority. "The Mirror of China"'s linguistically diverse manuscripts invite question of the worldviews or allegiances of identity a multilingual text can intimate. Its depiction of China and the implied narratives such a vision creates likewise differ markedly from those of contemporary works. And lastly, the linguistic and thematic innovation it brings to the Heian genre of "Mirror" writing marks a previously obscured turning point in medieval historiographic writing, one that allows an appreciation of the genre as a medieval experiment in crafting histories as legitimating narratives. Drawing on multiple understudied works in addition to better-known writings, this dissertation provides a new understanding of how medieval thinkers exploited languages, images, and traditions in order to create their own visions of authority.</p>

As a subject of research, Vietnamese Francophone literature has remained relatively unexplored. There are only two major works, and a number of articles, on the subject. The two works, both theses which appeared in 1982, are Jack A. Yeager's The Vietnamese Novel in French, a general overview of the Vietnamese Francophone novel, and a thesis by Nguyen Hong Nhiem on the writer Pham Van Ky. My purpose in this thesis is to focus on four primary themes which particularly distinguish the Vietnamese Francophone novel, and to analyse a number of novels in the light of these four themes. I will examine sixteen novels by twelve writers. The earliest is Bà-Dâm, published in 1930, and the latest Retour à la saison des pluies, published in 1990. The first theme is the influence of the Vietnamese classic, the Kim-Van-Kieu, on these modern novels. The second theme is the portrayal of women, the double colonization of women within a colonial and post-colonial context. I will contrast a woman writer, Ly Thu Ho, with a prominent male writer, Pham Van Ky. The third theme is the nature of interracial relationships, in particular between Vietnamese men and Frenchwomen. The last theme is alienation: alienation within the self and within one's environment. The novels are the writers' individual response to the dilemma of being Vietnamese writing in French. In examining them, one must move beyond the concept of a conflict between East and West. The novels reveal the influence of both East and West. They are an amalgamation of Eastern and Western elements: philosophical, cultural, and literary. They express an interplay of both thoughts and words across cultures.