Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 2000. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 16, 2006. Dissertation Committee: L. Moody Simms (chair), Niles R. Holt, Lawrence W. McBride, Frederick D. Drake, Steven E. Kagle. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 296-299) and abstract. Also available in print.

This study examines the ideas and values of late nineteenth century American society through the popular art form of dime novel literature. The works of Prentiss Ingraham, one of the most prolific dime novel authors, with over 600 novels to his credit, and one of the most popular, with-at least one reprint of each title, served as the focus of this study. A reading and analysis of 75 of his novels provided insight into the social ideas of his time.The results of this study show nineteenth century America's perceptions of the ideal society and the romanticization of nineteenth century American beliefs. This ideal society was based on a democratic foundation and thrived on a balance between the ruggedness of the frontier and the refinement of Eastern civilization. Likewise, the ideal American hero possessed the same blending of these characteristics. / Department of History

My thesis analyses the oeuvre of the American writer Mary McCarthy (1912-1989), with the focus on the figure of the outsider looking in. McCarthy uses outsider figures in her texts as prisms through which distinctive historical moments as well as problems of gender, race and religion are studied against the backdrop of the changing climate of the American 'red' 1930s, the anxious '50s, and the late '60s torn by the Vietnam war. Examples of McCarthy's recurring protagonists are the New York Bohemian girl of the '30s in the predominantly male world marred by the Great Depression, the Jewish character stereotyped as the Other by the poorly hidden anti-Semitism of the American society of the early 1940s, and the orphan child exposed to adult cruelty, who finds her only solace in the Catholic religion. Their position of being outsiders who live in a society not their own by birthright, is shown to be crucial for their acquisition and knowledge of truth, and links insight to marginality, which is reinforced by McCarthy's technique of ironically detached observation, the 'cold eye' of her prose. McCarthy herself appears as an outsider character throughout her writing, both as the historical figure and as the protagonist of her autobiographies. Her self-image, shaped by her orphaned childhood and her youth as a Bohemian girl among leftist intellectuals, is subject to conflicting impulses of confession and concealment. McCarthy's wide use of autobiographical details in her fiction and elements of fiction in her autobiographies led most critics to study her work from a chiefly biographical point of view. My own approach to Mary McCarthy's writing takes their findings into consideration, and includes the analysis of the historical, political, and social contexts of McCarthy's texts, as well as the intertextual dialogue with a few select writings by McCarthy's contemporaries such as Philip Roth and Sylvia Plath.

This study investigated the production of literary themes as cultural products in two historical periods: The French Romantic Movement and the Beat Generation in America during the 1950's. The study defined the fundamental literary themes of the French Romantic Movement and examined the sociological factors which led to the development of this system of ideas. In turn, the French themes were used as an analytical device to determine if these themes existed in the Beat Generation and if the Beat Generation could be viewed as a social and literary movement in the tradition of French literary history. Following a comparison of essential ideas of each movement, the study investigated the sociological factors which led not only to French Romanticism, but to the Beat Generation as well. The project provided a thorough, systematic content analysis of the literary themes of the Beat Generation, and concluded that the Beat Generation may be considered a system of ideas in the tradition of French Romanticism. In addition, several similar abiding sociological factors were present in both historical periods. The study projected the possibility of vanishing alternative Bohemian sub-cultures in modern society and the advent of the twilight of romanticism. / Doctor of Philosophy

This project explores the use if illegitimacy within Western discourse over the last three centuries. Illegitimacy was used in Victorian literature as a literary device to drive plot but evolved into a touchstone for Western discourse to explore the bounds of what is considered respectable society. Over time, as illegitimacy has become more mainstream, I contend illegitimate identities have been utilized to serve as a mirror for Western hegemony. In the first chapter, I explore the origins of illegitimacy being used as a literary device in novels by Victorian authors Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. In the second chapter, I examine the role illegitimacy plays in the origin stories of canonical comic book superheroes Batman and Superman. Lastly, in the third chapter, I scrutinize the role illegitimacy plays in defining the human condition within science fiction as human culture continues to advance technologically towards a post human world. / by Ryan Dessler. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.