In their novels, Ernest Buckler, Alice Munro, Peter Ackroyd, Adele Wiseman and A. S. Byatt have each explored moments when their characters experience expanded states of consciousness. Narratives such as these, as well as those of various mystical literatures, posit the idea that the barriers of the known self can be broken through, often repeatedly. Each of the novels to be studied here portrays a gap- or flaw-ridden self in the act of perpetuating and/or penetrating various forms of narrative and identity constructs. Each also features an encounter with what is other when these narrative and identity boundaries are breached. Reading about "mystical" occurrences of this nature challenges readers with the possibility that perceptions may be registered beyond the paradigms of the subject/object split. In this project, narrative fiction will be read in terms of its capacity to trigger a questioning of, and an expansion from within, systems of knowledge and identity, explicitly in terms of character and plot structure, and implicitly as a model for the reading self. The ability to observe and to respond to productive "gaps" or "flaws" in the stories of the self is a skill not only practiced by contemplatives and mystics, and by the characters in these novels, but by readers of imaginative fiction as well.

Scholars approaching the work of Sir Charles G. D. Roberts face two problems: first, a critical mass that divides his work along genre lines and second, limited theoretical frameworks on which to build a discussion, namely, British Romanticism or American Transcendentalism. An alternative critical lens through which to explore Roberts's oeuvre is supernaturalism. Chapter 1 offers a summary of Roberts scholarship and a discussion of current critical frameworks. Chapter 2 contextualizes Roberts's interest in the supernatural through an examination of occult currents of thought during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, as well as Roberts's friendships, letters, and related publications. Chapters 3 to 5 proceed chronologically through an examination of how the supernatural manifested itself in his prose fiction: Chapter 3 explores his earliest supernatural stories from Earth's Enigmas; Chapter 4 discusses his Acadian works; Chapter 5 explores his later prose fiction, beginning with The Heart of the Ancient Wood and ending with his last novel, In the Morning of Time. Chapter 6 acts as a corollary to the other chapters through a chronological examination of Roberts's major collections of verse. A reexamination of Roberts's personal writings and acquaintances during key moments in his life reveals a bio-critical void in scholarship that has effectively obscured his affinity for esoteric ideas and for artists who held similar interests. An investigation of his works also reveals that the supernatural manifested itself in his poetry and prose fiction throughout his career. Evidence suggests that the supernatural was a pervasive influence on his life and that he found in esoteric traditions perspectives on the afterlife that could help him articulate his spiritual struggles.

This thesis examines the works of five Irish-born writers who came to Canada between the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: Donnchadh Ruadh MacConmara, Isaac Weld Junior, Thomas Moore, Anna Brownell Jameson, and Adam Kidd. Collectively, these writers helped formulate, establish, and solidify impressions of the eventual Dominion. In turn, they played an invaluable role in encouraging immigration to Canada by providing would-be emigrants with valuable insight and information that would aid in their impending decision about where to seek a new home once they crossed the Atlantic: America or Canada. Essential to their respective experiences was the discovery that Canada could offer not only respite from the instability sweeping the British Isles but also that it was superior to the American Republic. To illustrate this point, the Dantean concepts of inferno, purgatorio, and paradiso, first suggested in Weld's work, are equated with America, Canada, and the Old World respectively. This paradigm is used both to conceptualize and assess the New World in relation to the Old, to compare Canada and America invidiously, as well as to encourage immigration to the former and divertit from the latter. In addition to providing a survey of the heretofore unrecognized contribution of five foundational Irish writers to the beginnings of Canadian literature, the thesis also exposes and challenges the early and present-day critical reception of their respective works in reviews and criticism that frequently propagate unfavourable stereotypes of the Irish. Its aim is partly to counter these falsely imposed myths and harmful stereotypes by drawing attention to the unsound practices of many biographers and critics.

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This thesis analyzes Paretsky's works and how the dominant members of society use their power to exploit the weaker members, and how that exploitation impacts society. It shows how the author connects the abuse that stems from the power of patriarchy to the abuse of nature.

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This is a collection of poems.

This is a collection of short stories.

In his essay "The Philosophy of Composition," Edgar Allan Poe proclaims that "the death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world," and this sentiment remains curiously persistent within the literary world. Artists have looked towards their beautiful muses for centuries as a source of inspiration and introspection, and the faces that these muses wear were often swooning, longing, or even dead. Nineteenth-century British aesthetics solidified a gendered ideology that remains prevalent to this day; in particular, one subculture of Victorian aesthetics that emerged during this period was the Cult of Ophelia: a collection of writers and artists who revitalized Shakespeare's heroine for mass consumption, immortalizing her as the zenith of tragedy, beauty, and madness. This thesis examines the origins, conventions, and evolution of the Ophelia trope through the art and literature of the nineteenth century and beyond, paying particular attention to the work of Pre-Raphaelite muse Elizabeth Siddal and twenty-first-century writer Sylvia Plath. By reading Siddal's work in conjunction with Plath's, this thesis positions both women as writers that operate within a literary tradition that reclaims their "madness" from the dominant societies that fetishized their mental illness.

Jane Austen's American fans have a vibrant history. This dissertation traces how fans have sustained devotion to Austen, her works, and her world since the early nineteenth century through a set of practices still current among fans today: collecting objects and knowledge; writing imitative works; and carrying out literary pilgrimage.;I argue that these three modes of engagement are performative. Through practices such as creating and collecting material objects, and writing and reading fan fiction, fans engage in acts of what Joseph Roach has called surrogation. This is a performative means through which fans seek a substitute for a past affective experience that can never be repeated in the same way, such as reading a beloved novel for the first time. These acts take place within the everyday lives of fans who seek pleasure from Austen's world. Through pilgrimage fans enter into a liminal space, apart from the quotidian, where they may perform subjectivity as fans. These performances are enacted during pilgrimage to Austen-related sites, as well as to special events like those sponsored by the Jane Austen Society of North America.;Throughout this dissertation I offer evidence of fan practices overlooked or underrepresented by past studies. This evidence reveals nearly two hundred years of continuity within the American Austen fandom. These fans enjoy a nostalgic, personal connection to Austen, her characters, and her era. their practices offer means of entering Austen's world, seeking pleasure, fulfillment, and community; they also offer means of re-engaging with the original texts, always in search of something new within the familiar.;This case study of Jane Austen fandom contributes to the larger understanding of fans and fan practices. The Austen fandom boasts unique qualities and has a history predating the term "fan," yet it resembles recent popular culture media fandoms. Through a history of three modes of fan practices, I describe and theorize how performativity and surrogation work within fandom, proposing new, more specific ways of understanding the subjectivity, history, and practices of fans---representing prevalent and creative ways American culture consumes literature and narrative media.