Meniscus is a collection of poems with a critical preface that examines the nature of "silence" and oblique language.

The Selective Service Act of 1917 made provision for the exemption of conscientious objectors belonging to certain religious bodies. It did not provide protection for the sincere individual objector against vilification from a public who labeled him disloyal, unpatriotic, and pro-Hun. This report is based on an incident which occurred in Portland, Oregon. It involves the assistant librarian of the Library Association of Portland who was a conscientious objector, and the repercussions which her stand had on the library board, the head librarian, and the public in general. In April of 1918, Portland had just completed a successful drive for contributions to the third Liberty Loan drive. Indeed, Oregon was the first state to complete its quota. On the day that this victory was confirmed, an afternoon paper broke the news that the assistant librarian of the public library, Miss M. Louise Hunt, had refused to buy bonds. This action touched off a heated controversy which affected not only Miss Hunt herself, but involved the governing body of the library. Before the incident was closed, civic and social organizations and individual citizens found an opportunity to express their views on the subject of conscientious objections. Miss Hunt refused to purchase bonds on the ground that she was a conscientious objector and could not support the war. Her opponents pointed out that she was a well paid county employee and therefore was under obligation to support the war bond drive. A committee from the bond drive headquarters, calling on Miss Hunt at the library, tried to persuade her to change her mind. Her statements, as quoted in the press, were ill-chosen and branded her in the public mind as pro-German. She was also interviewed by an agent of the United States District Attorney. Public indignation was so aroused that a special meeting of the library board was called to consider the matter. With one dissenting vote from the board itself and one from the chairman of the county commissioners who serve as ex-officio members of the library board, the board went on record as believing that Miss Hunt had never in any way obstructed, nor intended to obstruct, the activities of the Government. Although the board plainly stated that they did not share in any way Miss Hunt's opinions, they felt the right to one’s own conscientious opinion was the very foundation of human freedom. They were unwilling to compel anyone to , give up the very thing for which the war was being fought. This, in 1918, was a most unusual and courageous stand for any civic body.to take in the face of accusations of disloyalty. Public disapproval of the board's action was so great that a second meeting was held to reconsider the decision. At this time, Miss Hunt presented her resignation from the library staff. By now, tempers were frayed and the dissenting board member protested the board's stand. Charges of disloyalty were hurled against the president of the board and the head librarian. Immediately, civic and social groups demanded the dismissal of the governing body. Wiser voices spoke up in defense of both board and librarian and the press turned from personal details of the squabbling to a more objective discussion of the principles involved in freedom of conscience. Miss Hunt returned to her home in Maine and, as far as Portland was concerned, the Hunt affair was over. In a larger sense, the Hunt case forced Portland to confront, if only briefly, its historical ideals and to consider to what degree it was willing to protest the right to dissent during a period of crisis.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This dissertation is a collection of poems preceded by a critical preface. The preface considers emotional immediacy—or the idea of enacting in readers an emotional drama that appears genuine and simultaneous with the speaker's experience—and furthermore argues against the common criticism that accessibility means simplicity, ultimately reifying the importance of accessibility in contemporary poetry. The preface is divided into an introduction and three sections, each of which explores a different technique for creating immediacy, exemplified by Robert Lowell’s "Waking in the Blue,” Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus,” and Louise Gluck's "Eros." The first section examines "Waking in the Blue,” and the poem's systematic inflation and deflation of persona as a means of revealing complexity a ambiguity. The second section engages in a close reading of "Lady Lazarus,” arguing that the poem's initially deliberately false erodes into sincerity, creating immediacy. The third section considers the continued importance of persona beyond confessionalism, and argues that in "Eros," it is the apparent lack of drama, and the focus on the cognitive process, that facilitates emotional immediacy.

Issu d’une réflexion portant sur l’habitat, les paysages et l’empreinte humaine qui les façonne, mon projet de maîtrise tente d’attirer l’attention sur l’utilisation des espaces urbains et sur le regard porté sur les lieux abandonnés et négligés. Mon attention se porte surtout sur les terrains vagues, les lieux en transition et les nombreux espaces inhospitaliers créés par la mouvance dans l’occupation des territoires. Je m’intéresse au regard qu’on porte sur ces lieux ignorés et mal-perçus qui peuvent évoquer à la fois le passage, l’abandon, la transformation ou la mémoire. Mon travail tente d’établir un rapport entre le paysage représenté et le paysage expérimenté, utilisant la marche pour découvrir et s’approprier le lieu et le dessin et la photo pour s’en approprier les images.

Since Native American Literature has been established, Native American authors have discussed the influence of the western world on Native traditions and Native identity within their work. Christianity is one of those elements of western cultural influences that shaped remarkably the change of Native traditions under the influence of colonialism. In this dissertation it will be discussed how the influence of Christianity is being written into the novels by Native American writers and which functions are attributed to Christianity in respect to the enforcement of colonial interests and in respect to changes within Native traditions. For this dissertation four authors (D'Arcy McNickle, Paula Gunn Allen, N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich) were chosen whose pieces of work mark a difference in approach. Their novels testify to the contradictory fusion of colonial and missionary goals on the one side and to the possible enrichment of Native customs on the other side. The novels can, therefore, be characterized as an assemble that reaches from total rejection of anything that is assumed to be Christian to an affirmative way of incorporating selective aspects of Christianity to the final denial that there is an evaluation of this historical issue possible. In respect to the method applied, all pieces of literary work are discussed in their usage of Christian literary elements and intertextual references to the Bible and other Christian literary sources. An afterword refers to novels and short stories by further 17 Native American authors who are concerned with the Christian influence on Native traditions in their work as well. The results of the research in the dissertation will then be extended by discussing those pieces of fictional work. / Seit der Etablierung des indianischen Romans im Kanon der amerikanischen Gegenwartsliteratur suchen indianische Schriftsteller nach Wegen, die doppelte Prägung der modernen indianischen Identität durch traditionelle Werte einerseits und westlichen Einfluss andererseits fiktional aufzuarbeiten. Ein Element der westlichen Welt, das die Veränderungen der indianischen Kulturen unter der Einwirkung der Kolonisation maßgeblich mitbestimmt hat, ist die christliche Religion. In der Dissertation wird untersucht, wie das Wirken des Christentums auf das indigene Selbstbild in der US-amerikanischen indianischen Romanliteratur thematisiert wird und welche Funktionen ihm für die Durchsetzung kolonialer Interessen und für den Wandel der indianischen Traditionen im Verlauf der letzten 500 Jahre zuerkannt werden. Für die Fragestellung wurden vier Autorinnen und Autoren ausgewählt (D'Arcy McNickle, Paula Gunn Allen, N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich), deren Romanwerke die Gegensätzlichkeit zwischen der Verquickung kolonialer Interessen mit religiösen Motiven einerseits und der Bereicherung der indianischen Kulturen durch christliche Traditionen andererseits widerspiegeln. Die Romane bilden einen Spannungsbogen von strikter Ablehnung alles Christlichen, über die affirmative Aufnahme christlicher Elemente bis hin zur Pluralisierung der Bewertungsmöglichkeiten bei gleichzeitiger Aufgabe der Bewertungsgewissheit hinsichtlich des christlichen Einflusses. Methodisch wird hierbei folgendermaßen vorgegangen. Die Romane werden auf intertextuelle Verweise zu christlichen literarischen Quellen und insbesondere der Bibel untersucht, um daran die Gestaltung des Untersuchungsgegenstandes zu erörtern. Ein ausführlicher Ausblick verweist auf Romane und Erzählungen weiterer 17 indianischer Autorinnen und Autoren der Gegenwart, um hieran die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zu präzisieren und zu ergänzen.

Since Native American Literature has been established, Native American authors have discussed the influence of the western world on Native traditions and Native identity within their work. Christianity is one of those elements of western cultural influences that shaped remarkably the change of Native traditions under the influence of colonialism. In this dissertation it will be discussed how the influence of Christianity is being written into the novels by Native American writers and which functions are attributed to Christianity in respect to the enforcement of colonial interests and in respect to changes within Native traditions. For this dissertation four authors (D'Arcy McNickle, Paula Gunn Allen, N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich) were chosen whose pieces of work mark a difference in approach. Their novels testify to the contradictory fusion of colonial and missionary goals on the one side and to the possible enrichment of Native customs on the other side. The novels can, therefore, be characterized as an assemble that reaches from total rejection of anything that is assumed to be Christian to an affirmative way of incorporating selective aspects of Christianity to the final denial that there is an evaluation of this historical issue possible. In respect to the method applied, all pieces of literary work are discussed in their usage of Christian literary elements and intertextual references to the Bible and other Christian literary sources. An afterword refers to novels and short stories by further 17 Native American authors who are concerned with the Christian influence on Native traditions in their work as well. The results of the research in the dissertation will then be extended by discussing those pieces of fictional work. / Seit der Etablierung des indianischen Romans im Kanon der amerikanischen Gegenwartsliteratur suchen indianische Schriftsteller nach Wegen, die doppelte Prägung der modernen indianischen Identität durch traditionelle Werte einerseits und westlichen Einfluss andererseits fiktional aufzuarbeiten. Ein Element der westlichen Welt, das die Veränderungen der indianischen Kulturen unter der Einwirkung der Kolonisation maßgeblich mitbestimmt hat, ist die christliche Religion. In der Dissertation wird untersucht, wie das Wirken des Christentums auf das indigene Selbstbild in der US-amerikanischen indianischen Romanliteratur thematisiert wird und welche Funktionen ihm für die Durchsetzung kolonialer Interessen und für den Wandel der indianischen Traditionen im Verlauf der letzten 500 Jahre zuerkannt werden. Für die Fragestellung wurden vier Autorinnen und Autoren ausgewählt (D'Arcy McNickle, Paula Gunn Allen, N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich), deren Romanwerke die Gegensätzlichkeit zwischen der Verquickung kolonialer Interessen mit religiösen Motiven einerseits und der Bereicherung der indianischen Kulturen durch christliche Traditionen andererseits widerspiegeln. Die Romane bilden einen Spannungsbogen von strikter Ablehnung alles Christlichen, über die affirmative Aufnahme christlicher Elemente bis hin zur Pluralisierung der Bewertungsmöglichkeiten bei gleichzeitiger Aufgabe der Bewertungsgewissheit hinsichtlich des christlichen Einflusses. Methodisch wird hierbei folgendermaßen vorgegangen. Die Romane werden auf intertextuelle Verweise zu christlichen literarischen Quellen und insbesondere der Bibel untersucht, um daran die Gestaltung des Untersuchungsgegenstandes zu erörtern. Ein ausführlicher Ausblick verweist auf Romane und Erzählungen weiterer 17 indianischer Autorinnen und Autoren der Gegenwart, um hieran die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zu präzisieren und zu ergänzen.