The Sirens episode in The Odyssey is comparably short, but it is one of the most memorable scenes in the epic. Sirens are trying to stop the male narrative, the male quest of Odysseus with their own female "narrative power" (Doherty 82). They are the quintessential marginalized, calling for a voice, a presence, an audience in the text of patriarchy. The knowledge they promise, though, comes with the price of death. They are covertly sexual in Classical antiquity, but since the rise of Christianity, a new Siren emerged from the depths of the sea; instead of the sexually ambiguous embodiment of knowledge, she became fleshy, bestial, and lustful (Lao 113). In his Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy creates a Victorian Siren in the form of Arabella Donn, who personifies all of the misogynistic qualities of womanhood. She is deceptive, bestial, lecherous, and aligned with death and destruction. Intentionally or not, however, Hardy's Arabella is also paradoxically a bearer of truth and wisdom. This thesis will further textual study of Jude the Obscure and provide a new reading of Arabella Donn.

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published_or_final_version / Chinese / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This ethnographic study investigates the frequency of use of the Navajo Blessingway ceremony during pregnancy by Navajo women in the Fort Defiance Service Unit of Indian Health Service. Through interviews with postpartum women and community members it was found that approximately 14% of the Navajo women at this hospital had a Blessingway ceremony during their current pregnancy. The data indicate that contemporary usage of the Blessingway ceremony is much less frequent than with previous generations. Factors contributing to this decline include a: decrease in the use of Navajo language, decreased number of practicing medicine men, increased reliance on Christian religions practices, influence of Western education and health care practices and changing socioeconomic conditions. The most significant factor in encouraging pregnant women to use this beneficial ceremony was the influence of the extended family.

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Between 1950s and 1990s, Hong Kong had a frenzy for writing and re-writing materials from classical literature and myths. The myth of Madame White Snake is one of the most well known stories that survived a long period of time. The earliest known version of Madame White Snake was a supernatural story in 1550, which later became a prototype of numerous subsequent versions starting in 1624. This prototype was repeatedly re-written throughout history and was also made into different genres including plays, playlets, novels, films and television dramas. One of the latest versions was written by Li Pikwah, a popular novelist in Hong Kong, in 1993, titled, Green Snake. Green Snake is a parody of Madame White Snake written from the perspective of Little Green, the servant of Madame White and an auxiliary figure in the tradition. The novel is also an autobiography of Little Green, who satirically criticizes the story of Madame White Snake in retrospect. Little Green’s autobiography is a nostalgic reflection of the past as well as a critique of the structure of the story that has survived throughout history. These implications made in the story hint at the author’s personal yearning for traditional China as a Chinese resident in Hong Kong. Her nostalgia for traditional China is not idealistic but paradoxical, because her re-writing of the story was an avenue to understand and re-negotiate her identity. Li is also well-known for her other novels, which are parodies of classical literature, traditional myth and legend. Many of these works were also made into films in the 80’s and 90’s. These novels and films were part of a phenomenon in contemporary Hong Kong literary and popular culture that tried to grasp a cultural connection with traditional China in order to embrace the return to mainland China in 1997 after a hundred years of British colonial rule.

Vertybinių nuostatų formavimas dailės pamokose atskleidžiant baltų mitologijos bruožus ir vertybes. Tikslas Atskleisti baltų mitologijos bruožus ir vertybes, sudaryti prielaidas jų sklaidai vizualinėje raiškoje. Hipotezė Pažintis su baltų mitologija praplečia mokinių kūrybinės veiklos diapazoną, skatina vaizduotės ir kūrybiškumo ugdymą. Uždaviniai 1. Apžvelgti baltų mitologijos vietą šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje ir mokymo sistemoje. 2. Išnagrinėti mokslinę, metodinę literatūrą baltų mitologijos klausimais. 3. Naujų, patrauklių jaunimui tautiškumo jausenos, lietuviškos savimonės stiprinimo būdų paieška. 4. Sukurti vizualinius kūrinius, padedančius supažindinti mokinius su baltų mitologija. 5. Atlikti kokybinius – kiekybinius tyrimus, nustatant, kokios senosios baltų mitologijos vertybės atsispindi šiuolaikinio jaunimo sąmonėj 11 – 12 klasių mokinių tarpe. 6.Nustatyti pedagogų požiūrį į baltų mitologiją ir panagrinėti jos vietą dalykinėse programose. Kokybiniai tyrimai. Giluminio interviu metodas pasitarnavo: 1. Apžvelgiant pagrindinius visatos sąrangos principus Technologijos mokslų daktaras V. Dineika 2. Nustatant moksleivių sąmoningumo laipsnį. 10 klasės moksleivė, folkloristė J. Čičirkaitė 3. Įvardinant įdomiausias etnokultūros šventes,skleidžiant baltų mitologijos vertybes Etninių tradicijų puoselėtoja E. Plioplienė 4. Įvertinant etnokultūrossvarbą, formuojant miesto kultūrinį veidą Etnokultūros centro darbuotoja M. Liugienė 5. Pabrėžiant folklorinių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim To reveal the features and values of the Balt mythology in order to envisual art. Hypotezis Knoing the Balt mythology ridens the horizons of studens activities, develops imaginations and creativity Mythology and religion are the highest level of spiritual life. That is why religions belief very often was the couse of historic events. It is difficult to perclive the essence of some phenomena without those studies. This is the key to understanding of the care of folk songs, fairy tales and even the elements of folklore ornaments.The Balts dides’t invent their alphabet, thei dides’t lieve their religions texsts and rithuals. We can judge abaut their religion and kults from short messages in the chronicles of neighbouring countries or the reminiscence of travellers. After Lithuania was baptised many old religions things turned into traditions and customs. There are not enough data to reconstruct separate religious systems of the Baltic tribes. Researchess are confident of the main differences in Lithuanian Latvian or Prusian believs. Some elements of Indoeuropean substrato f ontlook kan be tranced as there are featuhres of totems and the cults of femini goddesses. According to the starter of archeomythology dr. M. Gimbutienė this is heritage of the old Europe. Structurized religions system corres pouding the society orf that time had pean tribes, its hierarchy is based on the threesome of Gods. ,,the whole old culture whick we call folk, traditional or ethnic... [to full text]

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