Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Study of themes in the novels of Edward Abbey, Lan Cao, Toni Morrison, and Leslie Marmon Silko. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-238). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The initial part of this M.A. thesis is a fiction describing a travel to Greece; it deals with separation, memories and identity. / The following part is an essay on memories and filiation in Le temps qui m'a manque, by Gabrielle Roy. Four reminiscences will be scrutinized: her mother's house, the satin collar, the medals and the seagulls. The first one is about continuity and identification (the mother's house); the second and the third ones, the satin collar masking the unfinished hem, the medals relating to owing, illustrate a filiation based on want. Lastly, the memory of the seagulls synthesizes the light and the dark sides of the mother-daughter filiation, the daughter leaving her mother (rupture) to fulfill her mother's as well as her own dream of freedom (continuity).

This dissertation attempts to compare and contrast the functions of cultural memory and myth in both Heaney and Krog's work. By doing so, I look at what it means for both writers to work within a culture or tradition, and how they both mediate their religious or racial identity within a fractured and divided society. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

This thesis is an investigation of smara. Smara is a Sanskrit word and means memory and desire. It has no equivalent in the English language and so the attempt to understand smara becomes both a linguistic and an ontological task. / The reader is introduced to the similarities and idiosyncrasies between Western and Indian notions of memory and desire and then invited into the search for the junction between memory and desire in Indian thought. / Analysis of anthropological and philosophical texts as well as a semantic mapping of Kalidasa's masterpiece entitled Sakuntala: The Ring of Recollection, reveals not only the co-existence of memory and desire in smara but also the notion of smara as a process.

The other side: collective memory in three novels by Amin Maalouf Collective memory is an expression which is used to describe the way in which societies reflect on their past and ensure their unity in the present. This thesis aims to show how narrative in general, and in particular in the novels of French Lebanese writer, Amin Maalouf, plays a crucial role in the transmission of collective memory. The thesis demonstrates that narrative fulfills this function in three ways. Firstly, narrative gives meaning to past events. Secondly, narrative changes and evolves over time. Lastly, narrative ensures a continual exchange between individual and collective memory. Thus, in its capacity to sustain aspects of individual and collective memory, narrative expresses the values that unite society. Central to our analysis of narrative in the work of Amin Maalouf is the concept of "l'autre côté" or "the other side". This is the expression used by Maalouf when referring to his passion for forgotten or uncomfortable aspects of Western and Arab cultural heritage. By informing the contemporary reader of the shared past, Maalouf strives to build bridges of understanding between the two groups. Maalouf's novels explore themes of origins, of exile and of memory. In the three novels we examine, the narrative is centered on the life of the hero who, endowed with exceptional qualities, is tested by the political and religious challenges of his time. The personal qualities of the hero, revealed in his dealings with the crises which form the particularity of his time, determine the orientation of collective memory. The first novel, Léon l'Africain, published in 1986, is based on the life of Hassan al-Wazzan who lived in Spain, Africa and Rome in the early sixteenth century. Hassan tells the story of his family, and of the political circumstances which led to the expulsion of the Arabs from Spain. The second novel, Les Jardins de lumière, published in 1991, examines the life of the poet, doctor and philosopher named Mani who lived in the third century A.D. In the Epilogue of the novel, the narrator states his intention of challenging the misconceptions and distortions concerning the life of Mani. In the third novel, Le Rocher de Tanios, published in 1993, the narrator sets out to find the truth concerning the events surrounding the birth, life and disappearance of the young man named Tanios, who lived in the narrator's village in Lebanon at the beginning of the nineteenth century. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2009

The other side: collective memory in three novels by Amin Maalouf Collective memory is an expression which is used to describe the way in which societies reflect on their past and ensure their unity in the present. This thesis aims to show how narrative in general, and in particular in the novels of French Lebanese writer, Amin Maalouf, plays a crucial role in the transmission of collective memory. The thesis demonstrates that narrative fulfills this function in three ways. Firstly, narrative gives meaning to past events. Secondly, narrative changes and evolves over time. Lastly, narrative ensures a continual exchange between individual and collective memory. Thus, in its capacity to sustain aspects of individual and collective memory, narrative expresses the values that unite society. Central to our analysis of narrative in the work of Amin Maalouf is the concept of "l'autre côté" or "the other side". This is the expression used by Maalouf when referring to his passion for forgotten or uncomfortable aspects of Western and Arab cultural heritage. By informing the contemporary reader of the shared past, Maalouf strives to build bridges of understanding between the two groups. Maalouf's novels explore themes of origins, of exile and of memory. In the three novels we examine, the narrative is centered on the life of the hero who, endowed with exceptional qualities, is tested by the political and religious challenges of his time. The personal qualities of the hero, revealed in his dealings with the crises which form the particularity of his time, determine the orientation of collective memory. The first novel, Léon l'Africain, published in 1986, is based on the life of Hassan al-Wazzan who lived in Spain, Africa and Rome in the early sixteenth century. Hassan tells the story of his family, and of the political circumstances which led to the expulsion of the Arabs from Spain. The second novel, Les Jardins de lumière, published in 1991, examines the life of the poet, doctor and philosopher named Mani who lived in the third century A.D. In the Epilogue of the novel, the narrator states his intention of challenging the misconceptions and distortions concerning the life of Mani. In the third novel, Le Rocher de Tanios, published in 1993, the narrator sets out to find the truth concerning the events surrounding the birth, life and disappearance of the young man named Tanios, who lived in the narrator's village in Lebanon at the beginning of the nineteenth century. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2009

Thesis (M.A.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-108).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 222-226). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.