Although written in the late twentieth century, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest takes place in the twenty-first century and is an extrapolation on social trends, namely the trend of ubiquitous technology and entertainment in American society. In this thesis, I explore, through a twenty-first century perspective, various topics in relation to the theme of technology in the novel. In order to show the all-encompassing influence of this theme, I divide my thesis into two main sections, by looking at the big picture (the structure of the novel) and the small picture (the individual characters and their relationships with one another). In the first chapter, I categorize Infinite Jest as a work of Menippean satire. In doing so, I suggest that the novel mimics the very culture it critiques, the fragmented culture of technology. In the second chapter, I look at the ways in which the characters communicate—or rather, don’t communicate—with one another. Through a discussion on the novel’s monologic quality, I then move into the third chapter, wherein I view the theme of solipsism as a product of the culture of technology. The fourth chapter is an examination of the role of the MacGuffin in the narrative. I argue that Wallace uses the MacGuffin and the novel’s lack of resolution as a metaphor for the search for meaning in a posthumanist world devoid of meaning and clarity. While each chapter contains a distinct discussion, ultimately the overarching goal of this thesis is to explore the effects, as depicted in Infinite Jest, of the posthumanist world on humanity. According to Wallace, good fiction shows the reader what it means to be a human being, yet in a technology and entertainment-driven world, wherein the line between reality and artificiality is blurred, the issue of what it means to be a human being is problematized. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The thesis represents the most extensive study yet made of the life and works of one of the most neglected authors of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In its introduction it provides a review of King's critical reception up to the present day, beginning with the comments of some of the Scriblerians and his eighteenth-century editors and biographers. The thesis proper is divided into two sections, the first of which is concerned with King's life and opinions, and is in turn separated into two chapters. Chapter One is a biography, and not only establishes the facts of King's life, but seeks to place him firmly in his historical and ideological context. The conclusion drawn from this is that King remained committed to the high Anglican/Tory ideology of rank and authority throughout his life, and that these values had a major bearing on everything he did and wrote. The second chapter looks in more detail at King's cultural milieu and the relationship between his ideological standpoint and his views on learning, particularly in terms of the ideal of the 'gentleman scholar'. The second half of the chapter is devoted to a reconsideration of the relationship between science and Humanism and the high Anglican attitude towards Baconianism, which is aimed at dispelling the common notion that King's thee-political conservatism necessarily led him to oppose science per se. A close study of his serious, non-ironic writings, most notably the Heathen Gods and the Adversaria (a loose collection of observations which to date have been neglected) confirms that King was both a disciple of late Renaissance Christian Humanism and an advocate of the 'high' Baconianism associated with the Anglican Church. The second part deals with King's work as a Menippean satirist, and begins with a definition and review of the chief classical and Renaissance exponents of this ancient genre (sometimes known as 'the tradition of learned wit'), before turning to the analysis of a number of King's prosimetric and poetic parodies, travesties and mock-heroics. Chapter Four looks at King's controversial writings and political pamphlets, concentrating on his use of irony and burlesque as weapons against a number of thee-political enemies. The last three chapters are devoted respectively to King's finest works - his satires on Richard Bentley, Martin Lister, and Hans Sloane - and again consider these pieces in terms of the adaptation of the Menippean genre for the purposes of elaborate parody and occasional satire. At the same time, the meaning of King's parodies is shown to extend beyond merely personal attack to a serio-comic defence of traditional values in respect of scholarship, literature and more broadly social issues. By their exceptionally witty ridicule of abuses of philological and scientific learning, they implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) endorse the intellectual and cultural ideals of late Renaissance Humanism and high Baconianism. The final contention is that while his burlesques are seriously limited by their topicality, they are sufficiently sophisticated and amusing to entitle him to an important place in the tradition of Menippean satire. The thesis also contains four appendices dealing with King's involvement in The Examiner, the question of his authorship of A Vindication of the Reverend Dr Henry Sacheverell, some unpublished manuscripts attributed to him, and a manuscript of a nineteenth-century essay on his life and works.

Spenser's Complaints volume is a Menippean satire, a form characterized by mixture. Within this mixture of forms and voices, the three beast poems, Virgils Gnat, Prosopopoia or Mother Hubberds Tale, and Muiopotmos are unified by shared traditions in Classical Aesopic beast fable and medieval beast poetry. Reading these three poems as a set reveals Spenser's interpretation of the literary history of beast poetry as one of several competing forms of order. The beast poems show ordering schemes of hierarchy, proportion, imitative practice, and dialectic, yet none of these is dominant. Thus, in the overall Menippean mixture that makes up the volume, the beast poems present an additional and less obvious mixture: the kinds of order available to a literary artist. Spenser's Complaints volume was the object of some censorship, and scholars still debate whether he or his printer, William Ponsonby, designed the book. The many kinds of organization demonstrated by the beast poems coalesce to form a theory of contestatory imitation in which the dominant order is disorder itself, represented by the ruin brought about by time's passage. Spenser appropriates both satiric and serious voices in the beast poems. He reflects on his political ambition to achieve the status of poet laureate in a noble, courtly manner, but he snarls like a fox, too, when he considers the ruin of his ambition. / Master of Arts

O Catatau foi escrito entre 1966 e 1975, período em que o Brasil estava sob uma hedionda ditadura militar. No mesmo período, a cultura do país vivia um de seus momentos mais ricos e intensos, oferecendo aos brasileiros manifestações como a Tropicália, o Cinema Novo, o Teatro Oficina, o Cinema Marginal etc. Nosso trabalho pretende demonstrar como o Catatau se situa nesse contexto histórico e, principalmente, como produz uma crítica política ao regime de exceção. Devido a esse posicionamento crítico diante do poder autoritário, acreditamos que o Catatau pode ser considerado um romance de protesto e não apenas uma obra experimental ou de vanguarda, como usualmente o livro de Leminski é abordado. Porém, diferentemente dos outros romances de protesto escritos no período chamado pós-64, o Catatau se caracteriza por sua linguagem barroca e pela filiação à longa tradição da literatura carnavalizada. Utilizamos como suporte teórico para a análise do barroco principalmente o trabalho de Severo Sarduy. E para a análise da carnavalização adotamos especialmente os conceitos de Mikhail Bakhtin apresentados nas obras Problemas da poética de Dostoiévski e A cultura popular na Idade Média e no Renascimento: o contexto de François Rabelais e também o importante livro de Enylton de Sá Rego, O calundu e a panaceia, no qual o autor estuda as relações entre a obra machadiana e a sátira menipeia. / Catatau was written between 1966 and 1975, a period when Brazil was under a hideous military dictatorship. In the same period, the Brazilian culture lived one of its richest and most intense moments, producing manifestations as Tropicália, Cinema Novo, Teatro Oficina, Cinema Marginal etc. Our work aims to demonstrate how Catatau is situated in that historical context and especially how it produces a political critique of the authoritarian regime. Due its critical position on the authoritarian power, we believe Catatau may be considered a \"novel of protest\" and not just an experimental or avant-garde work, as usually Catatau is considered. However, unlike the other \"novels of protest\" written during the period called \"post-64\", Catatau is characterized by its baroque language and its affiliation with the long tradition of carnivalized literature. The theoretical support for the analysis of the baroque is mainly the work of Severo Sarduy. And to the analysis of carnivalization we adopted especially the concepts of Mikhail Bakhtin presented in the books Problems of Dostoevsky\'s poetics and François Rabelais and Popular culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and also the important work of Enylton de Sá Rego, O calundu e a panaceia, in which the author studies the relationships between Machado de Assis\'s work and the menippean satire.

A Apocolocintose do divino Cláudio é a desconstrução da apoteose atribuída pelo senado romano a Cláudio, princeps morto em 54 d.C. e penúltimo César da dinastia Júlio-Claudiana. Este texto de Sêneca estrutura-se de acordo com o gênero sátira menipéia, em que se mesclam prosa e verso, coloquialismos e formas cultas, além de intensas relações que se estabelecem com outros textos greco-romanos. Para isso, Sêneca insere fatos da vida de Cláudio e relaciona-os com situações inesperadas no céu, na terra e no inferno, em um percurso fictício que o princeps romano realiza nesta dessacralização. O texto de Sêneca é uma reação ao exílio sofrido nas mãos deste mesmo princeps, a quem o filósofo veio a servir em 49 d.C. Também é uma reação aos desmandos e crueldades perpetradas por Cláudio e uma forma de enaltecer a imagem de Nero, alçado ao governo de Roma após a morte de Cláudio. Esta dissertação de Mestrado compreende uma introdução ao gênero sátira menipéia, seguida de tradução e notas da Apocolocintose do divino Cláudio, bem como de um comentário críticoanalítico em que se examinam as intenções de Sêneca nesta invectiva contra Cláudio. / Divine Claudios Apocolocintose is the destruction of the apotheosis given by the Roman senate to Claudio, princeps who died in 54 after Christ, and the penultimate Caesar of the Julian-Claudian dynasty. The text by Seneca is, in its structure, in accordance with the genre menippean satire, in which prose and verse, colloquialism and erudite forms of composition are entwined. Besides, the text has intense links with other Greek-Roman texts. In order to do that, Seneca inserts facts of Claudios life and relates them with unexpected situations in heaven, on earth and in hell, in a fictitious path the Roman princeps carries out in this dissacralization. Senecas text is a reaction due to the exile he had to undergo through the hands of the princeps himself, who the philosopher served in 49 after Christ. Its also a reaction to the whimsy deeds and cruelties done by Claudio, and a way of highlighting Neros image, who took the government after Claudios death. This Masters degree paper comprehends and introduction to the genre menippean satire, translation and notes of Divine Claudios Apocolocintose as well as a critic-analytic comment on which Senecas intentions are examined in the invective against Claudio.

O Catatau foi escrito entre 1966 e 1975, período em que o Brasil estava sob uma hedionda ditadura militar. No mesmo período, a cultura do país vivia um de seus momentos mais ricos e intensos, oferecendo aos brasileiros manifestações como a Tropicália, o Cinema Novo, o Teatro Oficina, o Cinema Marginal etc. Nosso trabalho pretende demonstrar como o Catatau se situa nesse contexto histórico e, principalmente, como produz uma crítica política ao regime de exceção. Devido a esse posicionamento crítico diante do poder autoritário, acreditamos que o Catatau pode ser considerado um romance de protesto e não apenas uma obra experimental ou de vanguarda, como usualmente o livro de Leminski é abordado. Porém, diferentemente dos outros romances de protesto escritos no período chamado pós-64, o Catatau se caracteriza por sua linguagem barroca e pela filiação à longa tradição da literatura carnavalizada. Utilizamos como suporte teórico para a análise do barroco principalmente o trabalho de Severo Sarduy. E para a análise da carnavalização adotamos especialmente os conceitos de Mikhail Bakhtin apresentados nas obras Problemas da poética de Dostoiévski e A cultura popular na Idade Média e no Renascimento: o contexto de François Rabelais e também o importante livro de Enylton de Sá Rego, O calundu e a panaceia, no qual o autor estuda as relações entre a obra machadiana e a sátira menipeia. / Catatau was written between 1966 and 1975, a period when Brazil was under a hideous military dictatorship. In the same period, the Brazilian culture lived one of its richest and most intense moments, producing manifestations as Tropicália, Cinema Novo, Teatro Oficina, Cinema Marginal etc. Our work aims to demonstrate how Catatau is situated in that historical context and especially how it produces a political critique of the authoritarian regime. Due its critical position on the authoritarian power, we believe Catatau may be considered a \"novel of protest\" and not just an experimental or avant-garde work, as usually Catatau is considered. However, unlike the other \"novels of protest\" written during the period called \"post-64\", Catatau is characterized by its baroque language and its affiliation with the long tradition of carnivalized literature. The theoretical support for the analysis of the baroque is mainly the work of Severo Sarduy. And to the analysis of carnivalization we adopted especially the concepts of Mikhail Bakhtin presented in the books Problems of Dostoevsky\'s poetics and François Rabelais and Popular culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and also the important work of Enylton de Sá Rego, O calundu e a panaceia, in which the author studies the relationships between Machado de Assis\'s work and the menippean satire.

A Apocolocintose do divino Cláudio é a desconstrução da apoteose atribuída pelo senado romano a Cláudio, princeps morto em 54 d.C. e penúltimo César da dinastia Júlio-Claudiana. Este texto de Sêneca estrutura-se de acordo com o gênero sátira menipéia, em que se mesclam prosa e verso, coloquialismos e formas cultas, além de intensas relações que se estabelecem com outros textos greco-romanos. Para isso, Sêneca insere fatos da vida de Cláudio e relaciona-os com situações inesperadas no céu, na terra e no inferno, em um percurso fictício que o princeps romano realiza nesta dessacralização. O texto de Sêneca é uma reação ao exílio sofrido nas mãos deste mesmo princeps, a quem o filósofo veio a servir em 49 d.C. Também é uma reação aos desmandos e crueldades perpetradas por Cláudio e uma forma de enaltecer a imagem de Nero, alçado ao governo de Roma após a morte de Cláudio. Esta dissertação de Mestrado compreende uma introdução ao gênero sátira menipéia, seguida de tradução e notas da Apocolocintose do divino Cláudio, bem como de um comentário críticoanalítico em que se examinam as intenções de Sêneca nesta invectiva contra Cláudio. / Divine Claudios Apocolocintose is the destruction of the apotheosis given by the Roman senate to Claudio, princeps who died in 54 after Christ, and the penultimate Caesar of the Julian-Claudian dynasty. The text by Seneca is, in its structure, in accordance with the genre menippean satire, in which prose and verse, colloquialism and erudite forms of composition are entwined. Besides, the text has intense links with other Greek-Roman texts. In order to do that, Seneca inserts facts of Claudios life and relates them with unexpected situations in heaven, on earth and in hell, in a fictitious path the Roman princeps carries out in this dissacralization. Senecas text is a reaction due to the exile he had to undergo through the hands of the princeps himself, who the philosopher served in 49 after Christ. Its also a reaction to the whimsy deeds and cruelties done by Claudio, and a way of highlighting Neros image, who took the government after Claudios death. This Masters degree paper comprehends and introduction to the genre menippean satire, translation and notes of Divine Claudios Apocolocintose as well as a critic-analytic comment on which Senecas intentions are examined in the invective against Claudio.

A literatura machadiana apresenta uma dualidade entre a tragicidade e a comicidade que esta dissertação pretende explorar e entender. A apuração de tais aspectos foi dividida em duas partes: a primeira trata da obra machadiana como um todo, sem atentar para qualquer texto em especial; e a segunda aponta, através da análise de três contos, a convivência dessas duas características contrastantes. Como Machado adota uma miscelânea nos gêneros literários, será preciso analisar o teatro e a sátira menipéia dos quais se serviu para a confecção de tais contos, disso decorreu nossa preocupação em avaliá-los / Machado de Assis literature presents a duality between tragic and comic, which this dissertation aims to explore and understand. The investigation of such aspects has been divided in two parts: the first one approaches Machados work as a whole, with no focus on any text in particular; the second part, through the analysis of three short stories, points out the coexistence of those two contrasting characteristics. Since Machado adopts a variety of literary genres, we deem it necessary to analyse both the theater and the menippean satire he has put into use to create such short stories, thus our concern in evaluating them.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation examines the novel Os tambores silenciosos (1977), by Josué Guimarães, and attemps to verify how the elements of the grotesque, the satire and carnivalization are used to construct the characters and the plot with the purpose of a critical representation of two critical historical periods corresponding with each other: the 1930 s and the contemporary construction of the text - the 1970 s. The censorship, the authoritarianism and the political repression are common to both periods. These aspects are dramatized in Os tambores silenciosos, which employs satirical elements and the construction of unusual situations that represent military and their arbitrary attitudes, flattering and weak politicians and violent policemen, denouncing the arbitrariness of a dictatorial regime. This work aims to highlight the grotesque, the carnivalization and the menippean satire, based on the Mikhail Bakhtin s theoretical formulations, in order to understand adequately the relations suggested by the presence of comic and unusual events in the novel under consideration. / Esta dissertação analisa o romance Os tambores Silenciosos (1977) e busca verificar como os elementos do grotesco, da sátira e da carnavalização são utilizados na construção das personagens e do enredo com vistas à representação crítica de dois períodos históricos correspondentes entre si: a década de 1930 e a época contemporânea à construção do texto década de 1970. A censura, o autoritarismo e a repressão política são comuns aos dois períodos. Tais aspectos são tematizados em Os tambores silenciosos, que se vale de elementos satíricos e insólitos na construção de personagens e situações que representam militares e suas atitudes arbitrárias, políticos impotentes e bajuladores e policiais violentos, denunciando a arbitrariedade de um regime ditatorial. Esta dissertação, ao destacar o grotesco, a carnavalização e a sátira menipéia, com base nas formulações teóricas de Mikhail Bakhtin, busca compreender adequadamente as relações sugeridas pela presença do cômico e do insólito na obra de Josué Guimarães.

A literatura machadiana apresenta uma dualidade entre a tragicidade e a comicidade que esta dissertação pretende explorar e entender. A apuração de tais aspectos foi dividida em duas partes: a primeira trata da obra machadiana como um todo, sem atentar para qualquer texto em especial; e a segunda aponta, através da análise de três contos, a convivência dessas duas características contrastantes. Como Machado adota uma miscelânea nos gêneros literários, será preciso analisar o teatro e a sátira menipéia dos quais se serviu para a confecção de tais contos, disso decorreu nossa preocupação em avaliá-los / Machado de Assis literature presents a duality between tragic and comic, which this dissertation aims to explore and understand. The investigation of such aspects has been divided in two parts: the first one approaches Machados work as a whole, with no focus on any text in particular; the second part, through the analysis of three short stories, points out the coexistence of those two contrasting characteristics. Since Machado adopts a variety of literary genres, we deem it necessary to analyse both the theater and the menippean satire he has put into use to create such short stories, thus our concern in evaluating them.