In the annals of Soviet historiography, discord and rebellion mark the cultural form of the “Khrushchev Thaw.” Following the U.S.S.R.’s loss of its Great Leader in 1953, a diffusion of political authority met a re-evaluation of established ideology; the dominant discourse of Soviet socialism shifted and, through the subsequent clash of orthodox and liberal forces, imparted a critical aesthetic to 1950s Soviet culture. But while the narrative of dissonance privileged by most historical texts cites the sharpness of post-Stalinist art, poetry, and literature as external evidence of a struggle, little attention has been paid to the internal logic of cultural production. Soviet cultural communication based itself on a mutual mythology that pursued both a dialogue of inclusivity and a sense of accountability. By re-examining how producers of culture managed their responsibilities to the state, to the public, and to their art against the Soviet ideal of the collective and its discourse of comradely persuasion, this thesis pursues the expression of Soviet thought by way of Soviet ideology in the malleable discourse of 1953-1958. / Graduate / 0582 / 0724

With the arrival of the Spaniards in the New World, the way of living of the indigenous population who habited Mesoamerica was blended with the traditions and customs of the European settlers who arrived as conquerors, and the emigrants from Europe that arrivedlater searching for fortune or a better kind of life from the one they had left behind in their land of origin. This encounter of cultures gave rise also to a technical and cultural exchange, and in the case of Mexico, this clash of cultures and techniques is well represented by the printing press, which was established in 1539 with the specific aim of accelerating the evangelisation and education of the Indians. As a consequence of this development, Mexico was turned into a centre of innovation, with the first printing press using movable metal type to be set up outside Europe, and other trades that support printing, such as bookbinding, were also developed. This thesis investigates the influence of the Spanish and other European bookbinding practices on sixteenth-century Mexican limp, laced-case parchment bindings by the analysis of the features of the bindings of Mexican printed books from that period. In addition, by the analysis of the materials and techniques used to bind these books, as well as the specific structural characteristics of the bindings, the patterns of work that could be described as typically Mexican in the sixteenth-century, are also identified. The research is divided into two parts: the first, theoretical, explains the historical context of Mexico during the sixteenth century when the printing press and bookbinding were developed. The second part concerns the archaeological study of the books as artefacts. For this purpose, thirty-nine sixteenth-century Mexican printed books bound in limp, laced caseparchment covers were analysed. The analysis of the features of these bindings, which form the majority of the whole sample, made possible the identification of Mexican patterns of work in the sixteenth century. Given the lack of information and of complete studies of the craft of bookbinding in Mexico in the sixteenth century, this thesis aims to enhance our current knowledge of the historyof bookbinding as well as of the booktrade and the market for books in Mexico.

abstract: In nineteenth-century France, in rural areas, women washed laundry in the nearest streams or in the sea and hung the linens where they could, on lavender bushes, rocks and grass fields, where it had a quaint, if not artistic quality. In villages, laundresses washed linens in fountains, or other water sources, which were often found at or near the center of town. In either case, laundresses operated in public spaces without problem. I argue that, in Paris, changing ideas about the functioning of city space, the management of public hygiene and decisions about the use of public space, made laundresses and laundry operations matter out of place in the city. This study will demonstrate the changes laundering and laundresses underwent during the nineteenth century in Paris, making them out of place. City administrators and public health officials changed the occupation and places where laundry could be done as they sought to render laundry and laundresses invisible within Paris. In the early nineteenth century the Préfet de la Seine forbade women from using the river banks. In the mid-nineteenth century complaints about the disgraceful aspect of women laundering on the river prompted the Préfet to try to eliminate bateaux-lavoirs. In the late nineteenth century the discovery of microbes focused attention on laundry and laundresses and their potential to transmit diseases prompting another wave of hygiene regulations and questions about closing bateaux-lavoirs and lavoirs. The Préfet and Conseil d'Hygiène's struggle to make them invisible by moving them into approved facilities continued until the end of the nineteenth century. Studying laundresses and laundry sheds light on how the shifts in politics, changes in acceptable uses of public space and public hygiene affected working women. It illustrates the manner in which public hygiene- the Conseil de Salubrité and later the Conseil d'Hygiène, functioned and to what degree they could demand changes to the city in the name of hygiene. Through identifying subtle policy shifts, historians may learn how laundry demonstrates policies on the use of urban space, public hygiene or issues about work. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. History 2011

This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive investigation of the reformed British militia between its reconstitution in 1852 and its abolition (and replacement by the Special Reserve) in 1908, addressing one of the major remaining gaps in our understanding of the auxiliary forces of this period. The post-1852 militia has generally been overshadowed by its eighteenth and early nineteenth century predecessor, and of the few major works that do examine the force after its reform, most do so as part of broader studies examining it from the point of view of the regular army, or as an epilogue to a much broader study of the militia of the earlier period, or the wider amateur military tradition as a whole. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to provide the first dedicated study of the reformed British militia in recent years. It will move beyond the limited ‘top-down’ approach characteristic of many works examining the wider Victorian army and instead tap into a more recent methodological trend which utilises a range of national and local archival material to examine the nuances of what remained a locally organised force. It will examine not just the role of the militia and the way in which it was organised, but also study the nature and composition of its officer corps, its rank and file, and will investigate areas which have been hitherto largely ignored such as the way discipline was maintained in what remained an amateur force. It will conclude with an examination of the militia’s unprecedented service during the South African War before going onto examine the process by which the militia was ultimately abolished and replaced by the Special Reserve (and ask whether or not this represented a moment of continuity, or an outright break with the past.) This study rejects the idea that during this period the militia largely became ‘an anachronistic auxiliary’ to the regular army. There can be no doubt that it became increasingly centralised under the control of the War Office and that it also provided a vital role as a source of both officers and men for the regular army. Yet by looking at a mix of both national and local archival material, a more nuanced picture emerges. Several units managed to retain a degree of organisational independence and a social distinctiveness from the wider army. Furthermore, many of the reforms which altered the organisation of the force had important benefits. Compared to the 1850s and 1860s, during which the newly reconstituted force was forced to yield to the exigencies of the regular army, the militia of the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s was arguably better trained, better equipped and quantitatively stronger than during the preceding decades.

This thesis examines the effects of the campaign for disestablishment upon the religious and social life of Monmouthshire in the period 1840-1880. From a position of strength in 1840, nonconformists intensified their efforts to redress their religious and social grievances and to support the programme of the Liberation Society founded in 1844. The main focus of this study is the increasing influence of the Baptists, the strongest Nonconformest denomination in Monmouthshire during this period. The importance of the Baptist College and those involved in its leadership under its principal Dr Thomas Thomas, is analysed through the Dissenters’ campaigns against compulsory Church rate and state-funded education. Thomas’s leadership was paramount, not only in the Baptist College but also through crane street chapel of which he was pastor in a joint appointment for thirty –seven years. His stature was publicly recognised when he was appointed President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1872. He had become leader of the Baptist churches in Monmouthshire by1857 when he was chiefly responsible for setting up the Monmouthshire English Baptist Association at Pontypool. Thomas became noteworthy as a leader not only of Monmouthshire Baptists but also in the religious and social life of the county. His relationships with other religious leaders and his influence upon them are examined. This study seeks to fil a historiographical gap in our understanding of the impact of the campaign for Disestablishment in its early phases upon the religious life of Monmouthshire. It also provides a picture of the two institutions that were essential to the development of the Dissenters’ campaign for religious equality, Pontypool Baptist College and Crane Street Chapel. From the available resources, an analysis is provided.

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This thesis examines how the authors of ephemeral print used the gender framework for political ends during the first Civil War. In particular it considers how both the royalist and parliamentarian pamphleteers constructed and promoted a hegemonic, patriarchal definition of manhood amongst their male supporters in order to encourage them to fight for either king or parliament. It also demonstrates how the pamphleteers of each party drew upon deep-seated cultural allusions and a pre-existing language of insult in order to claim that their enemies were ‘unmanly’ or ‘effeminate’ and therefore unable or unwilling to uphold the patriarchal social order. The thesis shows that the pamphleteers of both sides set out to demonstrate that their own men were exemplars of patriarchal manhood, while simultaneously claiming that the anti-patriarchal behaviour of their opponents had betrayed their unsuitability for a position of authority within the commonwealth. Gendered language was therefore a powerful way to legitimise the claim of one’s own side to patriarchal authority and political power while simultaneously delegitimizing the claim of one’s opponents. The introduction outlines the key questions which the thesis seeks to address and gives my reasons for undertaking this study. Chapter one examines the reluctance of past generations of historians to study the wartime tracts and highlights the importance of the new cultural history, gender studies and the linguistic turn in bringing the gendered language of the wartime tracts to academic attention. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the print culture of the Civil Wars. In particular, the pioneering work of David Underdown has led other historians to explore how the wartime pamphleteers made use of cultural references in order to communicate political ideas. Chapter one situates my thesis within these recent developments in scholarship. Chapter two considers the main gendered themes of the parliamentarian tracts during the first Civil War. It explores how and why manhood was constructed and how gendered insult was utilised by the pamphleteers. Chapter three focuses on how three principal royalist personalities were represented in parliamentarian tracts, namely Charles I, Queen Henrietta Maria and Prince Rupert. Chapter four considers the broader gendered themes within the royalist literature of the period and tests the assertions of previous historians that royalist propaganda was frequently elitist and self-defeating. Chapter five explores the royalists’ treatment of three key parliamentarian figures: Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, Sir William Waller and Lady Ann Waller. It explores the careful treatment that Essex initially received from the royalist polemicists and contrasts this with the increasingly barbed attacks that were made against Waller, particularly by commenting upon the actions of his wife, Ann. The conclusion summarises the key arguments of the thesis and relates my findings to other broader questions regarding the operation and contestation of patriarchal power during the conflict, the practice of printing and how the use of gendered language developed in the polemical works of the later 1640s. The thesis ends with a brief discussion of some areas in which further research might enable us to better understand the vital role that gender played in reinforcing authority during the turbulent 1640s.

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This thesis is a study of radical manhood during the English Revolution. It examines different forms of radicalism, including that of soldiers, Levellers, Diggers, Quakers, and Ranters. By examining a plurality of radical sectaries, it acknowledges that, just as there was no one way to be a man in the seventeenth-century, there was no one way to be a radical man. Studying a variety of groups has the added benefit of allowing the thesis to explore radicalism across the period, including the Army Revolt of 1647-49 and Leveller activism in the mid-1640s, through to the spread of the Quaker Movement during the Interregnum. This enables the study of different types of radicalism; from the more formalist radicals who had a defined programme for change, such as the Levellers and the Diggers, to the more individualistic, ecstatic ministries of the Ranters and the Quakers. The thesis makes the case that all of the radical manhoods under discussion are varying forms of alternative manhood, which existed outside of, or in tension with, patriarchal manhood. These manhoods are designated alternative manhoods because they either did not relate to, or had a complicated relationship with, the household. Typical studies of manhood during the early modern period have focused on household patriarchy as the centre of male power and male identity formation; conversely, this thesis discusses alternative manhoods that were not centred on the household. The thesis’s central argument is that independence was a defining feature of manly identities. It has already been demonstrated by historians of manhood that economic independence was an important feature of early modern patriarchal manhood. This thesis argues that, in cases where economic independence was unattainable, independence remained a desirable state. Independence did not have to be economic independence, it could imply agency over actions, or the absence of a relationship of dependence on clerical authorities. Further, the focus on independence allows the thesis to study manhood in areas outside the household, such as politics, the army, and the church. Overall, discussing manhood from the perspective of independence makes it possible to discuss alternative ways that men could achieve full manhood that were unrelated to domestic patriarchy.