The concept of honor has developed over several centuries on the island nation of Japan. Due to this institutionalized growth, honor is something to be explored for how it has shaped and how it continues to mold contemporary Japanese culture. One way to examine Japanese honor is through the primary lens of Young Adult literature. By examining representations of Japanese honor in Young Adult literature, readers can learn how honor developed Japanese culture. Furthermore, readers can discern what aspects of honor in Japanese culture should be scrutinized. Through this scrutiny, readers will be able to discover how honor may be applied to contemporary society. The following texts will be explored in this thesis: Pamela S. Turner’s novel, Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune (2016), Shigeru Mizuki’s manga, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (1991), the joint novels of So Far From the Bamboo Grove (1986) by Yoko Kawashima Watkins, and Year of Impossible Goodbyes (1991) by Sook Nyul Choi, and finally the memoir Farewell to Manzanar (1973) by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Each of these books provides a key narrative view of honor in its relation to people at various points of Japanese culture. The conclusion of this thesis will argue that the developments discovered about Japanese honor can be learned from and applied to modern society outside of Japan.

An analysis of Pushkin's novel Evgenii Onegin with the aim of showing that although superficially influenced by the romantic school, Pushkin may be considered the author of the first great example of realism in the field of the Russian novel. Contains a preface and five chapters. Chapter I discusses the terms realism and romanticism; Chapter II outlines the content of the novel as published by Pushkin; Chapter III discusses the chapters sketched by Pushkin but never published; in Chapter IV an attempt is made to separate the realistic from the romantic elements in the novel; Chapter V provides a summary of the most important findings. / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>A study of Zola's treatment of the figure of the curé in the <i>Rougon-Macquart</i>, including an examination of his socio-political role during the Second Empire, his physical characterization, his psychological make-up, and his language.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)

This thesis is a study of Sedaine's Le Philosophe sens lw savoir by a critical analysis of the plot and characters, preceded by a short biography of the author. It gives a history of the ploy and through an examination of sedaine's dramatic style seeks to establish the individual merit of the play as well as its place in the movement of the 'drame' which it represents. / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>From 1770 until his death in 1778, Voltaire led a most vociferous campaign against the remnants of feudalism in France. The emphasis of his campaign was placed on the institution of serfdom, a system of seigniorial rights which entitled a lord to specific services and fees from his vassals. Voltaire's interest in serfdom was sparked by the fact that there existed some twelve thousand peasants living as serfs due to rights existing since the middle ages, at Saint-Claude, only a few miles from his estate of Ferney near the Swiss border. Voltaire's concern for these serfs was augmented further by the knowledge that the lords of Saint-Claude were in fact a group of twenty Benedictine monks.</p> <p>The aim of this dissertation is to examine Voltaire's campaign, not only for the emancipation of the serfs or Saint-Claude, but for the abolition of feudalism<br />throughout France and for the establishment of a uniform code of law. This subject has never been fully investigated, and consequently, in light of the approach of the bicentennial anniversary of Voltaire's death, a study of the campaign for the serfs of the Jura mountains does seem appropriate.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>A study of the place of Boris Pilnyak in Soviet Literature faces several practical difficulties; biographical data are scanty, critical material is very scarce, and some of his works are unavailable or difficult to obtain. Until greater latitude is allowed to Soviet scholars and until the author's works are more readily available, non-Soviet scholarship can only render preliminary judgments upon Pilnyak and his works. There is always the possibility that a substantial amount of "desk-drawer literature" by the author will be published at a later date.</p> <p>The scope of this study is general, the basis of more detailed investigations in the future; Pilnyak is viewecl in the context of the 1920's and 1930's, the period in which he wrote the great majority of his novels and stories. Pilnyak is not only an interesting author, but also worthy of attention as a central figure in the struggle for power between various literary groups or camps.</p> <p>The first part of this thesis deals with Pilnyak the author -- his concern with the Revolution, his themes, and his characters. The second half of the thesis deals with Pilnyak the literary politician-- his role in the Union of Writers and his difficulties with the Soviet literary and political establishments.</p> <p>I hope to attain two goals as a result of this study: 1) to shed some light upon Boris Pilnyak as an author and personality; 2) to delineate the fratricidal struggle in the literary arena of the late twenties through the case of Boris Pilnyak.</p> <p>I have used the transliteration of the name "Pilnyak" which is most common in English; the correct form is "Pil'njak."</p> <p>All quotes from Pilnyak's works are in Russian, with the exception of those quotation which are llvailahle only in English.</p> <p>I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Louis J. Shein, Chairmnn of the De-partment of Russian, McMaster University, and to Dr. C. ,J. G. Turner, for their advice and assistance.</p> <p>I also wish to thank McMaster University for granting financial assistance in the form of a Graduate Teaching Fellowship.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>A brief analysis of the element of nature in a selection of Chekhov's short stories.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>An analysis of the nature of the hero in Fedin's early stories and in his seven novels. Contains a preface and four chapters. Chapter I sketches Fedin's life and outlines his early stories: Anna Timofevna, A Tale of One morning, The Chief Gunner, The Orchard. Chapter II deals with the novels: Cities and Years, The Brothers, The Rape of Europe, Arctur Sanatorium, and with a story Transvaal. Chapter II analyses the trilogy: The Early Joys, An Extraordinary Summer, Conflagration. Chapter IV summerizes some of the findings.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>An analysis of the dialectic of freedom in three of Dostoevsky's major novels.</p> <p>The thesis contains a preface and five chapters. Chapter I attempts to define the several types of freedom, its dimensions and problems. Chapter II discusses the novel "Crime and Punishment" (1866) with particular reference to the possibility of total freedom. Chapter III deals with "The Devils", sometimes translated as "The Possessed" (1871), and Stavrogin's confrontation with the 'abyss beneath'. Chapter IV is concerned with Dostoevsky's last novel "The Brothers Karama zov" (1880), in which Father Zosima reveals the 'abyss above'. Chapter V is a summing-up and critique of Dostoevsky's ethic of freedom.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)