This thesis examines the entirety of Joseph Heller's career as a novelist and explores the various existential themes uniting a seemingly diverse body of work. Considering Heller's relationship to the philosophy of Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, "Towards a Postmodern Absurd: The Fiction of Joseph Heller" suggests that the novelist promotes the same existentially authentic lifestyle of revolt originally articulated by the French existentialists. Refuting the critical assessment of Heller's fiction as formless, this thesis argues that Heller deliberately structures his fiction around the concept of dejd vu in order to buttress the author's existential concerns with the absurdity of human existence. Finally, in response to the recent debates over Joseph Heller's place in the postmodern American canon, the thesis identifies the author's use of such postmodern concepts as pastiche and paranoia as a further reinforcement of the relevance of an absurdist worldview in contemporary America.

This thesis attempts to address different problems pertaining to the concept of subject. These problems might appear remote from one another, but their juxtaposition reveals possible interactions that yield rich avenues of research. The ensuing dialogue provides an interesting portrait of the contemporary subject. / Enunciation theories are the point of departure of this thesis. They contend that the subject constructs itself in and by discourse. A link is then made with certain problems put forward by Charles Taylor who also sets the contemporary subject in discourse, seen as essential material for its construction. The elaboration of a personal morality is the foundation of what he calls the self. / The exploration of these problems draws our attention toward some questions which are tackled in the two last chapters. The first question concerns the mode of construction of the subject. In accordance with our modern episteme, the subject constructs itself as narrative. The second question aims at understanding the role of the Other in the construction of the subject. The contact with the Other and the recognition of this difference are the motors of this construction.

In Soigne ta chute, a novel by Neo-Quebecer writer Flora Balzano, immigration stereotypes are challenged by the irony of the narrator. The critique section of this thesis describes how the irony of a marginalised character can yield an identity statement. This essay studies how Quebec realities are echoed in an ironic manner by the narrator, illustrating her cultural identity within Quebec society yet all the while affirming her complex subjectivity. The observation of the ironic mechanisms will allow for a better understanding of the exploited strategies depicted in the creative writing section of this thesis, the novel Y'a pus d'eau dans piscine . The character portrayed in this novella is unsatisfied with traditional identity categories and makes use of irony and digression to create new identity configurations. Those strategies then allow this character to gain perspective on the consequences of her gender hybridization.

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This thesis is a contribution to the arqument that T. S. Eliot's life, poetry, and thought form a continuous, consistent, and coherent whole. Toward this end, it explores the religious dimensions of Eliot's early readings in philosophy, anthropology, Christian mysticism, and Christian theology.The first chapter discusses Eliot's acquaintance with the work of T. E. Hulme, Irving Babbitt, and Charles Maurras-- showing sources in their political and literary conservatism for Eliot's religious conservatism. The following chapter, concentrating upon the impact of J. G. Frazer's Golden Bough demonstrates the ways in which Eliot used his early anthropological readings to articulate his spiritual concerns. The next chapter explores Henri Bergson's continuing influence upon Eliot--despite the latter's occasionally dismissive attitude toward the former--emphasizing the ways in which Bergsonism catered to Eliot's predisposition towards mysticism. Similarly, chapter four emphasizes the pervasive conceptual influence of F. H. Bradley who, as the subject of Eliot's Harvard dissertation, not surprisingly appears in the language by which Eliot later articulates his religious and poetic beliefs. Chapter five discusses Eliot's readings in mysticism during his final years at Harvard. Evelyn Underhill's Mysticism proves a particularly active and enduring influence. The final chapter explores the impact upon Eliot of his early reading of various Anglican divines--including, among others Lancelot Andrewes, John Donne, and Hugh Latimer.The conclusion reached is that a large part of the pattern in the carpet of Eliot's mature poetry and thought is woven from the religious elements in his early reading. In short, Eliot's end is very much apparent in his beginning.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Melbourne, 1995. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 291-319).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Elaine B. Safer, Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. American Studies Program, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Mar. 31, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-176). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Oct. 21, 2008). An Interdisciplinary Master of Arts thesis in English, Education, and Environment and Natural Resources. Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-154).