This thesis is an exploration of three interrelated modes - the psychological, the religious or mythopoeic, and the metafictional - in the early novels of Russell Hoban. It investigates the relationship between Hoban's religious vision and his literary style, through the lens of his 'fictional philosophy' as it is presented in his essay collection The Moment under the Moment. In Chapter One, Kleinzeit is analysed to illustrate Hoban's portrayal of a contemporary crisis of meaning. It includes an introduction to the pattern of individuation and an exposition of Hoban's unique notion of heroism as embodied in Kleinzeit's journey of self-discovery. Hoban's mythopoeic impulse is elucidated with particular reference to his use of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Finally, in an attempt to demonstrate Hoban's ideas on the relationship between language and reality, various metafictional techniques are examined, especially in relation to the theme of transcendence. In Chapter Two, the individuation theme in The Medusa Frequenry is considered as a work of mourning, portraying Herman Orfrs movement towards reconciliation and creative renewal. Following Paul Ricoeur, the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is seen as a myth of fault, embodying a primal transgression, and a source of the creative arts. The metafictional style is examined, especially the narrative mode, in order to show how Hoban dissolves the everyday world of reality into a fantastic realm of myth. Chapter Three focuses on the individuation pattern as initiation in Riddley Walker, charting the hero's growth into adulthood. Various myths in the text are analysed to show how they portray human development and the nuclear catastrophe as a mythic Fall. The chapter argues that through Riddley's quest Hoban evokes a redemptive and regenerative fertility myth. The unique literary style of the novel, including the characteristics of 'Riddleyspeak' and the complexity of the process of interpretation is studied. In Chapter Four, which deals with Pilgermann, the final phase of individuation - preparation for death - is discussed. Hoban's religious vision is dissected in relation to his mystical impulse as exemplified in the construction of the Hidden Lion pattern. Hoban's notion of God is investigated in relation to the philosophical problem of evil and suffering. Finally, Pilger mann is shown to be Hoban's mOSt experimental literary novel as it activates his recurring meta fictional techniques, investigations into narrative, and the relationship between language and the sacred. This thesis concludes that Hoban's fiction is best understood holistically with both his religious and literary concerns inextricably entwined. Throughout his novels Hoban explores the human condition in modernity affirming the paradoxical, dialectical and mysterious nature of being. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

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Thesis advisor: Dana Sajdi / The British physicians Dr. Alexander Russell M.D., FRS (c.1715 - 1768) and Dr. Patrick Russell M.D., FRS (1726/7 - 1805), both British Levant Company servants, wrote and published two editions in 1756 and 1794, respectively. These brothers resided in Aleppo, Syria, when it was a provincial capital of the Ottoman Empire and recorded their observations and empirical observations in a literary work that would later become the two editions of The Natural History of Aleppo. These editions are vital references for modern scholars concerned with Ottoman Syria, Levantine commercial activity and European presence, and the city of Aleppo. However, these very scholars ignore the significant fact that these two editions were written by two different individuals at two different points in history. Thus, this MA thesis aims to investigate the two editions and illustrate how the variations in these publications were the result of both coexisting and correlated processes that culminated in an eighteenth-century phenomenon of the transformation of British global presence from a commercial power to a modern empire. Various socio-economic, political, and cultural changes related to the Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, and the growth of Western, especially British, global hegemony, resulted in a particular attitude towards what became constructed as the "Orient". This thesis examines the ways in which the interrelated processes of the rise of modern scientific disciplines, the quest for order, the emergence of the culture of collecting, and the new emphasis on the value of "useful knowledge" rendered the "Orient" a place to be ordered and studied, hence, to be controlled. The eighteenth century witnessed several decisive events that facilitated this phenomenon; with Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763), particularly at the Battle of Plassey (1757), Britain deviated from its previous position as a commercial power and emerged victorious as an imperial empire. The project attempts to demonstrate how the Russell Brothers' book on Aleppo represents a movement from the fascination with natural history, that is, the topography and botany of Aleppo (Alexander Russell's edition), to an attempt at a comprehensive study of a people, language, and culture (Patrick Russell's edition). The change in focus and tenor found in Patrick's edition represents a shift from natural history to ethnographic, a shift that is essentially Orientalist. Though the book is about the relatively marginal city of Aleppo, the shift between the two editions reflects not only the change of the character of British global dominance, which was, after the 1857 Indian Mutiny, officially colonial, but also the very national identity of Britain. This thesis, then, is a study of how Aleppo was conceived and reconceived through the prism of the change of British relationship to India from a commercial entanglement to imperial domination. The variations between the two editions, then, were a result of changing circumstances and consequent shifting attitudes. I not only attempt to illustrate Britain's transformation from a mercantile and commercial power to a colonial and imperial empire, but also how the variations of the Russell brothers' two editions, from a collection of observations to a scientific contribution to a body of specialized knowledge, were the direct results of the two authors' transformations from the botanist to the orientalist. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 391-403). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 391-403). Also available on the Internet.

This thesis examines the criticisms written by James Russell Lowell about his contemporaries. In addition, the author tries to record the reasons behind Lowell's opinions, when those reasons can be ascertained.

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Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This thesis examines the relation of various areas of Bertrand Russell's epistemology to his theory of truth. It has been held that the correspondence theory of truth is the key to Russell's epistemological realism. Russell himself defines knowledge in terms of truth, and not truth in terms of knowledge. After an introductory chapter, Russell's Theory of Mind is e xamined in Chapter One. Chapter Two deals with his Theory of Matter. Chapter Three treats his Theory of Language. The fourth and concluding chapter compares Russell's correspondence theory of truth with two alternative theories of truth: the coher ence theory of truth and the pragmatic theory of truth; and summarizes the three basic meanings of correspondence in Russell's theory of truth. Since Russell defines truth as some sort of correspondence between belief and facts, and derivatively in terms of the sentences expressing beliefs, it was felt that a tracing of the development of Russell's Theories of Mind (belief), Matter (facts), and Language (sentences) would best illuminate a study of his theory of truth. Russell's Theory of Mind runs the gamut from a mindmatter dualism, to a neutral monism, to a view of mind as "perspective." The progress of his Theory of Mind involves a move in the theory of belief from an "act" of belief, to a "propositional attitude," to a "feeling." In no case is truth predicated of the subjective factor in belief, but rather of "judgment," "propositions," or "content" of belief, except in the case where what a sentence indicates is a state of mind of the believer. Russell's Theory of Matter has changed in a fashion paralleling his Theory of Mind. Thus, he begins by inferring physical objects from sense-data, and he constructs physical objects from the class of all their appearances, and finally he says that we may infer the structure of physical events on the basis of non-demonstrable principles of inference. The world of facts is in every period considered to be a pluralistic world, and hence relations among facts are external relations. Russell's Theory of Language underwent a similar evolution. In the beginning of his thought on an ideal language, as suggested in Principia, he followed Wittgenstein in holding that logic has an atomic structure which mirrors a world of atomic facts. Later, Russell comes to feel that the "picture" theory of language is inadequate. Finally, he holds that language mirrors the world in that both words and objects are universals. In conclusion, a comparison was made between alternative theories of truth, and the correspondence theory of truth was summarized. The writer of this thesis holds that Russell's correspondence theory of truth is to be preferred over the alternatives presented. / 2031-01-01