Thesis (Ph. D.)--Bryn Mawr college, 1933. / Vita. "Saga texts": p. 101.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1938. / Lithoprinted. "Private edition, distributed by the University of Chicago libraries, Chicago, Illinois." Includes bibliographical references.

Habilitationsschrift-Salzburg. / Bibliography: p. 236-244.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 1, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Otago. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 250-319).

Esta tese apresenta um estudo comparativo entre a trilogia O tempo e o vento, formada pelos romances O continente (1995), O retrato (1995) e O arquipélago (1995), do escritor brasileiro Erico Verissimo; e o romance Yaka (1998), do escritor angolano Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos, conhecido como Pepetela, pelo fato dos dois escritores se utilizarem de estratégias narrativas comuns, tais como a saga familiar, a metaficção, a técnica narrativa do contraponto e a polifonia na escrita de seus romances históricos ou narrativas de fundação. A utilização de recursos narrativos comuns torna semelhantes as estruturas narrativas das duas obras que formam o corpus da pesquisa. Ao final da tese, esperamos comprovar que a obra do escritor brasileiro serviu de modelo para o escritor angolano, que incorporou algumas de suas estratégias narrativas e as adaptou ao contexto da literatura angolana, segundo o conceito de intertextualidade de Julia Kristeva (1974) que concebe a escrita de um texto literário como a leitura do corpus anterior, noção que implica ver o texto como absorção e transformação de um outro texto, de modo que o romancista ao escrever a sua obra sempre parte de um modelo pré-existente, seja para legitimá-lo ou questioná-lo, sem que isto signifique que ele tenha feito uma mera cópia do modelo apropriado. / This thesis presents a comparative study of the trilogy O tempo e o vento,formed by the novels O Continente (1995), O retrato (1995) and O Arquipélago(1995), by the Brazilian writer ÉricoVerissimo, and the novelYaka (1998), by the Angolan writer Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos, known as Pepetela, by the fact of the two writers use common narrative strategies, such as family saga, a metafiction, the counterpoint narrative technique and polyphony in their historical novels writing and founding narratives. The use of narrative resources makessimilar the narrative structures of the two works that compose the corpus of this research. At the end of the thesis, we hope to prove that the work of Brazilian writer served as a model for the Angolan writer, which incorporated some of his narrative strategies and adapted them to the context of the Angolan literature, according to the concept of intertextuality of Julia Kristeva (1974) that conceives writing a literary text as the reading of previous corpus notion that implies seeing the text as absorption and transformation of another text, so that the novelist, at the time he writes his work, always parts of a pre-existing model, in order to legitimize it or question it, without this implying that he has made a mere copy of the appropriate model.

This dissertation considers the literary treatment of revenge in medieval England and Iceland. Vengeance and feud were an essential part of these cultures; far from the reckless, impulsive action that the word conjures up in modern minds, revenge was considered both a right and a duty and was legislated and regulated by social norms. It was an important tool for obtaining justice and protecting property, family, and reputation. Accordingly, many medieval literary works seem to accept revenge without question. Many, however, evince a great sensitivity to the ambiguities and paradoxes inherent in an act of revenge. In my study, I consider three works that are emblematic of this responsiveness to and indeed, anxiety about revenge. Chapter one focuses on the Old English poem Beowulf; chapter two moves on to discuss Chaucer’s Reeve’s Tale and Tale of Melibee from the Canterbury Tales; and chapter three examines the Old Icelandic family saga, Ljósvetninga saga. I focus in particular on the treatment of the avenger in each work. The poet or author of each work acknowledges the perspective of the avenger by allowing him to express his motivations, desires, and justifications for revenge in direct speech. Alongside this acknowledgement, however, is the author’s own reflection on the risks, rewards, and repercussions of the avenger’s intentions and actions. The resulting parallel but divergent narratives highlight the multiplicity of viewpoints found in any act of revenge or feud and reveal a fundamental ambivalence about the value, morality, and necessity of revenge. Each of the works I consider resists easy conclusions about revenge in its own context and remains incredibly current in the way it poses challenging questions about what constitutes injury, punishment, justice, and revenge in our own time.

This dissertation considers the literary treatment of revenge in medieval England and Iceland. Vengeance and feud were an essential part of these cultures; far from the reckless, impulsive action that the word conjures up in modern minds, revenge was considered both a right and a duty and was legislated and regulated by social norms. It was an important tool for obtaining justice and protecting property, family, and reputation. Accordingly, many medieval literary works seem to accept revenge without question. Many, however, evince a great sensitivity to the ambiguities and paradoxes inherent in an act of revenge. In my study, I consider three works that are emblematic of this responsiveness to and indeed, anxiety about revenge. Chapter one focuses on the Old English poem Beowulf; chapter two moves on to discuss Chaucer’s Reeve’s Tale and Tale of Melibee from the Canterbury Tales; and chapter three examines the Old Icelandic family saga, Ljósvetninga saga. I focus in particular on the treatment of the avenger in each work. The poet or author of each work acknowledges the perspective of the avenger by allowing him to express his motivations, desires, and justifications for revenge in direct speech. Alongside this acknowledgement, however, is the author’s own reflection on the risks, rewards, and repercussions of the avenger’s intentions and actions. The resulting parallel but divergent narratives highlight the multiplicity of viewpoints found in any act of revenge or feud and reveal a fundamental ambivalence about the value, morality, and necessity of revenge. Each of the works I consider resists easy conclusions about revenge in its own context and remains incredibly current in the way it poses challenging questions about what constitutes injury, punishment, justice, and revenge in our own time.

Esta tese apresenta um estudo comparativo entre a trilogia O tempo e o vento, formada pelos romances O continente (1995), O retrato (1995) e O arquipélago (1995), do escritor brasileiro Erico Verissimo; e o romance Yaka (1998), do escritor angolano Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos, conhecido como Pepetela, pelo fato dos dois escritores se utilizarem de estratégias narrativas comuns, tais como a saga familiar, a metaficção, a técnica narrativa do contraponto e a polifonia na escrita de seus romances históricos ou narrativas de fundação. A utilização de recursos narrativos comuns torna semelhantes as estruturas narrativas das duas obras que formam o corpus da pesquisa. Ao final da tese, esperamos comprovar que a obra do escritor brasileiro serviu de modelo para o escritor angolano, que incorporou algumas de suas estratégias narrativas e as adaptou ao contexto da literatura angolana, segundo o conceito de intertextualidade de Julia Kristeva (1974) que concebe a escrita de um texto literário como a leitura do corpus anterior, noção que implica ver o texto como absorção e transformação de um outro texto, de modo que o romancista ao escrever a sua obra sempre parte de um modelo pré-existente, seja para legitimá-lo ou questioná-lo, sem que isto signifique que ele tenha feito uma mera cópia do modelo apropriado. / This thesis presents a comparative study of the trilogy O tempo e o vento,formed by the novels O Continente (1995), O retrato (1995) and O Arquipélago(1995), by the Brazilian writer ÉricoVerissimo, and the novelYaka (1998), by the Angolan writer Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos, known as Pepetela, by the fact of the two writers use common narrative strategies, such as family saga, a metafiction, the counterpoint narrative technique and polyphony in their historical novels writing and founding narratives. The use of narrative resources makessimilar the narrative structures of the two works that compose the corpus of this research. At the end of the thesis, we hope to prove that the work of Brazilian writer served as a model for the Angolan writer, which incorporated some of his narrative strategies and adapted them to the context of the Angolan literature, according to the concept of intertextuality of Julia Kristeva (1974) that conceives writing a literary text as the reading of previous corpus notion that implies seeing the text as absorption and transformation of another text, so that the novelist, at the time he writes his work, always parts of a pre-existing model, in order to legitimize it or question it, without this implying that he has made a mere copy of the appropriate model.

This thesis examines the function of commemorative skaldic verse at the Viking-age court. The first chapter demonstrates that the commemoration of past kings could provide a prestigious genealogical record that was used to legitimize both pagan and early Christian rulers. In the ninth and early tenth centuries, poets crafted competing genealogies to assert the primacy of their patrons and of their patrons’ religions. The second chapter looks at the work of tenth-century poets who depict their rulers’ entrances into the afterlife. Such poets interrogate the role public speech and poetic discourse play in the commemoration of the king, especially during the political turmoil that follows his death. A discussion follows of the relationship between poets and their patrons in the tenth and eleventh centuries: although this relationship is often praised as one of mutual trust and reliance, the financial aspects of the relationship were often juxtaposed uneasily with expressions of emotional attachment. The death of the patron caused a crisis in these seemingly contradictory bonds between poet and patron. The final chapter demonstrates the dramatic development in the eleventh century of deeply emotional commemorative verse as poets become adopted into their patrons’ families through such Christian ceremonies as baptism and marriage. In these verses poets express their grief after the death of the king and record the performances of public mourning on the part of the kings’ followers. As the petty warlords of the Viking age adapted to medieval models of Christian kingship, the role of the skald changed too. Formerly serving as a propagandist and retainer in the king’s service, a skald documenting the lives of kings at the end of the Viking age could occupy an almost infinite number of roles, from kinsman and friend to advisor and hagiographer.