Inaug.-diss.--Greifswald. / Lebenslauf. At head of title: Deutsche philologie. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. 141-146.

No description available.

The vast body of Milton scholarship is rich in studies of Samson Agonistes. Almost every imaginable facet of the work has received careful consideration: its biographical significance, its historical backgrounds, its link to Greek tragedy, its Hebraic source and inspiration, its structure, language, and verse forms, Throughout the critical examinations of the play, references are frequent to Aristotle's Poetics, particularlyto Milton's interpretation of the Aristotelian katharsis and to the quantitative parts of tragedy as applied to Samson Agonistes. The emphasis has been upon Milton's indebtedness to Greek tragedy, however, rather than upon his debt to the Poetics. This paper is concerned, therefore, in bringing together what has been said on the subject of Milton's debt to Aristotle, and in applying directly to Samson Agonistes Aristotle's "antient rule" as set forth in the Poetics.

A shift in gaze has occurred in the study of the early modern period, one which has begun to examine the Western world in a more global and comprehensive context. This shift has been extensively written upon with regards to a historical consideration by researchers like Nabil Matar, Jeremy Brotton, Gerald MacLean, and others. This “re-orientation”, as MacLean calls it, has extended itself into the realm of literature studies, though Shakespeare and his works have been the focus of much of the scholarship circulating today. While the Bard has much to tell us, in the spirit of this expansion my thesis will focus on the work of another early modernist: poet, activist, and scholar John Milton. Utilizing both the knowledge provided by historicist scholars for contextualization and the critical apparatus of scholars like Gil Anidjar and Daniel Vitkus as a framework, my thesis will work to examine the possibility of the Islamic holy text, the Qur’an, as an influence for Milton. Focusing on the text of Samson Agonistes as a site for this influence and interaction, it will be my intention to deconstruct specific passages from Milton’s text and verses from the Qur’an in order to expose a thematic and dialectic connection between these two seemingly incongruous corpi. I will accomplish this through a careful deconstruction of elements of monotheistic religious violence and political theology as well as an examination of the inclusion or exclusion of certain events, people, or themes in Milton’s text which deviate from their Judeo-Christian origins. Finally, I will discuss the early modern Christians’ historical fear of Islamic conversion and conquer alongside an examination of Samson’s destruction of the Philistine temple in the context of political theology, in an attempt at elucidating the link between this historical fear of “turning Turk” and the supposed justification for violence against an ideological other that drives Samson towards his violent and self-conclusive act. Through this research I intend to broaden the scope of Miltonic and early modern literature studies in the hopes of creating a more global and considerate understanding of Milton’s texts.

L'expérience mystique n'est pas étrangère à la notion de plaisir spirituel. Mais quels sont lesmodes d'expression littéraire de ce plaisir à travers la diversité des écoles et des traditionsmystiques? On se propose, dans ce travail, d'interroger deux moments particulièrement richeset intenses dans l'histoire de la mystique universelle : la poésie mystique persane du XIIIesiècle, et la littérature spirituelle française du premier XVIIe siècle. Le corpus comprend unouvrage majeur de la poésie mystique persan, lu dans la langue originelle : le Dîvân de Djalalod-dîn Rûmî et une oeuvre emblématique de la mystique française: l'Épithalame de Jean deSaint-Samson. Bien qu'appartenant à des époques et à des sphères culturelles profondémentdifférentes, ces textes présentent des caractéristiques communes qu'il s'agira d'analyser, tantsur le plan de l'écriture que sur celui de la spiritualité. L’imaginaire du corps, en particulier,comme aussi le symbolisme métaphorique feront l'objet d'une enquête spécifique. Cette étudecomparative permettra d'élucider les courants souterrains d'un langage mystique qui s'inscritcertes dans telle ou telle tradition spirituelle, mais qui ignore, paradoxalement, les frontièresusuelles de l'orthodoxie confessionnelle. / The mystical experience is not foreign to the concept of spiritual pleasure. But what are themodes of the literary expression of pleasure amongst the diverse schools and mysticaltraditions? In this work, we examine two specific rich, and intense periods in the history ofuniversal mysticism: Persian mystical poetry of the thirteenth century and French spiritualliterature of the first half of the seventeenth century. The corpus includes a major work ofPersian mystical poetry, read in its original language, Divan of Jalal ad-Din Rumi and theemblematic work of the French mystic Jean de Saint-Samson, Epithalame. Although theybelong to profoundly different times and cultural enviroments, these texts have commonspiritual and literary characteristics. We will analyze these similarities, with particular focuson the fantasy of the body as metaphorical symbolism. This comparative study will elucidatethe undercurrents of a mystical language which exposes a unique spiritual tradition, butignores, paradoxically, the usual boundaries of religious orthodoxy.

“‘King Hereafter’” posits Shakespearean theater as a gateway between Reformation England’s suppressed desire to rid itself of monarchy and that desire’s expression in the 1649 execution of King Charles I. Specifically, I argue that Macbeth darkly manifests a latent Protestant fantasy in which the kings of the earth are toppled in a millenarian coup. Revolution- and Restoration-era writers John Milton and William Davenant attempt to liberate or further repress Macbeth’s apocalyptic republicanism when they invoke the play for their respective causes. Shakespeare’s text resists appropriation, however, pointing up the blind spots in whatever form of sovereignty it is enlisted to support. I first analyze Macbeth (1606) in its original historical context to show how it offers an immanent critique of James I’s prophetic persona. Macbeth’s tragic foreknowledge of his own supersession by Banquo’s heirs mirrors James’s paradoxical effort to ground his kingship on apocalyptic promises of the demise of earthly sovereignty. Shakespeare’s regicidal fantasy would be largely repressed into the English political unconscious during the pre-war years, until John Milton drew out the play’s antimonarchical subtext in The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649). Yet the specter of an undead King Charles, I argue in chapter two, haunts Milton just as Banquo’s ghost vexes Macbeth because Milton’s populist theory of legitimate rule continues to define sovereignty as the right to arbitrary violence. In chapter three, I show how Sir William Davenant’s Restoration revision of Macbeth (c.1664) reclaims the play for the Stuart regime by dramatizing Hobbes’s critique of prophetic enthusiasm. In enlarging upon Macduff’s insurgency against the tyrant Macbeth, however, Davenant merely displaces the rebellious potential of the rogue prophet onto the deciding sovereign citizen. Finally, my fourth chapter argues for Milton’s late-career embrace of Shakespearean equivocation as a tool of liberty in Samson Agonistes (1671). Samson’s death “self-killed” and “immixed” among his foes in a scene of apocalyptic destruction challenges the Hobbesian emphasis on self-preservation and the hierarchical structures on which sovereignty itself depends for coherence. Milton’s mature eschatological vision of the end of sovereignty coincides with his artistic acceptance of the semantic and generic ambiguities of Shakespearean drama. / text

Foreword This paper will be of value in answering continuing questions regarding John Milton's position on war and peace. The questions continue and are valid because Milton's works, as considered in the paper, offer support for both pro-war and pro-peace interpretations. The paper also addresses a middle-ground interpretation-that Milton's position can best be understood in light of the legal theories of Hugo Grotius, the seventeenth-century Dutch scholar who is generally accepted as the father of modern international law. The works considered include, among others, the Nativity Ode, the sonnets, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes (including post 9/11 controversy involving its alleged endorsement of terrorism), Christian Doctrine, and Milton's infrequently cited History of Britain. No ultimate answers are suggested except that more than three hundred years of Milton scholarship have left little unexplored regarding Milton's views on war and peace. Milton will always be known for his admiration of soldiers, particularly his employer, Oliver Cromwell, and for his military imagery, particularly in Paradise Lost. He will also be known as a man who lived in a time of constant warfare, and yet who valued and sought individual inner peace.

<p>This study identifies and elaborates on a theme in the Hebrew Bible (HB) that has largely gone unnoticed by scholars: the transition of a male adolescent from boyhood to manhood. Beyond identifying the coming-of-age theme in different HB texts, the project also describes how the theme is employed by biblical narrators and redactors to highlight broader messages and transitions in the historical narratives of the HB. It also considers how these stories provide insight into the varying representations of biblical masculinity.</p><p> The project begins by showing how the recent discussions on masculinity in the HB and biblical rites of passage are incomplete without an analysis of how a boy becomes a man in the biblical text. It then establishes important principles for recognizing the maturation theme in a given narrative. More foundational work is done in chapter 2, which describes the characteristic features of manhood and boyhood as depicted in the HB to facilitate the identification of narratives where a transition is made from boyhood to manhood. </p><p> The next two chapters identify five case studies of coming-of-age: David in 1 Sam 17; Solomon in 1 Kgs 1-2; an alternative tale of Solomon's maturation in 1 Kgs 3; Moses in Exod 2; and Samuel in 1 Sam 3. Chapter 5 discusses the converse of the coming-of-age theme by presenting stories of boys who fail to mature: Jether in Judg 8, and Samson in Judg 13-16. In each case study, the narrator's techniques for highlighting the maturation theme are identified. The ways that the narrator employs the theme to point to other significant plot points or narrative transitions are also identified. Most notably, the failure-to-mature theme in the Samson narratives typifies Israel's political immaturity in Judges, and the two alternative tales of Solomon's maturation highlight an important transition in the Deuteronomistic History from the uncertain and often bloody years of the monarchy's establishment to the peaceful, prosperous reign of Solomon. </p><p> The seven case studies are also examined for the image of masculinity that they present, and that presentation is compared to the general view of manhood in the HB. Five of the seven offer quite similar images of masculinity; and these also cohere to the general picture of biblical manhood. However, two narratives (Samuel's maturation in 1 Sam 3 and Solomon's in 1 Kgs 3) depart from this conception of masculinity, each in the same way: both depict a masculinity free of violence and the need for the constant, forceful defense of manhood and honor. Since these two texts have often been ascribed to the same author, the Deuteronomistic Historian, the study suggests that he may be offering a new view of masculinity more suited to his historical context. </p><p> The project ultimately proves that the theme of male coming-of-age, heretofore virtually unrecognized, is found in several biblical texts. Moreover, this theme is often used to indicate other important messages and transitions in Israel's historical narrative and can provide unique insight into biblical constructions of masculinity.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (MA(Ancient Languages and Cultures))--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81).

This research was encouraged by the need for Christian religious-ethical principles for counselling of HIV/Aids patients and their families within a multi-religious environment. During his lifetime the researcher was a member of Professional Family Care, a multi-religious and multi-disciplinary organization assisting HIV/Aids patients in Middelburg, Mpumalanga. The aim of the study is to highlight the sexual ethos of people from a Christian ethical perspective by means of the example of the character Samson in the book of Judges (Jd 13-16), in order to derive sexual-ethical principles for counselling. The hypothesis is that an ethical relationship exists between the rebelliousness in Samson’s life, and his sexual conduct. A similar relationship can be identified in our current society as a result of the negligence of healthy religious-ethical norms. A socio-rhetorical approach has been applied to explore various textures found in the Samson saga. After a discussion of Old Testament ethics as a subject, emphasis was laid on analysing the intra-textual, ideological, social and cultural, and holiness structures of the Samson saga. HIV/Aids as a social problem is discussed, primarily by means of relevant statistics. Professional Family Care implements an eco-systemic model, viz. an integrated approach involving medical professions, social workers, and religious leaders from all the religions involved. The principles of this approach are explained. After the religious-ethical perspectives of various religions have been highlighted, final conclusions are drawn. The ethical conduct of individuals normally mirrors the dominant ideological framework of the society in which they live. The sexual-ethical conduct of Samson, within its context, and the ethical principles, which can be deduced from that for the current context of Middelburg, Mpumalanga, clearly indicate that a relationship exists between the violation of sexual-ethical norms of the society as well as the consequences thereof for individuals and the broader community. In the light thereof both the positive and negative conduct of Samson have been implemented to formulate basic principles for counselling. / Prof. Johan Coetzee