ix, 182 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / My dissertation analyzes the overlooked short works of authors and auteurs who do not fit comfortably into the conventional category of modernism due to their subtly experimental aesthetics: the versatile British author Vita Sackville-West, the Anglo-Irish novelist and short-story writer Elizabeth Bowen, and the British emigrant filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. I focus on the years 1920-1923 to gain an alternative understanding of modernism's annus mirabulus and the years immediately preceding and following it. My first chapter studies the most critically disregarded author of the project: Sackville-West. Her 1922 volume of short stories The Heir: A Love Story deserves attention for its examination of social hierarchies. Although her stories ridicule characters regardless of their class background, those who attempt to change their class status, especially when not sanctioned by heredity, are treated with the greatest contempt. The volume, with the reinforcement of the contracted short form, advocates staying within given class boundaries. The second chapter analyzes social structures in Bowen's first book of short stories, Encounters (1922). Like Sackville-West, Bowen's use of the short form complements her interest in how class hierarchies can confine characters. Bowen's portraits of classed encounters and of characters' encounters with class reveal a sense of anxiety over being confined by social status and a sense of displacement over breaking out of class groups, exposing how class divisions accentuate feelings of alienation and instability. The last chapter examines Chaplin's final short films: "The Idle Class" (1921), "Pay Day (1922), and "The Pilgrim" (1923). While placing Chaplin among the modernists complicates the canon in a positive way, it also reduces the complexity of this man and his art. Chaplin is neither a pyrotechnic modernist nor a traditional sentimentalist. Additionally, Chaplin's shorts are neither socially liberal nor conservative. Rather, Chaplin's short films flirt with experimental techniques and progressive class politics, presenting multiple perspectives on the thematic of social hierarchies. But, in the end, his films reinforce rather than overthrow traditional artistic forms and hierarchical ideas. Studying these artists elucidates how the contracted space of the short form produces the perfect room to present a nuanced portrayal of class. / Committee in charge: Paul Peppis, Chairperson, English; Michael Aronson, Member, English; Mark Quigley, Member, English; Jenifer Presto, Outside Member, Comparative Literature

This thesis examines the relationships between different nations and cultures in Ivanhoe, The Talisman, Quentin Durward, Anne of Geierstein and Count Robert of Paris using Post-colonial theory. An analysis of Scott’s conception of society in general shows that 18th century Scottish historiography is fundamental to his vision of the world because it forms the basis of his systematization of history, social development and interaction between communities. It also profoundly influences his imagery and descriptions, as well as providing him with a range of stereotypes that he manipulates so skilfully that his great dependence upon them is occulted. Contemporary ideas and his own attitude to the Union of Scotland and England lead him to conceive of nation formation in terms of descent and hybridity. In part, he sees the nation as a community of blood. Yet, his acceptance of the Union means that he also considers it to be a body of different ethnic elements that live together. His use of the 18th century metaphor of family to figure the nation allows him to incorporate heredity and miscegenation into his analysis of national development through father-daughter couples. The father represents traditional culture, and the daughter, the nation’s present and future; her marriage to a foreigner signifying that people of differing descent can cross the nation’s porous borders. Religion is the final frontier: Christian nations cannot absorb non-Christians. Scott sees dominance and subordination as a complex part of human relationships. Apparently-subordinate subjects possess occulted power because their support of the hegemonic is often essential if the latter is to maintain its superiority. While his conception of society in patriarchal terms means that his female characters cannot offer violence to men, he shows that passive resistance is very effective. Through mimicry, the subordinate threatens the power and identity of the dominant. Power is not only conceived of in political terms. In Ivanhoe, Scott reveals the importance of moral stature which allows Rebecca to dominate the work although she is at the bottom of the political and racial hierarchy that structures English society. Scott’s conception of time is fundamental to the manner in which he conceives of the nation. Historical cultural forms are physicalised through chronotopes. Politically subordinate cultures base their actions in the present on pedagogic time, while the dominant ignore their past and live only in the present and the future. He also expresses dominant-subordinate relationships through speed, with time moving quickly for the powerful and slowly for the weak. Time, whether in the form of history, the characters’ perception of it or speed amalgamates all the various elements of Scott’s conception of nationhood into a seamless whole.<p><p>Cette thèse analyse par le biais la théorie post-coloniale les relations internationales dans Ivanhoe, Quentin Durward, Anne of Geierstein et Count Robert of Paris. Les théories historiques élaborées en Écosse au XVIIIème siècle sont fondamentales dans la vision scottienne parce qu’elles forment la base de la systematisation de l’histoire, du développement sociale et, par conséquent, des relations entre les différentes communités. Ces théories influencent profondement les images qu’il utilise et la façon dont il décrit les caractères et les scènes. De plus, elles lui fournissent une gamme de stéréotypes qu’il manipule très adroitement. Sa conception de la manière dont se forment les nations vient des idées contemporaines et de sa propre expérience de l’union politique de l’Angleterre et de l’Écosse. Il considère la nation comme une communauté fondée sur l’ascendance par le sang mais aussi comme un groupe d’ethnies différentes qui vivent ensemble. Sa description de la nation emprunte à la métaphore de la famille courante au XVIIIième. Celle-ci lui permet d’inclure dans son analyse l’héridité et la mixité au moyen des couples formés par un père et sa fille. Le père représente la culture traditionelle, et la fille, le présent et le futur national. Son marriage avec un étranger signifie que les gens d’ascendance différente peuvent traverser les frontières perméables d’une nation. La religion est la frontière ultime: les nations chrétiennes ne peuvent absorber de non-chrétiens. Scott considère que la domination et la sujetion forment une partie complexe des relations humaines. Les sujets qui paraissent subordonnés possèdent en fait un pouvoir occulte, le dominant ayant besoin de leur soutien pour maintenir sa position. Bien que sa conception patriarcale de la société fasse que les caractères feminins ne manifestent pas d’agression envers les hommes, il montre que la résistance passive est très efficace. En imitant le sujet dominant, le sujet subordonné menace le pouvoir et l’identité de ce dernier. Le pouvoir ne s’exprime pas seulement dans la politique. Rebecca dans Ivanhoe revèle l’importance que revêtent le caractère et la moralité. Bien qu’elle soit au bas de la hiérarchie structurante de la société anglaise, elle domine le roman. <p>La conception que Scott se fait du temps est fondamentale à celle de la nation et de la culture. Au moyen du chronotope, les cultures historiques prennent des formes physiques. Les cultures qui sont subordonnées politiquement basent leur action au présent sur le “temps pédagogique”. Au contraire, le dominant rejette son passé et ne vit qu’au présent et au futur. Les relations entre le pouvoir dominant et le subordonné s’expriment aussi par la vitesse: le temps passe vite pour les puissants, mais lentement pour les faibles. En définitive, tous les éléments de la conception scottienne de la nation sont liés au temps, qu’il s’agisse de l’histoire, de perception par les caractères, ou de la vitesse.<p> / Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation langue et littérature / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished