The classically idyllic, carefree world of childhood would appear to be diametrically opposed to the horrors of war and world-wide conflict. However, throughout film history, filmmakers have continually turned to the figure of the child as a prism through which to examine the devastation caused by war. This thesis will investigate the representation of childhood experience of the Second World War across six fiction films: Roberto Rossellini’s Paisan (1946) and Germany Year Zero (1947), René Clément’s Forbidden Games (1952), Andrei Tarkovsky’s Ivan’s Childhood (1962), Jan Nemec’s Diamonds of the Night (1964) and Elem Klimov’s Come and See (1985). Spanning forty years, I will examine how these films, whilst sharing many thematic and formal concerns, are unquestionably diverse. They are products of specific socio-cultural milieux, but are also important works in the evolution of cinematic style in art cinema. The films can be aligned to various trends such as neorealism (Paisan, Germany Year Zero), Modernism (Ivan’s Childhood, Diamonds of the Night) and Neo-expressionism (Come and See). Structured in four parts – on witness, landscape, loss and play – I will suggest that just filmmakers utilise childhood experience – often fragmented and chaotic in terms of temporality - to reflect the chaos of war. The first part of my study focuses on the child as witness, the child as Deleuzian seer. I draw on the writings of Gilles Deleuze as well as post-Deleuzian interventions of Tyrus Miller and Jaimey Fisher to argue that whilst Deleuze’s characterization of the child figure as passive is somewhat problematic when applied to the neorealist works, it can, however, be more rigorously applied to Come and See, a film in which, I suggest, the child embodies a much purer form of the Deleuzian seer. In the second part of my study, drawing on the work of Martin Lefebvre and Sandro Bernardi amongst others, I discuss the representation of landscape and its relation to the figure of the child. The third part will examine the representation of loss as well as the symbolic quality of water and its links to the maternal with reference to psychoanalytic theory and the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore. The fourth and final part also draws on psychoanalysis in examining the role of play in the six films with particular reference to the work of D.W Winnicott and Lenore Terr. My study seeks to contribute to the comparatively under-explored subject of the child in film through close analysis of film aesthetics including mise-en-scène, editing, and film sound.

In the wake of the First World War, reformers across the Western world questioned laissez-faire liberalism, the self-oriented and market-driven ruling doctrine of the nineteenth century. This philosophy was blamed, variously, for the war, for industrialisation and for urbanisation; for a way of life shorn of any meaning beyond getting and keeping; for the too great faith in materialism and in science; and for the loss of a higher, transcendent meaning that gave a unifying altruistic or spiritual purpose to individual existence and to society as a whole. For many, the cure to these ills lay in reforming the liberal social framework in ways that made it more fulfilling to the whole person and that strengthened ties between individuals. Dartington Hall was an outstanding practical example of this impulse to promote holistic, integrated living. It was a well-financed, internationally-minded social and cultural experiment set up on an estate in South Devon in 1925 by American heiress Dorothy Elmhirst (née Whitney) and her second husband, Leonard, son of a Yorkshire squire-parson. The Elmhirsts' project for redressing the effects of laissez-faire liberalism had two components. Instead of being treated as atomised individuals in the capitalist market, participants at Dartington were to achieve full self-realisation through a 'life in its completeness' that incorporated the arts, education and spirituality. In addition, through their active participation in running the community, they were to demonstrate how integrated democracy could bring about the perfection of individuals and the progress of society as a whole. The Elmhirsts hoped that Dartington would provide a globally applicable model for a better way of life. This thesis is a close study of Dartington's interlinked constellation of experiments in education, the arts, agriculture and social organisation - experiments that can only be understood by tracing them back to their shared roots in the idea of 'life in its completeness'. At the same time, it explores how Dartington's philosophy and trajectory illuminate the wider reform landscape. The Elmhirsts' community echoed and cross-pollinated with other schemes for social improvement in Britain, Europe, America and India, as well as feeding into the broad social democratic project in Britain. Dartington's evolution from an independent, elite-led reform project to one split between state-led and communitarian reform matched the trajectory of other such enterprises begun in interwar Britain, making it a bellwether of changes in reformist thinking across the century.

Notre thèse a pour objectif de comprendre comment se sont effectuées l’appropriation et l’utilisation du gandhisme par des nationalistes modernistes dans le contexte colonial vietnamien entre 1919 et 1948. Plus précisément, cette étude examine quelles idées les nationalistes ont retenues du gandhisme et dans quels contextes elles furent discutées. Qu'elles furent les idées et les méthodes du gandhisme qu’ils ont privilégié. Comment ces idées et ces méthodes furent-elles appropriées? Comment les éléments retenus furent-ils ensuite diffusés et utilisés par ces nationalistes? Comment les enseignements du gandhisme inspirèrent-ils les solutions proposées par les modernistes? Nous arguons que, validés par la force et la puissance du mouvement nationaliste indien, les concepts et méthodes politiques proposées par le gandhisme devinrent, pour ces colonisés, des outils pouvant les aider à réformer leur propre société pour qu’elle retrouve son autonomie politique. Notre travail est divisé en deux sections. La première section qui comporte le chapitre 1 est une présentation du contexte matériel et humain dans lequel les textes ont été écrits et lus. Le but est de nous aider à mieux comprendre les éléments qui influencèrent l'appropriation du gandhisme au Việt Nam. Le chapitre analyse le monde de l’imprimé au Việt Nam, ses aspects matériels (technologiques) et économiques de même que les aspects humains comme les producteurs et les consommateurs d’information. Le chapitre 1 discute également de l’environnement politique du monde de l’information; les conditions dans lesquelles les journalistes et les écrivains vietnamiens travaillèrent comme les différentes lois régissant la publication de livres, revues ou journaux et les différentes formes de censures étatiques. Pour finir, le chapitre décortique différentes réceptions du gandhisme à l'étranger et dans la diaspora indienne ayant influencé l'appropriation du gandhisme au Việt Nam. La seconde section de notre travail porte sur les représentations du gandhisme par les Vietnamiens entre 1919 et 1948. Nous présentons dans quatre chapitres les différents thèmes abordés dans les textes portant sur le gandhisme. Ces quatre chapitres discutent de différentes formes de nationalismes inspirées par le gandhisme et proposées pour aider les Vietnamiens à retrouver leur autonomie politique. Le chapitre deux discute du nationalisme culturel pour lequel les réformes allaient régénérer la société vietnamienne par l’éducation et rendre la société vietnamienne apte à diriger sa destinée. Le chapitre trois continue la discussion sur le nationalisme culturel de ces modernistes en démontrant comment les débats entourant le pan-asianisme et l'universalisme humaniste défendu par Rabindranath Tagore purent leur représenter une affirmation identitaire et une légitimité morale. Le chapitre quatre se penche sur le nationalisme économique chez qui le gandhisme fut un exemple d’affirmation nationale basée sur le développement de leviers économiques et le contrôle sur les ressources. Le chapitre cinq discute de la représentation du gandhisme principalement sous un angle politique en présentant les débats sur la violence entourant les satyagrahas gandhiens comme un miroir tendu au Français et proposer des solutions pour éviter les mêmes problèmes au Việt Nam. À travers ses différentes solutions culturelles, économiques et politiques proposées par ces modernistes, le récit sur le nationalisme vietnamien tente de répondre aux préoccupations des acteurs du moment et représenter une conception du nationalisme vietnamien durant la période coloniale.

This thesis concentrates on literature during India's battle for independence from the British Empire. These publications look at the outcomes of Europe's intent to colonize and its impact on the marginalized, colonial subjects down to the personal level. Delving into the tragic reality of colonialism and investigating its impact as portrayed in the novels selected, this thesis argues that the selected texts operate as resistance literature subverting the colonial discourse in retrieving South Asian culture and history. This project explores specific forms of resistance within the tropes of memory, history, and gender to pose a larger question of decolonial futures in the postcolonial aftermath. The explorations of Ahmed Ali's Twilight in Delhi, Rabindranath Tagore's The Home and the World, and R.K. Narayan's Waiting for the Mahatma all represent multiple ways of studying the independence movement in their resistance frame. Analyzing these works through a postcolonial perspective unveils underrepresented voices and the intricacies of the Independence landscape. Ahmed Ali incorporates nostalgia as an argument for abolition and articulates Muslim identity in India's rapidly transforming environment. Tagore writes from his real experiences, recounting the confusion and disarray that plagued the Independence movement as disputes erupted on how to fight for India's sovereignty. R.K. Narayan embraces the ‘Quit India' protest and Gandhi's pacifist ideals while worrying about the future after the Mahatma's death. These writers decolonize readers' minds, and campaign for India's independence against the Empire Such literature gives the colonized a voice as they actively resist the British colonization in every aspect of existence.

Kabīr stands as one of the most, if not the most, influential nirguṇbhakti poet of the so-called Sant movement in northern India during the 15th century. Even though his fame is far and widely spread, there is no extensive historical evidence regarding his own life. The understanding one might have surrounding Kabīr is mostly inspired by his poems, or following the information which is available through the rich traditions regarding Kabīr, mostly authored by his followers in the Kabīr Panth. His critical view on high caste society, and rough rhetoric regarding the institutionalized religious traditions of his era, made him a victim of hate and violence during his lifetime. After his death, this rough rhetoric and critical view, ignited a full on dispute between Hindus and Muslims on the subject of which group he belonged to. The teachings of Kabīr has not only sparked an interest in the field of academia but also in movies, literature and theater alike. The latter is the main subject of interest for this paper. The renowned Indian writer Bhisham Sahni has during his life been recognized as one of the most influential writers in the so-called Nayī Kahānī movement, which sprung from a new found vision of the future after Indian independence 1947. Sahnis is mostly famous for his novels and short stories, with such titles as Tamas and Amṛtsar ā gayā hai. But in this paper we shall instead take a closer look into his play Kabirā khaḍā bazār meṃ and how Kabīr is portrayed and understood by Sahni, as well as, if and how Sahni’s Kabīr can be understood within a comparative analysis with how he is portrayed in the introduction to Rabindranath Tagore’s One hundred poems of Kabir by Evelyn Underhill and in Linda Hess’s The Bījak of Kabīr.

This thesis is concerned with the question of what religious education should aim to achieve in the public sphere, and from that comes an interest in what is it that the teacher of religious education should aim to do. My enquiry is located, theoretically as well as conceptually, in the sphere of education. It is an educational study into religious education and situated in what can be termed a ‘Continental construction’ of educational research. I identify that since the inception of religious education in public schools in England, persistent assumptions have been made about both religion and education. I show how this has led, in my view, to conceptualisations of religious education which have been, and continue to be, incomplete. The central chapters of my thesis consider first religion and then education. This allows me to introduce my theoretical base, which is especially but not exclusively drawn from the work of Simone Weil and Hannah Arendt. I develop an argument suggesting that by also understanding religion existentially as faith, rather than as only belief or practice, will open new ways of considering the role of religious education in the public sphere. This is alongside an argument I develop with Arendt for education being conceptualised as bringing the child to action rather than to reason. This thesis argues for a broader understanding of religion, and therefore what it means to live a religious life, in religious education than has previously been considered. I bring this broader way of understanding what it means to live a religious life together with my argument for conceptualising education as bringing the child to action. This enables me to make a new proposal for what religious education should aim to achieve in the public sphere.

Thesis advisors: Kevin Kopelson, Priya Kumar. Includes bibliographic references (p. 182-188).

BEZERRA, Emília Passos de Oliveira. A liberdade nomeada: leituras de Cecília Meireles para Cânticos. 2007. 136 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Letras) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Literatura, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras, Fortaleza-CE, 2007. / Submitted by Liliane oliveira (morena.liliane@hotmail.com) on 2012-06-26T11:59:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2007_DIS_EPOBEZERRA.pdf: 1222968 bytes, checksum: e2bd1e14a06127ffddc8459750084249 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-06-27T15:06:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2007_DIS_EPOBEZERRA.pdf: 1222968 bytes, checksum: e2bd1e14a06127ffddc8459750084249 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-06-27T15:06:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2007_DIS_EPOBEZERRA.pdf: 1222968 bytes, checksum: e2bd1e14a06127ffddc8459750084249 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / The dissertation examines the work Songs, Cecilia Meireles, highlighting the historical context-cultural, ideological and artistic of the twentieth century, from the close relationship of literature produced by the poet with the mysticism of the philosophies of the East, in particular, Buddhism, with the mystical poetry of the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore and the speeches of peace Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. The work of the poetic corpus, still uses to support the writer Complete Poetry, the critical study conducted by Amy Zagury, "Cecília Meireles: news biographical, critical study, anthology, literature, discography, the score," and in the testimony of letters, interviews, books and chronic prefaciados as princiapal refuge. Using the methods descriptive, analytical, interpretive-comparison, the search is divided into five stages, where: "Initial considerations", "The twentieth century", "Songs - named Freedom," "The Bilbioteca way" and, finally, as a conclusion, "The uniqueness of mystical corner." / A dissertação analisa a obra Cânticos, de Cecilia Meireles, destacando o contexto histórico-cultural, ideológico e artístico do século XX, a partir do estreito relacionamento da literatura produzida pelo poeta com o misticismo das filosofias do Oriente, em específico, o Budismo, com a poesia mística do poeta indiano Rabindranath Tagore e os discursos pacifistas de Mahatma Gandhi e Vinoba Bhave. O trabalho parte do corpus poético, utiliza ainda como apoio a Poesia Completa da escritora, o estudo crítico realizado por Eliane Zagury, em "Cecília Meireles: notícia biográfica, estudo crítico, antologia, bibliografia, discografia, partitura", e os depoimentos constantes de cartas, entrevistas, livros prefaciados e crônicas como amparo princiapal. Utilizando os métodos descritivo, analítico, interpretativo-comparativo, a pesquisa divide-se em cinco momentos, sendo: "Considerações iniciais", "O século XX", "Cânticos - A Liberdade nomeada", " A Bilbioteca via" e, finalmente, como conclusão, "A singularidade do canto místico".