Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 34-10, Section: A, page: 6640. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1973.

The Cuban antislavery novel of the 19th century will provide the focus for this study. The cultural metamorphosis undergone by the black slave is revealed in this subdivision of colonial literature. From their colonial role as slaves, blacks went on to become an integral part of the cultural mosaic of the region. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how blacks were incorporated into the society that enslaved them, how they claimed a presence in that society and how they fought to establish their own identity. The concluding remarks will demonstrate that it was the Cuban antislavery novel which granted blacks a voice, a presence. This is the modest contribution offered by this investigation. / A testimonial narrative, the antislavery novel, flourished in Cuba during the colonial period, specifically during the 19th century, and it can very well be considered as a prelude to the black search for a space, for a presence, in society. This investigation begins with an introductory chapter which deals not only with the testimonial narrative to be discussed, but also with the accounts which detail the manner in which the black presence became a reality in the region. The three subsequent chapters analyze the following Cuban novels: Francisco by Anselmo Suarez y Romero, Sab by Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, and Cecilia Valdes by Cirilo Villaverde. The emphasis in each of these works is on the search for black identity: the transculturation and integration of blacks in colonial Cuba. These three novels reflect the social context of the Cuban colonial period; therefore, other antislavery novels which portrait the same subject will not be included since their theme is best represented by the aforementioned. / This investigation will conclude with a chapter reaffirming the ideological conceptions that allowed for the emergence of this type of narrative. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-04, Section: A, page: 1350. / Major Professor: Roberto G. Fernandez. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995. / The Cuban antislavery novel of the 19th century will provide the focus for this study. The cultural metamorphosis undergone by the black slave is revealed in this subdivision of colonial literature. From their colonial role as slaves, blacks went on to become an integral part of the cultural mosaic of the region. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how blacks were incorporated into the society that enslaved them, how they claimed a presence in that society and how they fought to establish their own identity. The concluding remarks will demonstrate that it was the Cuban antislavery novel which granted blacks a voice, a presence. This is the modest contribution offered by this investigation. / A testimonial narrative, the antislavery novel, flourished in Cuba during the colonial period, specifically during the 19th century, and it can very well be considered as a prelude to the black search for a space, for a presence, in society. This investigation begins with an introductory chapter which deals not only with the testimonial narrative to be discussed, but also with the accounts which detail the manner in which the black presence became a reality in the region. The three subsequent chapters analyze the following Cuban novels: Francisco by Anselmo Suarez y Romero, Sab by Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, and Cecilia Valdes by Cirilo Villaverde. The emphasis in each of these works is on the search for black identity: the transculturation and integration of blacks in colonial Cuba. These three novels reflect the social context of the Cuban colonial period; therefore, other antislavery novels which portrait the same subject will not be included since their theme is best represented by the aforementioned. / This investigation will conclude with a chapter reaffirming the ideological conceptions that allowed for the emergence of this type of narrative.

In a literature that is so often depicted as that of the "minority" the image of the resistant female figure both in the work of African-American and Guadeloupean female writers, seemed appropriate for a comparative study. / This dissertation relies heavily on Reader-Response theories. The first chapter insists on how because of the narrative techniques we are led to read the female characters as victims. In three of the novels the narrator is also the heroine, which sets an element of intimacy between the protagonist and the (mainly female) reader. Intimacy is derived also from the insistence on the character's childhood. A third element of intimacy is the theme of suffering. / In the second chapter, resistance in the character is studied through her interaction with others and the world. Attention is given to four areas: the use of linguistics signs, the use of tools, the use of laws, and the use of esthetic canons. In the movement from victimization to resistance, the most visible changes are in regard to speech and savoir-faire. Both are related to the concept of creation. / The conclusion insists on the characteristics of woman's resistance and its originality. Compared to the male characters in the different novels we assert how are the heroines resist heroism, alienation and suicide, all choices that black people at any given period were and are still given to receive as the only alternatives. The female characters are not about war, but survival. They are not about solving, but resolving problems. And above all they never posit themselves against the world, as their male counterpart, but seek comfort and strength in the community of women. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-04, Section: A, page: 1345. / Major Professor: Antoine Spacagna. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, “Adaptation to climate change is defined as, an adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities” (IPCC 2007). Adaptation is required due to the increase in the number of natural disasters and extreme changes in environmental conditions in coastal areas that are a function of sea level rise, floods, extreme heat, drought, and coastal storm surge from severe storms. To reduce the impacts of climate change risks in the future, coastal communities through local government initiatives are compelled to develop and implement grass roots community plans. This study is part of an International Community-University Research Alliance (ICURA), “C-Change” that aims to develop community-based adaptation protocols based on best practices and through the evaluation of the scientific method of problem solving designed to help coastal communities be sustainable and to protect their local coastal environments. To this end, the thesis reviews the international development and application of adaptive strategies related to climate change and evaluates these global strategies for identification of best practices and application to coastal communities. The objective of this research is to design and develop improved C-Change community adaptation frameworks by analyzing the applications of international protocols and local action plans with respect to the scientific method and of problem solving through using AHP (Analytic hierarchy process) as a tool, and by choosing best practices to provide guidelines for communities’ climate adaptation plans for the C-Change ICURA coastal communities in Canada.

It was paramount for the English-speaking Caribbean to host a successful 2007 Cricket World Cup and field an outstanding West Indian cricket team for the international sporting mega-event. For CARICOM and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), there were two principle goals – first, to exhibit regional Caribbean identity, and second, to be triumphant under the leadership of the West Indian cricket team’s captain, Trinidadian Brian Lara. Identities are multifaceted and intricate, negotiated and renegotiated, based on a history of economic, political and cultural forces. This thesis interrogates Caribbean identity through textual analysis of the broadcast of the opening ceremony and regional newspaper coverage of the spectacle as well as ensuing events that were held in eight of the Caribbean countries from 11 March to 28 April 2007. The thesis questions whether this mega-event served as a catalyst toward Caribbean identity construction.

Si pour les ethnographes les mythes sont essentiels à la survie de toute société, cela pose problème quand on considère la Caraïbe et la rupture de l’esclavage. Une étude de la littérature antillaise réaliste merveilleuse nous montre que si les romans sont imprégnés par la spiritualité et le folklore, nous n’y trouvons aucun mythe des origines. Comment une société peut-elle subsister sans ces éléments fondamentaux ? Combinant une approche mythocritique à une mythanalyse des oeuvres d’auteurs antillais contemporains, nous émettons cette hypothèse : en s’inspirant de multiples héritages, ils se constituent une identité par la reconstruction de mythes spécifiquement antillais. Vu l’absence de romans antillais contemporains dans les études du magical realism et du réalisme merveilleux, notre première partie explore ce dernier concept pour en proposer une nouvelle catégorisation : le réalisme mystique. Notre deuxième partie examine les principes narratifs des romans en se demandant comment les auteurs parviennent à concilier un double héritage oralité/écriture et à sauvegarder leur identité. Notre dernière partie illustre enfin comment, par l’utilisation de schémas mythique spécifiques et un recentrement sur l’île natale, les textes mettent en place sa (re)mythisation.Cette étude permet la mise à jour de nouveaux paradigmes dans la littérature antillaise contemporaine. Elle montre comment le réalisme mystique est une modalité rattachée au magical realism qui, combinant réalisme historico ethnographique et folklore local, s’applique spécifiquement à la région des Antilles. Dépassant l’impossibilité théorique de transition de l’oralité vers l’écriture, nous révélons aussi que l’utilisation de l’ « oraliture » par les écrivains et le rôle de « guerriers de l’imaginaire » associé à certains d’entre eux propose une harmonisation oralité/écriture de même qu’une sauvegarde identitaire. Enfin, nous voyons qu’un certain nombre de romans réalistes mystiques proposent, outre une mise à distance de l’Afrique et de la France, un nouveau mythe originel centré sur la traversée de l’océan et un passage matriciel par la cale des négriers. Nous voyons également comment, loin de territoires d’acculturation comme les plantations, les auteurs développent une restructuration mythique de l’espace, notamment par une mise en valeur de la nature primordiale devenue propice à une renaissance identitaire.

Si pour les ethnographes les mythes sont essentiels à la survie de toute société, cela pose problème quand on considère la Caraïbe et la rupture de l’esclavage. Une étude de la littérature antillaise réaliste merveilleuse nous montre que si les romans sont imprégnés par la spiritualité et le folklore, nous n’y trouvons aucun mythe des origines. Comment une société peut-elle subsister sans ces éléments fondamentaux ? Combinant une approche mythocritique à une mythanalyse des oeuvres d’auteurs antillais contemporains, nous émettons cette hypothèse : en s’inspirant de multiples héritages, ils se constituent une identité par la reconstruction de mythes spécifiquement antillais. Vu l’absence de romans antillais contemporains dans les études du magical realism et du réalisme merveilleux, notre première partie explore ce dernier concept pour en proposer une nouvelle catégorisation : le réalisme mystique. Notre deuxième partie examine les principes narratifs des romans en se demandant comment les auteurs parviennent à concilier un double héritage oralité/écriture et à sauvegarder leur identité. Notre dernière partie illustre enfin comment, par l’utilisation de schémas mythique spécifiques et un recentrement sur l’île natale, les textes mettent en place sa (re)mythisation.Cette étude permet la mise à jour de nouveaux paradigmes dans la littérature antillaise contemporaine. Elle montre comment le réalisme mystique est une modalité rattachée au magical realism qui, combinant réalisme historico ethnographique et folklore local, s’applique spécifiquement à la région des Antilles. Dépassant l’impossibilité théorique de transition de l’oralité vers l’écriture, nous révélons aussi que l’utilisation de l’ « oraliture » par les écrivains et le rôle de « guerriers de l’imaginaire » associé à certains d’entre eux propose une harmonisation oralité/écriture de même qu’une sauvegarde identitaire. Enfin, nous voyons qu’un certain nombre de romans réalistes mystiques proposent, outre une mise à distance de l’Afrique et de la France, un nouveau mythe originel centré sur la traversée de l’océan et un passage matriciel par la cale des négriers. Nous voyons également comment, loin de territoires d’acculturation comme les plantations, les auteurs développent une restructuration mythique de l’espace, notamment par une mise en valeur de la nature primordiale devenue propice à une renaissance identitaire.