Denne mastergraden er en intertekstuell og fortelleteknisk analyse av J. M. Coetzees Disgrace. Romanen forholder seg nært til et Sør-Afrika kort tid etter oppløsningen av apartheid. Den har blitt lest realistisk, og har blitt kraftig kritisert for å fremstille en pågående rasisme i Sør-Afrika. Denne avhandlingen leser romanen som en postmoderne tekst og bruker Gerrard Genette sine teorier om transtekstualitet for å vise hvor omfattende leken med litteratur er i Disgrace.

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This thesis investigates the similarities in the study of time and space in literature and science during the modern period. Specifically, it focuses on the portrayal of time and space within Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) and Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim (1899-1900), and compares the ideas presented with those later scientifically formulated by Albert Einstein in his special and general theories of relativity (1905-1915). Although both novels precede Einstein’s theories, they reveal advanced complex ideas of time and space very similar to those later argued by the iconic physicist. These ideas follow a linear progression including a sense of temporal dissonance, the search for a communal sense of the present, the awareness and expansion of the individual’s sense of the present, and the effect of mass on surrounding space. This approach enhances readings of Dracula and Lord Jim, illuminating the fascination with highly refined notions of time and space within modern European culture.

The discipline of material culture study has long been estranged from mainstream academic discourse and has been viewed commonly as the study of pots and pans. Historians are beginning to realize that material culture and cultural reconstruction offer vital insights into the past. Building upon new developments, my thesis sought to reconstruct the items painted by Joshua Reynolds in his famous painting of Lord Dunmore. Such an analysis allowed for the steps of unnamed tradesmen to be retraced, making a few people who were lost to history known once again. This was achieved by recreating every object in the portrait as it would have been done in context, through primary written documentation in tandem with extant artifacts. This study put to the test the benefit of material culture study and its place amongst academic history. the utilization of interdisciplinary means brought to light new insights into the past through combining experimental archeology, material culture studies, and academic history. The findings of this research provide insight into the effectiveness of the experiential analysis technique for the purpose of historical study and how it benefits, not only current understanding of artifacts themselves, but also fills gaps in the lives of those who created an used these items.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive body of work represents decades of effort from a man who, burdened by the suffering and grief of a world he considered to be fallen, wished to combine his love of fairy-stories and mythology with the otherworldly hope of eucatastrophe, Tolkien’s word for unexpected divine joy amid suffering, present at the heart of his strong Catholic beliefs. Tolkien’s world of Arda is consequently full of suffering; it is written as a dark and dangerous place, where dyscatastrophe, the prerequisite suffering before eucatastrophe, exists within the world from its conception and Eden has never been obtainable for Men. By chronologically tracing the existence of suffering in Tolkien’s world, from its origin through the fall of Melkor, to the grievous immortality of the Elves and their possessive love of the world, and finally to the fear of death present in Men, this paper aims to combine these moments of suffering and the underlying hope within them in order to show the necessity of eucatastrophe to Tolkien’s world through several of his major works. By focusing primarily on The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion while showing his use of amdir and estel, the different hopes of Men and Elves, as tools in service of eucatastrophe to highlight the hope present within our own world, this paper argues for eucatastrophe, dyscatastrophe, amdir, and estel as primary components to the major theme of death and immortality within Tolkien’s works, purposeful inclusions designed to give readers a glimpse of joy beyond their own world, which Tolkien held to be the most important function of the fairy-stories he loved.

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This study views J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy against its Anglo-Saxon background, specifically in light of Tolkien's 1936 Beowulf essay, and contends that the author consciously attempted to recreate the mood of the heroic poem. Chapter I compares Tolkien's use of historical perspective in Lord of the Rings with that of the Beowulf poet. His recognition of the poet's artistic use of history is stated in the "Beowulf" essay. Chapter II makes comparisons between Good and Evil as they are revealed in Beowulf and in the trilogy. Once again, much of the evidence for this comparison is found in Tolkien's Beowulf criticism. Chapter III examines the comitatus relationship fundamental to the heroic poem and to Lord of the Rings. It is the major element in Tolkien's portrayal of Good. Chapter IV concludes the study by asserting that the trilogy must be viewed as an heroic elegy, in exactly the same way that Tolkien viewed Beowulf. Thus, the theme of the trilogy, like Beowulf, is the mutability of man.

In the postmodern, contemporary Western world of late capitalism, we dream of the Middle Ages. Medieval Fantasy, as an entertainment genre, supplements historical images of the Middle Ages with elements of myth in adventure stories featuring magicians, knights and ladies, castles, dragons, swords, and sorcery that are routinely consumed and absorbed. In some activities they are also played out physically. People dress up, utilise props, and affect their speech and mannerisms like actors in a theatre, conducting pseudo-ritualistic games of mimicry to make these images speak and move in the real world: live role-play. This thesis examines several organised examples of live role-play: Southron Gaard, a branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism based in Christchurch, New Zealand; larping, as represented by two documentary films, Darkon and Monster Camp, that document the activities of larping organisations in the USA; and 'Lord of the Rings Tour', a tourism trip from Christchurch to 'Edoras', a fictional location from Middle-earth, the fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Novels and Peter Jackson's filmic adaptations thereof. These organised leisure activities provide platforms for the pursuit of active, physical involvement with the images and ideas of medieval fantasy. In them, participants find ways to bring these fantastic images and ideas onto their bodies in reality and, perhaps as a result, closer to their everyday lives in ways that have more significant social implications than may at first be apparent.