“Collective Bodies and Collective Change: Blindness, Pilgrimage, Motherhood and Miracles in Twentieth Century Mexican Literature” examines Mexican literature from 1940 to 1980. It analyzes representations of collective bodies and suggests that these bodies illustrate oppression and resistance in their historical context, which coincides with the beginning of a period of massive modernization in Mexico. I aim to develop a reading that interprets this imagery of collectives, unusual bodies, and blindness as more than symbols of oppression. By examining this imagery alongside representations of pilgrimage, alternative modes of motherhood, and experiences such as miracles that figuratively connect bodies, I propose that these images challenge their historical context, and can be read as a gesture towards resistance. Novels and short stories by José Revueltas, Juan Rulfo, Rosario Castellanos and Vicente Leñero present collectives, blindness and unusual bodies. My reading of their works connects these textual bodies to oppression within their historical context, in particular, by the government, intellectuals, the medical system, the Catholic Church, family structure, the landholding system, and the land’s heat, wind and drought. These representations de-individualize characters, and, as such, destroy the ideal of the modern subject who would effect change through individual agency. Thus, when I argue that these same bodies act as a metaphorical collective subject whose actions, such as mass murder, and participation in religious revival and radical political movements, can point out social change, they challenge the ideal of an individual subject. By reflecting on the connection between literature that represents unusual bodies, a historical situation of oppression, and the potential for resistance, this analysis of literary texts provides a lens through which we can examine the stories’ historical context and ideas of individual and collective agency.

This dissertation explores the relationship between state sovereignty and major instances of crimes against humanity committed in the latter 20 th century. In order to examine this dynamics of this relationship, the author analyzes the history and theory of the concept of sovereignty and examines five case studies of crimes against humanity: Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, Argentina during the military junta from 1976 to 1983, the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda in 1994, and the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. State sovereign power is shown to be an important facilitating factor in these atrocities as well as a major source of contention during the civil conflicts in which these crimes have taken place. International efforts to control or mitigate the damaging effects of state sovereignty, including humanitarian intervention, the International Criminal Court, and the promotion of democratization, are shown to be largely ineffectual and often end up strengthening state sovereignty.

The turn from the nineteenth century into the twentieth saw an increase in the number of composing European women attaining prominence in the music world. This period of history is also now recognised as one of the key phases of the first wave of feminism. Feminists and musical women moved in a similar stratum of society. Although women of this era have increasingly been the subject of scholarly research, music historians have rarely investigated the links between the turn of the century??s wave of composing women and feminists. This dissertation uses the feminist and musical press as a means to investigate composing women??s engagement with feminism. I examine feminists?? regard for women musicians and conversely composing women??s views on feminism. The thesis also reframes the privatelives of composing women through an analysis of primary sources. The composers who form the focus of this biographical investigation include Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850-1927), Louise H??ritte-Viardot (1841-1918) and Armande de Polignac (1876-1962). Using a large body of newly analysed, unpublished correspondence and private papers, this research offers fresh insights into the biographies of composing women as well as their own self-portrayal, revealing the complex nature of Ethel Smyth??s sexuality and reassessing the fatalistic portrait of Lili Boulanger which has been drawn in some previous studies. These biographical insights background the contentions of the thesis that composing women and feminists shared common ground. Through investigating the presence of musicians in the feminist press and of feminism in the musical press, the thesis reveals an ambivalent relationship between feminists and musicians. The disappointed expectations of feminists are contrasted with the reasons composing women had for retaining a distance from feminism. The exploration of composing women??s political and personal context enables an understanding not only of their contribution to music history, but also of their place within the greater history of women??s development.

Since its introduction in Australia, photography has had a profound impact on Australian culture. The modern era, it is often alleged, has been dominated by the sense of sight, and from its inception, photography was explicitly understood in relation to this prestigious notion of modern vision. The camera and its associated technologies offered a “new” and modern way of seeing that was central to the overall project of modernity. This thesis is a study of the role of photography in the increasing visualisation of Australian culture during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Drawing on debates around modernism, it explores the cultural and social expressions of photography. Each chapter of this thesis considers an aspect of photography or its use, and traces the emerging popularisation and commodification of the photographic image. The social impact of photography is explored in a selection of specific contexts that include early camera clubs and societies of the 1890s, and the growing amateur movement that followed the new “point and shoot” technology so ably depicted by the Kodak Girl. Other contexts include the professional applications of photography, official and private uses of photography during World War I, and finally the journalistic and cinematic uses of the photographic image in the 1920s. Together these contexts show how the romance and optimism of technology ignited enthusiasm for the visual medium across class and gender divides, moving from initial popularity amongst a local scientific elite, spreading to amateurs, professionals, and eventually being put to political and social uses, throughout the world. (For complete abstract open document)

The turn from the nineteenth century into the twentieth saw an increase in the number of composing European women attaining prominence in the music world. This period of history is also now recognised as one of the key phases of the first wave of feminism. Feminists and musical women moved in a similar stratum of society. Although women of this era have increasingly been the subject of scholarly research, music historians have rarely investigated the links between the turn of the century??s wave of composing women and feminists. This dissertation uses the feminist and musical press as a means to investigate composing women??s engagement with feminism. I examine feminists?? regard for women musicians and conversely composing women??s views on feminism. The thesis also reframes the privatelives of composing women through an analysis of primary sources. The composers who form the focus of this biographical investigation include Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850-1927), Louise H??ritte-Viardot (1841-1918) and Armande de Polignac (1876-1962). Using a large body of newly analysed, unpublished correspondence and private papers, this research offers fresh insights into the biographies of composing women as well as their own self-portrayal, revealing the complex nature of Ethel Smyth??s sexuality and reassessing the fatalistic portrait of Lili Boulanger which has been drawn in some previous studies. These biographical insights background the contentions of the thesis that composing women and feminists shared common ground. Through investigating the presence of musicians in the feminist press and of feminism in the musical press, the thesis reveals an ambivalent relationship between feminists and musicians. The disappointed expectations of feminists are contrasted with the reasons composing women had for retaining a distance from feminism. The exploration of composing women??s political and personal context enables an understanding not only of their contribution to music history, but also of their place within the greater history of women??s development.

The turn from the nineteenth century into the twentieth saw an increase in the number of composing European women attaining prominence in the music world. This period of history is also now recognised as one of the key phases of the first wave of feminism. Feminists and musical women moved in a similar stratum of society. Although women of this era have increasingly been the subject of scholarly research, music historians have rarely investigated the links between the turn of the century??s wave of composing women and feminists. This dissertation uses the feminist and musical press as a means to investigate composing women??s engagement with feminism. I examine feminists?? regard for women musicians and conversely composing women??s views on feminism. The thesis also reframes the privatelives of composing women through an analysis of primary sources. The composers who form the focus of this biographical investigation include Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850-1927), Louise H??ritte-Viardot (1841-1918) and Armande de Polignac (1876-1962). Using a large body of newly analysed, unpublished correspondence and private papers, this research offers fresh insights into the biographies of composing women as well as their own self-portrayal, revealing the complex nature of Ethel Smyth??s sexuality and reassessing the fatalistic portrait of Lili Boulanger which has been drawn in some previous studies. These biographical insights background the contentions of the thesis that composing women and feminists shared common ground. Through investigating the presence of musicians in the feminist press and of feminism in the musical press, the thesis reveals an ambivalent relationship between feminists and musicians. The disappointed expectations of feminists are contrasted with the reasons composing women had for retaining a distance from feminism. The exploration of composing women??s political and personal context enables an understanding not only of their contribution to music history, but also of their place within the greater history of women??s development.

The turn from the nineteenth century into the twentieth saw an increase in the number of composing European women attaining prominence in the music world. This period of history is also now recognised as one of the key phases of the first wave of feminism. Feminists and musical women moved in a similar stratum of society. Although women of this era have increasingly been the subject of scholarly research, music historians have rarely investigated the links between the turn of the century??s wave of composing women and feminists. This dissertation uses the feminist and musical press as a means to investigate composing women??s engagement with feminism. I examine feminists?? regard for women musicians and conversely composing women??s views on feminism. The thesis also reframes the privatelives of composing women through an analysis of primary sources. The composers who form the focus of this biographical investigation include Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850-1927), Louise H??ritte-Viardot (1841-1918) and Armande de Polignac (1876-1962). Using a large body of newly analysed, unpublished correspondence and private papers, this research offers fresh insights into the biographies of composing women as well as their own self-portrayal, revealing the complex nature of Ethel Smyth??s sexuality and reassessing the fatalistic portrait of Lili Boulanger which has been drawn in some previous studies. These biographical insights background the contentions of the thesis that composing women and feminists shared common ground. Through investigating the presence of musicians in the feminist press and of feminism in the musical press, the thesis reveals an ambivalent relationship between feminists and musicians. The disappointed expectations of feminists are contrasted with the reasons composing women had for retaining a distance from feminism. The exploration of composing women??s political and personal context enables an understanding not only of their contribution to music history, but also of their place within the greater history of women??s development.

This dissertation significantly expands our knowledge of the biography and artistic contributions of Hughie Lee-Smith (1915–1999), an African American artist. I argue that between 1925 and 1968 Lee-Smith’s personal, educational, and professional experiences within the context of Jim Crow America and the Cold War era influenced the style and content of his figurative work and his opportunities for success. Throughout the dissertation, I examine his inspirations from art history and position his works alongside those of his contemporaries to show that his paintings are based on observations, artistic influences, and imagination. The dissertation’s four chapters are organized around Lee-Smith’s experiences of living during these decades in Cleveland, Detroit, and New York. Chapter one examines his early years (1925–1940) in Cleveland, Ohio, after he relocated from the South to join his mother. He learned to acquire the necessary skills in art, experienced enthusiastic civic and private philanthropic support, and developed a personal philosophy about the ability of art to build a better society. Chapter two moves to Detroit (1941–1950) and considers his commitment to family life, naval service, and further training in art. I examine his role in the radical labor movement and his naval service in nearby Chicago, along with his art activities to promote social change and racial equality. Focusing on the later Detroit years (1950–1958), Chapter three merges the social history of Jim Crow, Detroit’s urban renewal programs, anti-communist scares, and HUAC hearings with an analysis of the imagery of Lee-Smith’s urban and seaside paintings to indicate the psychological tensions he experienced. Chapter four analyzes the impact of his relocation to New York City (1958–1968), a successful transitional period of his life during which he was buoyed by the Civil Rights Movement and gained the recognition he had sought. The Epilogue considers Lee-Smith between 1968 and 1999. By interpreting Lee-Smith’s art within an intimate, extensive biography, we see his world shaped by America’s history of race, poverty, and disenfranchisement. When the parallel histories of America and African America are analyzed together, the meaning of America and American art becomes enlarged and enriched.

Image and Imagination: Creative Photography and the South Wales Valleys, explores the development of practices within photography undertaken in and about the South Wales Valleys during the second half of the twentieth century. Central to this study is an examination of the work of the American photographer W. Eugene Smith, who photographed in the Valleys in 1950, and how his practice influenced the wider development of 'creative photography'. The term 'creative photography' is applied here as a description of photography during a period of its transition, moving beyond a recognised position as a pragmatic communicative medium, toward its wider acknowledgement as a significant form of artistic expression. This study considers a range of processes through which photography largely achieved this acceptance. Particular consideration is given to the development of Smith's career, and how his work moved between ever shifting photo-journalistic and photo-art contexts. Photographers working in the Valleys subsequent to Smith are also examined, including those engaged in the Valleys Project' undertaken during the I980's. This study reveals how social, economic and political factors not only shaped Smith's work, but also shaped the increasingly varied modes of photographic representation seen in the latter part of the twentieth century. The study initially considers the South Wales of the mid-twentieth century and how both cinematic and photographic imagery of the region in the decades prior to 1950 engendered particular photographic responses from later visitors. The national and international contexts for the developments in photographic practice such as magazine and book publishing, along with the growing institutional advocacy for exhibiting photography are also examined. The study concludes with an evaluation of the current status of photographic practice relating to the Valleys of South Wales.

Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-17T17:13:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Andrea Rodriguesseg.pdf: 2202126 bytes, checksum: 0fedb1f35dc5cd55e4f01b25782f2e43 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-05-24T11:49:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Andrea Rodriguesseg.pdf: 2202126 bytes, checksum: 0fedb1f35dc5cd55e4f01b25782f2e43 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-24T11:49:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Andrea Rodriguesseg.pdf: 2202126 bytes, checksum: 0fedb1f35dc5cd55e4f01b25782f2e43 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Este trabalho analisa representações e práticas relativas à sexualidade infanto-juvenil em Salvador, de 1940 a 1970. De acordo com a compreensão de que os conceitos de infância, adolescência e sexualidade são construídos a partir de variáveis sociais e históricas, procura-se refletir sobre os elementos simbólicos que emergem, no contexto estudado, para representar estas duas fases da vida e a sexualidade, nelas. Considera-se que a sexualidade está diretamente associada a questões de gênero, raça e classe. Desta forma, os discursos elaborados sobre a sexualidade infanto-juvenil são melhor compreendidos tendo como referência as relações sociais e os diversos espaços que os agentes históricos ocupam em sociedade. Os significados de infância e adolescência, e as práticas a eles relacionadas, são diferentes nos diversos segmentos da sociedade soteropolitana, no período, e se transformam no decorrer deste. Busca-se investigar a violência sexual exercida sobre os corpos de crianças e adolescentes através do estudo de crimes contra os costumes e da legislação que regulava sua punição. Procura-se igualmente analisar os vínculos entre o conceito de honra e o controle da sexualidade feminina. / Salvador