Belly Laughs: Body Humor in Contemporary American Literature and Film Scholars are more than happy to laugh at but seem somewhat reluctant to discuss body humor, which is perhaps the most neglected form of comedy in recent criticism. In this dissertation, I examine the ways in which contemporary American writers and filmmakers use body humor in their works, not only in moments of so-called "comic relief" but also as a valid way of exploring many of the same issues that postmodern artists typically interrogate in their more somber moments. The writers discussed in this project-Philip Roth, Thomas Pynchon, Charles Johnson, and Woody Allen-were chosen for the divergent ways in which they present the body's comic predicament in psychological, metaphysical, and historical situations. The introduction explains the diverse traditions that these artists draw upon and considers how various theoretical approaches can affect our understanding of body humor. The first chapter examines Jewish-American novelist Philip Roth's use of absurd and grotesque body imagery as manifestations of his characters' moral dilemmas. The second chapter looks at how slapstick comedy informs a worldview dominated by paranioa and chaos in Thomas Pynchon's novels. Chapter Three looks at Woody Allen's early films, in which he parodies and revises the slapstick cinematic tradition of artists like Charlie Chaplin and The Marx Brothers. Chapter Four considers African-American writer and cartoonist Charles Johnson's depiction of the ways in which the body's desires and pitfalls complicate the quest for spiritual enlightenment.

This study examines a frontier businessman and the evolution of his business enterprises in conjunction with the emergence of northern Indiana from its frontier period to the time that it became a settled agricultural region with strong ties to the national economy. The subject is Allen Hamilton, an Irish immigrant who settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1823 and remained here until his death in 18514. Hamilton's involvement with the affairs of the state government, the Miami and Potawatomi Indians, retailing, land speculation, the promotion and construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal and numerous plank road and railroad projects, the fur trade and the Indian trade, the second State Bank of Indiana and the creation of the Hamilton ink involved him deeply in the economic development and the political affairs of Indiana and, to a lesser extent, of the North.This study of Hamilton's rise to wealth parallels the development of Indiana and is intertwined with it. At nearly all points in his career Hamilton achieved financial success by meeting the needs of the developing region. He functioned at first as a fur trade .end Indian trader, meeting the needs of the Indians as well as the large Eastern fur merchants. Toward the end of his career he was primarily a banker and promoter of internal improvements, serving both his own interests and those of the expanding white population of northern Indiana for credit and adequate transportation facilities.In order to compete successfully as a businessman, Hamilton found it necessary to become involved with the politics of the region and at times was himself a successful candidate for local and state offices. Generally, however, his political activities were confined to the support of influential men from northern Indiana, several of whom were his business partners. The ability to form judicious alliances which took advantage of both political influence and entrepreneurial talent was a chief factor of Hamilton's success. His business partnerships demonstrated the evolution of his activities and his partners included the most important men in that section of the state. These partnerships were flexible, allowing for significant alteration as new opportunities (such as the milling of wheat) presented themselves and older avenues to wealth (such as the fur trade) dried up. As Hamilton outgrew the older partnerships he created others that reflected not only the need for a different type of expertise in his partner but also his own changed economic, social and political situation. One of the consistencies of Hamilton's partnerships was their diversification which made them more fluid in nature and more capable of capitalizing on new opportunities.Hamilton's rise to wealth was significant not only to himself. His wealthy Irish origins had set for him a model to which the wealthy should aspire. Correspondingly, he was a social leader in Fort Wayne and nurtured in his offspring a respect for the highest of goals in education and civic responsibility. He was a patrician and a symbol not only of the opportunities of the West, but also of the fact that the West was far from being an area inhabited by social equals. Indeed, Hamilton's extensive commitment to land speculation was more than simply a means ofachieving wealth. The possession of large tracts of land symbolized, for Hamilton, the recreation of his family's former status in Ireland, powerfully augmenting the traditional status gained through land ownership in the United States.Through Allen Hamilton one may view not only the development of Indiana in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, but also a pattern of economic maturation that was often experienced in areas far to the east and west of the state.

Thesis--University of California. / Bibliography: leaves 374-382.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 292-309).

In 1784, Ethan Allen (1738-1789), the leader of the Green Mountain Boys and legendary Revolutionary War hero, and his friend Thomas Young (1731-1777) published Reason the only Oracle of Man. In their opus, America’s premier text formally introducing Deism, Allen and Young systematically dismantle the ecclesiastical foundations of New England by specifically targeting the undemocratic principles of the Congregational Church. Allen and Young wrote Reason as a revolt against the encroaching ecclesiastical domination. The duo focused upon many topics central to the European Enlightenment: substance and matter, formation versus creation, immortality, the soul, the nature and motives of prophecy, and time and eternity. Thomas Young, a student of deism, mentored a teenage Allen and instilled in him a distinctly British ideology (one based on the writings of Charles Blount and John Locke) that, paired with Allen’s upbringing in an anti-Calvinist home, materialized into America’s premier deist text.

Recent archaeological surveys of portions of Fox Island County Park near Fort Wayne, Indiana, revealed the locations of 16 archaeological sites. This study was undertaken to explore the factors affecting site selection and to analyze the artifacts and investigate lithic procurement and reduction strategies as reflected by them. Further, an attempt was made to understand Fox Island's role in the prehistoric subsistence-settlement system. The sites appear to have been selected because of the environmental setting of Fox Island, a wooded sand dune complex surrounded by wet prairie and marsh with upland decidious forests within a mile. The variety of habitats concentraved a wealth of food resources within an easily exploitable area. Analysis of the artifacts from the sites revealed a primary reliance on lithic raw material from near Huntington and an occupational sequence spanning approximately 8,000 years from the Early Archaic through historic aboriginal occupation of the area. Cultural affiliation of the Late Woodland occupation was with the southeastern Michigan Younge Tradition. Although somewhat contradictory, subsistence-settlement pattern models from surrounding areas suggested that Fox Island should have been primarily occupied during spring and summer in conjunction with the seasons of' greatest carrying capacity of the wet prairie and marsh. This was consistent with the few food remains encountered.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1976. / Microfiche. / 294 leaves

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 3, 2008). Directed by Scott Romine; submitted to the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-214).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 1998. / Adviser: Deborah Digges. Submitted to the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-289). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;