(Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1996). / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-78).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, May, 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines the presence of modernist ideas regarding identity, language and narrative in the work of the neglected Sardinian author, Grazia Deledda (1871-1936). It has the overall aim of redefining Deledda’s later work as modernist for she has been disregarded by most critics and is generally classed as a minor, veristic writer. Drawing Deledda out of these restricted interpretations, this thesis demonstrates that Deledda straddles two literary modes, for she matures beyond veristic influences and looks forward to modernist ideas, particularly regarding the complex nature of the self. The thesis approaches Deledda from an entirely new perspective in that it focuses upon the crisis of identity in Deledda’s work, and its construction in the narrative of her novels, and its integral relationship with the theme of language. The theoretical framework of Julia Kristeva, Paul Ricoeur and Adriana Cavarero enables an innovative study of identity as a linguistic and narrative construct in Deledda’s work. I maintain that Deledda’s characters construct, control and understand their identities through their application of language or their command of narrative perspective, voicing their inner selves through linguistic self-expression. This study engages in a close textual analysis of three of Deledda’s key texts. La madre (1920) and Il segreto dell'uomo solitario (1921) illustrate Deledda’s movement away from verismo. Their protagonists suffer a crisis of identity which is bound up in linguistic expression and/or narrative control. Cosima (1937), which is Deledda’s most autobiographical text, displays the author’s close affinity with her writing. Creating a fiction of her own life, Deledda becomes both narrator and protagonist, self and other in the exploration of her own identity, which is integrally connected to the act of writing. The very composition of this text demonstrates the construction of identity in language and narrative which is illustrated within Deledda’s other works.

This study deals with some of the recent theory of autobiography. Methodologically, it is based on literary narratology but, as part of interdisciplinary research, it also draws on insights provided by philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science. It shows that an autobiography does not reflect an author's identity but helps construct it by narrative means. As far as the truthfulness of an autobiography is concerned, the study takes into account the issues of autobiographical memory and its reliability; it also deals with collective memory in the context of genre norms. Drawing on positioning theory, the study offers a conception of autobiography as a formally and narratively complete work that, however, reflects the current situation and position of the author who is writing it. This master's thesis demonstrates its suggestions using autobiographical texts from Czech as well as world literatures. Keywords autobiography, memory, narrative identity, referentiality, positioning theory

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.