published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Comparative Literature / Master / Master of Philosophy

This dissertation explores the relevance of recent studies of Aristotle’s comic theory to the central dramatists of early modern England, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. Applications of the Poetics to Renaissance English drama tend to treat Aristotle’s theory historically, as a set of concepts mediated to England by continental redactions. But these often conflated the Poetics’ focus on literary form with the Renaissance’s predominant interest in literature’s rhetorical effect, reducing Aristotle’s genuinely speculative theory to a series of often pedantic literary prescriptions. Recent scholarship has both undone these misinterpretations and developed the comic theory latent in the Poetics. Ironically, these studies make Jonson’s and Shakespeare’s comedy look much more Aristotelian than do Renaissance ones. So rather than taking the Poetics simply as a possible source for each dramatist, I read it primarily as a literary theory that, when reinvigorated by modern scholarship, can explain structures and effects arrived at practically by these dramatists. Three recent hypotheses are especially pertinent to Jonson and Shakespeare: that comic hoaxes aim to expose comic error, which is for Aristotle a deviation from the mean of virtue; that “righteous indignation” is the comic emotion equivalent to the “pity and fear” of tragedy; and that catharsis is a clarification, rather than purgation, of reason and emotion. In light of these, I offer detailed readings of four plays that demonstrate these authors’ comic range: from Jonson’s satirical Every Man Out of His Humour to the almost farcical Epicoene, and from Shakespeare’s romantic Much Ado About Nothing to the tragicomic Measure for Measure. These plays demonstrate a variety of ways in which catharsis, the end of drama, results directly from the comic hoax and involves both the audience’s and characters’ experience of indignation and their comprehension of its relationship to the emotions of envy and pity. In each case, Aristotle’s incisive but flexible theoretical framework enables an explanation of the emotional pain present in the these “comedies of affliction” and reveals remarkable similarities between dramatists usually described as direct opposites.

L'émergence d'un « 'esprit' capitaliste » (Weber) en Angleterre et en France au tournant des XVIe-XVIIe siècles a favorisé la reconfiguration des rapports entre avaritia et cupiditas, qui déterminent tout le champ sémantique de l'usure et de l'intérêt. Cette thèse postule que cette évolution est sensible dans la comédie française et anglaise de l'époque, plus particulièrement chez les dramaturges qui ont marqué l'imaginaire collectif en mettant en scène des personnages avares. À partir d'un type comique issu à la fois du théâtre antique et du canon religieux bien établi dans l'Occident chrétien, l'appréhension nouvelle de l'argent comme objet et comme signe permet de construire une véritable figure moderne de l'avarice. Les protagonistes de chaque pièce, Shylock, Volpone (Mosca) et Harpagon, sont suspendus entre un or quasi divin, et l'univers plus ou moins connu de l'argent, medium en passe de devenir l'équivalent universel de tout bien, qu'ils pensent maîtriser grâce à leur trésor. S'ils s'intègrent parfaitement à la fluidité moderne des échanges économiques, culturels et sociaux, ils participent aussi à leur dévalorisation, par une activité et un discours proprement usuraires. Leur entourage tente de soumettre cette « labilité » des valeurs (Simmel) suscitée par l'économie de l'usurier-avare à un nouvel ordre, cosmique, éthique ou politique. Le conflit se résout devant la justice, instance discriminatoire externe et prétexte à la mise en abyme du jugement social. L'analyse des dénouements permet dès lors de comprendre le travail de chaque auteur sur la forme et la fonction de la comédie, à travers le texte, les genres, ou une esthétique de l'espace. Elle montre que chacun s'attache à valoriser l'apport de son art au public, dans une période de crise socio-économique. / The emergence of a capitalist ‘spirit’ (Weber) in England and France at the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries played a leading role in reconfiguring the relation between avaritia and cupiditas which determine the whole semantic field of usury and interest. This thesis postulates that this evolution is perceptible in French and British comedy at that time, in particular for some of the playwrights who staged miserly characters imprinted in our collective imagination. Starting from a comic type as common in Greek and Roman drama as it was in the well-established religious canon in the Christian West, a new understanding of money as object and as sign leads to the construction of a truly modern figure of avarice. Shylock, Volpone (Mosca) and Harpagon, hang on to a almost divine idea of gold and the more or less known world of money, medium they think they control through their treasure, and which is about to become the universal equivalent of any good. Those characters fit perfectly into this modern dynamic of economic, cultural and social exchanges, but they also contribute, with their strictly usurious speech, to its depreciation. Their entourage tries to tame this « lability » of values (Simmel) generated by the economy of the usurer-miser to a new order – a cosmic, ethical or political order. Conflicts are resolved by a court of law, external discriminatory authority and pretext for the mise-en-abyme of social judgment. The analysis of these denouements allows one to understand the work of each author in the comic form and function, through the text, the genres, or an aesthetic of space. It shows how much each author strived to value the contribution of his art to the public, in a time of socio-economic crisis. / Réalisé en cotutelle avec l'Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense

Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-110).

As primeiras publicações de quadrinhos de terror pela editora La Selva a partir de 1950, iniciaram uma tradição editorial que se prolongaria por cerca de 40 anos no mercado consumidor brasileiro. A popularidade do gênero de horror nos quadrinhos brasileiros permitiu a proliferação, a sobrevivência e o crescimento de muitos pequenos editores, principalmente da periferia paulistana. Dos métodos de importação e adaptação de material da editora La Selva à busca de emancipação e valorização do artista brasileiro pela editora Outubro, temos no quadrinho de terror uma importante fonte de material para uma reflexão sobre práticas de trabalho, organização e metodologia dos editores brasileiros das décadas de 50 e 60. Focalizando a exploração comercial do gênero de horror nestas duas décadas, pretendemos traçar uma abordagem sócio-histórica das relações de trabalho, produção e consumo, sem perder de vista as intermediações entre os diversos grupos sociais envolvidos nestes processos. Correlacionando as interferências entre códigos de técnica e de linguagem entre as diversas mídias, buscaremos comprovar a influência dos meios de comunicação e produção cultural na construção de novas habilidades profissionais, novos métodos e formatos de produtos. Investigando as heranças nos métodos, técnicas e linguagem do legado pulp das revistas de emoção sobre novos formatos como o gibi e a revista de fotonovela, veremos que a introdução destes novos formatos no mercado foi ocasionada pela necessidade de alteração nas escolhas de publicar, rumo à massificação. Neste período histórico de consolidação das indústrias culturais e de convergência das mídias no cenário cultural brasileiro, inter-relacionaremos a tradição editorial dos quadrinhos de terror iniciada pela La Selva e pela Outubro, a popularidade da novela de rádio e do filme cinematográfico. Nas produções de terror de José Mojica Marins e seu folclórico personagem Zé do Caixão veremos a síntese da mescla entre linguagem e técnica transportadas dos quadrinhos para o cinema, seja no transcurso narrativo e visual, como no reaproveitamento de profissionais ligados a tradição de horror nos quadrinhos. Na análise técnica, discursiva e sócio-histórica das obras selecionadas, pretendemos expor a visão destes grupos sobre o desenvolvimento tecnológico, assim como por outro lado, compreendê-lo como resultado da interatividade entre múltiplas áreas e atores sociais. / The first publications of horror comics edited by La Selva Publishing since 1950, started an publishing tradition that would last nearly 40 years in the Brazilian consume culture. The popularity of the horror genre in the Brazilian comics allowed the proliferation, survival and growth of many small publishers, mainly allocated on the suburbs of São Paulo. By the methods of importation and adaptation of editorial matter from La Selva Publishing , or because the search for emancipation and development of Brazilian artists by Outubro Publishing, the horror comics becomes an important material source to theoretical research about work practices, organization forms and methodology of Brazilian publishers from the 50’s and 60’s. Focusing the commercial exploitation of horror genre in these two decades, we will make a socio-historical approach of labor relashionship, production and consumption, in view of intermediation between different social groups involved in these processes. Correlating the interferences between language and technical codes among the media, we intend to demonstrate influences of media products and cultural industry to form new professional skills, methods and formats. Investigating the inheritance of methods, techniques and language of the legacy from the pulp fiction in pulp magazines, from which emerged new formats such as comic book and photo-romance magazines, we observe that the introduction of these new formats was caused by the need to change the choices of publishing towards massification. In this historical period of the consolidation of cultural industries and media convergence in the Brazilian cultural scene, we will compare the tradition of horror comics started by La Selva and Outubro, with the popularity of radio broadcast and motion picture film. In the filmography of José Mojica Marins and the popular character Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe), we see a synthesis of the blend betwen technical language and the course of visual narrative, transported from comics to the movies, as the reuse of professionals related to the horror tradition in Brazilian comic. In the technical, discursive and socio-historical analysis about the selected works, we expose the vision of these social groups on technical development, and on the other hand, understand it as a result of interaction between multiple areas and social actors.

Twentieth century American fiction assimilates archetypes of traditional mythologies, in particular the hero archetype, to create a contemporary mythology which relays social issues relevant to its age. This is first approached by creating a theoretical framework, which primarily consists of both Jungian theories of the collective unconscious and the model on which Joseph Campbell based his conception of the archetype in what is known as myth criticism. The theoretical framework also introduces and describes the graphic novel and its use of characterisation distinctive to post-modern fiction. The Sandman, which is the subject of this study, is then contextualised against the backdrop of the evolution of the American comic book, with its influence of folklore, mythology and visual presentation. Through an overview and analysis of The Sandman series as a whole, as well as a reading of its pivotal narrative, The Kindly Ones, this thesis explores the way in which The Sandman fulfils its purpose of integrating an archetypal hero into contemporary mythology. This is achieved by validating claims proposing the existence of a contemporary mythology through an analysis of Morpheus, The Sandman's protagonist and his unique heroic journey. The conclusion reached is that The Sandman indeed represents a contemporary mythology that contains a new form of social commentary, incorporating archetypes from traditional mythology and re-evaluating the role of the hero in this day and age. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M. A. (Theory of Literature)

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of the usage of comic processing in the lessons of literary education at the second grade of the elementary school. The theoretical part defines the basic expressions concerning the area of literary education, the theory of comic, the theory of adaptation, and effective teaching. The set of four educational scripts employing comic processing of classical works of Czech and world literature, highlighting the up-to-date conception of the literary education in accord with demands on the education which is set down by Framework Education Programme for Elementary Education, was created within the practical part. The main aim of scripts was to support the progress in reader´s literacy and the communicative skills. These educational scripts are not only intended for university students, primarily within the didactics of the Czech language and literature, and beginning teachers, but also for experienced pedagogues. The quality of the scripts was proved in practise.

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Als Teil der Leseförderung für Vor- und Grundschulkinder gestalteten die Städtischen Bibliotheken zusammen mit dem Comic-Zeichner Ulf K. ein „Mitmachbuch“. Dieses bekommen ab sofort alle Schulanfänger, die die Lesefeste der Bibliothek besuchen, zusammen mit dem ebenfalls neu gestalteten Leserücksack überreicht.

Mit dem Begriff Comic wird eine kontingente und veränderbare künstlerisch-mediale Form bezeichnet, in der u. a. die Kombination von Bild und Text sowie eine sequentielle Bildfolge als zentrale formal-ästhetische Charakteristika gelten können. Die Kategorie Gender besitzt in Comics eine grundlegende strukturierende Funktion, die sich sowohl in der Produktion und Rezeption als auch in den Inhalten von und der wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung mit Comics niederschlägt.