<p>This dissertation aims to address the lack of transcultural and historical perspective in the study of the Chinese term <em>shishi</em> and its role in the contemporary literature among the current scholarship. To begin with, the study traces the origin and genealogical development of <em>shishi</em> as a literary concept. It concludes that although it was initially invented as a translation for the Western term “epic,” the connotation of <em>shishi </em>was then greatly expanded and modified by Chinese intellectuals and should be understood as a unique aesthetic paradigm for evaluating literary works and inspiring writers, especially in terms of the criticism and the creation of historical fiction.</p> <p>Guided by the craving for building a unified identity for the newborn nation with literary works inspired by communist ideology, the revolutionary historical novel from the “Seventeen-Year Era” (1949-1966) becomes the embodiment of the classic ideas of <em>shishi</em>: heroism and optimistic belief in social progress. With the revolutionary era coming to an end, the orthodox historical narrative was challenged by writers and critics who began to implement new and alternative methods of representing and reconstructing past events and memories, which leads to the renovation and diversification of <em>shishi</em>. With a combination of textual analysis and historical interpretation, this study shall examine the works of six writers with varied and distinctive features from the 1980s to the present and demonstrate their contribution to the continued relevance and vitality of <em>shishi</em> in Chinese literature. The final lesson is, instead of sustaining a static and definitive view of <em>shishi</em>, we should recognize and embrace its dynamic and plural natures, and its ability to adapt and innovate.</p>

Bereavement beliefs and practices in the modern, American culture have been well documented. However, virtually no research has been conducted on traditional and contemporary death, dying, grief, and bereavement beliefs and practices among native tribes, such as the Lakota. The present study was conducted with the Lakota, and fulfilled two goals. iii First, the contemporary and traditional death, dying, grief, and bereavement beliefs and practices of the Lakota were documented and summarized. Such documentation may help bereaved Lakota tribal members who are experiencing problems with death and bereavement, and may help preserve traditional knowledge, beliefs, and practices. Second, the consensus of opinion among Lakota tribal elders about death, dying , grief, and bereavement practices and beliefs was qualitatively evaluated and compared with that of mental health and substance abuse workers who serve the Lakota. Two main theoretical conclusions to this study were reported. First, the Lakota elders' preferred interventions for bereavement for their people included family, social, community, tribal , and ceremonial activities. These findings likely resulted from the functional aspects of these types of culturally appropriate practices not only to help the bereaved Lakota individual, but also to help "fill the hole in the circle" left by the death of a tribal member. A cultural mechanism for continued tribal unity and wholeness is provided by these tribal bereavement practices. Second, the ancient historical Lakota ceremonies used to ameliorate grief within the tribe appear to have been fragmented over time, but these rituals still exist and their derivatives are used in various contemporary forms. Two main clinical findings were reported. First, a careful clinical assessment of the bereaved Lakota client's level of acculturation is required as a prerequisite to treatment planning. Second, intervention with grieving Lakota clients should include informed attention to both "western" bereavement treatment methods and traditional Lakota family, community, and social bereavement practices. The relative value of various Lakota family, social, community, and tribal bereavement practices and a rank ordering of various Lakota ceremonies were provided. These ceremonies and Lakota tribal practices were compared to modern "western" bereavement treatment methods.

The use of exchange theory as it applies to human relations has escalated dramatically in the past 20 years. The present study applies exchange theory as the basis of mate selection in contemporary society. Whereas an actual barter system was used in the past and families played a major role in choosing prospective mates, participants in the mate selection process are not virtually on their own and must rely upon their own bargaining skills to present their assets on the marriage market. A number of characteristics are thought to enhance or detract from a person's "worth" on the marriage market. Over 900 college students from nine universities across the united states were surveyed in order to ascertain what they considered valuable in a potential mate, and important variables in the mate selection process were determined. Comparisons were made among gender, race, marital status, family size and configuration, socioeconomic status, religious orientation, and geographical region of the United States. The results indicate that important differences exist among the various groups concerning what characteristics enhance or detract from an individual's worth on the marriage market in contemporary America. Finally, it was determined that marital worth of individuals can theoretically be measured.

Research on the efficacy of drug courts for substance-abusing criminal adult offenders has generally found reduced recidivism rates, and both actual and potential cost savings to the public. However , outcome research on juvenile drug courts has been limited. Furthermore , little research has examined variables that may be predictive of outcome in this population. This study reports graduation and rearrest rates for a sample of juvenile drug court participants in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also, this research assessed whether demographics, prior arrest history, attendance at drug education classes, serving detention time, or a preprogram measure of degree of substance abuse (SAS SI-A) help predict several important outcomes (i.e., graduation from the drug court program and number of rearrests per year after leaving drug court). The graduation rate in this sample was fairly high (84.2%). However, the rearrest rate was also relatively high, with slightly over 50% with an arrest for any offense, and 38. 7% with a drug-elated arrest during follow-up (average follow-up time 4.3 years). Serving detention and not attending prevention class predicted lower rates of program graduation, while younger age, male gender, not graduating drug court, non-Caucasian status, and past adjudication predicted higher rates of recidivism (rearrest).

No description available.

No description available.

Many contemporary theologians and political thinkers find in the life and writings of Reinhold Niebuhr the strong critique of complacency and evidence of an unrelenting quest for social justice. Others, however, interpret Niebuhr in the light of neoconservative tenets, and see him as one father of American political realism with its appreciation for stable community life and tradition. These two polarities of interpretation highlight the split between left-liberal sympathies for a theology and politics of liberation and the right-liberal disposition toward values expressed most fully in a democratic capitalism. That thoughtful people of both political and/or theological stripes can trace their intellectual roots back to Niebuhr is witness to the complexity of Niebuhr's thought. Within the broad agenda suggested by these observations, this study seeks to develop and analyze Niebuhr's position on 20th century liberal pacifism. Specifically, it is concerned to trace Niebuhr's reaction against older styles of liberal theology which lent credibility and theoretical support to, among other things, the liberal pacifism which achieved some status in the political and theological debates of wartime North America. The concluding section of the thesis attempts to draw from the study of Niebuhr's criticism of liberal pacifism certain principles which hint at the resolution of the polarities of interpretation of Niebuhr's corpus.I would not deny, however, that although I should not have been among the crucifiers of Jesus, I should also have not been among his supporters. For I cannot help withstanding evil when I see that it is about to destroy the good. I am forced to withstand the evil in the world just as the evil within myself. I can only strive not to have to do so by force. But if there is no way of preventing the good, I trust I shall use force and give myself up into God's hands ... If I am to confess what is truth for me, I must say: There is nothing better for a man than to deal justly -unless it be to love; we should be able even to fight for justice -but to fight lovingly. Martin Buber (1939) In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune, But this is reality so give me some room. Billy Bragg ("Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards", 1988) / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The thesis attempts to explore and analyze the characteristics of the writing of death in Cioran' s texts. Living in France smce 1937, the Romanian-born French writer E.M.Cioran has established a significant position for himself in contemporary French literature. He has been considered one of the greatest French stylists while his contribution to the development of the contemporary essay has o~en been compared to Beckett's contribution to the renewal of the theater in postwar France. The first part of the study is an inquiry into the sense of death that oriented Cioran' s aphoristic writings from beginning to end. I try to describe the crisis of metaphysics and language that influenced Cioran' s -writing, as well as the possible links between his essays and a particular Romanian feeling for death. On the other hand, I also connect Cioran' s writings with the sense of death that characterizes contemporary examinations of discourse in the period after 1960, in France. In the second part of the thesis I attempt to formulate a typological description and analysis of Cioran' s essential modes of expression, the essay and the aphorism. My intention is to examine the feeling of death as a generator of style through an analysis of Cioran' s fundamental texts. The thesis ultimately suggests that in Emil Cioran's work, the feeling of death represents a direct challenge to the legitimacy of literature. Is Cioran a great metaphysician of death? Or is his writing in revolt against the sterile rationalism of the metaphysical revolution that followed the Enlightenment? Should we, then, reconsider his thought and style as a post-modernist expression of the feeling of the end? The present study does not claim to answer these questions, but merely to suggest a few paths that could lead to a better understanding of the writing of an important contemporary French writer.</p> / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

My thesis examines the “New Sincerity,” a recent movement in contemporary fiction, which relies upon and reclaims the ethical concept of sincerity. Rather than accept sincerity at face value, however, I outline a historical trajectory of the concept in order to understand the reasons for its decline and the current attempts to resituate it. Contrasting sincerity with its ancient Grecian root of parrhēsia, I argue that sincerity has been historically mobilized as a mechanism of oppression. Since the traditional conception of sincerity was founded upon the depth model of subjectivity, certain individuals were denied the possibility of professing sincerity; rather, their outward appearances marked them a priori as being deceitful, hypocritical and insincere. Despite the recent theoretical decline of the depth model of subjectivity, I claim that the model has persisted in an afterlife that continues to govern who is given the license and freedom to speak. As such, sincerity has had a significant role in how marginalized subjects, who are often denigrated for being overly emotional, have been categorized as insincere and sentimental. For this reason, my thesis rejects the alleged return of sincerity in favor of a reconceptualization of it. Drawing from the “performative turn,” I claim that sincerity must be continually at risk for it to draw its affective potential. If sincerity with intention is insincere, sincerity is an impossible event that cannot be claimed in advance. Rather, we must bind ourselves to the truth similar to the parrhēsiates of Ancient Greek and take care to question the other. In doing so, sincerity becomes a truth-telling based on actions instead of judgments. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Orwell is painfully aware of almost all the difficulties under which the present day writer labors. These range from the squalid reality of poverty (espeoially true in his own case) to a serious uncertainty over the nature and purpose of literature. However, four problems seem to stick in his mind and he returns to them continually- They are (1) the difficulty of maintaining one's intellectual and artistiointegrity in a world whioh increasingly threatens personal freedom; (2) the neoessity of finding a balance between the claims of art and those of propaganda in literary works; (3) the steady deterioration of the English language under political and social pressures; and finally (4) the hardships which the writer is oompelled to suffer if he tries to support himself solely by his writing.