Recent research on cultural citizenship focuses on issues of identity and belonging in multicultural societies and examines the political, economic, and cultural aspects of community membership in local, national, and transnational groups. Postcolonial research into colonial and neocolonial representations of individual and national cultural identities offers a means of interrogating hegemonic discursive practices of Orientalism, neocolonialism and globalization as they relate to the representation of cultural citizenship. This dissertation positions the representation of Indian cultural identities in the films of Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair, and Gurinder Chadha as practices of cultural citizenship that attempt to reposition the Indian as a local identity in three Western multicultural societies: Canada, the US and the UK. It draws on postcolonial, gender, and literary theory to textually analyze the discourses underlying the filmic representations of marginalized identities by incorporating the theories of Said, Spivak, Mohanty, and Bhabha into a socio-cultural analysis of Indian identity construction. The study utilizes the Lacanian theory of the mirror stage within the canonical writings of postcolonial theorists like hooks, Said, Fanon, and Bhabha, all of whom use Lacan’s work to describe the splitting of the subject from the Other in order to illustrate the production of the derogatory figure of the Indian as inscribed in Orientalist, and Western/ Eurocentric discourses. This figure is precisely that produced in and consumed through Bollywood films. Chapter one offers an analysis of the Lacanian subject formation as a moment in which the spectator of these films views the cinematic representation of the imago of Indian cultural identity—which in these films can be read as sociocultural constructions of local non-alien figures with community memberships in the adopted homelands—as practices of cultural citizenship acquisition affecting both the alienation of the characters and the spectators. My second chapter, by revising the feminist perspectives of Spivak and Mohanty, strategically locates the subject position of these diasporic filmmakers as intellectuals to relate the representation of Indian cultural identity as a cultural practice within the praxis of Western film. In doing so, it aims to unearth the Indian woman in the West as the cousin of the subaltern woman, positioning her vis-à-vis a Western and local identity within a multicultural society. In my exploration of the filmmakers’ practices of cultural citizenship I relate their community membership to the concept of Dharma as a culturally grounded feminist and postcolonial writing back to the subordinate representation of female Indians in their multiple locations. In the third chapter I offer that cultural citizenship as a practice of representation of visible minorities constructed by these filmmakers offers a necessary splintering of the dominant national identities of their multicultural societies that illuminates the hybridity of cultural identities and the plurality of national identities. The filmmakers achieve this revision by positioning the Indian as local of, rather than Other to, multicultural society. The discussion of Canadian multiculturalism in this chapter illustrates that these filmmakers’ representations of plurality in their construction of national identities, splinters the representation of white monocultural national identities prevalent in Western multicultural nations. My thesis contributes to the fields of postcolonial, literary, and cultural theory in the following ways: a) I add to the discussion of Lacan’s subject formation, and the mirroring of the Other and the alienation of the immigrant, by examining the imago as a reflection of identity which can offer spectators a moment of belonging within an adopted homeland as a cultural citizenship practice; b) I add to the debate on cultural citizenship by relating the historic concept of Dharma to my discussion of the intellectual production of female identities and explicate how its counter-narrative challenges to the gender roles of Indian men and women. Ultimately I conclude that the representation of Indian cultural identity by these filmmakers and the representation of the imago as external spectral image of the Indian, immigrant, or visible Other, discloses a discursive strategy of social cohesion in its challenging representation of plural national identities which are local, multiracial, and multicultural.

M.A. (English) / Much scholarship dealing with works belonging to Athol Fugard's first decade as a writer does so distortedly or inadequately. This study traces and evaluates Fugard's formative and underexplored first decade, which has only recently become available in its entirety for scrutiny, by means of a systematic study of themes and the evolution of narrative and theatrical techniques, and, in some aspects, relates it to works of later phases which fall beyond the scope of this study...

D.Phil. (African Languages) / This study examines the works of one of the most gifted writers of Sesotho, Sophonia Machabe Mofokeng. He wrote SENKATANA, a drama, LEETONG, a collection of short stories and PELONG VA KA, a volume of essays. In this work we trace the link between his writings and his real lived life because we have a hunch that his works are autobiographical. Our informants about his real lived life are his family, friends and associates. In our analysis we are guided by the principles and conditions of autobiography. Our emphasis is on the elements of autobiography as presented by Howarth (1980) namely, character, technique and theme. We do find that a link exists between the characters in the books written by Mofokeng, and Mofokeng himself. For instance, we do see through the characters Mofokeng the poor man, the achiever, the selfless person, the leader, the teacher, the oppressed man and so on. Secondly, through his style, we are able to see a portrayal of himself. He succeeds to do this because as he establishes his past he is at the same time revealing himself to us readers. This goes along with Starobinski's declaration that every autobiography is a self-revelation. Lastly, through his themes, we get to know what Mofokeng's aspirations and visions were. We learn for instance that he longed for freedom, was against evil, was full of hope, was a staunch christian and wished that all should live their lives in full.

M.A. (Greek) / This text is divided into two basic parts. The first part gives an account of the function of the Platonic dialogue, how the dialogue attempts to fulfil this function, and consequently, how it should be read. The core idea is that the Platonic dialogue aims to be transformative, not informative; it aims to bring about an ethical reorientation of the reader rather than his acceptance of certain philosophical doctrines. The second part is a commentary on Plato’s Meno. It attempts to enact the account of the Platonic dialogue given in the first part. The proper way to engage with a Platonic dialogue is to become a commentator, to participate in the discussion, to use the discourse as a lever of philosophical learning and self-understanding

This thesis is a study of the twentieth-century debate between F.R. Leavis and F.W. Bateson. In it I explore the critical positions held by Leavis and Bateson in relation to the function of criticism and the role of the critic. The epistemological inquiry central to my analysis asks: is literary criticism and the study of literature antithetical to the construct of a discipline, which by definition presupposes objective standards and criteria. My research concludes that the views contested throughout the Leavis-Bateson debate stem from pre-conceived and implicit notions regarding what Leavis and Bateson deem literary art ought to be. As such, their methodological principles and critical ideologies can be seen as practical extensions of subjective values. In the later sections of the thesis I examine the key issues of the debate in relation to wider critical discourse in which the principles of literary evaluation are subject to applied autotelic and meta-critical analysis. I conclude my work with the assertion that due to the inherency of subjectivism in processes of critical performance, the systematic application of determinable validity to critical methods or judgments within fields and disciplines of knowledge, occurs not through deference to verifiable domains of aesthetic or nomothetic truth, but rather through functions of power, position, and bad faith.

The social internet environment has given rise to new ways of engaging and critiquing animated video. In this democratic environment, criticism is no longer exclusive to a few select recognised professional critics and there is no real distinction between professional and non-¬professional critics. The coexistence of both types of critics within the same space results in more dynamic engagement with the subject and creates the conditions for learning. Developments in technology which include cellular phones in particular but also include other devices such as tablets have allowed viewers and potential critics to access online video from any location, broadening accessibility and the scope for critical engagements. New online tools and increased internet connectivity have resulted in an explosion of animated video and critics of all kinds are needed to cater to the growing demand for criticism. This suggests that greater significance needs to be placed on self-proclaimed critics and other opinionated users of the web. This paper sets out to examine and assess the value in criticism by the new expanded audience of non¬‐professional critics. It explores interactive social tools in detail, including blogs, twitter and particularly video‐based websites to understand the manner in which they affect the reception of animated videos as well as the subsequent criticism of these videos. The main question to be addressed is whether or not valuable and relevant criticism can be accessed from various online social platforms attached to newly accessible sources for animation.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University. / The purpose of this study was to examine the criticism of a representative group of nineteenth century American authors (Bryant, Poe, Holmes, Whittier, Cooper, Hawthorne, Melville, Simms, Sigourney, Southworth, Whitman, and Thoreau) in about a dozen representative British and the same number of American periodicals during the years l840-l860, with the intention of presenting through summary, paraphrase, and quotation, a cross section of the criticism and of discovering, if possible, the similarities in and differences between the two bodies of criticism. A number of conclusions emerged. The British criticism was not unduly harsh, unfair, condescendince, or colored in any significant way by a general anti-American feeling or a feeling of superciliousness. There were exceptions, to which I feel the Americans gave the undue attention and currency that exceptions usually receive. The American criticism was not influenced by strong feelings of nationalism to the point of being unduly gentle, exaggerated, or chauvinistic, although, here again, there were outstanding examples of these attitudes, to which the writers of the day gave more notice than they deserved. American criticism did not take its cue from and wait upon the pronouncements of the British before it dared to commit itself. On the contrary, it was almost without exception earlier than the British reactions in the case of specific American works, was sometimes different from the British criticism, and was cited occasionally by the British themselves. This is not to say that American critics were independent of British influence. Given a powerful and ancient tradition and culture, a similar system of education and the same language, the Americans inevitably adhered to many of the same standards and were influenced by the same background. It is therefore difficult to say that there is a distinct and characteristic American criticism. Religious, political, class, geographical, and aesthetic influences affect judgments within each of the two bodies of criticism. As a result, divisions are often more marked on these lines than on strictly national ones. For example, the denominational magazines on both sides of the Atlantic seem to have more in common in their treatment of ethical and didactic issues than they have differences because of their national origins; and the political liberals of England and America have more in common with each other than with their conservative countryman. Sectional differences within the states often seem as great as those between American and Britain. [truncated]

Can the subaltern really speak? Invoking Gayatri Spivak's post-colonial theory on the subaltern, this study aims to highlight the necessary, yet problematic relationship between intellectuals and the marginalized groups they seek to represent. This study argues that in the last chapter of Julia Alvarez's How the Garcâia Girls Lost Their Accents, the image of the wailing cat becomes a haunting image regarding Alvarez's own subject-position as a writer, a role that often places her in the center of harsh criticism. Consequently, this project traces the subaltern figures through three of Alvarez's texts -¡YO!, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Saving the World - in order to reveal the paradox that defines their relationship with the privileged body that seeks to be their representative. The subaltern cannot speak beyond the margins without the help of the elite; however, the same position of privilege and power that enables the intellectual to write can quickly become the factor that discredits their right to speak. Consequently, this study also attempts to reclaim the voice of Julia Alvarez, who is herself silenced and thus, rendered subaltern in the literary market by critics who feel that her privileged position complicates her ability to represent the collective. / by Raquel Alonso. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.