Thesis--Johns Hopkins University, 1905. / "Originally published 1911." Bibliography: p. 143-144.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references.

Revision of Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 323-339) and index.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [264]-274) and index.

Thesis--Université de Provence. / Includes indexes. Bibliography: p. 973-1005.

In this study I identify and argue for hybridity as a common feature in four postcolonial texts, namely Femi Abodunrin’s It Would Take Time, Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s Masks, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Matigari and Mvona’s An Arrow from Maraka. The study advances that when two or more cultures encounter one another hybridity affects the new emergent culture socially, linguistically, historically and politically. Employing Homi Bhabha’s interrelated terms, notably ambivalence, mimicry, liminality, the third space, in-between space and interstitial space —all of which gesture towards the concept of hybridity, the study explains the emergence of corresponding and equally complex identities in the postcolonial world. With a specific reference to Africa, the study establishes that postcolonial discourse is not as transparent because hybridity does not necessarily mean coming up with completely new aspects of Africa but it implies coming up with mixed cultures since different histories and cultures affect each other in order to come up with a new brand. As such the study concludes that hybridity is opposed to cultural purity and the assumed status quo. In this dissertation I therefore argue for hybridity as a solution to identity crisis because the new personality displays different traces which, in the words of Homi Bhabha, are called “transcultural identities” and such a plurality of identities leads to the production of hybrid personalities and cultures. Such transcultural forms within the contact zone, which Bhabha calls the “in-between space,” carry the burden and meaning of the new cultures that emerge in the postcolonial condition. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

This thesis charts divine assembly scenes in ancient Mesopotamian narrative poetry and the early Greek hexameter corpus, and aims to contribute to a cross-cultural comparison in terms of literary systems. The recurrent scene of the divine gathering is shown to underpin the construction of small- and large-scale compositions in both the Sumero-Akkadian and early Greek traditions. Parts 1 and 2 treat each corpus in turn, reflecting a methodological concern to assess the comparanda within their own context first. Part 1 (Chapters 1-4) examines Sumerian narrative poems, and the Akkadian narratives Atra-hsīs, Anzû, Enûma eliš, Erra and Išum and the Epic of Gilgameš. Part 2 (Chapters 5-8) considers Homer's Iliad, the Odyssey, the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod's Theogony. The comparative approaches in Part 3 are developed in two chapters (9-10). Chapter 9 offers a detailed comparison of this typical scene's poetic morphology and compositional purpose. Relevant techniques and effects, a function of the aural reception of literature, are shown to overlap to a considerable degree. Although the Greeks are unlikely to have taken over the feature from the Near East, it is suggested that the Greek divine assembly is not to be detached form a Near Eastern context. Because the shared elements are profoundly embedded in the Greek orally-derived poetic tradition, it is possible to envisage a long-term process of oral contact and communication fostered by common structures. Chapter 10 turns to a comparison of the literary pantheon: a focus on the organisation of divine prerogatives and the chief god figures illuminates culture-specific differences which can be related to historical socio-political conditions. Thus, this thesis seeks to enhance our understanding of the representation of the gods in Mesopotamian poetry and early Greek epic, and develops a systemic approach to questions of transmission and cultural appreciation.

Este trabalho irá propor novas possibilidades de leitura para o poema épico Vila Rica, do poeta mineiro Cláudio Manoel da Costa (1729-1789). Escrito em 1773, não chegou a vir à público durante a vida do autor que, desiludido com a pouca repercussão de suas obras na metrópole portuguesa, não o teria considerado digno de publicação, o que viria a ocorrer somente postumamente em 1839. Ocorre, porém, que Vila Rica é um documento de grande importância para a história do país, visto que faz a representação muito atenta da fundação da capital das Minas, cidade que aí significa a própria pátria. Seu poema épico é, antes de tudo, um dos poucos textos escritos em tempos coloniais que evidenciam perspectivas de análise da formação social, política e econômica da capitania de Minas. Ademais, as edições do Vila Rica são relativamente raras e pouco ensejaram leituras de caráter historiográfico que visassem compreender a obra como documento histórico. Faz-se imprescindível, portanto, à historiografia dos textos coloniais, definir novas possibilidades de leitura deste texto épico, contribuindo para enriquecer a historiografia colonial. Para isso devemos percorrer em análise as partes essenciais que compõem o Vila Rica, desde a Carta Dedicatória e o poema propriamente dito, passando pelo estudo histórico que o fundamenta, bastante revelador das qualidades literárias de Cláudio como historiador, o Fundamento Histórico. Resultado do empenho do poeta em vasculhar documentos e colher relatos sobre Minas, o Fundamento Histórico demonstra a nítida preocupação de fornecer autoridade à história que narra por meio da análise crítica e da escolha criteriosa das fontes. Sendo assim, a escrita da história contida no Fundamento e a utilizada no poema possuem características distintas, que respondem a pretensões específicas, que deveremos analisar. Pensar a maneira como se utiliza a História nestes dois níveis discursivos é tarefa imprescindível para iniciar qualquer consideração acerca do valor historiográfico do poema. E será este o motivo condutor do trabalho. Mostraremos enfim os critérios utilizados pela crítica já feita sobre o poeta e sua obra, que sempre tendeu à sua desvalorização do poema, para mostrar em seguida uma nova possibilidade de análise, comprometida em esboçar o valor historiográfico do poema a partir de sua própria constituição como discurso de gênero histórico. Assim percorreremos duas vias de análise. Em primeiro lugar procuraremos entender o poema como produto de sua época, definindo seus principais níveis de existência, desde a criação, passando pela circulação e leitura do mesmo. Desta análise passaremos a outra, comprometida com o entendimento dos pressupostos aplicados ao épico que o puderam definir como escrito de gênero histórico, reavaliando assim a obra. Discutiremos também a consciência, sempre presente na obra de Cláudio Manuel da Costa, de pertencer a uma nova terra, o que levou à afirmação do seu sentimento nacionalista e da motivação para a Inconfidência feita pelos críticos românticos. Veremos enfim as bases que conduzem este suposto patriotismo, a partir de uma análise dos preceitos poéticos utilizados pelo autor, tendo assim por tarefa perceber até que ponto este patriotismo deve ser entendido como expressão psicológica e individual de uma paixão pela pátria ou como mera aplicação de uma tópica de composição. / This work offers a new approach to the epic poem Vila Rica, by Minas Geraisborn poet Cláudio Manoel da Costa (1729-1789). Written in 1773, it was not published during the life of the author who, disenchanted with the poor repercussion of his works in the Portuguese metropolis, did not consider it worth of publication, which would only occur posthumously in 1839. Nevertheless, Vila Rica is a very important document for the history of the country, since it offers a rather accurate representation of the foundation of the Minas capital, a city that in this context means the country itself. His epic poem is, above all, one of the few documents written in colonial times that focus on the analysis of the social, political and economical formation of the captaincy of Minas. Furthermore, the editions of Vila Rica are relatively rare and little instigate historiographic studies that aim at perceiving the work as a historical document. It is imperative then, to the historiography of the colonial texts, to define new reading approaches to this epic text, contributing to enrich the colonial historiography. For that we must analyze the essential parts that make up Vila Rica, from Carta Dedicatória (Dedicatory Letter) and the poem itself, through the historic study that substantiates it, very revealing of Cláudio\'s literary talent as a historian, Fundamento Histórico (Historic Foundation). A result from the poet\'s application to search through documents and gather accounts on Minas, Fundamento Histórico clearly evinces the concern to provide authority to the story it narrates through critical analysis and a discerning choice of sources. That way, the history account in Fundamento and the one utilized in the poem have distinct characteristics, which aim at specific objectives, which we will analyze. To study the way he utilizes History in these two discursive levels is an indispensable task to approach any consideration as to the poem\'s historiographical value. And this will be the main motive of the work. We will show the criteria used by the critics on the poet and his work, which always tended to the depreciation of the poem, to later demonstrate a new possible analysis, one committed to sketch the poem\'s historiographic value from its own constitution as a historical discourse. We will therefore cover two lines of analysis. First we will try to understand the poem as a product of its own time, defining its main levels of existence, from its creation through its circulation and reading. From that we will proceed to the next one, committed to understanding the plans applied to the epic that could define it as a historical text, thus revaluating the work. We will also discuss the conscience, always present in Cláudio Manuel da Costa\'s work, that he belonged to a new land, which led to the affirmation of his nationalist feelings and the motivation for the Inconfidência (Disloyalty) made by the romantic critics. Finally, we will see the bases that direct this presumed patriotism, from an analysis of the poetic principles utilized by the author, aiming at perceiving how much this patriotism should be understood as a psychological and individual expression of a passion for his country or as a mere application of an argument for composition.

Ce travail décrit les différentes formes que prennent les emprunts à l'épopée dans les comédies d'Aristophane afin de définir le rapport construit par la comédie entre les deux genres littéraires, entre dérision comique et hommage littéraire, ruptures et continuités idéologiques, filiations et innovations poétiques. / This study tries to describe the various forms of Aristophanic borrowing to epic poetry, in order to define the relationship between the two genres: mockery or homage to the poet, ideological break or continuity, poetic filiation or innovation?