The fictive world created by Oxford Professor J. R. R. Tolkien is intimately linked with his own views of the world. His love for the natural world shines through his works and has given rise to multiple scholars focusing on Tolkien and ecology. This study falls under that category and is an ecological interpretation of The Lord of the Rings and presents the argument that Tolkien divides his characters into three types. These types are representations of different approaches to nature: nature as a tool for human progress, nature as our ideal existence and nature as an equal part of the world. The significance of the study is the focus on the three wizards in The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White and Radagast the Brown, as representatives of different ecological positions. The study centres on the argument that Gandalf is a representative of nature as an equal part of the world. A balanced, holistic view of nature and humanity is put forward by J. R. R. Tolkien as the correct way for humanity to view nature. Furthermore, Gandalf as a character shows how humanity is supposed to act in terms of natural protection and preservation.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo a compreensão da temática polissêmica da preguiça a partir do referencial teórico da psicanálise. Com a articulação de algumas figuras específicas da preguiça a preguiça-tristeza, a preguiça-heroica e a preguiça-onírica busca-se identificar as relações e os elementos em comum desses fenômenos. Assim, nessa pesquisa confronta-se a preguiça com alguns temas que ajudam a compor o seu significado;a articulação dessa dinâmica em eixos específicos se constrói, ao mesmo tempo, sobre o fundo polissêmico da preguiça, de forma a compor o seu significado segundo as relações que podem ser verificadas da interação entre as figuras e o fundo. A preguiça-tristeza foi uma figura investigada em sua relação com o pecado capital do cristianismo denominado até pelo menos o século XIII como acídia e com a melancolia, tal como descrita na teoria freudiana. A preguiça-heroica, por sua vez, abre a articulação com o universo do trabalho e das utopias, na tentativa de mostrar a existência de uma noção de preguiça que não é avessa à criatividade e à vida, senão à servidão e ao trabalho forçado. Em ambas essas figuras, percebe-se a existência da repetição de dois elementos em comum na preguiça, identificados a partir do referencial teórico adotado, a saber, a fantasia e a regressão. No estudo desses recortes procura-se delimitar alguns conceitos psicanalíticos e a maneira que a psicanálise entende o desenvolvimento do sentido de realidade, de forma a tecer considerações metapsicológicas sobre o assunto. Nesse sentido, o estudo da fantasia e dos princípios do funcionamento psíquico se articulam com algumas considerações a respeito da noção de realidade e das maneiras pelas quais é possível alterá-la. Por último, observa-se a preguiça-onírica como a emergência do exagero cômico da ociosidade festiva, configurando-se como uma fantasia preguiçosa que só pode se formar em momentos de preguiça. Formulação esta, que, aproximada da articulação psicanalítica entre a necessidade do sono para a existência do sonho, possibilita a investigação a respeito do caráter regressivo da preguiça. Nesse último recorte, a regressão é discutida com um enfoque na sua aparição na clínica, no sentido de observar como a preguiça pode ser entendida e manejada nesse dispositivo. Apesar da tentativa de delimitação e do recorte do argumento, considerações pertinentes a uma figura ou eixo surgem nos demais e a forma ensaio é a tentativa de organizar, na forma de um texto, a variedade de significados que esse tema adquire / This work has the objective to understand the polysemy of laziness from the psychoanalytic theoretical framework. Through the observation and description of three specific figures of laziness sad-laziness, heroic-laziness and oniric-laziness are identified the common elements that are present in each of these forms, as well as the relations between them. Therefore, in the present work, the confrontation of laziness with other themes is essential to build its meaning. The articulation of this dynamic in specific axis is made over a more general comprehension of the polysemy of laziness, in order to compose its meaning according to the relations that can be verified from the interaction between the figures and the background. The sad-laziness is a figure investigated in relation with the capital sin of Christianity called until at least the end of the XIII centuryas acedia and with melancholy, as described by Freud. In turn, heroic-laziness opens the universe of articulation between laziness, work and utopia, in the attempt to demonstrate the existence of a certain sense of laziness that is not antagonistic to creativity or to life itself, but to servitude and forced labor. Two elements are present in each of these figures: fantasy and regression. There is an attempt to delimitate some psychoanalytic concepts and the way psychoanalysis understands the development of the sense of reality in order to construct some metapsychological comments on this subject. In this sense, the study of fantasy and of the principles of mental functioning makes it possible to consider the ways and means by which someone can alter reality. Finally, with the oniric-laziness we observe the emergence of a radical and comic form of festive idleness that shapes itself as a lazy fantasy, which can only gain shape from a moment of laziness. This formulation, that is analogically similar to the psychoanalytic assertion that sleep is the condition to dream, guides the investigation of the regressive nature of laziness. This happens with a scope aimed for the problem of clinical regression, in the sense to observe how one can understand and handle laziness in the psychoanalytic device. Despite the attempt to delimitate and to organize the argument in three distinct figures, some comments that are relevant to one axis or figure may appear in the others, and the essay is the form chosen as an attempt to arrange such variety of meanings that laziness can acquire

A pesquisa tem como objeto a imaginação na filosofia de Pascal, a qual parece se revelar não propriamente como uma região da alma, mas como força e seus efeitos, os duplos o costume, a opinião e a fantasia , que são as formas segundo as quais a imaginação se expressa nas três ordens de realidade definidas por Pascal, ou seja, segundo as quais ela encarna e assume contornos visíveis. O objetivo é seguir os embates entre a imaginação nas duas ordens de realidade às quais Pascal atribui um papel positivamente epistemológico: aqueles entre imaginação e razão nos apresentarão seu duplo na ordem espiritual, a opinião, serão objeto do primeiro capítulo; os embates entre imaginação e coração gestam a fantasia na ordem da caridade e serão abordados no segundo capítulo. No terceiro e derradeiro capítulo da dissertação, examinaremos a relação entre imaginação e perspectiva para explorar outras dimensões dos instrumentos hermenêuticos que Pascal mobiliza em Pensamentos com o intuito de melhor fundamentar a hipótese dos duplos da imaginação. / This research has as object the imagination in Pascals philosophy, which seems reveals itself not properly as region of the soul but as a force and its effects, the doubles the custom, the opinion e the fantasy , that are the forms accordingly which the imagination express itself on the three orders of reality defined by Pascal, such as, accordingly which she embodies and and takes on visible contours. The goal is to follow the conflicts between imagination in the two orders of reality to which Pascal assigns a positive epistemological role: those between imagination and reason will present in his double in the spiritual order, opinion, will be the subject of the first chapter; the clashes between imagination and heart bear costume in the order of charity and will be discussed in the second chapter. In the third and final chapter of the this work, we examine the relationship between imagination and perspective to explore other dimensions of hermeneutical instruments Pascal mobilizes in The thoughts in order to better support the hypothesis of doubles of imagination.

Syftet med denna undersökning var att se hur betraktares uppfattning av karaktärer påverkas då färgsättningen varieras. Undersökningen lutar sig mot en teoretisk bas om färg och uppfattningen av färg och ytterligare för att stärka karaktärernas utformning finns en genomgång av hur vi uppfattar människor, stereotyper, arketyper samt en kort förklaring till fantasy. För undersökningen skapades två olika karaktärer som skulle färgsättas med färgerna rött, blått, grönt och lila. Totalt färdigställdes arton bilder som sedan utvärderades i en webbenkät, enkäten varierades med slutna och öppna frågor för att få mer material om tankegångarna för färgsättningarna. Undersökningen visar att betraktare anser att färg påverkar sättet de uppfattar karaktärerna på och relaterar gärna till känslor, andra spelkaraktärer eller kända arketypiska figurer, exempelvis en fantasyprästinna. Studien kan med fördel användas som tankeställare i utformningen av karaktärer i spel och göra spelet mer minnesvärt.

Foam fighting is a form of Live Action Role Playing (LARP) that focuses on mock combat and recreational battle, with role-playing aspects taking a less prominent role. It is sometimes referred to as a “poor man’s martial art”.While there does not appear to be any clear documentation concerning the origins, research on foam fighting suggests the sport began in Maryland in the 1970’s and slowly spread throughout the United States. This research will illustrate how the sport of foam fighting demands a level of critical thinking that takes both the participant and audience beyond the sight of a swinging stick. I plan to show how this sport provides an outlet for high levels of creativity, social interaction and strategic planning skills. It is a hobby that has had a great impact on the daily lives of many of its participants and continues to grow and evolve. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Publication of science fiction has a tradition in Sweden. Adult-fantasy does not. In recentyears, the 1980's, Swedish publishers have realised how profitable fantasy is. Of the totalpublication of the two genres between 1989 and 1994, 54% was science fiction and 46%was fantasy. The reason for this even balance is that fantasy-books get reprinted more frequentlythan science fiction-books. However, there are more science fiction-titles published thanfantasy-titles.The four public libraries that I have examined have similar methods of acquiring books. Theyhave all, just about, acquired the same titles of fantasy while the science fiction acquired differsto a large degree. The four libraries • acquisitions are similar to those of the libraries connectedto Bibliotekstjänst's database BURK. The differences between the four libraries lie in thenumber of science fiction and fantasy-books and the distribution of different languages thebooks were originally published in.

The role-playing game attracts a growing number of practisers. The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine role-playing literature as phenomenon in libraries through librarians´ attitudes. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with eight librarians: one personal interview with two librarians and six e-mail interviews with six librarians at different libraries. The paper starts with a definition of the term ”role-playing game”, its different categories and genres and a description of its background. We also discuss the debate about role-playing games and their position in society. We use Pierre Bourdieu’s theories about habitus, capital and taste and apply them to the librarians’ attitude towards users and literature. We place role-playing literature at the same level as popular literature. We describe the history of popular literature and the criticism against it and focus on fantasy literature. The scientific aspect of popular literature, in which we place role-play literature as well, has become more acceptable during the latest decades. The result of this paper shows that the librarians have a positive attitude towards role-playing literature at libraries and they feel that it can stimulate creativity and traditional reading as well as own writing. It can also attract people who don’t visit libraries regularly. The future of role-playing literature depends on the librarians’ willingness to familiarize themselves with the benefits and drawbacks of role-playing games and also how they market the games to their colleagues and the market of users. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine how the gender system is described in fantasy novels. The theoretical framework is based on Yvonne Hirdman’s theory on gender system, primarily the two basic principles: the principle of dichotomy, of separation between the sexes, and the principle of hierarchy, of man as norm. The method used is idea analysis which is a form of textual analysis. We have created three ideal types, the ideal man, the ideal woman and hierarchy, which help us to analyze the material. The result shows that the gender system is more prominent in fantasy fiction belonging to the subgenre high fantasy, than in low fantasy novels. Women in the four novels we classify as high fantasy are for the most part invisible; they only exist as wives, mothers, daughters and perhaps possible love interests for the male hero. Even in books where the main character is a girl, the women are relatively invisible. Men in these four novels are more prominent but as stereotypical as the women. In the two novels we classify as low fantasy both women and men are less stereotypical and are described more freely. The values spread by high fantasy novels are more traditional when it comes to gender issues than values spread by low fantasy novels. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine how six fantasynovels reflects or breaks the heteronormativity in society bylooking at how gender roles and sexuality are described.The theoretical framework is based on Judith Butler's theoryabout the heterosexual matrix which requires two separategenders and a compulsory heterosexuality and YvonneHirdman's two principles about dichotomy and hierarchy.The method used was idea analysis where dimensions basedon the theoretical framework were constructed. Thesedimensions were: behaviour, tasks, relationships and roles.The result shows that all of the books both breaks andreflects the society's values on gender and sexuality. Thereare some stereotypes present, for example that intuition isassociated with femininity and physical strength withmasculinity. However, the books also offer characters ofboth sexes that break the gender stereotypes, such asstrong women and emotional men. This is consistent withwhat previous research has shown. The relationships offersome examples of norm breaking but the nuclear family andheterosexual couple is a clear norm. Some of the writersseem to have a more conscious approach to normssurrounding gender and sexuality and these books also offermore character variation. / Program: Bibliotekarie

This dissertation analyzes the ways in which monstrosity is articulated in fantastic literature, a genre or mode that is inherently devoted to the challenge of representing the unrepresentable. Through the readings of a number of nineteenth-century texts and the analysis of the fiction of two twentieth-century writers (H. P. Lovecraft and Tommaso Landolfi), I show how the intersection of the monstrous theme with the fantastic literary mode forces us to consider how a third term, that of language, intervenes in many guises in the negotiation of the relationship between humanity and monstrosity. I argue that fantastic texts engage with monstrosity as a linguistic problem, using it to explore the limits of discourse and constructing through it a specific language for the indescribable. The monster is framed as a bizarre, uninterpretable sign, whose disruptive presence in the text hints towards a critique of overconfident rational constructions of ‘reality’ and the self. The dissertation is divided into three main sections. The first reconstructs the critical debate surrounding fantastic literature – a decades-long effort of definition modeling the same tension staged by the literary fantastic; the second offers a focused reading of three short stories from the second half of the nineteenth century (“What Was It?,” 1859, by Fitz-James O’Brien, the second version of “Le Horla,” 1887, by Guy de Maupassant, and “The Damned Thing,” 1893, by Ambrose Bierce) in light of the organizing principle of apophasis; the last section investigates the notion of monstrous language in the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft and Tommaso Landolfi.