The simulation of sickness intrigued British writers from the very beginning of the eighteenth century, attracting attention within a wide range of social spheres. Drawing upon texts from the fields of literature, medicine, theology, welfare policy, the military, and the law courts, this interdisciplinary thesis combines close textual analysis with an examination of social and cultural contexts in order to explain why the issue of feigned illness became such a prevalent and enduring source of debate in eighteenth-century Britain. Both the allure and the threat of simulated sickness lay in the ability of ill health to confer power upon the sufferer. On the one hand ill health might operate as a signifier of social or spiritual importance, yet sickness also functioned as a source of practical power, enabling emotional manipulation, exemption from social duties, and access to resources. The perceived benefits of ill health made the identification of simulated illness a matter of importance, yet the subject would not have attracted such attention were it not for prevailing doubts as to the legibility of the body. As this thesis indicates, the varied attitudes towards and representations of simulated sickness provide fascinating insights into the preoccupations of writers of different spheres and periods. Nevertheless, broader trends in attitudes towards bodily legibility and feigned illness are visible. Early eighteenth-century writers were generally wary of trusting external appearances, while the middle decades of the century were marked by an expression of faith in the natural legibility of the body, as demonstrated by the fashion for the literature of sensibility, acting through feeling, and the medico-literary rhetoric of nerves. Renewed scepticism towards the close of the century resulted in growing debates about the duty of medical practitioners to detect feigned illness, and the methods by which this might be accomplished. While the treatment of the subject evolved, its continued relevance highlights a sustained cultural preoccupation with the legibility of the body and its potential to mislead or even deceive, a subject that continued to fascinate writers to the very end of the eighteenth century.

The 2002 Supreme Court decision (Atkins vs. Virginia, 536 U. S. 304), prohibiting the execution of mentally retarded persons, may potentially increase malingering of mental retardation (MR). There is limited research addressing the detection of feigned MR. The present study compared results from tests of intelligence, adaptive functioning, legal/courtroom knowledge, and psychiatric and neurocognitive feigning to determine how effectively these instruments discriminate between MR participants and community volunteers asked to either approach the test honestly (CVH group) or feign, or malinger, MR (CVM group). CVMs suppressed their IQ scores sufficiently to appear MR. CVMs overestimated deficits on individuals with genuine MR on tests of adaptive functioning and courtroom knowledge. Psychiatric feigning instruments did not discriminate between MR and CVM groups. Neurocognitive feigning instruments discriminated between groups, however specificity and Positive Predictive Power were unacceptably low. Revising cutting scores to hold specificity at .95 improved PPP significantly, suggesting the potential utility of these instruments to detect feigned mental retardation. Results from this study suggest that applying published decision rules to MR populations on tests commonly used in forensic neuropsychological evaluations will likely result in a high rate of false positive errors. Given the high stakes associated with classification errors in capital cases involving MR defendants, alternative cutting scores appropriate for this population should be determined.

Margaret Sweatmans novel, <i>When Alice Lay Down With Peter</i>, plays with the British Empires adventure story and its creation of manhood. Mimicking this creative process in the Canadian Northwest, Sweatman conceives and births a womans previously erased passion back into the adventure story in a playful, erotic, and politically-charged presentation of the performing female body. Although appreciating the magic realism element to the novel (157), Nicole Markotic suggests that Sweatmans characters, like the readers, become History Tourists and are mere backdrop for the last century or so of Current Events that take precedence over their stories (156). The McCormack women, Markotic argues, have few stories other than going to war, having one momentous sex scene, giving birth (156). Indeed, Sweatmans whirlwind tour through 109 years of well-documented, and already too many times rehashed, rebellions, labour strikes, and world wars, seems to reflect this sentiment, but to limit Sweatman and her characters to only the Empires gender performative is to miss the female body performing as its own Big Bang.<p>Since a womans contingency and agency within the Empires gender performative has been vigorously debated by post modern and cultural theorists, Sweatman chooses to birth her characters into a world of/as performance. Richard Schechner, a pioneer in the field of performance theory, argues in his earlier work, Essays on Performance Theory (1977), that performance is a very inclusive notion of action, in which the performance workshop and the performance strategy of play are much more important than previously imagined (1,61). Sweatman draws on this discovery in order to free her characters to explore passion beyond Imperial and textual constraints. Four generations of McCormack women mimic, mock, and sidewind their way into, around, and beyond the Empires warring narrative and its heterosexual imperative. They are savvy, sexy, and provocative, playing simultaneously as shameless voyeurs, plagiarists, and war artists.

Margaret Sweatmans novel, <i>When Alice Lay Down With Peter</i>, plays with the British Empires adventure story and its creation of manhood. Mimicking this creative process in the Canadian Northwest, Sweatman conceives and births a womans previously erased passion back into the adventure story in a playful, erotic, and politically-charged presentation of the performing female body. Although appreciating the magic realism element to the novel (157), Nicole Markotic suggests that Sweatmans characters, like the readers, become History Tourists and are mere backdrop for the last century or so of Current Events that take precedence over their stories (156). The McCormack women, Markotic argues, have few stories other than going to war, having one momentous sex scene, giving birth (156). Indeed, Sweatmans whirlwind tour through 109 years of well-documented, and already too many times rehashed, rebellions, labour strikes, and world wars, seems to reflect this sentiment, but to limit Sweatman and her characters to only the Empires gender performative is to miss the female body performing as its own Big Bang.<p>Since a womans contingency and agency within the Empires gender performative has been vigorously debated by post modern and cultural theorists, Sweatman chooses to birth her characters into a world of/as performance. Richard Schechner, a pioneer in the field of performance theory, argues in his earlier work, Essays on Performance Theory (1977), that performance is a very inclusive notion of action, in which the performance workshop and the performance strategy of play are much more important than previously imagined (1,61). Sweatman draws on this discovery in order to free her characters to explore passion beyond Imperial and textual constraints. Four generations of McCormack women mimic, mock, and sidewind their way into, around, and beyond the Empires warring narrative and its heterosexual imperative. They are savvy, sexy, and provocative, playing simultaneously as shameless voyeurs, plagiarists, and war artists.

Text in Afrikaans / Tradisioneel is aanvaar dat die indirekte voorwerp nie in Afrikaanse stelsinne kan optree sander die voorkoms van 'n direkte voorwerp in dieselfde sin nie. Hierdie ondersoek het aan die lig gebring dat sekere voorwerpe wat voorheen as "direkte voorwerpe" geklassifiseer is, eerder die eienskappe van indirekte Hulle word dus nou geklassifiseer as en die parameters van die indirekte ooreenkomstig uitgebrei. Aangesien daar geen formele merkers vir die uitkenning en onderskeiding van direkte en indirecte voorwerpe bestaan nie, is parameters vir die doel vasgestel. Skoon indireckte voorwerpe (op enkele uisonderings na) verskyn altyd direk na die SPIL-posisie in 'n stelsin toon 'n groot affiniteit vir voorsetsels (versa vir, aan), en kan in die koers van adjunk afgegradeer word, deur me 'n voorsetsel te verbind, en kan sodoende ook na' 'n adjunk verskyn. Direkte voorwerpe kan daarenteen nie met voorset-: sels verbind nie en kan buitendien na enige adjunk verskyn. / Language Education, Arts and Culture / M.A. (Afrikaans)

Text in Afrikaans / Tradisioneel is aanvaar dat die indirekte voorwerp nie in Afrikaanse stelsinne kan optree sander die voorkoms van 'n direkte voorwerp in dieselfde sin nie. Hierdie ondersoek het aan die lig gebring dat sekere voorwerpe wat voorheen as "direkte voorwerpe" geklassifiseer is, eerder die eienskappe van indirekte Hulle word dus nou geklassifiseer as en die parameters van die indirekte ooreenkomstig uitgebrei. Aangesien daar geen formele merkers vir die uitkenning en onderskeiding van direkte en indirecte voorwerpe bestaan nie, is parameters vir die doel vasgestel. Skoon indireckte voorwerpe (op enkele uisonderings na) verskyn altyd direk na die SPIL-posisie in 'n stelsin toon 'n groot affiniteit vir voorsetsels (versa vir, aan), en kan in die koers van adjunk afgegradeer word, deur me 'n voorsetsel te verbind, en kan sodoende ook na' 'n adjunk verskyn. Direkte voorwerpe kan daarenteen nie met voorset-: sels verbind nie en kan buitendien na enige adjunk verskyn. / Language Education, Arts and Culture / M.A. (Afrikaans)

This thesis deals with the origins and subsequent historical development of the Congregation of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Jablůnka, particularly from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries. The first part describes the period before the issuing of the Patent of Toleration and its announcement and implementation, particularly in the context of Protestants in Jablůnka. The second part focuses on the nineteenth century; the transformation of a filial church in Jablůnka into an independent Parish church is also discussed. Another event mentioned is the founding of a confessional school and its transformation into a state-run primary school. The third part is devoted to the twentieth century, the pastors of the church and the specific spiritual trends that have influenced the functioning of the community. Future prospects of the congregation are outlined in interviews with its members.