Latin America has historically sustained political, economic, and social upheaval, creating a vacuum of patriarchal power dynamics indicative of gender violence. These dynamics are reflected in personal and political trauma narratives. The connection between trauma, language, and narrative is complex; however, psychological research demonstrates that narrative memory helps heal and process grief and trauma. The non-verbal expression of affect often manifests in physiological expressions, reflecting one's psychological and emotional status. In conjunction with affect theory and trauma theory, narratives provide additional insight to human experiences and processes when placed within their cultural context and history. In this dissertation, analysis of Pedro Páramo and "I'm your horse in the night" focuses on the role of memory and imagination in surviving circumstances of oppressive gender violence. Additionally, issues represented in The Boy Kings of Texas further the discussion of gender violence directed not only towards women and girls, but also men and boys. The themes of Camila, The Official Story and In the Time of the Butterflies offer additional perspective to trauma as they address the consequences of analyzed and expressed trauma and the necessary element of truth-telling to not only individual but collective trauma narratives. The discussion of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents address repercussions of suppressed traumatic memories within the context of buildingsroman taking into consideration both the physiological and psychological effects of gender violence. Finally, Backyard and The Secret in Their Eyes are texts that further explore the detrimental consequences of extreme gender violence, such as femicide, and the necessary element of truth-telling in trauma narratives not only for purposes of justice and grieving but as the starting point of surviving, coping, and healing from trauma both in the individual and collective sense. Analyzing the characters and themes within these texts of various genres through psychological, sociological, and historical lenses allows for a more complete understanding of how trauma narratives function as agents of change concerning trauma and shame and its relationship with gender violence in the context of Latin American cultures. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2017. / March 7, 2017. / Gender Violence, Latin American, Narrative, Shame, Textual Analysis, Trauma / Includes bibliographical references. / Delia Poey, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robinson Herrera, University Representative; José Gomariz, Committee Member; Juan Carlos Galeano, Committee Member.

This study focuses on the period between the late twelfth century and the late fifteenth century and the changes in perception toward sexual relations and gender politics, especially those pertaining to rape. While there is much to be said about instances of sexual violence in literature of the Early Middle Ages, this project relies on the romance fictions of the high and later Middle Ages because of the genre's unique position as record and critique of chivalric society. "Sexual Assault and Masculinity in Chivalric Romance" addresses instances of sexual assault where it does not conform to the binary of woman-as-victim, man-as-perpetrator. Much has been said on women as victims of rape, and there is a growing interest in masculinity studies; what happens when a woman is a perpetrator of sexual violence, however, has yet to be addressed. This dissertation does not solely focus on women as victimizers of men or women, but rather seeks to approach rape as a form of violence with a much more complicated psycho-social and literary implications. In so doing, I hope to complicate the essentialization of gendered identity based on ideations of sexual violence, not only for modern readers of medieval literature, but also for our conceptions of gendered violence in the twenty-first century. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2017. / March 8, 2017. / Gender, Medieval, Rape, Romance, Sexual violence / Includes bibliographical references. / David F. Johnson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Irene Padavic, University Representative; Anne Coldiron, Committee Member; Celia Daileader, Committee Member; Jamie Fumo, Committee Member.

This study examines the role of women and gender in German and British sections of three antiwar organizations that advocated for a European polity during the 1920s and 1930s: the Pan-European Union (PEU), the New Europe Group (NEG), and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). This project relies on extensive archival research using collections located throughout Europe, the United States, and Canada, some of which were only very recently cataloged. My findings fundamentally change our understanding of interwar integration advocates, who historians previously characterized as a small group of intellectual men. An analysis of the PEU and NEG reveals that women were a significant proportion of their members and leaders. Further complicating the traditional narrative that these were “male” driven groups, this study finds they stressed the “feminine” qualities their proposed system of governance required. Integration advocates blamed the perception of crisis between the wars on the belief that the political system was man-made. Many of these individuals believed women offered new ideas and an alternative source of leadership; thus, the role of women in developing a European polity was a popular topic among important segments of unification advocates. This argument resonated with many members and national sections of WILPF, which led them to collaborate with both the NEG and PEU. Although well known for its feminist pacifist activism, Europa and the Bull is the first study to examine the ways in which WILPF contributed to movements aimed at creating a European polity. By addressing all three of these organizations, this study challenges our understanding of the interwar movement for a federal European government, as well as the social and cultural forces that motivated them. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 2, 2018. / European Integration, Federalism, Interwar Europe, New Europe, Pan-Europe, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) / Includes bibliographical references. / Nathan Stoltzfus, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mark Souva, University Representative; Suzanne Sinke, Committee Member; Will Hanley, Committee Member; Charles Upchurch, Committee Member; Eric Kurlander, Committee Member.

The first half of the twentieth century was in many ways a watershed era for women and their role in British society. The world wars ushered in a time of unprecedented change. The wars opened positions for women outside of the home, making it a more accepted practice; the government recruited and drafted women not just for work but for active service. Looking at these changes, the shifts in women’s roles in British society can be reflected by the more extreme cases of this shift, focusing on the experiences of female spies. This paper serves to demonstrate that the involvement of female spies in WWI and WWII is a useful indicator in the shift of women’s role in British society during this span of time. Alongside the goals of the government, this paper aims to analyze the broader shift in gender roles. Focusing in on the micro-history of spies, this study explores the evolution of the experience of female spies from WWI to WWII, reflecting the same kinds of changes taking place in the experience of the everyday British woman. Then, by focusing in on the struggle for agency that British female spies faced in the second world war, the study directly relates their attempts with those of the everyday British woman. War did not simply generate a change, a quick and sudden reversal of gender roles. Instead, the war afforded women opportunities to prove themselves and make strides towards being the kind of woman they wanted to be. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 6, 2018. / British Gender Roles, British Spies, Female Spies, Ministry of Information, Special Operations Executive, WWII Spies / Includes bibliographical references. / Nathan Stoltzfus, Professor Directing Thesis; Charles Upchurch, Committee Member; Diane Roberts, Committee Member.

Gêneros múltiplos: binarismos versus pluralismo em Stone Butch Blues e Stella Manhattan almeja discutir a arbitrariedade do sistema de sexo e gênero da sociedade ocidental contemporânea, que categoriza e fixa o sexo biológico dos indivíduos em duas exclusivas expressões de gênero possíveis: homem/masculino x mulher/feminino. Casos em que a referida consonância entre sexo e gênero não ocorre são tratados como aberrações passíveis de punições físicas e morais. O corpus literário desta tese é formado por romances da literatura norte-americana (Stone Butch Blues, de Leslie Feinberg) e brasileira (Stella Manhattan, de Silviano Santiago). A introdução discorre brevemente acerca da história e da teoria do romance, objeto principal deste estudo, posta em prática por renomados romancistas. O segundo capítulo ocupa-se de questões teóricas sobre sexo e gênero, importantes para o embasamento da discussão literária, além da trama e fortuna crítica sobre Stone Butch Blues, incluindo uma análise do autor deste trabalho sobre o referido romance. O terceiro capítulo discute outras questões teóricas, desta vez sobre teoria da Literatura e de gênero, além de apresentar a fortuna crítica de Stella Manhattan, culminando também com uma análise crítica do autor desta tese sobre o romance brasileiro. Ao final da pesquisa, objetiva-se demonstrar que o binário de gênero socialmente imposto precisa, em realidade, ceder espaço a um sistema plural e fluido, no qual a biologia perde seu papel determinante na masculinidade ou feminilidade do indivíduo / Multiple genders: binarisms versus pluralism in Stone Butch Blues and Stella Manhattan aims to discuss the arbitrariness of the sex/gender system in western contemporary society, which both categorizes and solidifies the biological sex of people in two exclusive possible gender expressions: male/masculine x female/feminine. Cases in which the aforementioned consonance fails to be met are treated as aberrations, liable to both physical and moral punishment and abuse. The literary corpus of this dissertation is formed by an American novel (Stone Butch Blues, by Leslie Feinberg), and a Brazilian one (Stella Manhattan, by Silviano Santiago). The introduction herein briefly discusses history and theory of the novel, the main focus of this study, in addition to its theory put into practice by renowned novelists. The second chapter deals with theoretical matters concerning sex and gender, important issues on which to base the literary discussion, as well as the plot and critical articles on the American novel, including an analysis of the author of this work on the novel. The third chapter discusses other theoretical issues, this time about the theory of Literature and further gender theory, besides presenting critical articles on the Brazilian novel and the critical view of the author of this dissertation on the novel. At the end of the research, I aim to demonstrate that the socially imposed sex/gender binary has to, as a matter of fact, make room for a plural, fluid system, one in which biology loses its decisive role in the individuals masculinity or femininity

Gêneros múltiplos: binarismos versus pluralismo em Stone Butch Blues e Stella Manhattan almeja discutir a arbitrariedade do sistema de sexo e gênero da sociedade ocidental contemporânea, que categoriza e fixa o sexo biológico dos indivíduos em duas exclusivas expressões de gênero possíveis: homem/masculino x mulher/feminino. Casos em que a referida consonância entre sexo e gênero não ocorre são tratados como aberrações passíveis de punições físicas e morais. O corpus literário desta tese é formado por romances da literatura norte-americana (Stone Butch Blues, de Leslie Feinberg) e brasileira (Stella Manhattan, de Silviano Santiago). A introdução discorre brevemente acerca da história e da teoria do romance, objeto principal deste estudo, posta em prática por renomados romancistas. O segundo capítulo ocupa-se de questões teóricas sobre sexo e gênero, importantes para o embasamento da discussão literária, além da trama e fortuna crítica sobre Stone Butch Blues, incluindo uma análise do autor deste trabalho sobre o referido romance. O terceiro capítulo discute outras questões teóricas, desta vez sobre teoria da Literatura e de gênero, além de apresentar a fortuna crítica de Stella Manhattan, culminando também com uma análise crítica do autor desta tese sobre o romance brasileiro. Ao final da pesquisa, objetiva-se demonstrar que o binário de gênero socialmente imposto precisa, em realidade, ceder espaço a um sistema plural e fluido, no qual a biologia perde seu papel determinante na masculinidade ou feminilidade do indivíduo / Multiple genders: binarisms versus pluralism in Stone Butch Blues and Stella Manhattan aims to discuss the arbitrariness of the sex/gender system in western contemporary society, which both categorizes and solidifies the biological sex of people in two exclusive possible gender expressions: male/masculine x female/feminine. Cases in which the aforementioned consonance fails to be met are treated as aberrations, liable to both physical and moral punishment and abuse. The literary corpus of this dissertation is formed by an American novel (Stone Butch Blues, by Leslie Feinberg), and a Brazilian one (Stella Manhattan, by Silviano Santiago). The introduction herein briefly discusses history and theory of the novel, the main focus of this study, in addition to its theory put into practice by renowned novelists. The second chapter deals with theoretical matters concerning sex and gender, important issues on which to base the literary discussion, as well as the plot and critical articles on the American novel, including an analysis of the author of this work on the novel. The third chapter discusses other theoretical issues, this time about the theory of Literature and further gender theory, besides presenting critical articles on the Brazilian novel and the critical view of the author of this dissertation on the novel. At the end of the research, I aim to demonstrate that the socially imposed sex/gender binary has to, as a matter of fact, make room for a plural, fluid system, one in which biology loses its decisive role in the individuals masculinity or femininity

French choreographer Maurice Béjart used the third space in performance to fracture notions of fixed gender identity by removing it from facile and binary definitions. Postcolonial theorist, Homi K. Bhabha, originated the concept of a contradictory and ambivalent third space in which new cultural identities may be constructed. Using this concept, an analysis of Béjart's choreography will show how the choreographer exploited the fundamental ambiguity and instability inherent in gender performance in dance. Third space uncertainty produced new possibilities of interpretation between the signifier of biological sex and the significance of gender identity in performance. Much of Béjart's work bypassed ballet's rigid dichotomizing view of the sexes, which allotted an artificial lightness and refined delicacy in pointe work for women and exhibitions of spectacular jumps and strength in partnering for men. Béjart redefined gender in dance by employing the indeterminacy of the third space to shift the boundaries between male and female gender identities which were ordinarily defined as contradictory opposites. The choreographer's concentration on the male dancer destabilized gender boundaries in dance and challenged established cultural authorities. Béjart's passage through the third space constitutes a generative interval for queer performativity. The presumed distinctions between the two opposed genders were subsequently destabilized and deconstructed by the introduction of a third differentiation. By his passage through the third space, Béjart transformed gender identity and incorporated the themes of gender instability and inclusiveness into a creative aesthetic. Within the traditional performance framework of ballet, Béjart created fluid gender formations through the resignifying potential of the third space. By his acquisition of "otherness," the performer participated in the formation of gender as a creative process. Béjart's male dancer inhabited a third space of an "otherwise male." / A Dissertation submitted to the Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2014. / October 23, 2014. / dance, gender, Homi K. Bhabha, Maurice Béjart, queer performativity, the thrid space / Includes bibliographical references. / Tricia Young, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jennifer Atkins, Committee Member; Ilana Goldman, Committee Member; David Johnson, Committee Member.

This dissertation examines the portrayal of autonomous girlhood in five young-adult (YA) novels that appropriate Shakespearean plots for twenty-first-century girl audiences: Caryl Cude Mullin's Rough Magic (2009), Lisa Klein's Lady Macbeth's Daughter and Ophelia (2009 and 2008), Lisa Fiedler's Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story (2006), and Mirjam Pressler's Shylock's Daughter (2001). It postulates that these novels are the postfeminist extension of a much earlier subgeneric trend--that of mass-produced, affordable Victorian-era didactic Shakespeares, the central purpose of which is to use Shakespeare's cultural capital in order to transmit messages regarding the nature of appropriate girlhood. This dissertation argues that that some analogously available and affordable YA novel adaptations of the twenty-first century, despite being postcolonial and postfeminist and therefore reacting against the squeaky-clean, traditional norms of their predecessors, put forward gender roles that are just as restrictive. Each chapter will cover one of Shakespeare's plays, a corresponding YA novel adaptation, and a related issue in contemporary American girl culture and/or feminist theory. The ultimate goals of such a transhistorical analysis are first: to determine what type(s) of girlhood the novels put forth as valid and why, and second: to evaluate the novels' brand(s) of didacticism in terms of what it offers to its target audience of adolescent girls. Overall, this dissertation argues that successful YA Shakespeares for girls should exhibit nuanced characterization and developed female community, ideally one that results in intergenerational feminisms. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2014. / October 27, 2014. / feminism, girlhood, Shakespeare, young-adult / Includes bibliographical references. / Celia R. Caputi Daileader, Professor Directing Dissertation; Aimée Boutin, University Representative; A. E. B. Coldiron, Committee Member; Margaret (Meegan) Kennedy Hanson, Committee Member.

This dissertation argues that representations of masculinity in the Hollywood war/combat films of the Vietnam film cycle reflect the changing and changed mores of the era in which they were made, and that these representations are so prevalent as to suggest a culture-wide shift in notions of masculinity since the Vietnam War. I demonstrate that the majority of the representations of masculinity in the Vietnam War film cycle (an expression that includes all films on the Vietnam War but particularly those produced in Hollywood) have achieved mythic status--accepted truths--but are often exaggerated and/or are erroneous to the point of affecting how historical events are understood by subsequent generations. Such is the power of cinema. This dissertation, then, adopts a cultural-political-historical perspective to investigate Hollywood's virtual re-creation of the Vietnam War and its combat participants as dystopic, anti-mythopoeic figures whose allegiance to patriotism, God, and duty are shown to be tragically betrayed by a changing paradigm of masculinity and has thus created a new mythos of the American male which abides in the American consciousness to this day. All of which is to ask, why was there such a significant change from admirable cinematic representations of America as a nation that represents the ideology of freedom and liberty for all and U.S. soldiers as the hallmark of strength and goodness in the WW II movies to the mostly wretched representations of both in the Vietnam War cycle? While each chapter of my dissertation will attempt to identify plausible answers to these questions, I will also seek to explore why and how these alterations from the regnant traditions of American values--honoring the military, respecting the government and other traditions, such as the nuclear family, marriage as a sacred institution, monogamy as the respected norm, children as inviolable, gender roles as fixed, separation of the races, etc.--came to such a tumultuous head in the 1960s and resulted in the significantly altered constructs of values and masculinity that have become the norm in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. In order to investigate historical cinematic representations effectively, it is necessary to consider the actual events of the times and challenge the subsequent various mythopoeic formations of the Hollywood Vietnam veteran. / A Dissertation submitted to the Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2014. / October 21, 2014. / cinema, film, masculinity, myth, Vietnam, war / Includes bibliographical references. / John Kelsay, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kathleen Erndl, Committee Member; Leigh Edwards, Committee Member.

Though historical scholarship on gender and international relations has grown over the last few decades, there has been little work done on women in the Foreign Service. The main objective of this thesis is to examine the role of women diplomats within the Foreign Service since 1945 and to examine how gender differences related to the low numbers of women within the field during a time when women's representation in other male-dominated fields increased substantially. The study is divided into three chapters that focus on determining how certain factors affected women's marginalization within the field. The first chapter examines the basic statistics of the women diplomats. Chapter two explores the policies of other countries towards accepting female diplomats, and the last chapter investigates how women conducted foreign policy and carried out the goals of the administration. The conclusion provides an analysis of the findings of all three areas and how they relate to women's access to fields both within and outside politics. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of History in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2009. / December 10, 2008. / Perception, Gatekeeper, Ambassador, Diplomacy, Femininity, Masculinity / Includes bibliographical references. / Suzanne Sinke, Professor Directing Thesis; Charles Upchurch, Committee Member; Michael Creswell, Committee Member.