Using a number of structurally innovative novels from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as a basis for study, this dissertation examines the representation of communities in postmodernist American fiction. While novels have often been critically studied from the standpoint of the individual and society, here the often neglected category of community is put under scrutiny. Yet rather than considering it from a sociological point of view, which can potentially favour historical, economic or political grounds for community, this study focuses on the ontological binds formed between individual and community. On one level this study connects formal qualities of postmodernist novels to a representation of community – especially literary conventions from the past that are foregrounded in the present texts. On another level it interrogates the limits of the individual in relation to others – how we emerge from others, how we are discrete from others, how much we can actually share with others, at what cost we stay or break with the others who have most influenced us. The primary novels studied here, each of which is deeply invested in the community as a locus for ontological interrogation, are Robert Coover’s "Gerald’s Party" (1985) and "John’s Wife" (1996), Gilbert Sorrentino’s "Crystal Vision" (1981) and "Odd Number" (1985), Harry Mathews’s "Cigarettes" (1987), Joseph McElroy’s "Women and Men" (1987), and Toni Morrison’s "Paradise" (1997). Despite their varied representations of and attitudes toward the individual in community, these texts share a common spectre of American Romanticism that inflects how we read the possibility of community in the postmodernist period.

This study addresses the complex issues of etiology and conceptualization of gender variance in the modern West. By analyzing medical, psychological, and popular approaches to gender variance, I demonstrate the highly political nature of each of these paradigms and how gender variant individuals engage with these discourses in the elaboration of their own gender identities. I focus on the role of institutional authority in shaping popular ideas about gender variance and the relationship of gender variant individuals who seek medical intervention towards the systems that regulate their care. Also relevant are the tensions between those who view gender variance as an expression of an essential cross-sex gender (as in traditional transsexual narrative) and those who believe that gender is socially constructed and non-binary. I finally argue that the standards of treatment for gender variant individuals pertains more to the medical legitimization of their identities than with necessarily improving outcomes.

No description available.

As seen from cultural history, shape-shifting is a very widespread literary motif, which suggests that it has high inspirational power and general appeal. Shape-shifting has not been critically examined in the detail it merits: it is mostly examined as a part of other theories. Examination of Freud‟s psychological theories and modern literature such as Dracula, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains shows strong connections between the power of this motif and repressed animal instincts – an animal within. This connection usually manifests symbolically rather than as an actual representation of an unearthing of repressed material. There are connections to religious beliefs and a wish to be more than human which raises questions about what is implied by changing into an animal – less than human – shape. The relation between shape-shifting and repression causes an uncanny atmosphere about the motif, something which is used extensively in The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains and Dracula. There is also evidence suggesting the possibility that psychosis and neurosis might manifest as a sort of mental shape-shifting. In literature this can be seen in the were-wolf Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the Berserkers of the Norse. Examination of the Boggart and Lupin of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and of the Norse berserkers show that the empowerment of shape-shifting mostly lies in control. All of this considered, and with the lack of critical examination in mind, shape-shifting seems severely underestimated and under-examined.

Syftet med denna studie är att belysa och diskutera värdegrundsarbete med skönlitteratur som grund inom svenskämnet. För att visa exempel på hur intressanta ämnen ur ett värdegrundsperspektiv kan lyftas fram till diskussion i klassrummet har vi valt en kvalitativ och innehållsanalytisk metod med hermeneutisk inriktning där vi studerar intriger och händelseförlopp ur J. K Rowlings Harry Potter och De vises sten (2010) samt John Ajvide Lindqvists Låt den rätte komma in (2005). Därefter relateras de utvalda avsnitten ur dessa skönlitterära böcker till värdegrundsformuleringarna i Lpf 94, författare inom skoletik samt genremässiga konventioner inom litteraturfältet. Vi konkretiserar, preciserar och problematiserar också värdegrundsformuleringarna i vår forskningsbakgrund. I vår diskussion presenterar och problematiserar vi sedan olika arbetsmetoder för värdegrundsarbete med skönlitteratur som bas. Vi lyfter bland annat fram demokratiska samtal om konflikter, rollspel och brevskrivning som konkreta undervisningsmetoder för att behandla ämnen och episoder i skönlitteraturen som är särskilt intressanta ur ett värdegrundsperspektiv. Studien visar att skönlitteraturen med sin förmåga att väcka empati och synliggöra konflikter är en givande utgångspunkt för värdegrundsarbetet då skönlitteraturen lämpar sig för diskussioner av mobbning, främlingsfientlighet och ojämlika situationer. Dessa fenomen är väsentliga att diskutera då de är företeelser som eleverna i egenskap av samhällsmedborgare oundvikligen kommer att ställas inför.

This ethnographic analysis of the social and physical effects of Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas and the consequent recovery that emerged afterward is based on 20 months of field research conducted immediately before and after the storm’s landfall. The introductory chapter locates the ethnographer just prior to the hurricane as he prepared for an unexpected evacuation. It then presents the conceptual framework for a multi-sited ethnography of “disaster culture” and introduces analytic keywords of “vulnerability,” “resilience,” “dreamworlds,” and “catastrophe.” It concludes by discussing a set of historical and contemporary socio-economic conditions in Galveston. This provides a frame of reference of both the social formations of storm experiences and the public recovery dynamics that attended with Ike’s aftermath that are discussed throughout the text. This is further supplemented with an explanation of Ike’s flooding and the geographic distribution of storm damage. Chapter two begins with an ethnographic vignette of the first townhall meeting held in Galveston after Ike. This introduces several recurrent topics of concern that were formative of disaster-culture dynamics. It then provides a literature review of the anthropology of disaster before segueing into a presentation of storm narratives. It ends with an analysis that further elaborates on the formative dynamics of Galvestonian disaster culture. Chapter three provides an analysis of the public deliberations that emerged over long-term redevelopment initiatives; particularly, the advocacy practices of a faith-based consortium; advocacy on behalf of restoring the University of Texas Medical Branch; the public Long Term Recovery Committee, and a FEMA buyout program that benefited higher income property owners on the western end of the island. The fourth chapter provides an extended case study concerning the rebuilding of 569 units of public housing that were subsequently destroyed after the hurricane. The rebuilding of public housing became the most vitriolic public issue during the course of fieldwork. The concluding chapter invokes the concepts of “dreamworlds” and “catastrophe” used by historian and philosopher Walter Benjamin to show the processual dynamics between the initial hopes for collectively strengthening Galveston through federally funded redevelopment and the increasingly negative assessments of the city’s long-term urban fortunes. / text

Using a number of structurally innovative novels from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as a basis for study, this dissertation examines the representation of communities in postmodernist American fiction. While novels have often been critically studied from the standpoint of the individual and society, here the often neglected category of community is put under scrutiny. Yet rather than considering it from a sociological point of view, which can potentially favour historical, economic or political grounds for community, this study focuses on the ontological binds formed between individual and community. On one level this study connects formal qualities of postmodernist novels to a representation of community – especially literary conventions from the past that are foregrounded in the present texts. On another level it interrogates the limits of the individual in relation to others – how we emerge from others, how we are discrete from others, how much we can actually share with others, at what cost we stay or break with the others who have most influenced us. The primary novels studied here, each of which is deeply invested in the community as a locus for ontological interrogation, are Robert Coover’s "Gerald’s Party" (1985) and "John’s Wife" (1996), Gilbert Sorrentino’s "Crystal Vision" (1981) and "Odd Number" (1985), Harry Mathews’s "Cigarettes" (1987), Joseph McElroy’s "Women and Men" (1987), and Toni Morrison’s "Paradise" (1997). Despite their varied representations of and attitudes toward the individual in community, these texts share a common spectre of American Romanticism that inflects how we read the possibility of community in the postmodernist period.

This monographic study examines the life of the Australian artist Harry Reade (1927-1998), and his largely overlooked contribution to animation within historical, social, political and cultural contexts of his time. The project constitutes a biography of Reade, tracing his life from his birth in 1927 through to his period of involvement with animation between 1956 and 1969. The biography examines the forces that shaped Reade and the ways in which he tried to shape his world through the medium of animation. It chronicles his experiences as a child living in impoverished conditions during the Great Depression, his early working life, the influence of left wing ideology on his creative development, and his contribution to animation with the Waterside Workers' Federation Film Unit, in Sydney. The study especially focuses on the period between 1961 and 1969 during which Reade supported the Cuban Revolution's social and cultural reform process by writing and directing animated films at the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (Cuban Institute of the Art and Industry of Cinema - ICAIC), in Havana. The thesis argues that Reade played a significant role in the development of Cuban animation during the early years of the Cuban Revolution. Further, his animated work in this cultural sphere was informed by a network of political alliances and social philosophies that were directly linked to his experiences and creative development in Australia. Theoretical approaches to biographical method and animation studies have been used to provide a cohesive framework for an investigation of Reade's life and animation work. The thesis also draws on Reade's autobiography and his animated works, oral histories, newspaper articles, press cartoons, illustrations, photographs, and official government archival documents. This project also has an archival purpose in collecting and compiling Reade's animation work onto CD.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Honors Project--Smith College, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-103)