No description available.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a contemporary reading of Euripides’ dramas, the Helen and the Alcestis. The main problem investigated is how Euripides treats the motif of love in the Helen and the Alcestis. This problem is approached by way of an analysis of the function of language. It is not just a simple interpretation of the female and male type but an exposition of the characteristics of the motif of love. The motif of love is explored as an event between husband and wife regulated by certain norms and expectations. The result of this research is given as an account of how Euripides deconstructs the traditional social norms governing the interaction between husband and wife. The method used is the application of Wittgenstein’s gloss analysis as it is described in his work Tractatus Logico Philosophicus. Gloss analysis is the philosophical analysis of language that extracts the underlying propositions. It is chosen because it allows for a deconstruction of the social order implied in literary texts. It also allows for a rereading of such texts within a surrealistic and post–modern framework that reveals Euripides’ enduring relevance. Gloss analysis is applied to the Helen and the Alcestis as follows: first of all, the use of language and how it functions are analysed both in the traditional myth and in Euripides’s version. Secondly, the philosophical grammar of his language is examined so that the reader can understand the function of the surface and the depth grammar especially with regard to the use of metaphors. Thirdly, his language games are analysed pragmatically by illuminating the elementary propositions of the traditional myth as well as of Euripides’ version. Finally, the theme of illusion related to the Helen and the theme of restoration with regard to the Alcestis are recreated in a modern–day version. Generally speaking, special emphasis is placed on the role of metaphorical language in order to show up the tensions in a classical marriage. Classical society was patriarchal and military and it prescribed fixed roles to male and female. Public life was organised mostly around the male, while domestic life was organised around the female. It is especially through the use of metaphors that Euripides shows up the dysfunctions of gender ideology and that he calls for social reform. Through gloss analysis his use of metaphors is illuminated, and this reveals the function of the value system and how it failed in the classical era. In the Helen, the result of the method applied to the motif of love is a new image of Helen: through gloss analysis, the Helen of Euripides appears as a cubist product of modern art because it represents a double reality, namely the theme of illusion. It reflects a false world which the couple must escape. The tragic world of Euripides speaks to the contemporary reader or artist in a surrealistic way. The epic Helen is represented by a range of circles that symbolise irrationalism, while the Egyptian Helen is represented by squares that symbolise rationalism. In the Alcestis the heroine’s restoration is the antidote to her husband’s patriarchal deficiency, namely his selfishness. Through gloss analysis, the Alcestis of Euripides is rewritten as an experiment in the principles of what is called today the Theatre of the Absurd. The result of the method applied to the motif of love is a new reading of the Alcestis¬¬ – the most creative part of this study – that is based upon the irrational elements of Euripides’ version, such as the theme of restoration. The Helen and the Alcestis are still relevant because the problems dealt with, such as the gender role, adultery and woman’s value remain crucial issues in modern society. The female and male interaction is regulated by rules which may vary but still show how people are controlled in a loving relationship and how they experience interpersonal problems. The modern reader who enters the fictional world of Euripides comes back to reality wiser after a therapeutic self–discovery journey that is worthwhile. Finally, it is hoped that the findings of this research may lead to a better understanding of the Euripidean dramas, the Helen and the Alcestis.

The purpose of this play is to dramatize the change of government in ancient Greece from a matriarchy to a patriarchy and from rule by the Ionian to rule by the Dorian Greeks through the last years of Helen of Troy. Faced with a challenge by her husband, Menelaus, who wants his sons to rule, Helen manages through intrigue to arrange for her daughter to gain the throne. Helen herself becomes a "goddess."

This Diploma thesis focuses on the investigation of impact of French Revolution into the development of political views of three Englishmen who represent three levels of view of revolutionary events: idealistic, radical and critical. Helen Maria Williams (1761-1827) represents an idealistic school of thought especially within the idea on universal citizenship and messianism of French Revolution. Simultaneously, she also represents some opinions of female population and their expectations relating to the status of women. Thomas Paine (1737-1809), a member of Convention and a supporter of the Girondists is an example of a radical religious view. The last of the trio is a physiocrat and a writer Arthur Young (1741-1820) who visited France before the Revolution. He became a witness and also a critic of the early revolutionary events. Key Words Helen Maria Williams, Thomas Paine, Arthur Youn, The French Revolution.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Richard Cobb-Stevens / In this dissertation, I develop an engaged understanding of objectivity, or good knowledge practices. I argue that for knowledge practices to be good, they must both be truth-conducive and engaged, that is, explicitly implicated in the critical appraisal of background values and assumptions. I pursue this argument in six stages. First, I consider work in epistemology that countenances a place for values in objectivity. I conclude from this that truth-conduciveness is not sufficient for objectivity, and that a social approach to knowledge is called for. Second, I consider standpoint theory, a prominent feminist approach to objectivity. This allows me to show the possible insights available to marginalized perspectives, while indicating that this will be a component of rather than itself offering an account of objectivity. Third, I consider a more comprehensive approach in Helen Longino's critical contextual empiricism, which locates objectivity in the social features of inquiry. Her approach is promising, but requires the insights of early phenomenology in order to develop that potential. I develop the phenomenological framework in Chapter 4, where I consider Husserlian phenomenology. Fifth, I bring the insights of phenomenology to the challenges presented by critical contextual empiricism, and develop my positive view, critical phenomenological objectivity. On this view, inquiry is objective when individuals and communities foster critical perspectives, seek transformative epistemic experiences, build coalitions, foster diversity, and pursue empirical adequacy. In the final chapter, I consider a case study that enables me to defend the merit and warrant of these features of objectivity. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

Ao comparar a visibilidade da figura feminina na tragédia do período clássico (508 – 338 a.C) com o espaço destinado às mulheres concretas da Atenas do mesmo período, deparamo-nos com um intrigante contraste, já que a participação destas na vida pública era restrita aos cerimoniais religiosos. Amplamente representada na tradição literária antiga - nos versos de um amplo leque de poetas - a figura de Helena possibilita múltiplas interpretações a respeito de seu caráter e culpabilidade nos eventos desencadeadores da Guerra de Tróia. Dos três tragediógrafos atenienses cujas composições foram significativamente preservadas, Eurípides foi o único que pôs em cena a rainha espartana, nas peças Troianas (415 a.C), Helena (412 a.C) e Orestes (408 a.C). Eurípides teve duas características bastante contraditórias marcando sua composição: a oratória, instrumento cívico masculino (uma voz); e a representação do feminino, corpo ausente do espaço cívico (uma realidade muda). Pensando na sistematização do discurso como um instrumento cívico que entra em destaque no século V a.C. em Atenas, assim como nas representações cômicas e trágicas - outro elemento típico da identidade cívica da pólis - podemos ver em Eurípides um “laboratório” rico para discutir o paradoxo da representação do feminino no espaço trágico. Nessa dissertação, Helena é uma amostra da representação poliédrica do feminino na tragédia, direcionando a atenção precisamente para o ethos da personagem, ou seja, para a imagem de si que ela projeta no seu discurso nas três peças em que é representada por Eurípides. / Comparing the visibility of the female figure in tragedy during the Classic period (508-338 B.C) with the space for the concrete women of Athens in the same period, we come across an interesting contrast, since their participation in public life was restricted to religious ceremonies. Widely represented in ancient literary tradition – in the lines of many poets – Helen‟s figure creates multiple interpretations of her character and blame for the events that triggered the Trojan War. Among the three Athenian tragedians whose compositions were significantly preserved, Euripides was the one who placed the Spartan queen on the scene: in Trojan Women (415 B.C), Helen (412 B.C) and Orestes (408 B.C). Euripides had two rather contradictory characteristics marking his composition: oratory, a male civic tool (a voice); and the female representation, missing body of civic space (a voiceless reality). Thinking about the systematization of speech as civic tool that gets highlighted in the fifth century B.C. in Athens, as well as in comic and tragic representations (an other typical element of the polis civic identity), we can see in Euripides a rich “laboratory” to discuss the paradox of the female representation in tragic space. In this dissertation, Helen is a sample of the female polyhedral representation in tragedy, driving our attention directly to the ethos of Helen, in other words, to the self-image that she projects through her speech in the three plays in wich she appears represented in Euripides.

This interdisciplinary study critically revisits the Australian print media???s engagement with Helen Garner???s controversial work of ???non-fiction???, The First Stone (1995). Print news media engagement with the book, marked by intense discursive contestation over feminism, has been constituted both by feminists and other critics as a significant cultural signpost. However, the highly visible print media event following the book???s publication raised a plethora of critical questions and dilemmas that remain unsatisfactorily addressed. Building upon John Fiske???s work on media events as sites of maximum visibility and discursive turbulence (Fiske: 1996), this study re-theorises the public dialogue following The First Stone???s publication in terms of four constitutive elements: narrative, celebrity, audience, and history and conflict. Through an analysis of these four diverse yet interconnected aspects of the media event, I create a critical space not only for its limitations to emerge but also the frequently overlooked possibilities it offers in terms of the wider feminism and print media culture relationship. As part of its central aim to refigure The First Stone media event, this thesis argues against prior characterisations of the debate as constitutive of either a monologic articulation of conservative, antifeminist voices or an unmitigated attack on its author by a homogenous feminism. In particular, I use this media event as indicative of the sophistication and complexity of media engagement with contemporary feminism, despite both continued derision and overly simplistic celebration of this relationship. Texts subject to analysis here include: The First Stone, various ???mainstream??? media representations and self-representations of three ???celebrity feminists??? (Helen Garner, Anne Summers and Jenna Mead), letters to the editor of newspapers and magazines, ???popular??? feminist books by Kathy Bail and Virginia Trioli, and a number of media texts in which those claiming a feminist subject position and those sympathetic to feminism act as either news sources or columnists/commentators. Although Garner???s narrative is throughout identified to be deeply problematic, I argue that the media event it precipitated provides valuable insights into both the opportunities and the constraints of the print media-feminism nexus in 1990s Australia.

This interdisciplinary study critically revisits the Australian print media???s engagement with Helen Garner???s controversial work of ???non-fiction???, The First Stone (1995). Print news media engagement with the book, marked by intense discursive contestation over feminism, has been constituted both by feminists and other critics as a significant cultural signpost. However, the highly visible print media event following the book???s publication raised a plethora of critical questions and dilemmas that remain unsatisfactorily addressed. Building upon John Fiske???s work on media events as sites of maximum visibility and discursive turbulence (Fiske: 1996), this study re-theorises the public dialogue following The First Stone???s publication in terms of four constitutive elements: narrative, celebrity, audience, and history and conflict. Through an analysis of these four diverse yet interconnected aspects of the media event, I create a critical space not only for its limitations to emerge but also the frequently overlooked possibilities it offers in terms of the wider feminism and print media culture relationship. As part of its central aim to refigure The First Stone media event, this thesis argues against prior characterisations of the debate as constitutive of either a monologic articulation of conservative, antifeminist voices or an unmitigated attack on its author by a homogenous feminism. In particular, I use this media event as indicative of the sophistication and complexity of media engagement with contemporary feminism, despite both continued derision and overly simplistic celebration of this relationship. Texts subject to analysis here include: The First Stone, various ???mainstream??? media representations and self-representations of three ???celebrity feminists??? (Helen Garner, Anne Summers and Jenna Mead), letters to the editor of newspapers and magazines, ???popular??? feminist books by Kathy Bail and Virginia Trioli, and a number of media texts in which those claiming a feminist subject position and those sympathetic to feminism act as either news sources or columnists/commentators. Although Garner???s narrative is throughout identified to be deeply problematic, I argue that the media event it precipitated provides valuable insights into both the opportunities and the constraints of the print media-feminism nexus in 1990s Australia.

Akademisk avhandling--Humanistiska fakulteten--Lund, 1979. / Bibliogr. de l'œuvre de Jean Giraudoux, p. 166. Bibliogr. p. 167-173.