published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Arts

This dissertation is a study of spatial allegorical representations of inwardness in late medieval devotional texts of the fourteenth and fifteenth century, with a focus on the topos of the garden of the contemplation of the Passion as a landscape of the heart. These representations of the self do not follow the temporal logic of autobiography but are instead organized around matrix spaces: architectures or gardens of inwardness. Named by Beaujour in opposition to life-narratives, these miroirs d’encre or literary self-portraits rely on topoï to express the most intimate contours of the individual. The first part of this dissertation considers how identity is negotiated with respect to the devotional norm in two private devotional exercises penned by cultured aristocrats. The abject vision of the penitential self in Henry of Lancaster’s Livre des Seyntz Medicines is rooted in the requirement to describe a deep self ontologically opaque to consciousness, while in René d’Anjou’s Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance, the sinfulness lodged in the heart is considered through the lens of an anthropology focused on affect. Because of their intertextual nature, locative tropes of interiority constitute an arena in which the individual constitutes himself in relation to foundational texts. Topical representations of the self borrow their form from the setting of a particular text or reference an entire textual tradition, inviting the question of the role of reading practices in self formation. The second part of this dissertation focuses on reading as a spiritual exercise, considering how the literary setting of the Roman de la Rose came to be associated to a devotional representation of the self in the late Middle Ages. In response to the debates on language and allegoresis unfurling in the Quarrel of the Rose, Pierre d’Ailly transforms its garden into an inner Jardin Amoureux de l’Ame Devote, subjecting the infamous secular text to a reading inspired by devotional meditative reading practices. Later on, Jehan Henri mobilizes the topography of the Rose to describe the collective identity of reformed nuns in a series of texts promoting the agenda of monastic reformation ( Le Livre de réformation utile et profitable pour toutes religieuses, Livre de la vie active and the Jardin de Contemplation). Finally, Molinet’s Roman de la Rose Moralisé proposes a spiritual reading of the Rose that testifies to a paradigm shift in the status of secular literature under the influence of devotional reading modes, and which, like Pierre d’Ailly, assimilates the setting of the Rose to an inner garden of the contemplation of the Passion. No longer an innocuous pastime, literature comes to carry high societal stakes because of being invested with a definite role in self-fashioning. The race for controlling the meaning of foundational texts leads to the proliferation of late medieval literary quarrels. An edition of Jehan Henri’s Jardin de Contemplation is provided in the appendix.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-266).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-123). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ99392

In sy resensie van Die jogger (1997), lê Conradie (1997:31) ‘n verband tussen drie belangrike hoekstene van Afrikanerskap wanneer hy die hoofkarakter, Kilian, soos volg karakteriseer: Die verwikkeldheid van die karakter Kilian word versinnebeeld deur die relaas van grondbesitter, bywonerskap en uiteindelik amptenaar van die staat. Die siening word ook gehuldig dat bogenoemde elemente vir ‘n tyd lank die goue draad van Afrikanerskap verteenwoordig. Onderliggend aan al drie karakteriserings is die element van mag, asook die (geïmpliseerde) verband tussen mag en identiteit. In Brink se Die jogger word identiteitsmites veral die fokus van die dramatiese inhoud. Hierdie mites, wat hoofsaaklik verband hou met “mag”, “godsdiens” en “seksualiteit”, is vooropgestelde elemente in die drama. Soos Wasserman (1997:4) opmerk, is Kilian ‘n verteenwoordiger van ‘n bepaalde groep mans “met gesinne, kerkgangers, omies wat Saterdae langs jou gesit en rugby kyk het”, maar ook in die naam van ‘n politieke bestel bepaalde wreedhede gepleeg het. Van dié wreedhede word in herinnering geroep tydens Kilian se gedagtevlugte in die psigiatriese hospitaal. Binne die konteks van die drama, kan aangevoer word dat “mag”, “godsdiens” en “seksualiteit” sekerlik dié belangrikste identiteitsmerkers van die Afrikaner is. Die wyse waarop bepaalde identiteitsmites binne die dramatiese handelingsverloop van Die jogger gedemitologiseer word, lê hierdie studie ten grondslag. Kilian word in hierdie drama ‘n eksemplaar van ’n karakter wie se mag verbrokkel en waardeur die mites van die man – en magsgesentreerde bestaan - geproblematiseer word. Die probleemstelling vir hierdie studie kan dus omlyn word as die ontmitologisering van die gestalte van die man ná politieke transformasie in Suid-Afrika. As gewese kolonel in die Veiligheidspolisie, is Kilian ‘n voorbeeld van ‘n Afrikaner(man) wie se mag vanweë grootskaalse politieke magsverskuiwing gestroop is. / Dr. M.P. Beukes

The eleven short stories in this collection can be described as autobiographical fiction, combining true instances from the author’s life with fictional characters and events. The stories explore the themes of grief and loss, coming of age, and the importance of preserving the natural world. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-180). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

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