This thesis undertakes to explore silence as it functions in relation to intimacy in Clarice Lispector’s last narrative. It asks how silence, when perceived as a generative force, may cultivate intimacy between men and women, opening up a horizon of equality and exchange between the sexes. Using Lispector’s work as a symbolic location for asking larger questions about the role of Eros in contemporary literature, the first chapter is dedicated to introducing her work as it relates to the critical canon. After examining silence and intimacy as each have been conceptualized by thinkers from various philosophical traditions, I incorporate the recent work of Luce Irigaray, which has integrated Western discourse and Eastern mystical concepts of the intimate to articulate a new kind of male/female reciprocity. I apply Irigarayan theory to Lispector’s text as a way of enriching the academic scholarship regarding Lispector.

Through a combination of personal interviews and participant-observation in three field sites ? the Tim Miller workshop and performance of October 2010 and the student organizations Cepheid Variable and the GLBT Aggies ? I argue that manifestations of utopian desire and performance circulate within and among marginalized groups on the Texas A&M University campus, undermining the heteronormative and monolithic utopia the university attempts to present. I participated in each night of rehearsal during the Tim Miller workshop, as well as the creation and performance of my own solo autobiographical monologue as a part of the ensemble. My participant-observation in Cepheid Variable and the GLBT Aggies was concurrent, consisting of attendance at both weekly organizational meetings and outside events sponsored by the organizations over two years. I argue that the Tim Miller workshop and performance is best understood by examining the intersection of queer intimacy, utopia, and performance. I argue that processes of connection, sharing, and mutual transformation allowed it to function as an example of queer utopian performance qua performance at Texas A&M. I explore the links between the ?nerd,? ?queer,? and ?family? identities of Cepheid Variable, arguing that the intersection of these identity-markers and the performance practices which reinforce them enable Cepheid Variable to create a utopian space on the Texas A&M campus for those students who do not fit traditional notions of Aggie identity. I explore two Cepheid performance practices: noise-making and storytelling, arguing that they construct, support, and interweave each element of Cepheid identity, allowing the organization to perpetuate and reaffirm its utopian and counterpublic statuses at Texas A&M. I explore what the GLBT Aggies claims to provide in theory, juxtaposed with what it actually accomplishes in practice. I examine a moment of crisis the LGBTQ community at Texas A&M faced in spring 2011. I argue that the utopia the GLBTA promises remains unfulfilled because the marginalization of the LGBTQ community at large leaves diversity within that community unaddressed. I conclude that utopian communities persist if able to adapt, and that the strength of the intimacy built into queer utopias in particular sustains them through time.

Peut-on qualifier la dramaturgie féminine contemporaine québécoise de féministe ? Ce mémoire répond par l’affirmative. Il montre que la dramaturgie féminine québécoise actuelle participe d’une nouvelle prise de parole féministe, plus complexe et plus diversifiée que celle des années 1970-1980, et qui tend notamment à conjuguer discours social et poétique de l’intime. Chaque jour de Fanny Britt (2011), L’Imposture d’Evelyne de la Chenelière (2009) et La Liste de Jennifer Tremblay (2008) proposent en effet des éléments novateurs quant à la représentation dramaturgique de la femme, tournant autour de trois imaginaires significatifs : l’imaginaire médiatique, l’imaginaire maternel et l’imaginaire du rapport hommes-femmes. En comparant les pièces entre elles ainsi qu’à quelques pièces charnières des décennies antérieures, il sera démontré que Chaque jour, L’Imposture et La Liste proposent de nouvelles représentations de la femme dans le paysage théâtral et social québécois. Enfin, ce mémoire vise à déterminer si la prise de parole féministe de ces pièces correspond au féminisme de la troisième vague. / Can contemporary Quebec feminine drama be considered feminist? This master’s dissertation answers in the affirmative. It demonstrates that the new women’s theatre is still feminist, but more complex and more diversified than in the 1970s and 80s, as it tends to blend the intimate and the social. The plays of Fanny Britt (Chaque jour, 2011), Evelyne de la Chenelière (L’Imposture, 2009), and Jennifer Tremblay (La Liste, 2008), offer innovative elements in their dramatic portrayal of women, as they focus on three themes: the media, motherhood and men-women relations. By comparing the plays with one another, as well as with important plays from past decades, it will be shown that Chaque jour, L’Imposture and La Liste renew the representation of women in Quebec theatre and society. Finally, this dissertation will address the links between this contemporary feminist theatre and the third wave feminist discourse.

This thesis focuses on the intersections of masculinity, old age and sexuality from the perspectives of old men themselves, how they understand and experience sex and sexuality in later life. The study uses qualitative in-depth interviews and body diaries, an exploratory method that asked men write about their bodies in everyday life. Twenty-two men, born between 1922 and 1942, participated in the study. The aim of the thesis is two-fold: firstly, to study sexual subjectivities of old men, how old men articulate and make meaning around sexuality in later life. Secondly, the study aims to explore theoretically what a male body may become in relation to ageing; in what ways the ageing male body could be a site for rethinking masculinity and the male body. This aim was inspired by feminist theories in dialogue with the deleuzian concept becoming. Similarly to gender, age is understood to take shape and become intelligible in social and cultural contexts. Furthermore, the thesis stresses the significance of the specificities of the ageing body to the shaping of masculinity, sexuality and subjectivity. The body is therefore discussed as an “open materiality”, beyond the binaries of culture and nature/materiality. This thesis discusses the concepts intimacy and touch as central to how old men’s sexual subjectivities take shape, allowing for alternative conceptualisations of sexuality beyond erection and intercourse. Intimacy and touch are understood and discussed in several different ways. By orienting themselves to touch and intimacy the old men emerged as more mature, unselfish and with more serene sexual desires. This also involved them distancing themselves from the younger man/other men, whom they perceived as more selfish, inconsiderate and with stronger sexual desires. Intimacy and touch could in this respect be understood as resources for shaping desirable heterosexual masculinity. An orientation to intimacy and touch enabled old men to appear as neither asexual nor as “dirty” old men. But the study also suggests that a turn to intimacy and touch may open up possibilities for rethinking and reconfiguring sexuality, masculinity and the male body. The ageing body then need not be understood as an obstacle but as an enabling site that provides opportunities for intimacy and touch. Moreover, the thesis presents affirmative old age as an alternative conceptualisation of old age, beyond both the discourses of successful ageing and the discourses of old age as negativity and decline. As a theory of difference and bodily specificity, affirmative old age may be of interest for further feminist theorising. / Denna avhandling undersöker maskulinitet, hög ålder (jmfr. engelskans old age) och sexualitet med utgångspunkt i äldre mäns egna erfarenheter av och sätt att skapa mening kring sex och sexualitet på äldre dar. I studien har 22 män födda mellan 1922 och 1942 deltagit. Studien bygger på två metoder, kvalitativ djupintervju samt den explorativa metoden kroppsdagböcker, där män ombetts skriva dagbok kring upplevelser av kroppen i det dagliga livet. Studien har två övergripande syften, dels ett empiriskt: att studera sexuell subjektivitet hos äldre män; mäns erfarenheter och förståelser kring sex och sexualitet när man är/blir gammal. Dels ett mer teoretiskt syfte: att utforska nya och skilda sätt att tänka och förstå maskulinitet och den manliga kroppen, vad den manliga kroppen kan bli i relation till åldrande. Det senare syftet har inspirerats utifrån feministisk teori och det deleuzianska begreppet blivande. I studien betraktas ålder och att bli gammal på liknande sätt som genus och sexualitet som något som skapas och blir begripligt socialt och kulturellt. Studien betonar dock även betydelsen av den åldrande kroppens särdrag för hur maskulinitet, sexualitet och subjektivitet kan förstås och skapas. Kroppen diskuteras därför som en ”öppen materialitet”, bortom binära uppdelningar mellan kultur och natur/materialitet. I avhandlingen diskuteras intimitet och beröring som centrala begrepp för hur äldre mäns sexuella subjektivitet tar form, som alternativa sätt att förstå sexualitet bortom erektion och samlag. Intimitet och beröring kan förstås på flera olika sätt. Å ena sidan som resurser genom vilka män kan framstå som önskvärda män. Genom att tala om sig själva som mer hänsynstagande, mogna och osjälviska och genom att distansera sig från den yngre mannens/ andra mäns mer egoistiska och starka sexuella lust, framstår den äldre mannen som lagom sexuell, som varken asexuell eller ”snuskgubbe”. Men intimitet och beröring kan även förstås som något som omskapar och ger nya innebörder åt maskulinitet, den manliga kroppen och sexualitet. Kroppens åldrande behöver då inte nödvändigtvis betraktas som ett hinder utan som något som kan skapa nya möjligheter till intimitet och beröring. I avhandlingen presenteras även begreppet affirmative old age, affirmativt åldrande, som ett alternativt sätt att förstå och diskutera hög ålder bortom både diskurser om framgångsrikt åldrande och diskurser om hög ålder som negativitet och förfall. Som en teori om skillnad och kroppens särdrag kan affirmative old age vara av tänkbart intresse för vidare feministisk teoretisering.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-54).

No description available.

No description available.

Cette recherche vise à analyser les stratégies d'accès à la vie intérieure du personnage employées dans les récits par Adelino Magalhães. Pour ce but, cette étude montre comment les artistes de la fin du XIXe siècle - début du XXe ont relevé le défi de représenter la démarche de la psyché en formation dans la littérature. Parmi les auteurs qui ont influencé le travail sont: Christine Buci-Gluksmann, Émile Benveniste, Dorrit Cohn, Robert Humphrey, Belinda Cannone, Henri Bergson et Sergei Eisenstein. Afin de transformer le thème en forme, Adelino Magalhães plonge dans le désordre du langage et, entre des lacunes, pousse le lecteur à essayer l'intimité de ses personnages. / Esta pesquisa visa analisar as estratégias de acesso à vida interior da personagem empregadas nas narrativas por Adelino Magalhães. Para isso, esse estudo demonstra como os artistas da virada do século XIX – XX enfrentaram o desafio de representar o andamento da psique em formação na literatura. Entre os autores que auxiliaram a investigação estão: Christine Buci-Gluksmann, Émile Benveniste, Dorrit Cohn, Robert Humphrey, Belinda Cannone, Henri Bergson e Sergei Eisenstein. A fim de transformar o tema em forma, Adelino Magalhães mergulha na desordem da linguagem e, entre lacunas, provoca o leitor a vivenciar a intimidade de suas personagens. / The purpose of this research is to analyze the strategies to access the inner life of the character employed in the narratives by Adelino Magalhães. For this aim, this study demonstrates how artists from the turn of the XIX century to XX faced the challenge of representing the progress of the psyche in formation in Literature. Among the authors who influenced the investigation, are Christine Buci-Gluksmann, Émile Benveniste, Dorrit Cohn, Robert Humphrey, Belinda Cannone, Henri Bergson and Sergei Eisenstein. In order to transform the subject into shape, Adelino Magalhães dives into the language disorder, and, among gaps, provokes the reader to experience the intimacy of his characters. / El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar las estrategias de acceso a la vida interior del personaje empleadas en las narrativas por Adelino Magalhães. Para este fin, el estudio muestra como los artistas de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX enfrentaron el desafío de representar el progreso de la psique en formación en la literatura. Entre los autores que influenciaron la investigación, están: Christine Buci-Gluksmann, Émile Benveniste, Dorrit Cohn, Robert Humphrey, Cannone Belinda, Henri Bergson y Sergei Eisenstein. Con el fin de transformar el tema en forma, Adelino Magalhães se sumerge en el desorden del lenguaje y, entre las lagunas, provoca el lector a experimentar la intimidad de sus personajes.

Esta tese explora um aspecto social específico da interação entre consumidores e marcas em mídias sociais, que é o nível de intimidade da marca. Este fator é entendido como o grau em que a marca interage como um ator social psicologicamente próximo aos seus consumidores, sendo operacionalizado na forma de um construto latente formado pela autorrevelação, pela expressividade de emoções, pela transmissão de sentimentos positivos e de calor humano e pela informalidade. Embora as mídias sociais já tenham se tornado um componente importante para as estratégias de relacionamento das empresas com seus clientes, ainda há uma falta de construtos específicos de relacionamento social na maior parte dos modelos tradicionalmente empregados em branding e comércio eletrônico. Assim, o objetivo geral desta tese foi o de entender como este nível de intimidade da marca influencia o comportamento dos consumidores nas mídias sociais e quando pode ser mais vantajoso para as marcas buscarem maior ou menor intimidade, dependendo do contexto de consumo em que atuam. Mais especificamente, o efeito da intimidade da marca foi analisado em duas variações de contextos de consumo: no caso de serviços de objetivo hedônico ou utilitário; e no caso de serviços de alto ou baixo envolvimento situacional. Quatro estudos experimentais foram usados, apresentando reproduções de páginas de marca no Facebook para participantes selecionados através do Amazon MTurk. Através do Estudo 1, foram oferecidas evidências de suporte ao efeito positivo da intimidade da marca nas respostas dos consumidores – intenção de compra, intenção de uso da página de marca, aceitação e fornecimento de boca a boca online – em função do aumento do valor hedônico da experiência dos consumidores na mídia social. Os resultados do Estudo 1 também ofereceram suporte à hipótese de moderação deste efeito positivo da intimidade da marca pelo tipo de consumo buscado pelos consumidores. A intimidade da marca teve um efeito maior quando os consumidores buscavam um objetivo hedônico do que um objetivo utilitário. O Estudo 2 foi projetado para testar o efeito moderador da valência geral das postagens sobre a marca na mídia social. Os resultados deste estudo demonstraram que, com o maior número de opiniões negativas sobre a marca na mídia social, o efeito positivo da intimidade da marca deixa de se manifestar em todas as variáveis dependentes. O Estudo 3 analisou a possibilidade de que a intimidade da marca pudesse tornar as respostas dos consumidores menos favoráveis à marca, no caso do aumento do risco percebido. Confirmando esta hipótese, o risco percebido foi verificado como um mediador do efeito negativo da intimidade da marca e o nível de envolvimento situacional como um moderador desta relação. Por fim, o Estudo 4 foi projetado para verificar a possibilidade de influência da valência geral das postagens sobre a marca no efeito da intimidade da marca nas variáveis dependentes. Porém, os resultados deste estudo não indicaram nenhuma interação entre a intimidade da marca e a valência geral das postagens, mas apenas um efeito direto da valência geral das postagens na intenção de compra e de boca a boca. De uma forma geral, os resultados desta tese podem contribuir não apenas para a literatura sobre marketing e comércio eletrônico, mas também podem ser úteis para informar os gerentes de marketing sobre como e quando eles deveriam abordar seus clientes de uma forma mais (ou menos) próxima. Em especial, os resultados indicam ser possível obter melhores respostas em termos de intenção de compra, uso da página de marca e boca a boca online, aumentando o nível de intimidade de marca se esta está mais relacionada a produtos/serviços mais hedônicos e de baixo envolvimento situacional, mas diminuindo o nível de intimidade se o produto/serviço está associado a um alto risco e a um elevado envolvimento situacional. / This thesis explores a specific aspect of social interaction between consumers and brands on social media, which is the level of brand intimacy. This factor is defined as the degree to which the brand interacts as a psychologically close social actor to its consumers, and it is operated as a latent construct composed of self-disclosure, emotion expressivity, transmission of positive feelings, human warmth and informality. Although social media have already become an important component in the relationship strategies of companies with their customers, there is still a lack of specific constructs of social relationship in most models traditionally used in online branding and ecommerce. Thus, the general purpose of this thesis was to understand how this level of brand intimacy influences consumer behavior on social media and when it may be more advantageous for brands to seek greater or lesser intimacy, depending on the consumption context in which they operate. More specifically, the effect of brand intimacy was examined under two variations of consumption contexts: in the case of hedonic or utilitarian services; and in the case of services of high or low situational involvement. Four experimental studies were applied to participants selected through Amazon MTurk, with reproductions of Facebook brand pages. The first study provided evidence supporting the positive effect of brand intimacy in consumer responses (purchase intention, intention to use brand page, acceptance and delivery of e-WOM) – due to the increased hedonic value the experience of consumers on social media. The results of Study 1 also offered support to the hypothesis that this positive effect of intimacy brand is moderated by the consumers’ goal type. Brand intimacy had a greater effect when consumers had a hedonic goal than when they had a utilitarian goal. Study 2 was designed to test the moderating effect of the overall valence of posts about the brand on social media. The results confirmed this effect and showed that the positive effect of brand intimacy in all dependent variables ceased to exist due to the number of negative opinions on the brand page. The third study analyzed the possibility that the level of brand intimacy could make consumers’ responses less favorable to the brand in the case of increased perceived risk. Confirming this hypothesis, the perceived risk was observed as a mediator of this negative effect of brand intimacy. Additionally, the study verified that the level of situational involvement was a moderator of this relationship. Finally, the fourth study was designed to test the possibility that the overall valence of the posts about the brand could moderate the effect of brand intimacy on the dependent variables. However, the results of this study indicated no interaction between brand intimacy and the overall valence of the posts, but only a direct effect of the overall valence of posts on purchase intention and e-WOM. In a general way, the results of this thesis can contribute not only to the literature on online marketing and e-commerce, but may also be useful to inform marketing managers on how and when they should address their customers in a more (or less) close way. in order to get better responses in terms of purchase intention, brand page usage and e-WOM. In particular, the results indicate possible best responses in terms of purchase intention, brand page usage intention and e-WOM, by increasing the level of brand intimacy if it is more related to hedonic products/services with low level of situational involvement and risk, or decreasing the level of intimacy for products/services with high levels of situational involvement and risk.

Text in Afrikaans / Die komplementariteit tussen afstand en intimiteit in die terapeutiese verhouding word ge"illustreer en bespreek aan die hand van 'n enkeie gevallestudie. Die klem is op rekursiewe en selfverwysende prosesse wat tussen die terapeut en kiient plaasvind, sodat die vvyse waarop intiemer en meer afstandelike interaksies ge-kokreer is, uitgelig word. Die terapeutiese proses word binne die raamwerk van die ekosistemiese en sosiale konstruksionistiese epistomologie bespreek. Navorsing word uitgevoer volgens die naturalistiese navorsingsparadigma en raakpunte tussen die navorsingsparadigma en epistomologie wat bespreek is, word aan die hand van die gevaliestudie ge"illustreer. In die studie word daar ook verwys na verwante kwessies, soos aanraking en grense in die terapeutiese verhouding, terapie as 'n a-sosiale konteks, terapie as 'n paradoksale situasie en die neutraliteit van die terapeut, wat aansluit by die tema van hierdie studie. Hierdie temas word geintegreer tydens die bespreking van die gevallestudie. / An individual case study is used in this study, to discuss the complementarity between distance and intimacy in the therapeutic relationship. The focus is on recursive and selfreflective processes between the therapist and the client in order to explain the way in which intimate and distant interactions were coconstructed. The therapeutic process was discussed in the context of ecosystemic and social constructionist epistemologies. Research was done according to the principles of the naturalistic research paradigm and overlaps between this research paradigm and epistemologies that were discussed are brought forward through the discussion of the case study. There are also references in this study to related issues, such as touching and boundaries in the therapeutic relationship, therapy as an a-social and paradoxical context, and the neutrality of the therapist, which connect with the theme of this study. These themes are integrated in the discussion of the case study. / Psychology / M.A. (Kliniese Sielkunde)