The ironic mode is currently a popular style of writing, as seen in the works being produced in the Maritimes. Three current Maritime writers who use this mode are Donna Smyth, David Adams Richards and Deborah Joy Corey. Though the works of these writers appear to be different from earlier pieces of Maritime writing, I suggest that this is not necessarily the case. These three writers are all concerned with the loss of tradition and community strength. I will show this through their treatment of the young women in their works, through their relationships with their partners, their elders, and the community at large. I also suggest that these works do, in fact, have strong ties with earlier writings. The women in these novels are ironic versions of Anne Shirley, L.M. Montgomery's beloved heroine. The romance of Anne may have turned into irony, but the young girl who tries to find a place for herself and her creativity in a rural Maritime region is still present. By comparing the similar events in the works of the late Twentieth Century and the Anne novels, I will show that, though Maritime writing is diverse, there is an interconnectedness in the writings produced from this region, regardless of the age. This allows for a universality in these various works that needs to be recognized as a significant contribution to Canadian--and world--literature. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Experiential avoidance (EA) is an emotion-regulation strategy used to control or avoid unpleasant internal experiences. Experimental studies, however, have shown that EA is associated with an ironic increase in unpleasant experiences. While single manipulation laboratory experiments can demonstrate the immediate ironic detrimental effects of EA, a different methodology is needed to establish how such ironic processes unfold over time in the natural environment. The current study uses a longitudinal design and daily-diary methodology to examine daily associations between EA and negative affect (NA) over a three-week period among college-students who initially reported high levels of psychological distress. A daily measure of state EA based on several avoidant behaviors (thought suppression, emotion suppression, distraction, reflective pondering, and lack of experiential acceptance) was developed for this study. Before and after making daily web-based reports of EA and NA for 21 consecutive days, participants completed a standardized checklist of psychological symptoms, with pre-post change scores on this measure serving as an index of symptomatic improvement. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that, as predicted, symptomatic improvement was associated with decreasing trajectories of EA and NA during the 21-day study period. More symptomatic improvement was associated with weakening (decoupling) of same-day EA-NA links over time. Contrary to predictions, same-day and one-day lagged associations between NA and EA were not associated with symptomatic change. Additional multilevel analyses showed that symptomatic worsening was associated with more daily EA, over and above what was accounted for by daily NA. Likewise, traditional between-person regression analyses showed that overall mean levels of daily EA (aggregated across days) predicted symptomatic worsening, even after statistically accounting for mean levels of daily NA. The results of this study provide partial support for the hypothesis that EA and NA are related to each other in an ironic positive feedback loop that unfolds over time and that symptomatic improvement may involve a process by which EA and NA both decrease and decouple from each other over time. These findings emphasize the importance of using methodologies that track the relationship between EA and its consequences over time using within-person analyses, rather than solely relying on between-person designs.

In Harlequin Presents, the recurrence of particular moments of resistance suggests that these structures of events have meaning apart from -and perhaps even antithetical to - the ideological outcome of any specific text. The ideological structures presented in the romance novel are not passively accepted, nor do they simply fulfill a single pre-existing need or desire in their reading public. Romance novels utilize ideologies in a self-consciously playful and ironic way. These texts offer multiple ways of understanding the worlds they depict, the structures of understanding contained within being posited and discarded. This thesis proposes a means of interpreting the romance novel captures the ambivalence of the reading experience. I will show how the paradox of the romance novel - the seemingly limitless potential of a feminine discourse of the private sphere that is set within the conservative confines of repetitive narratives of social integration - is incorporated into the structure of the texts themselves. While the texts in the series manifest standardized outcomes, they also exhibit recurrent patterns of resistance. The serial form of Harlequin Presents dictates that this tension between separate value sets and ideologies is never fully resolved. The appeal of the romance novel must then lie between these competing demands. Each of my chapters examines the ways that this ironic tension functions within a different intellectual space. In considering how the domestic sphere, the body and the nation are overlayed with multiple, contested meanings, this thesis maps out the scope of ideological resistance and adherence throughout Harlequin Presents. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Edie Meidav convinced me to start a new project. Work on something longer, she suggested. Full of faith, she challenged me to write about what felt most urgent. I thought of Will—a main character who asks questions. My intention became to interrogate the mid-senior-year mindset of a high school student. Barely adults, on the cusp of making the most significant choices of their lives, feeling both that they have all the information they need and that the world is a farce to be retooled as desired, individuals at this age possess all the budding versions of the same neuroses people carry into their nineties. For my own trajectory as a young adult, this stage coincided with the adaptation of the internet. The world’s variety then became more accessible, much faster to find, and without limits. Taking authority and norms at face value seemed like one of the most ignorant things anyone could do. In the early days of the writing, I saw a major conflict developing in Will: not wanting to jump through the hoops laid out for him, but wanting the prizes—love, recognition, and friendship—found on the other side. Ultimately, I want to remind the reader of their ability to hold two conflicting ideas simultaneously, like the feeling that accompanies the death of someone close: in an instant, despite us all being equally human, all the prior needs of the deceased suddenly hold so much more significance, and all our personal prior needs seem suddenly selfish, worth nothing at all. To be transparent: you are reading work realized from elements of my own experiences to create composite characters and events I hope still ring true. Despite the loose strings to reality, I want to be clear: this is entirely a work of fiction.

This thesis contends that Nina Katchadourian's oeuvre can be read as subtly breaking down problematic assumptions about nature in Western thought. The second chapter draws on biosemiotics, which redefines life as semiosis, and trans-corporeality, which reconceptualizes the human body as inseparable from the environment, to show how Katchadourian's art routinely calls attention to non-human animal and material agencies. The third chapter demonstrates how Katchadourian's work implicitly reinforces Donna Haraway's idea of naturecultures, which contends that nature and culture are mutually implicated and inextricably intertwined, through a close reading of two of Katchadourian's pieces, Natural Crossdressing and Mended Spiderwebs #19 (Laundry Line). The final chapter compares the use of irony in two pieces that comment on Western animal classification--Chloe, by Katchadourian, and Scala Naturae, by Mark Dion--contending that Katchadourian's piece demonstrates what Bronislaw Szerszynski terms an "ironic ecology."

This work rethinks current interpretations of American exceptionalism, emphasizing dynamic relations, especially those we could call "ironic." I am reading Reinhold Niebuhr's The Irony of American History alongside Eric Voegelin's and Woodrow Wilson's philosophical and political treatment of freedom, expressed through the ideal of American personhood. American entertainment continues to spread globally, and the spreading creates a wider nexus of efficacious relations, allowing for the interplay of hidden relations and symbolic complexes. "Ironic American exceptionalism," as I call it, highlights the positive aspects, usually overlooked, provided by "virtual integration" and the spawning of novel cultural hybrids. By "virtual integration," I mean to include the forms of entertainment that Americans export to the world, including sports, movies, music, etc. I will try to show that popular culture, specifically "entertainment," in a certain sense of the word, serves to facilitate a mythic consciousness of open selfhood to the world. It is also my contention that open selves are not scientific, religious, political, economic, or otherwise, at least in any limiting sense. When freedom is concentrated under any of these movements or cultural interests solely, then the openness and inclusiveness associated with being "American" (in the sense I will explain) is jeopardized. I want to suggest that popular theories of exceptionalism, those revolving around these limited interests, misconstrue what "Americans," as exemplary open selves, aspire to be. Assembling symbolic icons, images, and artifacts, consumed widely, generates the pluralization associated with American identity and liberty. The spreading and exporting of these complexes produces novel hybrids between elitist and low cultural trends, bringing them together in subtle ways. Inquiring into exceptionalism through a philosophy of culture shows that American open selfhood is not peculiarly democratic, Christian, or capitalist. By resisting exemplarist or expansionist exceptionalisms, the "American" service to humanity is exceptional without serving some higher moral cause or false sense of superiority.

Många människor har påträngande tankar och uppfattar dessa som jobbiga. En vanligt förekommande copingstrategi är att tränga bort dessa upplevelser. Detta kallas suppression eller bortträngning och har kopplingar till psykiatriska besvär. Tidigare studier visar att bortträngning har en ironisk effekt som gör att de tankar en person önskar undvika studsar tillbaka in i medvetandet. I denna experimentella studie används en inomgruppsdesign för att undersöka huruvida denna ironiska effekt går att återfinna hos externa stimuli i form av sinustoner. Testdeltagare (n=40) instruerades att tränga undan eller fokusera på en av två toner. Den första hypotesen var att deltagarna under en tone-in-noise uppgift skulle indikera fler falska positiva på den bortträngda tonen, jämfört med den ton de fokuserade på eller vid ingen ton alls. Detta skulle då indikera på en ironisk effekt. Ytterligare hypoteser var att deltagare kommer ha fler sanna positiva på den bortträngda tonen jämfört med en kontrollton, även detta under brus. Sista hypotesen var att deltagarnas upplevelse av den bortträngda tonen skulle förändras och skattas som mer aversiv efter experimentet. Resultaten stödde ej någon av hypoteserna. Explorativa analyser visade att deltagarna upplevde båda tonerna som mer irriterande, uppjagande och att de lät högre efter en minnesuppgift. Studiens begränsningar diskuteras och förändringar i studiedesign föreslås. / Many people have intrusive thoughts that they experience as aversive. A common coping strategy is to suppress these thoughts. This practice has connections to psychiatric problems. Previous studies have shown that suppression has an ironic process, where the suppressed material has a rebound effect and re-enters consciousness. Furthermore, suppression can have an effect on the emotional perception of the suppressed material. In this experimental study a within-subjects design was used to examine if this ironic effect can be found when suppression is used on external stimuli such as sine tones. Participants (n=40) were instructed to either suppress or focus on two different tones. The hypothesis was that they would indicate more false positives on the suppressed tone during a tone-in-noise task, which would be a sign of a rebound effect. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that participants would have more correct identifications when the suppressed tone was present during the tone-in-noise task. Lastly it was hypothesized that participants would rate the suppressed tone as more aversive. The results did not support any of the hypotheses. Explorative analyses showed that participants rated both tones as more arousing, annoying, and loud after a recall task. Limitations of the study are discussed and changes to the study for further research design are proposed.

The purpose of this essay is to show how femininity is construed in a visual hipster discourse. The material used mainly consists of four adverts from the fashion company American Apparel and four blogs with the word hipster in the title. The method used is inspired by semiotics and discourse analysis and the theory is based on feminist visual culture. Focus is placed on both a deep analysis of the images and texts individually, and a review of the discourse and context in which they interact, in order to discover how femininity is construed among hipsters. Throughout the course of the analysis, gender and sexuality is a consistent focus and leads to other aspects related to power not being prioritised. The analysis section is divided into two main areas of focus where American Apparel is the first part and the hipster blogs the other. Each section begins with an analysis of images and text and is concluded with a summary. In the concluding discussion, it becomes clear that sexist images are used to represent women primarily by American Apparel, but this stereotype is also apparent in the blogs. It is also clear from the analysis of the material that unique and alternative fashion is promoted. Rather than re-contextualising femininity, the traditional objectification of women is hidden behind the hipster ideal. The essay concludes with several brief thoughts and discussion on whether it is possible to apply this ideal of women on a larger part of society than just hipsters.

Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2017-05-12T12:43:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 SANDRA FÁTIMA DA SILVA ARAÚJO.pdf: 1107564 bytes, checksum: f9cff204766c4a51e868c55fa5507a2c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-12T12:44:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SANDRA FÁTIMA DA SILVA ARAÚJO.pdf: 1107564 bytes, checksum: f9cff204766c4a51e868c55fa5507a2c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-03 / This work is an investigation about the duo in a perspective of the irony and the narcissism, by the use of the esthetic language in the Oscar Wilde‟s novel: The portrait of Dorian Gray. The novel works with the manifestation of the beauty and the youth, in a relationship with the Victorian Age on the XIX Century, considering the preponderance of Dandy symbol in the tale. This research aims to demonstrate how the duo is an occurrence of the irony, presented in Dorian‟s character. It also aims to dispute the presence of irony in the manipulation process in the novel and the influence of the Estheticism in the action of this character. This study also approach the linguistic sign in interaction with the image, in this specific case, the portrait. This research adopts as methodology the qualitative approach, the bibliography revision and the analysis of contents as a support to make a comprehension about the society, the human practices and the values inside the novel. As a theoretical support, this study adopts many authors that discuss about cultural semiotics and language, art and literature and the studies of Muecke (1995), Todorov (2013), Kierkegaard (2005), Bakhtin (2005) end Barros (2008). / A ocorrência do duplo e seus desdobramentos na perspectiva da ironia e do narcisismo, pelo recurso do uso da linguagem estética na obra O Retrato de Dorian Gray, de Oscar Wilde. O romance suscita a manifestação do belo e da busca pela juventude eterna, numa relação direta com a sociedade vitoriana da Inglaterra do século XIX, considerando a preponderância do dandismo nesse período. A presente pesquisa tem visa a demonstrar como o duplo sedimenta a ocorrência do narcisismo, materializado no personagem Dorian Gray. Intenta, também, apresentar a operacionalização da ironia no processo de manipulação presente na narrativa e a influência do esteticismo no agir desse personagem. Associados a esses dois fatores, abordase o alcance do signo linguístico e suas relações com a imagem, no caso, o retrato de Dorian Gray, elemento artístico desencadeador de toda a trama e ações no romance analisado. A pesquisa adota a abordagem qualitativa, a revisão bibliográfica e a análise de conteúdo, por constituírem indicadores indispensáveis para organizar este estudo sobre transgressão do conceito de arte, de sociedade e dos valores aqui inseridos. A partir do suporte teórico de autores que versam sobre linguagem, arte, literatura, cultura, embasando-se no quadrante da semiótica cultural e na linha teórica da narrativa, esta pesquisa parte dos princípios estabelecidos e discutidos por Muecke (1995), Todorov (2013), Kierkegaard (2005), Bakhtin (2005) e Barros (2008).

Ao materializar uma específica percepção/estilização de mundo por meio das imagens, dos jogos sonoros e do ritmo, o poema formaliza, por isso mesmo, um modo de ser do enunciador, o etos do sujeito lírico, instância enunciativa que se faz na e pela linguagem. Com base nesse pressuposto, objetivou-se, neste estudo da poesia do brasileiro Dante Milano (1899-1991), identificar os índices lingüísticodiscursivos que, em sua dimensão estilística, permitissem a apreensão e a compreensão de traços do enunciador, cronotopicamente marcado, aderente à percepção que o texto lírico constrói. Assumindo-se explicitamente como poeta e, ao mesmo tempo, desqualificando o valor de sua enunciação, o eu lírico milaniano constrói, nesse paradoxo pragmático, um dos núcleos de tensão que o corporifica no discurso poético e o enlaça à modernidade. Tal procedimento converge para a identificação do eu lírico com figuras emblemáticas da marginalidade, que erram num espaço existencial de peso e opressão. Molda-se, assim, o corpo tenso e comprimido do enunciador, que, contudo, se inscreve numa expressão de altivez heróica. A existência solitária desse eu petrificado na angústia de sua contínua ruminação poética, revela também, em contraponto, outra configuração: a de um corpo volátil e expansivo. Aquele que se faz no devaneio de um olhar desejante lançado à plenitude. Mas uma plenitude que, ao formalizar-se não raras vezes numa sintaxe fragmentada e em imagens da evanescência, se torna inconsistente, vazia. Essas corporificações marcam as conjunções e as dissonâncias que essa poesia, especialmente antitética, constrói entre a carne e o espírito, o sonho e a vigília, a palavra e o silêncio, a morte e a vida... Como significantes intercambiáveis - antagônicos e, ao mesmo tempo, afins - que acionam um jogo assimétrico, indiciam a perspectiva irônica da fala desse enunciador. Uma perspectiva irônica que, entendida como um evento deflagrado na situação comunicativa, instaura a especificidade de uma percepção que incorpora na construção de sua verdade a negação dessa mesma verdade. A configuração poética do locus horrendus, a sonoridade soturna de sua poesia, o sentido especial que assume a métrica decassilábica, as imagens nucleares da pedra e da evanescência, a espacialização textual, o ritmo dispnéico de muitos de seus versos, entre outros índices que emergem da tessitura poética de sutil ironia, corporificam o etos de um enunciador que vivencia a angústia em sua trágica dimensão. / When materializing a specific world perception/stylization by means of images, sound play and rhythm, the poem formalizes, for this very reason, the enunciator\'s way of being, the lyric subject\'s ethos, an enunciation instance that is produced in and by language. Starting from this presupposition, the aim of this study of the poetic work of Brazilian poet Dante Milano (1899-1991) will be to identify the linguistic and discursive indices which, in their stylistic dimension, would allow the apprehension and comprehension of the enunciator\'s traces, chronotopically marked, adherent to the perception built by the lyrical text. Explicitly assuming itself as a poet and, at the same time, disqualifying the value of its enunciation, Milano\'s persona builds, in this pragmatic paradox, one of the tension nuclei which embodies it in the poetic discourse and which ties it to modernity. Such procedure converges on the persona\'s identification with emblematic figures of marginality, which wander in an existential space of heaviness and oppression. Thus is molded the enunciator\'s tense and compressed body, which inscribes itself in an expression of heroic pride. The solitary existence of this self, petrified in the anguish of its continuous poetic rumination, also reveals, in counterpoint, another configuration: that of a volatile and expansive body, which is made in the reverie of a desiring gaze cast into plenitude, but a plenitude which, not rarely taking shape in a fragmented syntax and in images of evanescence, becomes inconsistent and hollow. These embodiments mark the conjunctions and dissonances that this poetry, specially antithetic, builds between flesh and soul, dream and vigil, word and silence, death and life... As interchangeable signifiers - antagonistic and, at the same time, similar - which actuate an asymmetric game, they indicate the ironic perspective of this enunciator\'s speech, an ironic perspective which, understood as an event triggered in the communicative situation, establishes the specificity of a perception that incorporates in the construction of its truth the denial of this very truth. The poetic configuration of the locus horrendus, the gloomy sonority of the poetry, the special meaning assumed by the decasyllabic meter, the nuclear images of stone and evanescence, the textual spatialization, the dyspnoeic rhythm of many of the verses, among other indices which emerge from the poetic tissue of subtle irony, embody the ethos of an enunciator that experiences anguish in its tragic dimension.