Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2006. / Thesis directed by James C. VanderKam for the Department of Theology. "April 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-299).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, 2007. / Title from dissertation title page (viewed May 15, 2007). Includes abstract. "Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Brite Divinity School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical interpretation." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed April 19, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 302-325).

This paper explores the intertwined history of certain goddesses of the Middle East and the Americas. This history informs the original invented contemporary deities that my project centers around. Using recycled materials and collected objects, my project displays two religious altars, one from my heritage and one from my experience living in Brazil. One altar is based on afro-Brazilian sea goddesses, and one is a contemporary imagined interpretation of a Judeo-Christian female figure. The two altars together compose an installation that seeks to unify a pagan practice and two distinct monotheistic traditions while still honoring their separate parts. These parts is built in the studio.

The thesis considers the educational function of the trials of Nazis by the British and American authorities after the Second World War. As has generally been overlooked in the literature, legal proceedings were instituted not only to punish the abhorrent actions of the Third Reich, but also to provide an historical record for the edification of victors, vanquished and posterity alike. The route from this Allied intention to its fulfillment was not a straightforward one, however, bedeviled by enduring preconceptions of Nazi criminality on all sides, and by the very nature of the legal process. To illustrate by case study the difficulties of disclosing information through the trial medium, the theme of the murder of the European Jews has been selected. The limiting influence of British and American socio-cultural and politico-legal norms on the parameters of the trials is developed in the first section. This analyses the prosecutorial methods with which it was considered the didactic aims would best be achieved, alongside the prevailing trend towards downplaying the particular identity of the chief victims of Nazism. The image of the Jewish catastrophe thus compiled as theory was translated into reality in the Allied courtrooms is the initial focus of the second section. That deals with the problematic image of the 'concentration camps' established in a selection of trials; and with the influence of such proceedings upon the academic historiography of the Holocaust. Finally, the thesis confronts the popular receptivity in Britain, the USA and West Germany to the information made available.

No description available.

In this thesis, I am developing a theory of the translingual imagination which can be used as a tool to explore literature written in a second language. The term ‘translingual imagination’ was first coined by Steven Kellman in his essay ‘Translingualism and the Literary Imagination’, describing the work of authors writing in a language other than their first. Recent years have seen a growing body of research on these writers, not least because of a risen interest in post-colonial writing and transnational and migration studies. Literary scholars have increasingly questioned ‘the paradigma of monolingualism’, and linguistic research has looked at interrelations between migration,language and identity. However, research projects have often focused on prose writing, predominantly examining the work of canonized male authors (such as Kafka, Conrad or Rushdie), and post-war migrants(such as Turkish-born authors writing in German, or South American-born writers writing in English). Poetry written by women poets of German-Jewish origin has mainly been considered part of Holocaust writing, and over the past decades German scholars have been trying to reclaim these texts as ‘German -Jewish’ poetry. My thesis considers the work of four English poets of German-Jewish origin in the context of translingual writing. While using Kellman’s term, I shall suggest a set of specific criteria to allow for a clearer definition of the ‘translingual imagination’. In applying these criteria to the work of women poets of German-Jewish origin, I will not only show the translingual imagination at work but also encourage a new reading of literature written by German-Jewish refugees that goes beyond the notion of exile poetry.

The thesis analyses Czechoslovak-Jewish relations in the twentieth century using the case study of the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile in London and its activities during the Second World War. In order to present the research in a wider perspective, it covers the period between the Munich Agreement, when the first politicians left Czechoslovakia, and the Communist Coup in February 1948. Hence the thesis evaluates the political activities and plans of the Czechoslovak exiles, as well as the implementation of the plans in liberated Czechoslovakia after 1945. In comparison with previous contributions to the theme, this thesis is based on extensive archival research. It examines how the Czechoslovak treatment of the Jews was shaped by resurgent Czech and Slovak nationalism/s caused by the war and the experience of the occupation by the German army. Simultaneously, the thesis enquires into the role played in the Czechoslovak exiles’ decision making by their efforts to maintain the image of a democratic country in the heart of Europe. An adherence to western liberal democracies was a key political asset used by Czechoslovakia since her creation in 1918. Fair treatment of minorities, in particular the Jews, became part of this ‘myth’. However, the Second World War brought to the fore Czechoslovak efforts to nationally homogenize the post-war Republic and rid it of its ‘disloyal’ minorities. Consequently, the thesis evaluates how the Jews as a minority were perceived and constructed. The thesis is divided into five chapters, following the developments in chronological, as well as thematic order. The first chapter analyses the influence of people in occupied Czechoslovakia on the exiles’ policy towards the Jews. Chapter two and three document the exiles’ policy towards the Jews during the war, including the government’s responses to the Holocaust. Chapter four enquires into the wartime origins of the post-war Czechoslovak policy towards the Jews. Finally, the last chapter analyses the influence of public opinion abroad on the Czechoslovak policy towards the Jews during and after the war.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, philanthropists in Britain created a large number of clubs for young people. Whilst many of these were connected with churches, British Jewry founded a number of their own clubs for young Jewish men and women. These clubs were run in the East End of London and other urban centres with high numbers of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe such as Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Liverpool. The club managers were established Jews who lived in wealthier areas of the cities who sought to pass on positive British attributes to the immigrant population. In addition to secular activities such as sports, the clubs used religion as a way to encourage young immigrants to adapt to religious life in England, a neglected aspect of their work. This thesis explores the inclusion of a religious element within these clubs, examining the period from the beginning of the clubs existence in the 1880s, responding to the influx of Eastern European immigrants arriving in the UK, until the outbreak of the Second World War when the focus of Anglo-Jewish philanthropy shifted from domestic concerns to those within Europe and on combating anti-Semitism. This thesis explores how religion promoted an ideal of national identity, specifically designed for working class immigrant Jews, as well as the ways in which religion promoted gender identities which were designed to aid integration into British society. The first two chapters analyse Orthodox Jewish boys’ and girls’ clubs. As the majority of clubs fall into these categories these chapters will look at these groups as providing normative experiences. The third chapter will look at uniformed groups and explore the extent to which these groups provided a ‘uniformed’ experience not only in relation to outward appearance but also in terms of gendered religion. The final chapter will examine Liberal Jewish clubs, the major alternative to the other organisations explored. These were attacked by those within the Orthodox mainstream due to their religious affiliation and this thesis will discuss the ways in which this criticism was heightened in response to deviations from gender norms. This thesis therefore demonstrates the centrality of gender norms in religious programming for young people.

No description available.