The popularity of commercial theatre such as the "melodrama" and the "género chico" presented a barrier to new and experimental theatre at the turn of the twentieth century in Spain. Foremost among the dramatists who attempted to overcome such obstacle were Ramón del Valle Inclán and Federico García Lorca whose early productions were based on commedia dell' arte, puppetry, and generally in popular traditional theatre. The first part of this study (written in Spanish) explores the origins and development of Harlequin in the Italian commedia and traces his presence in the Spanish Renaissance using the work of Cervantes as an example. The historical background of Harlequin is indispensable in understanding Valle Inclán's attitudes towards the commedia. Harlequin is the central figure in his play La Marquesa Rosalinda first performed in 1912. Valle Inclán uses names found in Cervantes's works and through metaphores, sets out to explain the canons of commedia dell' arte that was the heart and pulse of popular theatre in the Renaissance. This thesis examines the height and decline of the commedia in the eighteenth century and includes a study of La Marquesa Rosalinda in terms of its indebitness to the commedia on one hand and Valle Inclán's original development on the other. The second half of this study deals with two works of García Lorca that involve his character Don Cristóbal Polichinela. Don Cristóbal, based on the popular Spanish puppet of the same name, has been inspired by the masked Punchinello of the seventeenth century commedia. A historical and literary appraisal is used to trace the most important characteristics of Punchinello including his transformation from a man into a puppet. Particular emphasis is placed upon the presence of this puppet in Spain, its connection to Harlequin, and the utilization of Punchinello by García Lorca. To conclude this thesis, a comparative study based on the two zanies, Harlequin and Punchinello, enlightens the reasons and motives for the use of puppets and puppets-like characters in the works of Valle Inclán and García Lorca. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

This thesis explores the search for the sublime in a contemporary context. The 'Wilderness' can be viewed as a metaphysical space which can only be circumscribed. The dust storms of the Australian continent provides the space where in this experience is located, metaphorically. If the perceptions of reality are to be seen as filtered through the experiences and conditions of the human spirit, the sites or 'Stations' as the author has called them layer and reveal a personal reflection on the timelessness and commonality of the human condition. Space and time seem to collapse folding over and into itself, with a layering of memories and senses. Growing up in the Mallee in Victoria the author's formative years were shaped particularly by the land and the elements. In these works, the sense of identity is enveloped into a rather cosmic sense of being, when the author became inseparable from the red earth, its duststorms, the sense of space and the feeling of isolation. The most constant experience is that of the sense of interconnectedness and of being able to reach down and stroke the land from a distant vantage point. Consequently, the spiritual found in nature has been a re-occurring motif in the author's artistic practice. The location of the duststorm entitled 'God's Breath', is in flying over Adelaide, towards the Mallee. The grid indicates the impositions of perception which is projected on the land by the viewer, often from a cultural or political viewpoint. In this case the author's perception is influenced by the auto-biographical gaze and the duststorm itself becomes a metaphor for memory and interiority. The medium of wax as a preserving substance is used in the artworks, however this can be seen as being an agent of change, able to re-define it's form according to environmental conditions. The land as 'Self' or 'Mother' is not a constant location, but as in the 'Wilderness' can be seen as a spiritual and/or psychological space, a multi-dimensional filter for the senses and the mind, wherein the spirit can be expanded and be still in it's receptiveness. The four wax rectangles are representative of a duststorm, as seen from the interior perspective of the sensory. These works suggest a multitudinal level of experiences, not necessarily definable but open ended in concept. The void as a creative fullness nurtures the more transient moments of the sensory and temporal. From scarification and pain, through breath and loss, the journey through the wilderness results in a melodic tonal experience, indicative of memory, place and identity / Master of Arts (Hons) (Visual Arts)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Rethinking the monumental suggests not only a reconsideration of Judy Chicago’s controversial installation The Dinner Party (1979)-- as displayed in the group feminist art exhibition, Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party in Feminist Art History --but also refers to an unfixing of the monumental position of power afforded the museum and a re-invigoration of the debate in feminist visual art regarding the use of the female body. I use the Sexual Politics exhibition, curated by Amelia Jones for the University of California at Los Angeles Armand Hammer Museum and Cultural Center (1996) as an indicator of the museum as feminist space. Sexual Politics’ controversial reception by both the feminist community and mainstream critics provokes discussion for how the exhibition’s contradictions are part of the exhibition’s success. I uncover that the museum has always been an important factor in the validity of The Dinner Party. Nevertheless, neither the curator nor critic (exemplified by the Christopher Knight’s 1996 review) of Sexual Politics goes far enough to exploit the museum factor as part of their re-readings of The Dinner Party . I note that the exhibition backdrop, the contemporary art museum, is experiencing a crisis in representation in regards to its audience. Guiding institutional models originally identified by Duncan Cameron (1971) in essay Museum: Temple or Forum? prove suspect as the museum embarks toward a more self-reflexive sense of power in the postmodern museum. Janet Wolff’s essay Reinstating Corporeality serves as a point of departure from which to explore the action of museum exhibition as the site suitable for corporeal reinstatement for feminism. Exhibition elements of artwork, audience and environment act as partners in a metaphoric postmodern dance. This view supposes foreclosure on the debate of essentialism in regards to the corporeal in the feminist visual arts through themes and criticisms associated with The Dinner Party. Jones sets out in her exhibition to contribute to the historicization of feminist art. This thesis looks at that initiative and suggests the museum exhibition, as the medium for this historicization, is an integral element to the success of the process.

Thesis (M. A.) (Hons.)- (Visual Arts) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 151 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-148).

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (MEd (Education and Social Science))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / The purpose of this study is to discover the critical reader-responses of Grade 4 children to a novel written by Judy Blume (1980). The theoretical framework is based on the socio-cultural theories of learning, as well as Rosenblatt's critical reader response theory (1986). I examine the following issues: Cambourne's (2004) principles of engagement, Feuersteins' Mediated Learning Experience (1991), Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (1978), Erikson's Industry versus Inferiority (in Boeree, 2006), as well as Scaffolding (Vygotsky in Olivier 2010, 22-23). The literature review includes the most recent published literature pertaining to my research. Video interviews, as well as reflective journalling were used to gather data. My research answers the following research question: What are the critical reader responses of Grade 4 children to Superfudge, by Judy Blume? My argument, based on Rosenblatt's critical reader-response theory (1986) accurately reflected the manner in which the Grade 4 children rnade meaning of prescribed texts. My data was analysed qualitatively, using an inductive approach. In my findings five themes emerged: finding an authentic voice, gaining identity, the entertainment value of the novel, family dynamics with specific reference to siblings and the relocation of families. The discussion examines insights which emerged from my research. These insights are reviewed in relation to my theoretical frames and relevant literature. In conclusion the process of critical reader-response theory empowers children to develop critical thinking skills and habits that underlie effective reading.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-171) and index.