A presente tese é sobre gnosticismo, doutrina religiosa da Antiguidade tardia, em sua relação com a poesia. Procura circunscrever seu âmbito, definir suas características e localizar seus principais temas: entre outros, o dualismo, os mito do demiurgo, das duas almas, do andrógino primordial, sua noção do tempo e sua relação com hermetismo, astrologia e alquimia. Mostra como mitos e temas gnósticos e até um estilo, um modo gnóstico de escrever, reaparecem ou são retomados por poetas românticos, simbolistas e modernistas, inclusive aqueles de língua portuguesa. Entre outros, examina William Blake, Novalis, Gérard de Nerval, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Lautréamont, Breton, Fernando Pessoa, Dario Veloso e Hilda Hilst. Sustenta que, sendo arcaico e anacrônico em seu dualismo e sua complexa cosmovisão e teologia, ao mesmo tempo o gnosticismo pode ser associado a uma mentalidade moderna e, como parte dela, a criações literárias, algumas inovadoras, pelo caráter sincrético e por formular uma crítica total, cósmica, na era da crítica. Também mostra como poetas não apenas absorveram ou reproduziram aquela doutrina, mas o fizeram de modo pessoal e original, transformando-a e reinventando-a. E, principalmente, como, utilizando suas categorias e temas, tentaram promover uma subversão do senso comum, da percepção instituída do mundo, justificando paralelos do gnosticismo como misticismo rebelde com a rebelião romântica e seus continuadores. / The present thesis is about Gnosticism, the religious doctrine of Late Antiquity, in its relationship to poetry. The focus is to establish the realm of Gnosticism, to define its characteristics, and to locate its main themes. Dualism, the myth of the demiurge, the two souls, the primordial androgynous, its notion of time, and relations of Gnosticism with Hermetism, Astrology and Alchemy are, amongst others, some of the subjects and themes. The thesis shows how Gnostic myths and subjects and even a Gnostic style of writing reappear or is resumed by romantic poets, symbolists and modernists, including those of Portuguese language. Among others, examines William Blake, Novalis, Gérard de Nerval, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Lautréamont, Breton, Fernando Pessoa, Dario Veloso and Hilda Hilst. Holds that Gnosticism, being archaic and anachronic in its dualism, complex weltanschauung and theology, can be associated at the same time with a modern mentality and, as part of it, with literary creations, some innovative, for its syncretism and its formulation of a total and cosmic review in the era of the criticism. Finally, also shows how poets didn\'t just absorb or reproduce that doctrine, but that they did it in a personal and original way, transforming and reinventing Gnosticism. And, most outstandingly, how, using its categories and themes, poets encouraged subversion of the common sense, and the formal perception of the world, therefore justifying parallels of Gnosticism as a rebellious mysticism with the Romantic rebellion and its followers.

Thesis advisor: Marjorie Howes / Epistolary Modernism reads British and Irish writing of the 1920s through the 1950s with a focus on the way authors use fictional letters and verse epistles to communicate a renewed sense of literature as public speech, even as they saw privacy curtailed and surveillance increased. Letters enable late modernist writers to call attention to the way literature straddles the gap between private experience and public declaration. Virginia Woolf, W.H. Auden, Louis MacNeice, Graham Greene and Elizabeth Bowen all use letters to reveal a late modernist belief in literature as an exchange between an author and a reader -- a bridge between times and perspectives -- even as they trouble the possibility of any clear communication or meaning. The implied exchange in letters requires a sense of correspondence: a letter demands both interpretation and a reply. But a letter is always already too late. Epistolary Modernism reads letters as a stand-in for the literary period of late modernism itself, an epoch of writing characterized by a sense of coming too late to history and to literary tradition. The project considers fiction and poetry published in the 1920s through the 1950s in relation to historical and cultural events of the period, arguing that the sense of belatedness and temporal disjuncture letters create fundamentally links the structure and materiality of the text to the social and political concerns of its author. These writers composed literature attuned to historical events and the simultaneously occurring ordinary moment, leading to an increasingly interconnected, and socially-responsible art borne from the historical impasse of the thirties, the Second World War and its political legacy. Letters enable these writers to continue aesthetic experiments while simultaneously addressing politics, society, and the purpose of literature itself. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English.

Le IVe siècle de notre ère représente indéniablement un tournant majeur dans l’histoire de l’Europe occidentale. Le passage du christianisme du statut de culture marginale d’une communauté religieuse à celui de pôle culturel et normatif à l’échelle d’une société constitue une transition caractéristique de l’Antiquité tardive, qui s’est d’abord opérée sur le terrain des systèmes sociaux de référence que sont le temps et l’espace – lieux d’expression identitaire. La richesse documentaire de l’"Vrbs" ajoutée à sa position de capitale historique et de cité de première importance pour le christianisme en font un cadre d’étude singulier. Cette enquête sur le partage du temps et de l’espace, entre la victoire du Pont Milvius (312) et le sac d’Alaric (410), propose une reconstruction des temps de la cité et une exploration des mécanismes de développement de l’organisation calendaire de l’Église et d’insertion au sein de la trame temporelle urbaine (partie 1). Sur la base d’un catalogue qui actualise le "LTVR(S)", elle reconstitue la topographie polythéiste et examine l’inscription de l’ancrage matériel du culte chrétien au sein du territoire romain (partie 2). Au travers de ces analyses transversales et d’études de cas (partie 3), elle tente aussi de comprendre des modes d’interaction, de coexistence religieuse au sein d’une société. La recherche replace le curseur sur la continuité plutôt que la rupture. Elle révèle un modèle prioritairement intégratif et une stratégie de conformité aux dynamiques romaines dans le partage du temps et de l’espace. Elle argumente sur une cohabitation religieuse globalement pacifique portée par un investissement identitaire commun focalisé sur la "Romanitas". / The fourth century AD is admittedly a major turning point in the history of Western Europe. The evolution of Christianity from the status of a marginal culture within a religious group to that of a cultural and normative pole within society constitutes an important transition specific to Late Antiquity. This transition from margin to norm started from the social frameworks of time and space, acting as strong identity markers. The great amount of evidence from the "Vrbs", its position as historical capital, as its recognized status as important city for the development of Christianity, make it a specific research framework. This study, which focuses on the sharing of time and space between the victory of the Milvius Bridge (312) and the sack of Alaric (410), reconstructs the organization of the times in the city and explores the mechanisms behind the development of the calendar structure of the Church within this urban space (part 1). On the basis of a catalogue that brings up to date the "LTVR(S)", this study rebuilds the polytheistic topography and scrutinizes the material inscription of the Christian cult on the Roman territory (part 2). On the basis of these cross-sectional analyses and case studies (part 3), it also attempts at understanding the modes of religious co-existence and interaction within a society. The results point towards a sense of continuity rather than breaking. This dissertation reveals a model that favours integration and conformation strategies to the Roman dynamics in the sharing of time and space. It argues in favour of a religious cohabitation mostly peaceful led by a common identity investment focused on the "Romanitas".

This study explores some of the implications of the distribution of estates between the landholders of Essex in 1066. Emphasis is placed on the immediate background of land ownership in Essex during the reign of Edward the Confessor, though some attention is paid to the earlier history of the shire. The principal source for the investigation is the pre-Conquest data recorded in the Essex folios of Domesday Book. In the first part the broad outlines of the structure of landholding society are considered. Particular attention is paid to those with large amounts of land, although the less extensive holdings of, freemen and sokemen are also discussed. Charters, will's and other pre-Conquest documents provide information on the earlier tenurial history of some estates, and from them and other evidence a model is proposed of the trends in land tenure in Essex between c900 and 1066. In an appendix identifiable lay landholders are listed with details of their estates, whilst in the body of the text the pre-Conquest holdings of ecclesiastical institutions are examined in detail. The second part of the study considers the evolution of the institutions 'of public administration within the shire, and where relevant the influence upon them of powerful landholders. This influence is seen most clearly in the hundreds, and an attempt is made to reconstruct the earlier history of the 1066 Essex hundreds, in particular the evolution of those in the west of the shire. The varying fortunes of the Essex burhs are considered in the light of the output from their mints. To complete the picture evidence of pre-Conquest private lordship - soke, -and commendation - is examined.

Devotional and charitable confraternities were a characteristic feature of late medieval Florence. The popularity of the former, and particularly the laudesi and flagellants, stemmed from the fact that they enabled the layman to participate in areas of worship which had been previously the exclusive dcanain of the clergy. The laudesi specialised in singing lauds which during the fifteenth century came to be perfomed by professional singers and musicians. This helped the companies to maintain their devotion, but at the same tine removed the necessity for members to attend daily services. Moreover the'laudesi societies' acceptance of bequests meant that some became as concerned to provide services for the dead as for the living. In contrast flagellant canpanies retained their vitality by emphasizing a strict penitential devotion and refusing to become involved in the administration of property. ) The most important charitable cccpany was Or S. Michele, which was founded in the late thirteenth century to supervise the cult of the miraculous Madonna and to distribute the public's oblations to the poor. During the Black Death the conpany inherited a large fortune which changed the character of many of its activities. Successive governments sought to protect Or S. Michele from litigious heirs and corrupt carpany officials and then proceeded to borrow money to help cover its own debts and finance catrnunal construction projects including the oratory of Or S. Michele. After the Black Death alms were no longer distributed to a large number of paupers, but to a more exclusive clientele. By the end of the Trecento Or S. Michele had a tarnished reputation and the cult had lost much of its vitality except as a centre for public festivals. This decline was shared by the Misericordia, and Florence was thereby deprived of the services of any large private charities until the foundation of the Buonanini di S. Martino in the mid-fifteenth century.

This thesis analyses stunts in the public life of late nineteenth-century New York, where 'stunt' developed as a slang term. Addressing stunts as a performative and discursive practice, I investigate stunts in popular newspapers, sports, politics and protest and, to a lesser extent, theatre and film. Each chapter focuses on one form of stunt: bridge jumping, extreme walking contests, a new genre of reporting called 'stunt journalism', and cycling feats. Joseph Pulitzer's popular newspaper, the World, is the primary research archive, supported by analysis of other newspapers and periodicals, vaudeville scripts, films, manuals and works of fiction. The driving question is: how did stunts in public life enact conceptions of value? I contextualise stunts in a 'crisis of value' concerning industrialisation, secularisation, recessions, the currency crisis, increased entry of women into remunerative work, immigration, and racialised anxieties about consumption and degeneration. I examine the ways in which 'stunt' connotes devaluation, suggesting a degraded form of politics, art or sport, and examine how such cultural hierarchies intersect with gender, race and class. The critical framework draws on Theatre and Performance Studies theorisations of precarity and liveness. I argue that stunts aestheticised everyday precarity and made it visible, raising ethical questions about the value of human life and death, and the increasingly interdependent nature of urban society. Stunts took entrepreneurial idealisations of risk and autoproduction to extreme, constructing identity as commodity. By aestheticising precarity and endangering lives, stunts explored a symbolic and material connection between liveness and aliveness, which provokes questions about current conceptualisations of liveness and mediatisation. I argue that while stunts were framed as exceptional, frivolous acts, they adopted the logic of increasingly major industries, such as the popular press, advertising and financial markets. Stunts became a focal point for anxiety regarding the abstract and unstable nature of value itself.

Appliqués au « Palais de Trajan » (Bosra, Syrie du Sud), les moyens de l’architecture comparée et de l’archéologie sont mis en œuvre pour restituer dans ses formes et son emploi cette vaste résidence urbaine de l’Antiquité Tardive. Les relevés précisent les procédés constructifs et constatent leur variété, les fouilles mettent au jour des thermes privés, équipement luxueux, le matériel exhumé permet de dater la construction des bâtiments et apporte des indications sur le décor disparu, le mode de vie ou la personnalité de ses habitants. Comparer cette architecture avec celle de la région basaltique et d’autres grandes villes de l’Empire aide à interpréter les vestiges et à restituer, au moins hypothétiquement et à l’aide d’une maquette numérique, les parties abolies. Sa taille et le raffinement de ses bâtiments, la présence d’une salle triconque et de bains privés, des couvertures en coupole nécessairement restituées, autorisent à promouvoir l’édifice en résidence officielle. L’inventaire des monuments fréquentés et édifiés alors, édifices publics, éléments urbains, sanctuaires, et l’analyse de leur position dans la ville participent à définir le rang de ce palais et à identifier ses occupants. C’est finalement sa proximité avec la plus grande église de Bosra, plus qu’une mise en parallèle avec les quelques groupes épiscopaux contemporains avérés, qui, l’affectant éventuellement au patrimoine de l’Église, soutient l’hypothèse d’y voir le palais de fonction du métropolite. En outre, cette revue du paysage de Bosra au VIe siècle met en lumière la diversité des monuments, celle des sources disponibles pour les approcher et ouvre des perspectives pour les recherches futures. / The disciplines of comparative architecture and archaeology are combined in this study of the “Trajan’s Palace”, vast urban residence from the Late Antique Period in Bosra, southern Syria. The surveys detail the variety of the construction processes, the excavations highlight the luxuriousness of the private thermal baths, while the small finds not only provide positive dates for the various construction phases, but also evidence of decorative features no longer extant, together with the personality and lifestyle of the occupants. A comparison of the architecture with that of other edifices from the basalt region and other major cities throughout the Roman Empire supports an interpretation of the remains and, with the assistance of a digital model, the reconstruction, at least hypothetically, of the missing sections. The size and refinement of constructions, the presence of a triconchos and private bath, together with restored domes, endorse the identification of the building as an official residence. An inventory of other monuments in use or constructed at that time, public buildings, urban elements, and sanctuaries, and an analysis of its position in the city help to specify the rank of this palace and to identify its occupants. Finally, itsproximity to the largest church in Bosra, rather than a comparison with other known contemporary episcopal complexes, possibly assigning it to the Church’s heritage, sustains the hypothesis that it was the official palace of the metropolitan see. This review of the Bosra landscape highlights the diversity of the monuments and the variety of sources available to study them, while opening prospects for future investigation and study.

This dissertation analyses the visual representations of the Lower Thames in the years between about 1880 and 1901 to understand the ways in which they reconstructed and projected modern life in London in and through visual forms. Focusing on works which were accessible in the broad middle-class sphere through exhibitions and publications, it sets out to show how non-modernist works of art articulated capitalist modernity in powerful terms. In translating a working port into representations such as exhibition pictures and newspaper illustrations, artists exploited the naturalist aesthetic. They highlighted the dirty, modern, chaotic and even dangerous river, while playing with the distance between that depicted working-class site and the middle-class audience of their work. Examining their subject and means of representation, the dissertation shows how the late Victorian representations of the Port of London illuminated the values of technology, labour, capital and the Empire.

This thesis examines one labourer group within developing urban society in England during the tenth and eleventh centuries in order to address both its status and whether the internal workplace organisation of this group might reflect on the complexity of an Anglo-Saxon 'state'. In reviewing the minting operation of late Anglo-Saxon England, and the men in charge of those mints, a better picture of the social history of pre-Conquest England is realised. These men, the moneyers responsible for producing the king's coinage, were likely part of the thegnly or burgess class and how they organised themselves might reflect broader trends in how those outside of the artistocracy acted in response to royal directives. In order to address this, a database combining information from multiple catalogues, coin cabinets, and online repositories was developed in Part I and is presented in Part II. The Moneyers of England Database, 973-1086 consists of 3,646 periods of moneyer activity, derived from 28,576 individual coins produced at ninety-nine geographic locations. Parts III and IV provide potential uses for the database through two different types of study. Part III argues that the mints were primarily controlled and operated by families. Pointing to the repetition of the protothemes amongst the moneyers on a large scale across nearly all the mint locations known from the 970s to 1086, I argue that the mints were dominated by a few select families that maintained authority through wars and conquests. Part IV presents two new theories on late Anglo-Saxon mint organisation. The first theory is that groups of moneyers would begin and end activity within the mints together, most often within family units, but regularly in conjunction with other minting families in the same location. The second theory is that these groups would operate in rotation. The moneyers would operate for a set period of time, then withdraw in favour of another member of their dynasty before returning to activity at a later date. I conclude that this was potentially, if not likely, in response to royal imposition on the mints restricting the number of coinages that a moneyer could be responsible for, and take profit on, consecutively. The thesis is structured with a brief introduction and literature review, inclusive of discussion on the status of the moneyers and the concept of an Anglo-Saxon 'state', followed by a methodological section that outlines the creation of the Moneyers of England Database, 973-1086, as well as limitations in the source material. This is followed by the database, two analysis sections, and the conclusion. There are two appendices. The first appendix is an insert diagram of all 425 moneyers in operation in London between 973 and 1086. The second is the coinage record from which this work is derived.

The Louisiana Creole community in New Orleans went through profound changes in the first half of the 20th-century. This work examines Creole ethnic identity, focusing particularly on the transition from Creole to American. In "becoming American," Creoles adapted to a binary, racialized caste system prevalent in the Jim Crow American South, and transformed from a primarily Francophone/Creolophone community (where a tripartite although permissive caste system long existed) to a primarily Anglophone community (marked by stricter black-white binaries). These adaptations and transformations were facilitated through Creole participation in fraternal societies, the organized labor movement and public and parochial schools that provided English-only instruction. The "Americanization of Creole New Orleans" has been a common theme in Creole studies since the early 1990's, but no prior study has seriously examined the cultural and social transformation of Creole New Orleans by addressing the place and role of public and private institutions as instruments and facilitators of Americanization. By understanding the transformation of Creole New Orleans, this thesis demonstrates how an historically mixed-race community was ultimately divided by the segregationist culture of the early-twentieth century U.S. South. In addition to an extensive body of secondary research, this work draws upon archival research at the University of New Orleans' Special Collections, Tulane University Special Collections, the Amistad Research Center, The Archdiocese of New Orleans, and Xavier University Special Collections. This thesis makes considerable use of census data, draws upon press reports, and brings to bear a wide assortment of oral histories conducted by the author and others. Most scholars have viewed New Orleans Creoles simply as Francophone African Americans, but this view is limited. This doctoral thesis engages the Creole community in New Orleans on its own terms, and in its own idioms, to understand what "becoming American" meant for New Orleans Creoles between 1896-1949.