It is the intent of this thesis to shed a new investigative light upon a musician whose importance as a creative personality and aesthetician has been sorely underestimated or at least unappreciated by fellow musicians and audiences of his own and succeeding generations, a musician who formulated a new musical aesthetic which involved the utilization of compositional techniques diametrically opposed to those which had held dominant influence over the musical world for more than half a century, a musician who attempted to fuse the Italian sense of form and clarity with Teutonic profundity, complexity, and symbolism. This musician was Ferruccio Busoni. This thesis will concentrate on the history of the Faust legend and Busoni's final work, his opera Doktor Faust (c. 1924), the creative problems opera imposed upon Busoni, and his attempt to solve them vis-a-vis his own personal aesthetic.

of the paper The goal of the submitted work is to compare extensively the first hagiographical concerning the process of Christianization in the Central Europe. By paralleling these texts across the national rounds and comparing their image with the current state of the historical research the author tries to understand the role of legend in the Christianization and in particular their possible use as a source for this period. The hagiographical image of paganism, the baptism of the state units, of the ruler and the usual way of the institutional spread of the faith with regard to the image of the lower social classes in the process are all examined in the thesis. Further, attention is paid to the coherence of the Central-European area observable in the typology and the content of examined hagiography.

"Contextualizing the Vikings in Anglo-Saxon History and Literature" examines the Scandinavian impact of Viking presence in Anglo-Saxon England during the so-called First and Second Viking Age, concentrating on the portrayals of the Viking activity in Anglo-Saxon chronicles and annals, as well as Scandinavian (chiefly Icelandic and Danish) sources. It aims to identify the patterns of representation in those portrayals and their development relative to the historical events of the period, the political situation in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the state and progress of the Church, and contemporary literary tendencies, including the influence of heroic literature and the development of the Anglo-Saxon kingship. Three distinct accounts that came into existence as a result of the Viking invasion of England in 866 are examined. Three main traditions can be discerned - the Scandinavian tradition, reflecting the battle of York, the slaying of king Ella and king Edmund, the East Anglian tradition, reflecting the slaying of king Edmund, and the Wessex tradition, reflecting king Alfred's struggle with the Danes. The thesis proposes to trace the historical origins and development of these traditions, attempting to discern their historical and fictional elements by comparing them with the record of the historical...

Depuis plus d’un demi-siècle, Georges Haldas fait entendre une voix discrète mais persistante qui se décline à travers une œuvre dense, profonde et diffractée. Cette étude s’attache à montrer les modalités d’écriture de la forme légendaire, comment celle-ci se positionne par rapport à la chronique dont elle reprend le parcours sinueux mais dont elle se distingue par une tonalité différente qui s’appuie sur des références musicales et picturales. Trois mouvements semblent se détacher dans le processus d’écriture. L’écrivain entreprend de révéler les mystères du quotidien à travers une simplification du réel qu’il transfigure en incarnant dans des trajectoires individuelles des valeurs transcendantales. La légende ouvre ainsi une nouvelle voie pour l’écrivain, une autre façon de se raconter soi-même sur un mode (auto)mythobiographique. Elle met en place une écriture du ressassement qui tend à immobiliser le texte en le refermant sur lui-même afin de fixer ce qui n’est plus sur l’espace de la page pour en garder une trace. Mouvement contradictoire d’une écriture qui constitue selon Maurice Blanchot un paradoxe fécond : "Ce pouvoir de représenter par l’absence et de manifester par l’éloignement[…], pouvoir qui semble écarter les choses pour les dire, les maintenir à l’écart pour qu’elles s’éclairent, pouvoir de transformation, de traduction, où c’est cet écart même (l’espace) qui transforme et traduit, qui rend visible les choses invisibles, transparentes les choses visibles, se rend ainsi visible en elles et se découvre alors comme le fond lumineux d’invisibilité et d’irréalité d’où tout vient et où tout s’achève". Le livre a venir, Paris, Gallimard, 1959, p. 84. / Since more than 50 years now, Georges Haldas makes a discreet but persistent voice listen, which declines through a dense, deep work and various. This study attemps to show the modalities of writing of the legendary shape, how this one positions with regard to the chronicle, the sinuous route of which it borrows but from which it distinguishes itself by a different tone which leans on musical and pictorial references. Three movements seem to stand out from the process of writing. The writer tries to reveal the mysteries of the daily life through a simplification of the reality which he transfigures by embodying in individual trajectories some transcendental values. So, the legend opens a new way for the writer, another way of telling itself on a mode (self) “mythobiographic”. It sets up a writing of the ressassement which tends to immobilize the text by closing it on itself to fix what is not any more on the page-space in order to keep a track. Contradictory movement of a writing which constitutes, according to Maurice Blanchot, a fertile paradox : "Ce pouvoir de représenter par l’absence et de manifester par l’éloignement[…], pouvoir qui semble écarter les choses pour les dire, les maintenir à l’écart pour qu’elles s’éclairent, pouvoir de transformation, de traduction, où c’est cet écart même (l’espace) qui transforme et traduit, qui rend visible les choses invisibles, transparentes les choses visibles, se rend ainsi visible en elles et se découvre alors comme le fond lumineux d’invisibilité et d’irréalité d’où tout vient et où tout s’achève." Le livre a venir, Paris, Gallimard, 1959, p. 84.

Un territoire est indéniablement associé à Napoléon et à sa légende dans l'esprit des populations. Il ne s'agit pas de la Corse, lieu de naissance, mais bien de Sainte-Hélène, lieu d’exil, de mort mais aussi de construction de la légende napoléonienne. C'est sur cette île de l'Atlantique sud qu'entre 1815 et 1821 celui qui, pendant plus de vingt ans, a fait trembler l'Europe, vit les dernières années de son existence. Le captif pendant toutes les années de sa détention sur Sainte-Hélène n'est peut-être à aucun autre moment de sa vie si étroitement observé. Cependant, les Français, entre 1815 et 1821, ignorent ce qui se passe sur cette île perdue de l’Atlantique sud. Les nouvelles sur ce personnage sont rares sinon absentes et l'absence d'information véridique sur les événements de l'île est considérable. Ce constat est accentué par la situation de Sainte-Hélène. Il s'agit d'un lieu éloigné, inconnu et difficilement compréhensible pour la grandes majorités des Français du XIXe siècle. Cette absence d'information entraine les plus folles rumeurs. Effectivement, les fausses nouvelles parsèment l'exil de Napoléon, des Français répandent des bruits, prétendent connaître la vérité et la transmettre généralement oralement, plus rarement par l'écrit, aux autres. Si les bruits sont essentiellement émis entre 1815 et 1821 ils se poursuivent au cours des années 1820 et même au-delà par de multiples relais.Nombre de bruits et d'ouvrages offrent de multiples histoires toutes plus sensationnelles les unes par rapport aux autres sur l'exil de Napoléon. Parmi elles, Napoléon s'est évadé de Sainte‑Hélène. De véritables faits ont inspiré les nombreuses théories évasionistes qui fleurissent à partir de 1815. Ainsi, des projets d’enlèvement ont indéniablement été pensés. Néanmoins, aucun des plans n’est mis à exécution, amenant en conséquence un questionnement sur les raisons de l’absence de leur concrétisation, n'ont-ils pas simplement été de simples échanges verbaux entre Bonapartistes ?Enfin, les rumeurs perdurent après 1821 en partie grâce aux arts. En effet, l'internement de Napoléon a beaucoup été représenté par la littérature, la peinture et plus récemment par le cinéma. Par exemple, de très nombreux auteurs du XIXe siècle se sont inspirés du séjour de l'Empereur à Sainte-Hélène de façon plus ou moins évidente et ont réinvesti les éléments constitutifs de la légende.Toutes les rumeurs et les représentations artistiques de la captivité déforment les dernières années de Napoléon. Or, ces représentations altérées restent dans la mémoire collective car elles sont plus faciles à retenir, elles sont de meilleures histoires que la réalité... Et donc, la mythologie fini par altérer la réalité historique. Par exemple, l'idée d’un Napoléon humilié en permanence par les Anglais est ancrée dans la mentalité populaire comme parmi les élites. D'ailleurs cette distorsion de la réalité est une partie intégrante de la légende napoléonienne. Sans l'idée du calvaire de Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène prisonnier des puissances de la Sainte-Alliance et l’image négative de Hudson Lowe, la figure du captif auprès des libéraux et des nationalistes au XIXe siècle n’aurait pas été la même. La légende de Sainte-Hélène est donc une partie fondamentale de l’histoire napoléonienne. / A territory is undeniably associated with Napoleon and his legend in the minds of the peoples. It is not a question of Corsica, place of birth, but of Saint Helena, place of exile, of death but also of construction of the napoleonic legend. It is on this island of the South Atlantic that between 1815 and 1821 he who, during more than twenty years, made tremble Europe, saw the last years of its existence. The captive during all the years of his detention on St. Helena Napoléon is closely observed. However, the French, between 1815 and 1821, do not know what is happening on this lost island of the South Atlantic. News about this character is rare if not absent and the lack of truthful information about the events of the island is considerable. This observation is accentuated by the situation of St. Helena. It is a distant place, unknown and difficult to understand for the great majority of the French of the nineteenth century. This lack of information leads to the wildest rumors. Indeed, the false news strew the exile of Napoleon, French spread noises, claim to know the truth and to transmit it generally orally, more rarely in writing, to others. If the noises are essentially emitted between 1815 and 1821 they continue during the 1820s and even beyond by multiple relays. Many noises and books offer multiple stories all about Napoleon's exile. Among them, Napoleon escaped from Saint Helena. Real facts have inspired the many evasive theories that flourished from 1815. Thus, kidnapping projects have undeniably been thought out. Nevertheless, none of the plans are put into execution, leading consequently a questioning on the reasons of the absence of their concretization. Maybe, they were simple verbal exchanges between Bonapartists? Finally, rumors endure after 1821 partly thanks to the arts. Indeed, the internment of Napoleon was much represented by literature, painting and more recently by cinema. For example, many nineteenth-century writers drew inspiration from the Emperor's stay in Saint Helena in a more or less obvious way and re-invested the constituent elements of the legend. All the rumors and artistic representations of captivity distort the last years of Napoleon. However, these altered representations remain in the collective memory because they are easier to remember, they are better stories than reality ... And so, mythology ended up altering the historical reality. For example, the idea of ​​a Napoleon permanently humiliated by the British is rooted in the popular mentality as among the elites. Moreover this distortion of reality is an integral part of the Napoleonic legend. Without the idea of ​​Napoleon's ordeal on St. Helena prisoner of the Holy Alliance and the negative image of Hudson Lowe, the figure of the captive among liberals and nationalists in the nineteenth century would not have been the same. The legend of St. Helena is therefore a fundamental part of Napoleonic history.

The field of video game studies is young and requires innovation in its approach to its object of study. Despite the large number of Japanese games and game developers, most scholars in the West approach video games from a point of view that emphasizes Western thought and that is concerned with either very recent video games or the medium as a whole. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask defies Western interpretations as its inspiration and aesthetics are steeped in a Japanese theatrical tradition that dates to the early Middle Ages, namely Noh theater. The game’s emphasis on masks and possession provides unique commentary on the experience of playing a video game while the structure of the game harkens back to traditional Noh cycles, tying in pre-modern ideas with a modern medium in order to comment on video games and the people who play them. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

In this essay I have taken a look at the discourse surrounding the cunning folk of Swedish folklore. By analysing folk legends I have attempted to discover what place the cunning folk held in religious and secular society. Through analysis of the thoughts, beliefs and discourse surrounding what help, harm and use of religious symbols were ascribed to the cunning folk in the material I have come to the conclusion that the cunning folk existed in an ambivalent state within society. They were seen and talked of as both helpful and harmful, and they were placed on the outskirts of the practices of the Christian church. All of this in turn gave them a set a part position, both in a positive and negative sense, in both the religious and secular society alike. Through the theory and method of discourse analyses I will show how the societal discourse surrounding the cunning folk both shaped their place and was shaped by their presence in society.

Tour à tour gloires nationales, héros, pères fondateurs ou au contraire tyrans sanguinaires et sorciers malfaisants, les résistants africains à la colonisation ont souvent connu une grande fortune littéraire et suscitent la fascination collective.D'abord investies par la littérature orale africaine et par l'historiographie coloniale, ces figures émergent souvent au tournant des indépendances et font leur apparition sur la scène culturelle : romans, pièces de théâtre, ballets, films, chants s'attachent à réécrire l'histoire dite nationale des nouveaux Etats. Interroger les représentations en littérature et dans les arts de ces figures héroïques, c'est donc analyser l'écriture de l'histoire en acte, la mémoire collective et l'imaginaire commun en formation.Notre hypothèse est la suivante : les arts, et la littérature au premier plan, jouent un rôle prépondérant dans la création d'identités collectives. Il s'agit donc de vérifier de manière pragmatique la place du fait littéraire, et plus généralement artistique, dans la formation d'imaginaires collectifs, de lier littérature, histoire, société afin d'expérimenter que la littérature n'est pas qu'un « lieu de mémoire » sanctuarisé mais qu'elle participe activement à son élaboration. La littérature est alors liée au fait politique, au sens large de construction du vivre-ensemble dans et par les discours. / Great figures, national heroes, founding fathers or on the contrary tyrannical figures or witches, African resistants to colonisation often appear in literature and arts, and they possess a fascinating aura. Those heroes have emerged since the end of the nineteenth century in oral african literature and in the colonialist European literature. Then, they morphed into National heroes during the independence period and they still play a prominent role in today's African literature and in fictions more generally.The aim of my thesis is to analyse different kinds of updating those heroes, from 1890 to the contemporary world, in fictions and “texts” in its extensive meaning. This study is inspired by Certeau's approach to historical writing. Literature (theatre, poetry, novels...) but also other texts less valued by institutions or less studied as songs, ballets (in television or in theatres), school books (as history textbooks). The latter section requires fields research, as manuals cannot be found in France.Samori (Guinea Conakry), Sarraounia (Niger) and Nehanda (Zimbabwe) were converted from historical person into narrative characters, and as such they embody the memory of the colonization process, the fascinating values (with all connotations, whether positive or negative) of a group, and a collective imagination of history. Far from being a sanctuary dedicated to the preservation of memory and history, literature plays a major role in the construction of imaginative communities and in the elaboration of a common past. Literature, through such cultural heroes or “literary myths”, performs the critical function of encompassing as well as reshaping the lines of postcolonial memory.

In Poets of Reality, Joseph Hillis Miller seeks to establish T.S. Eliot as a precursor of the modern movement towards romantic. subjectivism. By applying his phenomenological critique, Miller claims that several major modern writers, including Eliot, adopt aesthetics based on various forms of philosophical monism. The point underlying this thesis is that Eliot stands opposed to any such position and, until 1930, breaks with philosophy, monistic or otherwise. His art from this period is instead characterized by a search for solution in poetic artifice, a pure art. However, with "Ash Wednesday," the poet once again enters fully into the realm of ideas, and by Four Quartets has achieved a synthesis of art and idea that is clearly dualistic in nature and affirms the importance of a progressive, and not destructive tradition. All of this he finally undergirds with a logocentric belief in language as a vehicle to be purified, far from the linguistic nihilism of Miller's "Yale School" colleague, Jacques Derrida.

The folklore collections amassed by Jean-François Bladé in nineteenth-century southwestern France are problematic for modern readers. Bladé's legacy includes a confusing combination of poorly received historical works and unimportant short stories as well as the large collections of proverbs, songs, and narratives that he collected in his native Gascony. No writer has ever attempted to study any of Bladé's informants in detail, not even his most famous narrator, the illiterate and "defiant" Guillaume Cazaux. Rather than dismissing Bladé as a poor ethnographer whose transcripts do not reflect what his informant Cazaux said, I propose taking Bladé's own confusion about authenticity seriously. This confusion suggests that Bladé was trapped between three competing models that depicted the authenticity of folklore as residing in either the audience or folklorist, or the tradition, or the performer. The texts of Cazaux's legends that Bladé published were not just invented by Bladé, but forged in a dynamic interaction between the folklorist, Cazaux, and the force of tradition. When Cazaux described his beliefs in witchcraft to Bladé, he did not just reveal his own worldview; he also relied on the power of anonymous forces and silence to threaten and coerce the folklorist. The legend texts that Bladé published are not simply monovocal re-writings of some things Cazaux said; they enact a conversation between the two men about place and time. This conversation is a very limited example of an important question that has occupied historians: the "modernization" of the rural population by national forces. Although Bladé and Cazaux had very different backgrounds and education and only knew each other for ten years, their memories are intertwined for posterity.