This thesis studies the progressive nature of women’s writing and the various factors that helped and hindered the successful publication of women’s written works in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The thesis interrogates culturally encoded definitions of the term “success” in relation to the status of these women writers. In a time when success meant, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “attainment of wealth or position”, women could never achieve a level of success equal to the male elite. The dichotomous worldview, in which women were excluded from almost all active participation in the public sphere, led to a literary protest by women. However, the male-privileged binary system is seen critically to affect women’s literary success. Hence, a redefinition of success will specifically refer to the literary experience of these women writers and a long-lasting recognition of this experience in the twentieth century. An examination of literary techniques used in key works from Catherine Macaulay, Mary Wollstonecraft, Hannah More, Mary Shelley and Jane Austen suggests that there was a critical double standard with which women writers were constantly faced. The literary techniques, used by the earlier writers, fail in overcoming this critical double standard because of their emphasis on revolution. However, the last two women writers become literary successes (according to my reinterpretation of the term) because of their particular emphasis on amelioration rather than revolution. The conclusion of the thesis suggests that despite the “unsuccessful” literary attempts by the first three women authors, there is an overall positive progression in women’s journey toward literary success. Described as the ‘generational effect’, this becomes the fundamental point of the study, because together these women represent a combined movement which challenges a system of patriarchal tradition, encouraging women to continue to push the gender relations’ boundaries in order to be seen as individual, successful writers.

This oral interpretation thesis analyzes the influences on Mark Twain's reading, traces his development as an oral interpreter, and studies his techniques for revising selections of his literature to make them more suitable for oral delivery. This study concentrates on Twain's 1884-1885 reading tour with George W. Cable because in that period Twain made his greatest advances as an oral interpreter. The impact that this tour had on Twain's later reading is also analyzed. It was discovered that the interpretation theories developed by Twain are consistent with contemporary theory and practice.

In The Rainbow D. H. Lawrence departs from traditional literary techniques, going below the level of ego consciousness within his characters to focus on the elemental dynamic forces of their unconscious minds. Using three generations of the Brangwen family, Lawrence traces the rise of consciousness from the primal unity of the uroboros through the matriarchal epoch and finally to full consciousness, the realization of the self, in Ursula Brangwen. By correlating the archetypal symbols characteristic of three stages of consciousness outlined in Erich Neumann's Origins and History of Consciousness and The Great Mother with the three sections of the novel, it is possible to show that Lawrence utilizes the symbols most appropriate to each stage.

Existem muitos sistemas de escrita em uso pelo mundo. Quase todos eles são representações dos sons das línguas, compostos por poucas dezenas de símbolos. A escrita japonesa, porém, inclui caracteres chineses (kanji), que representam não só os sons mas também os sentidos; e, para isso, precisa empregar milhares de símbolos. A complexidade do sistema de escrita japonês torna-o mais difícil de aprender e de processar mentalmente. Por que então ele continua sendo usado até hoje? Haveria alguma vantagem? Investigando estas questões, descobrimos que a escrita japonesa permite formas de expressão que não seriam possíveis através da transcrição sonora pura, nem em sistemas de escrita mais simples. Esta observação é importante, não apenas para os estudos japoneses, mas para os estudos da linguagem escrita em geral: o caso japonês demonstra que a escrita não pode ser compreendida como um simples registro visual da fala, mas deve ser estudada como um sistema de acesso à linguagem com características próprias. Neste trabalho, analisamos algumas dessas formas de expressão específicas da escrita, tal como se apresentam no japonês. / There are many writing systems currently in use around the world. For almost all of them, the basic mechanism is using graphical symbols to represent the sounds of language. A few dozen symbols are enough for this purpose. Japanese writing, however, includes Chinese characters (kanji), which are related not only to sound but also to meaning; since there are many possible meanings, kanji number in the thousands. The complexity of Japanese writing makes it comparatively harder to learn, and harder to process mentally. Why, then, is it still in use? Are there any advantages to such a system? A closer look show that Japanese writing allows modes of expression which would be impossible in a phonetic transcription of speech, or in simpler writing systems. This is an important datum, not only for Japanese studies, but for the linguistic study of writing itself; the Japanese case clearly shows that writing cant be adequately described as merely a visual representation of speech, but must rather be analyzed as an independent system for accessing language. In this dissertation we discuss, from Japanese examples, some of these expressive techniques which can only be realized in a written medium.

Existem muitos sistemas de escrita em uso pelo mundo. Quase todos eles são representações dos sons das línguas, compostos por poucas dezenas de símbolos. A escrita japonesa, porém, inclui caracteres chineses (kanji), que representam não só os sons mas também os sentidos; e, para isso, precisa empregar milhares de símbolos. A complexidade do sistema de escrita japonês torna-o mais difícil de aprender e de processar mentalmente. Por que então ele continua sendo usado até hoje? Haveria alguma vantagem? Investigando estas questões, descobrimos que a escrita japonesa permite formas de expressão que não seriam possíveis através da transcrição sonora pura, nem em sistemas de escrita mais simples. Esta observação é importante, não apenas para os estudos japoneses, mas para os estudos da linguagem escrita em geral: o caso japonês demonstra que a escrita não pode ser compreendida como um simples registro visual da fala, mas deve ser estudada como um sistema de acesso à linguagem com características próprias. Neste trabalho, analisamos algumas dessas formas de expressão específicas da escrita, tal como se apresentam no japonês. / There are many writing systems currently in use around the world. For almost all of them, the basic mechanism is using graphical symbols to represent the sounds of language. A few dozen symbols are enough for this purpose. Japanese writing, however, includes Chinese characters (kanji), which are related not only to sound but also to meaning; since there are many possible meanings, kanji number in the thousands. The complexity of Japanese writing makes it comparatively harder to learn, and harder to process mentally. Why, then, is it still in use? Are there any advantages to such a system? A closer look show that Japanese writing allows modes of expression which would be impossible in a phonetic transcription of speech, or in simpler writing systems. This is an important datum, not only for Japanese studies, but for the linguistic study of writing itself; the Japanese case clearly shows that writing cant be adequately described as merely a visual representation of speech, but must rather be analyzed as an independent system for accessing language. In this dissertation we discuss, from Japanese examples, some of these expressive techniques which can only be realized in a written medium.

Avec le même vocabulaire, Samuel Beckett construit un même univers tant dans ses romans quedans ses pièces de théâtre : Molloy, Murphy, Malone meurt, En attendant Godot, Fin de partie, Oh les beaux jours,La Dernière bande, etc. Pour créer un même monde obscur, il s’appuie sur un langage qui s’anéantit sitôtqu’il s’établit. Si pour Joyce, la création verbale est d’ordre poétique, celle de Beckett est tout autre. Ilopte pour un style abstrait, une phrase grise, sans relief lyrique, dénuée de grâce et de poésie. Une phrasepauvre, à la limite de rien.Ainsi nous allons d’abord révéler quelques techniques littéraires auxquelles Beckett a eu recours :Organisation et structure de l’oeuvre, Procédés narratifs, Constantes dramaturgiques.Après l’étude de la caractéristique formelle des écrits de Beckett, nous tenterons de dévoiler leprocessus de négativité générale qui constitue le sens profond de l’oeuvre de Beckett et qui s’affirme deplus en plus dans l’oeuvre dramatique.Ensuite nous mettrons en relief quelques techniques littéraires utilisées par Beckett dans Fin departie : La diversité d’idées, La participation du lecteur et/ou spectateur, Les procédés narratifs.Enfin, nous analyserons les personnages de cette pièce qui agissent sans buts et motifs précis. Nousessaierons de comprendre ce qu’ils sont (identité) ce qu’ils veulent (désirs) et ce qu’ils font (actions).Ainsi, nous mettrons en exergue leurs caractéristiques, la nature de leurs relations avec eux-mêmes et lesautres. Nous comprendrons alors dans quel monde d’absence ils se trouvent projetés. Pour conclure,nous analyserons la notion de temps et d’espace qui forme un axe fondamental de Fin de partie. / With the same vocabulary, Samuel Beckett builds the same universe in its novels or in her plays:Molloy, Murphy, Malone dies, While waiting for Godot at the End of part, Oh the beautiful days, The Last band, etc.He creates the same dark world and he leans on a language which perishes as soon as it becomesestablished. If for Joyce, the verbal creation is essentially of poetic order, that of Beckett is completelyother. He opts for an abstract style, for a grey sentence, without the slightest operatic relief, divested ofany grace as any poetry. A poor sentence.So is we will first reveal some literary techniques important to which Beckett resorted:Organization and structure of the work; The narrative processes; Dramaturgic constants.After the study of the formal characteristic of Beckett, we are going to try to reveal the processof general negativity which establishes, in our opinion, the deep sense of the work of Beckett and whichasserts itself more and more in the dramatic work.Then we accentuate some literary techniques to which Beckett resorted in the End of part: Thediversity of ideas; The participation of the reader and/or the spectator; Them proceed narrative.Finally, we shall analyse the characters of this play who seem to act without purposes and precisemotives. We shall try to understand that they are (identity) that they want (desires) and what they aredoing (actions). So, we shall highlight their characteristics, the nature or their relations with themselvesand the others. We shall understand then in which world of absence they are thrown. To conclude, weshall analyse the notion of time and space which trains a fundamental axis of the End of part.