This project investigates the social role of gentleman in Victorian England as defined in two Victorian novels, Dinah Maria Mulock's John Halifax, Gentleman and Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. Mulock and Dickens promote the middle-class gentleman as a role that prioritizes the fulfillment of duty. Mulock's protagonist, John Halifax, displays this gentlemanliness throughout his social and economic rise. He bridges the upper and lower classes and embodies both a model and a pathway to middleclass gentlemanliness. Dickens's protagonist, Pip, develops this middle-class gentlemanliness as he learns from his own and four other characters' experiences. Dickens separates the inward, duty-focused gentleman and the outward, appearance-focused gentleman in the four characters that influence Pip, thus emphasizing their relationship and the power of social role encoding. These two novels reveal the performances of roles as social constructions that utilize the power of group definitions and the role writers play in shaping those definitions. / Department of English

This study critically explores the numerous strains of “madness” that Zimbabwean authors represent in their postcolonial literature. My focus is on their reflection of “madness” as either an individual state of being, or as symptomatic of the socio-political and economic condition in the country. I have adopted insights from an existential psychoanalytic framework in my literary analysis in order to bring in an innovative dimension to this investigation of the phenomenon. I consider this an appropriate stance for this study as it has enriched my reading of the literary texts under study, as well as played a crucial role in providing me with effective conceptual tools for understanding the manifestations of “madness” in the texts. The literary works that I critique are Shimmer Chinodya’s Chairman of Fools (2009), Mashingaidze Gomo’s A Fine Madness (2010), Brian Chikwava’s Harare North, Petina Gappah’s An Elegy for Easterly (2009), Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not (2006) and Yvonne Vera’s Without a Name (1994) and Butterfly Burning (1998). These selected texts offer me an opportunity to analyse the gender dynamics and discourses of “madness”, which I do from a peculiarly indigenous and feminist perspective. My study reveals that these authors’ representations are located in and shaped by very specific temporal and spatial contexts, which, in turn, shed light on the characters’ existential reality, revealing aspects of their relationship with the world around them. It demonstrates that their notions of “madness” denote different markers of identity, such as race, class, gender, and religion, amongst others. Significantly, my literary analysis illustrates the varied permutations of “madness” by exposing how these authors characterise the phenomenon as trauma, as alienation, as depression, as insanity, as subversion, as freedom, and even as a sign of the state of affairs in Zimbabwe. This investigation also reveals that because “madness” in these authors’ fiction is intricately linked to the question of identity, it manifests in situations where the characters’ sense of ontological security is compromised in some way. What emerges is that “madness” can either signify a grapple with identity, a loss of it, or a struggle for its redefinition / English Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (English)

The diploma thesis deals with an analysis of a concept of a value on the basis of the selected literature. It tries to point out a connection of ethical theories with a practical human behaviour. It has been structured from an explanation of key concepts as ethics, morality, manners; it examines a word of the value and fundamental philosophical theories which are associated with values. In detail it analyses the values in terms of so called philosophy of the material and formal subjectivism. It focuses on representatives of the phenomenology - Max Scheler, Nikolai Hartmann and Dietrich von Hildebrand. It specifies approaches to the values as well as in terms of a human personality, especially from a perspective of the analytical psychology. The thesis shows an importance of the values in the practical application - in the professional ethics of social work, where ethical codes provide an orientation for employees. Caritas Czech Republic was chosen as a model organization. That is also why a theological perspective on the values has been mentioned and basic values and principles of the Code of Caritas Czech Republic as well. This study should be a stimulus for a further exploration of the concept of the value and its significance for human beings. It considers the values to be a fundamental motivation that will lead mankind to a good behaviour (virtues) in the future.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Wilde produced the three comedies that I will focus on in this essay. These plays, Lady Windermere’s Fan, A woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband, are all comedies of manners: intelligent dramatic comedies satirising contemporary fashionable circles of society and its manners, as well as social expectations. This type of comedy is often represented by stereotypical characters, such as the fallen woman, the good woman and the young innocent maiden, all three of which I will investigate in this essay.

nÃo hà / Esta pesquisa à uma tentativa de compreender o sentido ou as conexÃes de sentido das aÃÃes praticadas pelas pessoas envolvidas diretamente com as atividades criminais em bairros populares. O recorte analÃtico à o que estou denominando Grande Tancredo Neves: um complexo de comunidades pauperizadas circunvizinhas situadas na regiÃo sudeste de Fortaleza, de aproximadamente 40 mil habitantes, que se interconectam e se segregam pelos trÃficos de armas e drogas, mas tambÃm se entremeiam e aproximam-se pelas redes de vizinhanÃa, pelos laÃos afetivos e de parentesco, bem como pelos comÃrcios e serviÃos. Intento tecer uma anÃlise interpretativo-hermenÃutica das relaÃÃes criminais e suas respectivas artes de fazer, ou seja, as prÃticas e agenciamentos operados pelos agentes da criminalidade pobre, procurando entender o praticante de delitos e seu processo de subjetivaÃÃo: os sentimentos de pertenÃa ao territÃrio, a construÃÃo de uma identidade marginal, a âescolhaâ pela âcarreiraâ criminal, as redes de socialidade, os cÃdigos de conduta e comportamento, os rituais de passagem e os momentos liminares da âvida no crimeâ, a alegada âcrueldadeâ, e, por fim, sua agÃncia ambÃgua, duplamente vinculada: de um lado, resistÃncia e antidisciplina à ordem hegemÃnica; por outro, reproduÃÃo de parte dos mecanismos de poder e dominaÃÃo dessa mesma estrutura. Enfim, compreender o agente criminal pauperizado nÃo como uma mÃnada alienada à sua configuraÃÃo sociohistÃrica, mas inserido em um fenÃmeno reticular, em uma complexa e infinita rede interdependente de relaÃÃes, que amiÃde ativa aÃÃes contraditÃrias. Apresento caminhos teÃrico-metodolÃgicos que foram traÃados para a compreensÃo do objeto, bem como tento fazer uma descriÃÃo densa do campo em diÃlogo com uma anÃlise sobre as redes e as maneiras de sociabilidade que se estabelecem entre as pessoas do local. O trabalho foi desenvolvido sob trÃs eixos: i. um mergulho teÃrico-reflexivo em trabalhos anteriores com temÃticas afins; ii. uma anÃlise histÃrico-documental de jornais e revistas, mormente de veÃculos locais; iii. sobretudo por meio de uma imersÃo etnogrÃfica, âde perto e de dentroâ. As tÃcnicas metodolÃgicas empreendidas sÃo a observaÃÃo direta e participante, as entrevistas nÃo sistematizadas â as conversas nas calÃadas, bares, mercadinhos, feiras e praÃas â e entrevistas semiestruturadas, a partir de um roteiro-base. Estas sÃo realizadas principalmente com praticantes de modalidades criminais diversas, como roubo, assalto, trÃfico de drogas e armas, etc., mas tambÃm ocorrem com pessoas que nÃo encampam atividades ilÃcitas â e que formam a maioria dos moradores e moradoras do local. / This research is an attempt to understand the sense of actions practiced by people involved with criminal activities at popular neighborhoods. The focus analytical and the field search is on the Grande Tancredo Neves, a roughly 40 thousand inhabitantâs complex of slums that interconnect and segregate themselves by drugs and guns trafficking, but also join themselves and approach by neighborhoods networks, affective and kinship relations, as well as by trading and services. I aim make an hermeneutics analysis of criminal relations and theirs manners to do the crime operated by poor âcriminalsâ, seeking understand theirs subjective processes: the territorialâs feelings, the construction of a marginal identity, the âchoiceâ by criminal âcareerâ, the sociability networks, the behaviorâs codes, the rituals and liminal moments of âthug lifeâ, the famous âcrueltyâ, and, at last, theirs ambiguous actions: in one sense, resistance and antidiscipline against hegemonic order; by other side, reproduction of some power and domination mechanisms of this structure. At all, I want to understand the poor criminal agent not as isolated of your social and historic configuration, but inserted in a netlike phenomenon, therefore, in an infinite and complex interdependent network of relations, that often activate contradictory actions. I bring some theoretical-methodological paths that I am following to arrive at the object, as well as attempt to make a dense description of the Grande Tancredo Neves, in addition to analyze the sociability manners and networks of local people. This investigation is developed under three battlefronts: i. a theoretical-reflexive diving in previous writings with similar themes; ii. an historical-documental analysis of newspapers and magazines, mainly of local press; iii. above all through an ethnography immersion, âup close and from insideâ. The methodological techniques performed are direct and participant observation, non-systematized interviews â chats at sidewalks, bars, corner stores, street markets, public squares etc. â and semi-structured interviews, from a script previously elaborated. These ones are made mainly with criminal agents of diverse modalities, as robbery, assault, drugs and guns trafficking etc., but also occur with people non-involved with criminal activities â by the way, these persons constitute the absolute majority of local inhabitants.

La méconnaissance de l’Auvergne durant l’Antiquité tardive tient en partie à l’absence de référentiels chrono-typologiques. La découverte récente d’ensembles céramiques conséquents et la reprise de données anciennes permettent aujourd’hui de combler ce vide documentaire. Ce travail se propose ainsi de dresser un nouveau panorama du territoire arverne durant l’Antiquité tardive et le très haut Moyen Âge (fin IIIe-milieu VIIIe siècle), d’un point de vue économique et culturel par l’étude de la céramique. L’évolution des répertoires montre que les faciès antiques persistent jusqu’au VIe siècle de même que les pratiques culinaires et les manières de table. Diversifiées jusqu’au Ve siècle, les formes et les catégories céramiques s’uniformisent au VIe siècle et, à partir du VIIe siècle, les productions réductrices et les récipients fermés à usage culinaire prédominent. L’étude d’ensembles funéraires des IVe et Ve siècles montre l’insertion du territoire arverne dans l’évolution des pratiques funéraires alors en cours en Gaule. L’Auvergne se démarque néanmoins par le nombre élevé des vases céramiques déposés dans les tombes et par la préférence donnée aux récipients à solides dans la composition du repas funéraire.Les importations indiquent que le territoire arverne est bien inséré dans les circuits commerciaux à la fin de l’Antiquité. Leurs quantités parfois faibles suggèrent cependant un approvisionnement parcimonieux, qui place l’Auvergne aux confins des aires de diffusion de la plupart des productions commercialisées, comme en « bout de circuits ». Les correspondances établies avec les céramiques des IVe et Ve siècles des autres régions de Gaule du Centre montrent l’existence de traditions de fabrication communes et l’ensemble de ces territoires pourrait appartenir à une même entité économique et culturelle. Le sud du territoire arverne apparaît en revanche tourné vers les régions méridionales, comme l’a montré l’étude des céramiques des VIe et VIIe siècles du site lozérien de La Malène, influencées par les faciès de Gaule du Sud / The sparse knowledge of the late antiquity in Auvergne is partly due to the absence of chronological typology for this period. The recent uncovering of significant ceramic assemblages and the reassessment of pastdata make it possible today to fill this research gap. This thesis attempts to bring new light to the Arverne territory, its economy and culture, in the late antiquity and the early middle ages (from the late 3rd century to the mid-8th century), through the study of its pottery. The evolution observed in the repertory shows that the antique facies remained until the 6th century, as well as the culinary practices and table manners. Until the 5th century,forms and types of ceramics are very varied, becoming more standardized in the next century, and finally starting in the 7th century, closed culinary vessels are predominant.The study of funerary assemblages from the 4th and 5th centuries, demonstrates how the Arverne territory participated in the general evolution of funerary practices in Gaul. However the Auvergne region stands out by the considerable number of ceramic vases found in tombs and the clear preference for solid food vessels in funerary repasts.The presence of imported goods is evidence that the Arverne territory was part of the commercial routes by the end of Antiquity. However the small amounts of importations imply a parsimonious procurement, which would mean that the Auvergne region was actually located on the outer limits of the distribution areas of most industrial productions. The correlations established with 4th and 5th century pottery from other areas of Central Gaul could be proof of a common tradition of production, and how such territories could have possibly belonged to a same cultural and economic entity. The South of the Arverne territory seemed however more influenced by southern Gaul as shown by the study of 6th and 7th century pottery from the lozerian site of La Malène

Ces recherches mettent en évidence comment les anciens Égyptiens rendaient visibles leur position sociale d’une part dans la hiérarchie des rapports entre individus et d’autre part au sein de leur groupe d’appartenance. Les marqueurs sociaux considérés sont de nature matérielle mais aussi culturelle et peuvent prendre la forme concrète d’objets de luxe et de prestige ou l’aspect plus subjectif de manières de s’exprimer ou de se comporter en faisant appel à la culture développée par les élites. Il ne s’agit pas ici d’établir un catalogue exhaustif mais de montrer comment les individus, en fonction de leur appartenance à des catégories sociales différentes, utilisent et interprètent les marques d’identité, de pouvoir et de prestige créées et perpétuées par la royauté et par les élites placées à son service. En fonction de l’importance sociale des individus, de l’époque considérée et de la capacité du pouvoir central à s’affirmer comme source de légitimité, les comportements ne sont pas les mêmes et les valeurs dont sont porteurs certains objets, certaines manières ont changé en même tant que la société évoluait. L’importance matérielle et symbolique de certains marqueurs sociaux a en effet pu être remise en cause ou au contraire développée par l’intégration de références à de nouvelles sources de pouvoir, tels les ancêtres ou les gouverneurs locaux sous la Première Période intermédiaire. En ce sens, le mimétisme culturel permet d’observer comment des personnes situées en dehors des sphères institutionnelles de l’État parviennent malgré tout à s’approprier le discours officiel imposé par le pouvoir central. L’étude s’organise en trois temps : la place de l’héritage lignager dans l’affirmation de la position sociale ; la manière de se comporter et d’occuper l’espace, tant dans la topographie que lors de manifestations cérémonielles ; l’usage des objets comme témoins de l’appartenance sociale et moyens d’expression du statut et de l’identité via la culture matérielle. / This research highlights how Ancient Egyptians displayed their social position, on the one hand according to the hierarchical relationships between individuals, and on the other hand according to their membership of different groups. Social markers are of both material as well as cultural kinds and can take concrete forms like objects of luxury and prestige, but also as subjective forms, like ways of expressing oneself and behaving through references to a culture developed by the elite. It is not a matter of presenting a complete catalogue here. The intellectual process consists of making understand how individuals, ddepending on their membership of different social classes, used and interpreted marks of identity, power and prestige, which had been created and sustained by the royalty and the elite at their service. Depending on the social importance of individuals, the considered time period, and the ability of the central government to assert itself as a source of legitimacy, personal and collective behaviours were not always the same, and values embodied in objects and manners have changed, as society has evolved. The material and symbolic significance of social markers could have been thrown into question during leadership crisis or on the contrary, it could have been developed by the adoption of references to new sources of power, such as ancestors and local governors during the First Intermediate Period. In this way, cultural imitation allows us to observe how persons who are not linked to the institutional spheres of the State manage to take up the official discourse imposed by the central government after all. This study is divided into three parts: the significance of lineage to assert a social position; the way ones behaves and occupies the space around, in topography or in ceremonial events; the use of objects as signs of social membership et means to express status and identity through material culture.

Ma thèse se concentre sur la question de la transformation de la pratique du banquet classique face, d’une part, à la nouvelle situation sociopolitique découlant de l’installation des royaumes dits successeurs et de la dissolution des structures politiques classiques ;et d’autre part, face à l’intensification de ce que l’on appelle communément la « christianisation » du monde romain. Mes recherches concernent le monde romain occidental (Gaule, Italie et Espagne) à partir du moment où le discours ascétique oriental se diffuse massivement en occident dans la seconde moitié du IVe siècle, mettant fin à ce que Robert Markus appelle le « christianisme antique ». La question principale de ma thèse concerne le discours chrétien et ascétique qui porte sur les questions alimentaires et les réponses données par les groupes sociaux dont l’usage du banquet classique est suffisamment documenté. En l’occurrence les aristocrates (en ce compris les évêques), les communautés cénobitiques et le mouvement anachorétique. La seconde question abordée dans mes recherches est celle posée par la présence « barbare » et l’image du mangeur barbare en ces siècles de transition socioculturelle. Le terminus ante quem de mes recherches se situe à la fin du VIe siècle, en un monde romain désormais indubitablement transformé.<p><p><p> <p>La mia tesi si incentra sulla questione della trasformazione della pratica classica del banchetto nel confronto, da una parte con la nuova situazione sociale e politica dovuta all’insediamento dei regni post-romani, e, dall’altra, con l’intensificazione della cosiddetta “cristianizzazione” del mondo romano. La tesi riguarda lo spazio romano occidentale (cioè Gallia, Italia, Spagna) a partire dal momento in cui si diffonde la grande moda dell’ascetismo orientale dalla seconda metà del IV secolo. La questione principale della tesi, che occupa i capitoli tre e quattro, riguarda il discorso cristiano e ascetico sull’alimentazione e poi le risposte date dai gruppi sociali il cui uso del banchetto è documentato a sufficienza, in fatti specie gli aristocratici, il mondo monastico, e gli eremiti. I due primi capitoli riguardano, rispettivamente, la pratica del banchetto classico nella tarda antichità e la questione della presenza “barbara” e dell’immagine del mangiatore barbaro in quei secoli. La conclusione della tesi si colloca alla fine del VI secolo, in un momento in cui il mondo romano è indubbiamente trasformato.<p><p><p>My doctoral thesis concentrates on the question of the transformation of the classical banquet through the encounter with, on the one hand, the new sociopolitical situation due to the migration and installation of the new successor kingdoms ;and on the other hand, with the intensification of the Christianization of the Roman world. My research focuses on the Western Roman world (Gaul, Italy and Spain) from the moment in which the eastern ascetic discourse spreads widely in the West in the second half of the 4th century, causing what Robert Markus calls “The end of Ancient Christianity”. The main question of my thesis regards the Christian and ascetic discourse on food practices and the answers given by the social groups who’s uses of the banquet is documented enough. In this case, the aristocrats (within which the bishops), the monastic communities and the hermits. The second question taken into consideration in my thesis is the one presented by the “barbarian” presence and the literary image of the barbarian eater in these centuries of socio cultural transformation. The terminus ante quem of my research is placed at the end of the 6th century, in a undoubtly transformed Roman world. / Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Enjeu politique majeur pour le pouvoir colonial, l’intimité sexuelle, familiale et domestique des populations en situation coloniale a fait l’objet de nombreuses tentatives de contrôle de la part des autorités belges au Congo. Utilisé comme preuve de l'infériorité supposée des Africains et de la supériorité supposée des Européens, le domaine de l’intimité fut à la fois au cœur de la construction des hiérarchies raciales et de la "mission civilisatrice". Cette étude retrace l’évolution des politiques de l'administration coloniale liées au mariage et à la sexualité au Congo Belge entre 1908 et 1945, telles qu’elles sont élaborées en métropole puis relayées et appliquées sur le terrain colonial. Elle illustre notamment les difficultés du pouvoir colonial à discipliner la vie privée de ses propres agents, et à imposer de nouvelles normes d’intimité et de genre aux populations colonisées. L'étude est structurée autour de trois parties. La première traite des régulations morales dont est l'objet la communauté colonisatrice, c'est-à-dire de la manière dont le pouvoir colonial débat et tente de policer, au milieu de multiples contradictions, les "mœurs" de ses agents européens et de leurs familles. La deuxième partie analyse les régulations du mariage et des formes de sexualité dites "traditionnelles" des populations colonisées. J'y étudie tout d'abord la polygamie et les systèmes de compensation matrimoniale: ces pratiques constituent les deux principaux sujets de débats et de mesures pour les autorités coloniales qui y voient, non sans raison, les fondements des systèmes matrimoniaux congolais. Sont ensuite abordées la question plus confidentielle de la fixation de l'âge de puberté des jeunes filles "indigènes" en même temps que celle du "mariage des filles non-nubiles" (expression utilisée pour désigner les mariages précoces). La troisième partie de la thèse s'interroge sur les anxiétés et les régulations visant les évolutions "modernes" du mariage et les nouvelles formes d' "immoralité" qui sont associées aux espaces urbains. Après avoir interrogé les redéfinitions des frontières du moral et de l'immoral à l'aune du développement urbain de la colonie (de manière générale et à partir de l'exemple de la catégorie des "danses obscènes"), j'ai privilégié l'étude des pratiques prostitutionnelles et des défis qu'elles posent aux ambitions de contrôle des autorités coloniales. Enfin, le dernier chapitre clôt la boucle en revenant aux conjugalités "licites" et en abordant les "troubles" que la modernité coloniale est supposée y avoir généré (adultère, divorce, abandon de domicile conjugal, concubinage, etc) et dont les femmes sont en grande part jugées responsables. <p><p> / Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe contributing factors that influence the perceptions of women with fibroids from diverse cultures regarding hysterectomy. The area of research was delimited to issues of hysterectomy among women with fibroid uterus. The study employed a descriptive explorative method and data were collected by means of structured questionnaires. The study was conducted in one academic referral hospital, over a period of six months. The respondents were the patients with fibroid uterus and the doctors and nurses in the gynaecological units of the hospital. The majority of the patients indicated that they were afraid of undergoing a hysterectomy because of the social stigma associated with this life-saving procedure, such as alienation or marginalization by members of their respective communities. The nursing staff and gynaecologists in the unit emphasized the deep-seated fear of hysterectomy amongst women from diverse cultures. The study found that women need information about their bodies and how they function. Health education is also needed for women and their communities. Research is needed amongst members of different communities and diverse cultures to voice their perceptions of women undergoing hysterectomy because of ill health. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health studies)