In this paper, I argue that novels of the same genre may communicate with each other, spanning time and space to recontextualize the realities of books that both preceeded and came after one another. I use Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian (1985) and Hernan Diaz' In the Distance (2018) to illustrate my theory, focusing on the issues of masculinity presentet in both novels. While In the Distance cannot rectify the issues reader may have with Blood Meridian, the connections they share may assist in "filling in the blanks".

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2017-05-03T11:12:17Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Thiago Oliveira Santos - 2017.pdf: 1704337 bytes, checksum: 5239119ebfae88548d735ca15b9a10a0 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2017-05-03T11:58:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Thiago Oliveira Santos - 2017.pdf: 1704337 bytes, checksum: 5239119ebfae88548d735ca15b9a10a0 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-03T11:58:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Thiago Oliveira Santos - 2017.pdf: 1704337 bytes, checksum: 5239119ebfae88548d735ca15b9a10a0 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This doctoral dissertation is a comparative study of three main contemporary authors: Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy and Philip Roth, through the reading of three main novels written by them, respectively, Mason & Dixon; Blood Meridian and American Pastoral in this order here analyzed. The main objective of the research and its writing is an attempt to prove a historiographical connection as well as of themes and of style among these three novels, in their effort to reinterpret the American History in a strongly ironic way. This has been characterized by Harold Bloom (also in a ironical way, it seems) as “the style of our age”, among other reasons because the three writers as well as their three novels are focused on grasping different periods of the United States History and on deconstructing the main basis of American myths, even if through different and individualized narrative styles. The most important of these myths is the one that, since the Colonial Period, and based in the belief that being White, Protestant and of Anglo-Saxon origin would make the new man to be born in the New Continent a New Adam, and his nation, America, a new and exemplar Paradise on Earth. Mason & Dixon, Blood Meridian and American Pastoral show, each one in his own way, how this myth resulted in failure. In order to achieve this we have chosen three main myths as the basis for this research: The Myth of the American Eden (from the European imaginary Colonial Paradise); The Myth of the American Adam (from the concept of the new man, inhabitant of that Paradise; The Myth of the Manifest Destiny (the Messianic idea of a possible Universal Paradise). In order to achieve this, in the first chapter, dealing with Mason & Dixon, we will analyze the context of the Eighteenth Century and the beginning of the American Nation. In the second chapter, dealing with Blood Meridian, we will analyze the context of the Nineteenth Century, when the territorial expansion during the Great March to the West took place. In third and last chapter, dealing with American Pastoral, the context of the Twentieth Century, specifically the period from the end of World War II to the 1990s, that is, from the American Golden Age of prosperity to the economic and social crisis during and after the Vietnam War. Finally, we will try to analyze the logic of the irony shared by the three authors who, in their three novels, historically summarize the failure of the formation of the ideal nation based on its three main myths and its continual recurrence to different types of violence / Esta tese é uma leitura comparativa de três autores contemporâneos de destaque na ficção norte-americana: Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy e Philip Roth, a partir de três romances escritos por eles: Mason & Dixon; Blood Meridian e American Pastoral, respectivamente, nesta ordem aqui analisados. O objetivo principal da pesquisa e escrita da tese é uma tentativa de comprovar uma relação historiográfica mas também de temas e de estilo entre as três obras citadas, ao se empenharem em reinterpretar a História ame-ricana de modo fortemente irônico, que Harold Bloom (também ironicamente, parece) denominou como um exemplo do que seria the style of our age – o estilo de nossa época –, entre outras razões, por serem tanto os três escritores como seus três romances empe-nhados em abordar diferentes períodos da História dos Estados Unidos e a desconstruir as principais bases dos mitos americanos, mesmo se através de estilos narrativos indivi-duais díspares, principalmente aquele através do qual, desde a colonização e com base na crença de que ser branco, protestante e de origem anglo-saxônica tornaria o novo homem a nascer no novo continente, um novo Adão, e sua pátria, a América, um novo e exemplar Paraíso. Mason & Dixon, Blood Meridian e American Pastoral mostram, cada um a seu modo, como esse mito resultou em fracasso. Para tanto, baseamos nossa pesquisa em três mitos principais: 1. Mito do Éden americano (originado do imaginário europeu sobre o Paraíso colonial); 2. Mito do Adão americano (o conceito do homem novo, habitante do Paraíso); 3. Mito do Manifest Destiny (a ideia messiânica para um Paraíso universal). Para conseguir isso, no primeiro capítulo, abordaremos, em Mason & Dixon, o contexto do século XVIII e formação da nação americana; no segundo capítulo, em Blood Meridian, o contexto do século XIX, durante o qual a expansão do território americano durante a Campanha para o Oeste aconteceu; no terceiro e último capítulo, em American Pastoral, o contexto do século XX, especificamente do fim da Segunda Guerra Mundial até a década de 90, isto é, da era de ouro do desenvolvimento dos EUA até as crises políticas e econômicas durante e depois da Guerra do Vietnã. Por fim, pretendemos analisar a lógica da ironia comum aos três autores que, em seus três livros, historicamente resumem o fracasso da formação da nação ideal fundamentada em seus três mitos principais e por sua contínua recorrência a diferentes tipos de violência.

Les nouvelles méthodes de navigation durant le Moyen Age. Le navire de commerce à voile est propulsé par le vent et doit donc suivre cette direction générale. La navigation peut se définir selon un aspect d’abord stratégique comme le choix d’une route en tenant compte des contraintes imposées par le vent et un aspect tactique concernant le tracé et le contrôle, en cours d’exécution de cette route. 1-Dans un premier temps, la navigation antique ne se réfère qu’au seul vent qui est le moteur mais aussi le guide du navigateur pour suivre la route fixée par l’observation des traces qu’il imprime sur la mer. C’est la navigation à vue. La limite de la méthode est atteinte quand le vent devient changeant au large, ce qui oblige alors une vérification de la direction par l’observation des astres. 2- L’apparition de l’aiguille aimantée résout en partie ce problème. L’orientation géographique entraine la mise au point, à la fin du XIIIe siècle, d’une nouvelle méthode : l’estime. L’estime est la résolution graphique des problèmes que pose le contrôle de la route choisie. Cette résolution suppose, d’une part, l’usage de la boussole et d’une orientation géographique et, d’autre part, une analyse vectorielle sur un support la carte marine qui est donc indissociable de la méthode. Le plus gros défaut de l’estime est que les positions sont définies par projection dans le futur de paramètres, cap et distances parcourues actuels. Des différences sont donc à prévoir qui entrainent une zone d’incertitude sur le point estimé. 3- Lorsqu’au début du XVe siècle les navigateurs se lancent dans l’inconnu, obligés de suivre le vent qui décrit des boucles, les voyages s’allongent sans voir la terre pour une confrontation avec des positions avérées. La taille des zones d’incertitude obligent le navigateur a préciser sa position finale par d’autres méthodes basées sur des observations astronomiques. On peut distinguer deux méthodes : Tout d’abord, la méthode des hauteurs de polaire, de 1433 à 1480 environ, qui permet de finaliser la volta et d’effectuer un atterrissage selon une route Est-Ouest. L’analyse de la technique nautique de Colomb, qui utilise cette méthode, est très semblable à celle décrite par Ibn Majid dans son traité de navigation. Il est probable qu’il y a eu transmission sans pouvoir préciser les circonstances exactes.Mais dès que les navigateurs franchissent l’équateur la polaire devient indisponible, les navigateurs doivent observer le soleil. Cette deuxième méthode est plus délicate car les paramètres du soleil changent chaque jour. Ils obligent donc le navigateur à calculer la latitude, à partir de l’observation de la méridienne de soleil et par l’usage de tables des données solaire : os regimentos do sol. C’est cette méthode qui permet à Vasco da Gama de doubler le cap de Bonne Esperance, en 1498, ce qui marque la fin de la période étudiée. Pour conclure il faut remarquer que ces deux derniers méthodes sont le fruit d’une coopération entre les usagers et les scientifiques sous l’égide du pouvoir, décidé à atteindre le but fixé. C’est donc le fruit d’une véritable recherche scientifique. En second lieu, il faut également noter que les progrès de la navigation accompagnent des progrès parallèles en architecture navale, le gouvernail d’étambot, ainsi que de nouvelles procédures dans le commerce maritime. L’étude des interactions entre ces divers domaines reste à faire. / New navigational methods during the Middle Ages.A sailing vessel is pushed forwards by the wind in the general direction towards it is blowing. Navigation should comply with strategic goals: i.e. the choice of a route to a port of destination, taking into account this wind constraint. A tactical aspect is involved when following this route and checking, the entire voyage long, the good guidance of the ship. 1-In the first ages of navigation, the mariner is referring to the sole element at his disposal: the wind. It gives him elements for the direction to choose, if it is a convenient time for sailing and also it supplies the means of checking and controlling the course of the ship, by observation of the marks it is printing on the surface of the sea. Variable wind is the limit of this method. In this case, only sky observation can give an indication of the direction to follow.2- The finding of the magnetic needle solves this problem and from this new tool, a new navigation method is implemented, around the end of the XIII.th century. Dead reckoning is a way to determinate ship’s position at any moment, using a vector analysis for solving graphically the problems that checking the chosen course can induce. This graphical method is using the compass indications and needs necessarily using a marine chart. The main problem of dead reckoning is that, using present data to reckon future positions , any error in assessing these data supposes an uncertainty in this position. Correction of the route is necessary by verifying with actual land falls. Longer the voyage without such confrontation and bigger the uncertainty zone to be faced.3-In the beginning of the XV.th century, Portuguese mariners started to run the open ocean. They had to follow the wind which runs along a long loop across the ocean, la volta. Therefore running in the open seas, without any land to be seen, in order to check the actual position, obliged mariners to elaborate new methods based on astronomical observations in order to reduce the size of this uncertainty zone, when arriving to the landing point. A first method is based on the observation of the pole star depth; between the years 1433 to 1480. It is based on observation of the pole star depth. Analysis of C. Columbus nautical art shows similarities with the written work of Ibn Majid, his contemporaneous Arab nautical expert. Crossing the equator line made the polar star not available any more. Therefore, the method had to be changed and the second method involved sun observations. This is more complex as the sun data are changing every day. Therefore mariners had to reckon the latitude, using the observations of the meridian line and using of sun data tables: the so called regimentos do sol. Through this method Vasco da Gama was able to reach the Indian Ocean after passing the Cape of Good Hope. This closes the period of this study.The conclusion should take into account the fact that these astronomical methods were not entirely empiric but the result of a joint research of users, mariners and scientists. This endeavor was made possible because a central power, the Infant first , then King Joao II, were willing to proceed more south and gave their mariners the technical means to do so.A second conclusion observes that progress of navigation were accompanied by parallels progresses in naval construction and maritime new contracts and ways of handling commercial matters. There are surely interactions between these three domains, but we have still to put them into evidence.

My thesis examines the discourse of Mexico in the works of three twentieth-century American authors-Cormac McCarthy, Jack Kerouac, and Katherine Anne Porter-in order to analyze representations of Otherness in modernism and postmodernism. I seek to destabilize the dividing line between these periods as well as to show how representation in postmodernity has become more problematic due in large part to the proliferation of consumer culture. Though the Mexico that McCarthy employs in Blood Meridian and the Border Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain) escapes many stereotypes, his Mexico is merely a staging ground that he uses to examine postmodern questions of philosophy while deconstructing myths such as the Old West and Manifest Destiny and reflecting on the ramifications of World War II. Therefore, McCarthy elides Mexico by using its Otherness as a mirror that enables reflection on the Self. Kerouac too is interested in using Mexico to solve U.S. problems. In On the Road, Kerouac's fictional counterpart, Sal Paradise, searches for the authenticity missing from middle-class American life by ultimately turning to the "authentic" Mexico. Though he is able to distinguish between simulations and reality in his own cultural context, once south of the border Sal misrecognizes what is a hypperreal Mexico for supreme authenticity. By contrast, when Katherine Anne Porter crosses the border, she is quick to identify corruption and revolutionary failure in Mexico. When pieces such as "Xochimilco" and "María Concepción" are placed alongside that of the work of Diego Rivera, a leader in the Mexican muralist movement, it becomes clear that Porter essentializes her Mexican subjects with the specific political goal in mind of furthering the revolution. Additionally, by crossing the generic lines separating fiction and non-fiction, Porter approximates what could be called a postmodern form of ethnography. Yet all of her representational strategies are tempered, especially in her last Mexican story, Hacienda, by an awareness that representations of Other cannot be other than flawed.

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This thesis seeks to understand how we read and understand the use of depictions of violence by examining its rhetorical presentation. Although the media gives us a mixed understanding of the way that experiencing violence secondarily (that is, through all types of media) affects us, scholarship in this area has proved clear connections between viewing/experiencing depictions of violence and raised levels of aggression. On the other hand, there is a clear difference between gratuitous depictions of violence and socially useful depictions of violence (i.e., the difference between a slasher movie and a holocaust movie) that that area of scholarship does not expressly take into account. I argue that the language of trauma studies has the ability to evaluate the impact of violent texts on audiences and that Kenneth Burke's Dramatistic Pentad has the ability the examine depictions of violence to uncover explicit and hidden ideologies that affect the presentation of the violence and, thus, our reception and interpretation of that violence. Working in conjunction, these two theories can help audience's understand depictions of violence on an ideological level and help them to assess the violence's potential traumatic impact on themselves and others within certain contexts. To demonstrate this theory of understanding violence, I make two short analyses of Native Son and The Lovely Bones and demonstrate an in-depth analysis of Fight Club and Blood Meridian in order to give an example of the type of reading I am advocating and its potential for understanding and interpreting depictions of violence in ways that uncover both social benefit and harm. In the end, I hope that this theory of reading violence might extend beyond the sample readings I have done and into other types of media, so that we can all understand the ways that violence is used rhetorically for social and political purposes and be able to both use it and interpret it responsibly.