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This thesis examines the treatment of the theme of suffering by three modern authors: Feodor Dostoevsky, Albert Camus, and Milan Kundera. The analysis proceeds through the identification and examination of three primary concepts which I will argue are at the heart of their work, and which provide the conceptual foundations for their depictions of suffering: the wretched, the absurd, and the banal. These concepts will be used as an avenue through which to explore and articulate their treatment of suffering. It will be argued further that the work of these three authors forms a conceptual series, in that each contributes in an important way to the evolution of a modern secular way of thinking about suffering by producing portraits of suffering informed by concepts appropriate to specific moments in the modern era. The sense of wretchedness which emerges from Dostoevsky’s work is inextricably linked with the late nineteenth-century crisis-of-faith. The concept of the absurd ties Camus to the early-twentieth-century existentialist tradition, while the sense of banality in Kundera’s novels locates him in an era which has witnessed both the horrors of World War Two and the decline in the humanist tradition. The factor that unites them and gives order to their differences, however, is a common concern with questions of meaning. The loss of meaning in the modern era, and in particular the loss of meaning in relation to suffering, is a thread which develops progressively throughout the series. It is, as will be argued at the outset, what binds these three disparate authors together and what gives their work and their treatment of suffering a particular modern character. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>After 1989, along with the collapse of Soviet Union, Central and Eastern European countries the democracy became synonymous with ‘return to Europe’. The post-communist regime was a reaction against its predecessor and that reaction had produced a demand for democratization. Therefore, the process of democratization, which gained momentum at the end of eighties and, the beginning of the nineties, has become an important phenomenon. The most extreme case of transition, certainly, is former Yugoslavia. Due to the war and the collapse of the Federation into several successor states, the legitimacy and viability are still being questioned. The Balkan region, known as the ‘Powder Keg of Europe’ has been commonly considered to be representing a chronic political instability and a lack of socio-economic modernization as well as much poorer prospects for democratization and for acceptance into the European Union (EU) in comparison to the other countries of East and Central Europe.</p><p>Slovenia however may be seen as the exception that proved the Balkan rule. Besides, the successor states of Yugoslavia, Slovenia has recorded the smoothest, non-violent and the least problematic transition toward liberal democracy. Slovenia maintained the highest level of system stability in the powder keg of Europe. Slovenia is the only Yugoslav successor state, which has peacefully established a functioning democracy. It has established a stable democracy and moved easily to a market economy. It is also the only the EU member country from the former. More importantly, Slovenia has kept the highest level of system stability in Powder Keg of Europe’.</p><p>The main purpose of this thesis is to review and discuss the political democratization process in Slovenia. This study also reviews the reasons, which make the Slovenian transition to democracy special among the post-communist democracies. More specifically, this study particularly focuses on certain political aspects to discover its way of democratization. Slovenia, one of the most successful countries within Central and Eastern Europe is also the only component republic of ex-Yugoslavia not to confront continuing problems of ethnic challenge, deep political conflict and economic debility.</p><p>All theories attempt to impose order and find patterns in the messy and complex reality of human life. Therefore, the theories are useful in that they ask important questions about democratization in general and contribute to particular explanations. Concerning the democratization process in Slovenia, ‘Theories of Democratization’ is generally going to be reviewed. Democratization theories aim to explain how authoritarian regimes change into liberal democratic ones. More specifically, Transition Theories will be applied during the study. Transition studies have been chosen, because they offer a ‘political’ explanation of democratization and also differentiate democratic transition and democratic consolidation phases properly, and point out the necessary conditions for the success of each phase.</p>

La tesi di dottorato si concentra sull'editoria teatrale milanese del Settecento. Tenuto conto della mancanza di un catalogo delle edizioni teatrali stampate a Milano nel Settecento, il dott. Locatelli ha provveduto ad effettuare uno spoglio complessivo del patrimonio librario delle principali biblioteche milanesi al fine di realizzare uno strumento di ricerca basilare. La mancanza altresì di un lavoro di insieme sugli stampatori e librai milanesi del XVIII secolo ha reso inoltre indispensabile l'effettuazione di ricerche mirate alla realizzazione di un dizionario bio-bibliografico degli stampatori e librai attivi a Milano nel Settecento. I risultati della ricerca vengono dunque anzitutto presentati nella forma degli annali tipografici, così da render conto dell'attività in ambito teatrale di ogni singola azienda tipografica milanese. La prima parte della tesi, oltre a offrire un contributo sul valore documentario del teatro in forma di libro, offre un panorama della produzione del libro di teatro nel Settecento. Per quanto concerne Milano, in particolare, si scavano alcune problematiche (come quelle dell'autore drammatico), si portano alcune esemplificazioni, si giustificano alcune delle attribuzioni fornite negli annali. È il caso, per esempio, della certa attribuzione alla stamperia di Marc'Antonio Pandolfo Malatesta di alcune commedie di Carlo Maria Maggi stampate nel 1700-1701 e 1708 con falsa data Venezia. Viene infine proposto un breve capitolo di approfondimento sulla circolazione e lettura del libro di teatro nella Milano del Settecento, realizzato anche sulla base dello spoglio di inventari di librerie e biblioteche private coeve. / The PhD thesis by Stefano Locatelli is about theatre's book in 18th century. It offers a catalogue of dramatic editions print in Milan from 1701 to 1800 and a bio-bibliographical dictionary of printers and librarians in Milan during 18th century. The thesis offers also a study about the documentary value of theatre book and outlines a survey of theatre book production in Milan during the 18th century. It also analyse lecture and circulation of theatre book in Milan by going through some catalogues and inventories of booksellers and private libraries.

L'attività pittorica di Giovan Paolo Lomazzo è stata fino ad ora poco considerata dalla critica, che si è per lo più concentrata sull'importanza del personaggio come poeta, scrittore in volgare e in "facchinesco" (una versione caricaturale del dialetto lombardo, Rime ad imitazione dei grotteschi, 1587; Rabisch 1587) e come critico d'arte (trattato dell'arte della pittura, 1584; idea del tempio della pittura, 1590). In realtà Lomazzo fu uno degli artisti milanesi più importanti negli anni tra la fine del sesto decennio e il 1571, quando una malattia agli occhi gli impedì di continuare l'attività pittorica; oltre ad un gran numero di ritratti di facoltosi personaggi legati a Carlo V e ai governatori spagnoli, oggi quasi del tutto perduti (ad eccezione dei due autoritratti di Brera e del Kunsthistorisches Museum di Vienna), Giovan Paolo eseguì anche numerose opere per le più prestigiose chiese milanesi, come le Due Crocifissioni per San Giovanni in Conca (ora rispettivamente nella parrocchiale di Valmadrera e a Brera), le pale per San Barnaba e la Pietà per San Vittore all'Olmo (oggi all'Ospedale Marchesi di Inzago). Lomazzo fu attivo anche a Piacenza, Lodi e Caronno, dove decorò l'abside di s. Maria Nuova. / The artistic activity of Giovan Paolo Lomazzo has been very little studied. Scholars have given their preference to his written work, published as a world famous poet (in Italian and in Lombard Dialect; the Grotteschi and the Rabisch, both published in 1587) and as art theorist (above all the Trattato dell'Arte della Pittura, 1584 and the Idea del Tempio della Pittura, 1590). Lomazzo was also a very important painter, one of the most Famous in Milan between 1560 and 1571, when he was compelled to stop his activity for a sudden eyes illness, which made him almost totally blind. He executed many portraits, which are almost totally lost (except from his two autoportraits, now in Brera and at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Wien), and many religious paintings for important churches of Milan, such as two Crucifixions for S. Giovanni in Conca (now in Valmadrera, Parish Church and at Brera Gallery), the altarpiece in San Barnaba and the Pietà for San Vittore all'Olmo (now at the Hospital Church in Inzago). He worked also in Piacenza, Lodi and Caronno, near Varese.

<p>Ambrose, bishop of Milan, was one of the most outspoken advocates of Christian female virginity in the fourth century C.E. This dissertation examines his writings on virginity in the interest of illuminating the historical and social contexts of his teachings. Considering Ambrose's treatises on virginity as literary productions with social, political, and theological functions in Milanese society, I look at the various ways in which the bishop of Milan formulated ascetic discourse in response to the needs and expectations of his audience. Furthermore, I attend to the various discontinuities in Ambrose's ascetic writings in the hope of illuminating what kinds of ideological work these texts were intended to perform by the bishop within Milanese society and beyond.</p> <p> In the first part of this dissertation, I consider the mechanisms of language and rhetoric promoting virginity in context of the Nicene-Homoian debate, highlighting the fluidity and flexibility of ascetic language in the late fourth century. While in his earliest teachings Ambrose expounds virginity in ways that reflect and support a Nicene understanding of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, his later ascetic writings display his use of anti-Homoian rhetoric in order to support his virginal ideals when they are challenged by Jovinian and others. In the second part, I examine some of the various ways in which the bishop formulated his teachings of virginity in response to the complaints and criticisms of lay members of the Christian community in Milan and elsewhere. I scrutinize the bishop's rhetorical expositions of Biblical figures such as Mary, Eve, the bride of the Song of Songs, and the Jews as a means of furthering his ascetic agenda, and consider his adaptation of a female voice to avoid incurring further criticism. Finally, I consider the role that the bishop's ascetic interests may have played in the so-called Altar of Victory controversy of 384. Largely at stake in Ambrose's dispute with the Roman senator Symmachus, I argue, were the rights and privileges of the Vestal Virgins, a well-established pagan ideology of virginity whose continued prominence and existence was largely unconscionable to the bishop. Ambrose's involvement in the controversy was partly attributable to his interest in ensuring the restriction of Vestal privileges as he perceived the cult to be in direct social and ideological competition with Christian virginity. Together, these three parts attempt to demonstrate the highly fluid and flexible nature of virginity discourse in the late fourth century and to draw attention to some of the socio-theological negotiations that took place as the cult of virginity gained increasing prominence in the Christian church.</p> / Dissertation

La ricerca indaga il rapporto tra la popolazione immigrata e la casa, attraverso una ricognizione della condizione attuale nel Comune di Milano. L'indagine prende in considerazione sia gli aspetti economici e di mercato delle abitazioni che le politiche pubbliche attuate in Italia. Si affronta l'intreccio di trend sociodemografici che caratterizzano la società postmoderna quali l'invecchiamento della popolazione e l'urbanizzazione, così come gli aspetti di impoverimento di ampi strati della società, tra cui gli immigrati. Si evidenziano i tratti della situazione milanese, in particolare delle sue implicazioni territoriali e si portano tre casi studio di interventi abitativi in tre distinti momenti storici, quali esempi di buone pratiche. / The research studies the relationship between the immigrants and the housing in the context of the Municipality of Milan. It takes into account both of the economic aspects and the creation of a modern real estate market and the limits of the welfare system, in particular of the social housing. The research continues with the analysis of some main trends of contemporary post-modern society, such as the urbanization, the ageing and the impoverishment of parts of the population. The research focuses on Milan, in particular on the spatial effects of these aspects and it presents three case study of the history of Milan considered best practices of welfare.

This thesis is in three chapters. Chapter one is about Harold Bloom's theory of the Anxiety of Influence. Bloom's argument is that literary history is shaped by the anxiety of "strong" poets at their belatedness. I show that he depends upon a subjective interpretation of literary production in order to defend a rigidly traditional canon. / Chapter two deals with theories of intertextuality, principally those of Julia Kristeva and Michael Riffaterre. As alternatives to theories of influence, neither proves satisfactory. Both founder on the contradictory goal to explain all literature, at the expense of recognizing literary diversity. / Chapter three concerns literary variations. These are texts which are deliberately premised on pre-existing texts. I focus on three examples from this class of literary texts which is not satisfactorily dealt with by any of the theories I consider. I pursue a less wide-ranging approach in order to unearth important features of literary variations.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2858.