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This thesis offers a reading of feral children in literature and culture from the seventeenth century until the first decades of the twentieth century. "Feral children" are taken to be individuals who have grown up, or spent some part of their childhood, in a condition of solitude. It also refers to infants who have been brought up, or temporarily nurtured, by animals. The chief concerns of the thesis are the problems that such children raised in defining what it was to be human. In order to elucidate this question, I interpret first-hand and fictional accounts of feral children within the context of ideas concerning language, political concepts of the state of nature, the idea of the soul, and images of race. The introduction explores some key historical areas of interest in the consideration of the feral child. The first chapter offers readings of the Romulus and Remus story, and anecdotes drawn from the writings of Sir Kenelm Digby and Bernard Connor. The second chapter examines the case of Peter the Wild Boy as discussed by Daniel Defoe, and the third chapter considers the Savage Girl of Champagne and her place in the writings of Lord Monboddo. The fourth chapter interprets the case of the Wild Boy of Aveyron in the context of Enlightenment thought on the origins of language and society. The fifth chapter is concerned with Kaspar Hauser, a boy allegedly brought up the isolation of a single windowless room. In a coda to this chapter, I suggest links between the romance elements of the Hauser story (he was considered by many to be an abandoned Prince) and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes (New York: 1914). The sixth chapter explores the racial meanings of the feral child in Kipling's Jungle Books. The final chapter offers a conclusion to the ideas raised in the thesis, and suggests that in the period from the 1850's to the 1910's the discourses of "savagery" used to describe the feral child became increasingly applied to ordinary children.

Thesis (M. A. (Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2019 / Students with albinism experience social and academic challenges in society. These challenges are mainly influenced by their disability. Studies indicate that because they look different from most people they are treated differently and socially excluded and marginalised. Albino individual’ are also murdered in South Africa which is motivated by myths, beliefs and misconceptions in traditional African societies. The Social Model of Disability (SMD) underpinned the study as it is used to explore social experiences in different life contexts. The study used a qualitative approach with an exploratory research design. Purposive sampling was used to select the 18 participants. Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was used to analyse data collected from the three focus groups. The findings of the study revealed that the social experiences of students with albinism are be difficult. They experience discrimination and stigmatisation from their peers and are often called derogatory names. It was also found that students with albinism have academic challenges because of their impaired vision, lecturers’ negative attitudes and insensitivity towards them. It was also found that the lack adequate assistive devices. Social experiences and academic challenges lead to a self-reported negative impact for instance, depression for these students. Ultimately, more awareness initiatives about the condition are required at the institution in order to improve the experiences of students with albinism.

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Thesis advisor: Timothy Duket / Synthesizing elements of so many traditions, fantasy has grown into perhaps the most pervasive genre of literature in the western world. The archetypal adventures and themes that have been carried into fantasy through ancient legends and myths have survived over the ages because it was decided long ago those tales had great worth. It was the unpopular and poorly formed legends that died out, while the superior stories were carried from culture to culture under new guises. In this way, fantasy can be seen as the culmination of human legends, filtered throughout history so that only the great tales remain. On what greater pedestal could a form of literature be based? Fantasy has even continued the refinement process in the last fifty years, with active writers like Jordan and Goodkind incorporating elements from the greatest of previous fantasy authors like Tolkien, Howard, and Donaldson. Thus fantasy is continually improving upon itself and evolving in new ways through its modification of old themes. How long can critics refuse to recognize fantasy as a legitimate form? With such admirable authors writing today, it seems logical that the answer would be sooner rather than later. Might fantasy be vanquished by sneering critics and replaced with another form of fiction? Gandalf claims even the Wise cannot see all ends, and while in no way do I profess such wisdom, I find it difficult to believe that, as the successor of mythology, fantasy will ever fizzle and die. A force greater than all the magic swords and rings combined would be necessary to kill four thousand years of human imagination. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2003. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

The author's Habilitationsschrift. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 441-[460]) and index.

The author's Habilitationsschrift. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 441-[460]) and index.

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MA Dramatic Art, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand / This study explores how contemporary performance, through a practice led process, can shift the consciousness of entrenched Ga cultural myths that silence the self. In doing so, this study attempts to reveal how cultural mythology plays an integral part in why the Ga people continue to make illness invisible even in the face of the growing crisis of HIV/Aids in Ghana. The study argues that continued silence rather worsens the condition of the victims, and posits that breaking the oppressive silence through contemporary performance’s deconstruction of cultural mythology offers a chance of liberation. This study employs qualitative research methodology within a practice as research paradigm and is achieved through a collaborative practice as research performance process. The performance process draws upon the personal experiences of the collaborators who use stories, games, dances and masks that emanate from the collaborators’ respective cultures in Ghana. The research data comprises photographs, journaling and informal dialogue. It also consists of interpreting phenomena brought to bear on the process. This research places emphasis on the process of exploration as opposed to a final product. In Chapter One the reader is introduced to the history and journey of the self. Chapter Two focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of this research while Chapter Three, an exploration of methodology, demonstrates how elements of the creative process form the base of contemporary performance. Finally, in Chapter Four the researcher draws a number of conclusions based on the outcome of the process oriented performance. This study concludes that the contemporary performance processes offer a constructive alternative towards inciting a shift in the consciousness of Ga cultural myths, without disregarding the ingenious indigenous knowledge of the Ga community. It also shows how the process of contemporary performance can become a means of self-development and change. The study demonstrates how in the midst of the constraints and fear that cultivate silence, often promulgated by the Ga communal ideal, the individual can still discover and give expression to his/her unique voice.