This thesis aims to respond to the following question: How does the depiction of terrorists in popular fiction novels compare to the explanations in academia as to why individuals become terrorists and join terrorist organizations? Is this fictional depiction a reflection or distortion of reality, and what insights can we take away from this comparison? The argument of this thesis is that fiction’s depiction of terrorists is both a reflection and distortion of reality, as it presents a unique creative, emotionally resonant narrative that humanizes the terrorists. By giving a voice to their motivations and experiences, readers are able to empathize, relate to, and engage with these terrorists characters as rational, emotional human beings instead of vicious monsters or killing machines. To support this argument, this thesis (a) outlines the conventional wisdoms that pervade the current, popular narrative of terrorism discourse, (b) discusses the academic theories and explanations that challenge these conventional wisdoms, and (c) analyzes five contemporary fiction novels on terrorism, focusing on whether their characterizations of terrorists play into the conventional wisdoms or diverge from them and present a more nuanced, complex depiction.

This thesis contends that a return to a phenomenological analysis of Alain Robbe-Grillet's film and fiction is a relevant and useful undertaking at the start of the twenty first century, providing the opportunity to reassess Robbe-Grillet's entire oeuvre, both films and novels. It addresses the limitations of earlier phenomenological studies, analysing works not yet subjected to phenomenological analysis, and exploring important themes into which phenomenology can provide original insights, especially since the development of new phenomenological critical theories. The structure of this thesis demonstrates the coherence of a phenomenological approach across the works of Robbe-Grillet. The introduction contextualises the contribution of the thesis, indicating oversights to be rectified in existing studies. The first chapter charts the development of phenomenology highlighting areas of relevance to the insights outlined in the thesis. Chapter two demonstrates that both the phenomenological reduction, and Robbe-Grillet's formal strategies of challenging cultural expectations, result in a "making strange" of perceptual experience, with repercussions for the subversion of conventional fictional and filmic narratives. Subsequent chapters explore further consequences of the reduction, beginning in chapter three with the embodiment of consciousness which impacts upon the presentation of narrative perspective in Robbe-Grillet's film and fiction. The fourth chapter examines Robbe-Grillet's rendering of a lived experience of time, rather than an objective measurement of it, thus analysing another consequence of embodied existence and of the "making strange" that results from undermining cultural expectations. Another mode of bodily existence, sexuality, was neglected in previous phenomenological studies, and is examined in the fifth chapter, in the light of feminist readings of phenomenology making a new contribution in its reassessment of the debates around cultural stereotypes and subversion. Chapter six examines the complex relations surrounding intersubjectivity, another area not previously addressed, and elucidates the problematics of Robbe-Grilletian inter-human relationships, The thesis concludes that earlier phenomenological studies have not fully worked through all of the implications of the phenomenological reduction in Robbe-Grillet's works in terms of cultural subversion, nor have they accounted fully for the interdependency of various modes of human embodiment( perception, situation in space and time, sexuality and intersubjectivity) as they are enacted in Robbe-Grillet's narratives.

Written in the tradition of American political suspense thrillers such as "Fail-Safe" and "Seven Days In May," "Bearclaw" uses their idealistic and nationalistic elements to tell a story of an American President eager to lead the world's peoples in a quest to achieve man's "highest destiny," the conquest of space. Believing that this common goal will cause mankind to come together in a spirit of brotherhood, he misreads the historical purpose of the United States and, in the end, refuses to recognize the obvious truths of human frailty and ambition even though he has been victimized by them. The Introduction is a brief survey of the sociopolitical and literary forces which combined to create the American political suspense thriller and an attempt to define its place in the literary canon.

The patriarchal legal system and the socio-cultural institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) relegate Iranian women to second-class citizens. Yet, Canadian feminist texts such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (1985) and Carol Shields's Unless (2002) have been translated into Persian, in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Moreover, they circulate freely and are found in Iran’s National Library. This seeming discrepancy needs a systemic and contextually-based explanation. Four questions guide my dissertation: What happens to the texts as they cross the cultural boundaries into the receiving society? Specifically, which features of feminist texts are most vulnerable to censorial interventions and what does that reveal about the interplay of the hegemonic theocratic-patriarchy and translation? Finally, how is the Persian translation of feminist texts even possible, given Iran’s legal, political and socio-cultural antagonism toward women’s autonomy? In other words, what factors mitigate such translations? To answer these questions, I outline the legal representation of women in the legal discourse and the socio-cultural attitudes towards women’s rights in Iran subsequent to the (1906-1911) Constitutional Revolution and the 1979 Revolution, which led to an Islamist government. I examine the impacts of the IRI’s androcentric legislations on women’s rights, and the censorship mechanisms on Persian and imported feminist literature. I explore the types and extent of resistance to censorship, and I study the representation of women in school textbooks, cinema and Persian literature to analyze the impact that the interaction between the legal discourse, censorship and resistance has on cultural products. I conduct a comparative text analysis using theories of feminist linguistics and descriptive translation studies (Toury 1995; Cameron 1985, 1995) to investigate the extent to which patriarchal mechanisms influence the translation of the two novels. The goal is to determine how the legal and socio-cultural discourses of the target society affect the form and meaning of the translation, and to identify translation strategies that undermine the very features that make a novel female-centric. I demonstrate how these translation strategies consistently produce target texts that conform to the state-sponsored patriarchal agenda, and synchronize with the gender values and norms of the IRI.

The purpose of this paper is to view Faulkner's use of history from a different perspective by examining in detail the myths and historical facts with which Faulkner dealt. First, several of the prevailing myths about the Old South and the Civil War will be examined. Second, the actual historical facts will be compared and contrasted with legendary tradition. Third, and most important, several of Faulkner's works will be examined to show how he uses both the myths and historical facts to create his own "legend" of the South. Finally, Faulkner's view of the New South will be examined.

With the exception of To Have and Have Not, the novels of Ernest Hemingway are set outside the United States; all, however, contain American characters. These Americans might be divided into three categories: American tourists; Americans who live abroad, but either do not like it or are not completely adjusted to it; the Hemingway heroes, characteristically American expatriates who are completely adjusted to and accepted in their alien environments. Toward the tourists, he maintains an attitude of contempt; toward the middle group, his attitude varies from disgust to sympathy; the heroes are, in various guises, Hemingway the expatriate, himself.

As a modernist, Virginia Woolf aimed at the modernisation of existing forms of artistic expression. However, she was also a very historically aware author. Thus the main issues and questions that this dissertation aims at investigating are Woolf’s views on, approach to and use of history and the past in three major novels: Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Between the Acts (1941). After a brief exposition of some of Woolf’s general views on history and inherited cultural constructions and how these contrast with traditional nineteenth and early twentieth century approaches to history, the argument progresses to explore history and the past in each of the three novels respectively. The choice of novels aims at reflecting something of the scope and range of her concerns with history and the past. The chapter on Mrs Dalloway is mainly concerned with the manner in which Woolf deals with a profound historical event like the First World War and her dual vision of history as both a source of tragedy and as a form of assurance for the continuation of life. In the chapter dealing with To the Lighthouse as its main focus, Woolf’s response to her personal past and the preceding cultural era will be explored, as well as her attempt to achieve a form of balance between the present and the past through artistic portrayal. In the discussion of the last novel Woolf wrote, Between the Acts, her response to history in the making and her views on how the course of history can be altered will be dealt with. Finally, the conclusion considers the implications of this study in the contexts of Woolf as a modernist and an experimental novelist and in the light of the critical views that perceive Woolf as inadequately responsive to history and social issues.</p / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / English / MA / unrestricted

This thesis is a novel that takes formal cues from works such as Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and Georges Perec’s Life: A User’s Manual. The work takes two separate forms in its chapters; the first being more traditional narrative chapters that follow a set of characters as they explore the surreal landscape of the titular Hotel, and the second are akin to flash fiction pieces that describe individual rooms in the Hotel. Together the narrative attempts to address issues of class and the way that capitalism subsumes people’s identities, as well as the potential of the natural world using leftist politics as a lens for this critique. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether Blasco Ibáñez in his novel La Horda used Pío Baroja's Material which was published in La Lucha por la Vida. Baroja claimed that he did. Therefore, this paper compares the two novels to discover similarities in their settings, their plots, and their characters.