Abstract Due to the vast amount of information we are faced with, summarization has become a critical necessity of everyday human life. Given that a large fraction of the electronic documents available online and elsewhere consist of short texts such as Web pages, news articles, scientific reports, and others, the focus of natural language processing techniques to date has been on the automation of methods targeting short documents. We are witnessing however a change: an increasingly larger number of books become available in electronic format. This means that the need for language processing techniques able to handle very large documents such as books is becoming increasingly important. This thesis addresses the problem of summarization of novels, which are long and complex literary narratives. While there is a significant body of research that has been carried out on the task of automatic text summarization, most of this work has been concerned with the summarization of short documents, with a particular focus on news stories. However, novels are different in both length and genre, and consequently different summarization techniques are required. This thesis attempts to close this gap by analyzing a new domain for summarization, and by building unsupervised and supervised systems that effectively take into account the properties of long documents, and outperform the traditional extractive summarization systems typically addressing news genre.

My study triangulates three recurrent Hardyan concerns – gender, interiority, and form – as they are shaped by the sub-genres of the serial novel, the sentimental novel, and the novel of sensation. I explore Thomas Hardy’s adjustments of traditional forms to new paths, including his vision of a new sort of stealth-realism, in the representation of subjectivity. When we consider Hardy’s vexed depictions of gender through the lens of form, the debate over Hardy’s “unfair” (misogynist) or “progressive” (feminist) representations becomes less polarized and allows for broader examinations of Hardy’s experimental impulses. It is my contention that Hardy is relentlessly engaged with female representation – and narrative representation, overall – as a major formal and ideological problem, and that he demonstrably engages with this problem at various levels of remove: his renderings of subjectivity are not simply attempts at faithful depiction, but meta-commentary on the processes of narrative technique and gendered representation.

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The Adult Experience Of Learning From NovelsNovel readers may not necessarily read with the primary intention of learning from their novels, but it is known that learning is frequently an outcome. Literature on novels describe their content as both factual and philosophical opportunities to learn but do not describe them in terms of adult learning theory. A study by Radway (1984) found that readers of formula romance have complex learning outcomes from their reading but this was related to literature on novels rather than adult learning theory.Conversely, although learning is a known outcome of novel reading, literature on adult learning theories and research have taken little notice of novel reading as an opportunity to learn. Yet reading novels is an activity in which millions engage. The nature of reading as a highly personal,self-directed activity, suggested a literature review of theory pertaining to self-directed learning, informal learning and how adults make meaning.The purpose of the research was to explore the experience of learning novels; how reading contributes to knowledge,understanding of environment, and social and self-understanding in the context of adult learning theory.The research problem asked what evidence novel readers provide for making meaning as a result of their reading and what they do with that learning outcome. Research was conducted with individual interviews of five regular novel readers which served as case studies. Analysis was done by coding each interview paying particular attention to relationships to personal history, types of learning suggested and their effects. Case studies were then cross coded to discover trends and patterns.Findings showed that respondents used novels to be entertained and escape from their daily responsibilities,but along the way they also experienced a variety of types of learning. They collected new information they found personally interesting or added to an existing knowledge base, challenged their perspectives to think abut themselves and others in new ways. There was also a variety of uses for what they had learned. Respondents reported believing they have a broader knowledge base, could more effective interact with others, arrive at greater self-awareness, and in a few instances change behavior.The experience of learning from novels is a remarkable combination of self-motivation and self-direction undertaken for pleasure, yet incidentally can result in a range of learning outcomes including building a more complex knowledge base, constructivist organization and interpretation of information, critical reflection about self and others, and transformation of understanding to result in change. / Ed. D.

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This is a study of the Byzantine novel or Milesian tale in Spain during the 17th century. It contains a brief comment about the origin of this literary mode and the significance of the two adjectives Byzantine and Milesian. Two novels of the Hellenistic originators of this form are discussed. Four Spanish Byzantine novels are considered in chronological order, with summaries and analyses, with particular attention to their similarity to or modification of the prototypes. It is concluded that this particular aspect of 17th century Spanish fiction is a deliberate imitation of the Hellenistic models, modified by the Spanish authors by the addition of original and contemporary ideas. No longer a popular genre, the Byzantine novel made a significant contribution to the development of the modern Spanish novel.

The popularity of vampire novels has come and gone over the years. And the romantic novels seem more popular than ever before. The male vampire have taken the stereotyperole as a sexual object. But what is it that makes the male characters desirable? The vampire genre was developed from defining female vampires as sexual freeand liberal but with a punishment awaiting them. Now the male side has been given thisrole, but without the punishment. Instead it gets involved with human females andpromises them true love forever and ever. This disquisition takes a closer look on thepopular male vampires: Eric Northman from Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse Novelsand Edward Cullen from Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series. Both novels display various sexual norms, two males with different masculinities.In Twilight Series society advocates sexual restraint and intercourse for reproductionpurposes only. While Sookie Stackhouse Novels projects a sexual liberal society wherehomosexuals and heterosexuals are equal in existence and where intercourse is forpleasure and everyone’s private right. By using character analysis and critical discourse analysis regarding to thedisplayed state of the society in the novels, the purpose of this disquisition is to analysehow Eric Northman's and Edward Cullen's masculinity and sexuality are shaped.

DISSERTATION ABSTRACT María Vania V. Díaz Romero Paz Title: La Revolución de 1952 en la Novela Boliviana Contemporánea Escrita por Mujeres This dissertation studies the different discourses of nation that underlie contemporary novels written by women authors in Bolivia during the period between 1977 and 2007. My primary corpus is comprised of three novels: Gaby Vallejo’s Hijo de opa (1977), Giancarla Zabalaga’s La Flor de "La Candelaria" (1990) and Verónica Ormachea’s Los ingenuos (2007). These novels allude to the Revolution of 1952 at its different stages, either explicitly or implicitly. Written during different time periods, these novels are a product of their respective historical periods and therefore reveal diverse ways of reading the nationalist discourse and the revolution. My objective is to analyze and discuss the concept of nation and how this concept varies among the different novels by focusing on the Revolution of 1952. The Revolution of 1952 is one of the most important moments in the history of Bolivia, when the conditions for socio-political change converge in order to make possible an “imagined community,” of proposing and implementing a nation-building project based on state capitalism. The mestizo is called upon to serve as a vanguard of this revolution. These novels explore how social, economic, and cultural contradictions make the construction of the nation difficult, and transmit a critique of this process of nation-building, and its nationalist discourse. The main purpose of my dissertation is to examine the recurrence of retellings of the revolution from a feminine perspective in which the domestic space is privileged and the house and family work as a metaphor of the country. The three novels I analyze prioritize female protagonists and the female perspective, embracing a feminist critique of the traditionally patriarchal representation of the revolution. Each of them makes the presence of women visible, prioritizes domestic space as a place of enunciation of national imaginaries and portrays the home as a metaphor for the nation. These authors develop their own political agenda in order to become effective political actors, challenge the patriarchal order and claim their space and their right to participate in nation building. This dissertation is written in Spanish.

This thesis examines the popular and non-canonical Victorian novelist Ouida (Maria Louise de la Ramée) her relationship with her publishers and the reception of her works. In particular, through the study of published and unpublished correspondence, as well as nineteenth century periodicals, certain views concerning the writer and her oeuvre will be revised and amended, especially in the context of social and moral standards, anticipated from the female fictional character and the artist, the writer. The first chapter will concentrate on Ouida’s correspondence and will argue that the author’s reputation and sales were not only damaged by her ostensibly immoral plots but also as a result of her publishers’s differing priorities. In order to delineate the content of these ‘indecent’ novels and later the impact they had on reviewers, critics and readers, as well as Ouida’s writing, four of her three-decker novels have been selected for critical discussion. Strathmore (1865) is discussed in relation to sensation fiction and marriage law and Folle-Farine (1871) as an examination of inequality between classes and genders. Francis Cowley Burnand’s parody Strapmore (1878) is then read as a critical account of and response to Ouida’s ideologies. The thesis will then examine the controversy surrounding Moths (1880), and In Maremma (1882) will be read as a response to this controversy through its relation to mythology and the representation of the artist. The analysis of these novels and Ouida’s correspondence with her agent and publishers will trace the path that led to the gradual decline in her reputation and the posterior obscurity of her works.