Les histoires comiques forment, de 1612 à la fin du siècle, un genre narratif divertissant qui, bien que traversé par des influences diverses, trouve sa cohésion dans de nets partis pris esthétiques : une écriture naturelle, une attention portée aux réalités, une apparente vérité des lieux, des situations et des personnages, ainsi que la présence d’une thématique sérieuse sous une fantaisie de façade. La redécouverte de ces oeuvres par la critique moderne a permis de souligner le rôle qu’elles ont joué dans l’évolution du roman au XVIIe siècle, après plusieurs siècles d’oubli ou de dénigrement. Assurément, avant toute analyse, les histoires comiques marquent surtout l’esprit par leur bouffonnerie : leurs auteurs n’écartent aucun ressort facétieux, si grossier soit-il, pour provoquer le rire. C’est, en effet, sur la mise en scène grotesque du corps que repose le plaisir franc et simple de ces oeuvres : visages difformes, anatomies disproportionnées, gesticulations, chutes, maladies, coups, chairs blessées ou sensuelles tissent le matériau narratif. Notre thèse propose de sonder cette présence ostentatoire du corps humain et de démontrer qu’elle est au centre de la fabrique du genre deshistoires comiques. En sus de cette exploration, notre étude cherche à affiner l’interprétation du divertissement corporel en prenant en compte son contexte culturel et anthropologique. Il s’agit de comprendre comment, au-delà de son rôle poétique et générique, le corps devient signifiant pour les auteurs du la narration comique du XVIIe siècle. / From 1612 to the end of the century, comic novels constitute a entertaining narrative genrewhich, despite many diverse influences, finds its cohesion in firm aesthetic choices : a natural writing, an attention to reality, an outward truthfulness of places, situations and characters, as well as serious themes under the apparent farce. When the modern critique rediscovered those works, it underlined their crucial part in XVIIth century novel’s evolution, after a long period of oblivion or denigration. Indeed, previous to any analysis, comic novels strike mostly by their buffoonery : their writers don’t hesitate to use triviality and vulgarity to create laughter.Surely, the simple and franc pleasure of reading comic novels is based on the grotesque staging of the body : deformed faces, disproportionate anatomies, gesticulations, falls, illnesses, punches, armed or sensual fleshes forge the narrative material. Our thesis proposes to investigate the ostentatious presence of the human body and to demonstrate that it is at the heart of the construction of the comic novel as a genre. In addition to this exploration, our study seeks to sharpen the interpretation of the corporeal entertainment by taking into account its cultural and anthropological context. The aim is to understand how, beyond its poetical andgeneric part, the body becomes meaningful to the authors of XVIIth century comic narration.

The dominant theme in Regain is that of death leading to rebirth. This dissertation attempts to explore Giono's narrative techniques within this context. No single chapter will be devoted to a specific technique; instead, the various devices used by the author are discussed as they emerge from the structure of the chapters. Justifying the field of study as defined in the "Introduction", the following three chapters outline the passage of life from death to eventual rebirth. With acknowledgement to Frank Kermode, who writes: "A concord of past, present and future three dreams which, as Augustine said, cross in our minds, as in the present of things past, the present of things present, and the present of things future" ¹, the first three chapters bear his terminology for their headings. Chapter One, "The Present of Things Past", deals with Mameche's loss of her husband and son. Chapter Two, "The Present of Things Present", focuses upon Mameche' s realization of Gaubert's departure, and the decision that she must do something to save the dying village of Aubignane. Chapter Three, "The Present of Things Future", sees Mameche setting out in search of a wife for Panturle, and succeeding. This brings to an end Part One of the novel. Interwoven throughout the chapters are paradigms from Greek mythology, rich in universal symbolism, and the author's belief in man's ability to fuse himself with his surroundings. The conclusion summarizes the findings of this study, attempting to show how an analysis of Giono's narrative technique provides an insight into such a novel as Regain. ¹The Sense of an Ending (London: Oxford University Press, 1966), rpt., 1970, p. 50.

The Boy in the Tunnel is a domestic coming-of-age novel told from three alternating perspectives. It is about two white teenage girls who cover up the accidental death of their black friend in Atlanta during the summer of 1994. The novel explored the insidious nature of racial prejudice and the many ways in which Americans deny responsibility for wrongdoing—both contemporary and historical. It also explores the intense nature of female teenage friendships and the harsh realities of the adult world in comparison with the relative simplicity of childhood.

Au Congo Brazzaville s'est développé, depuis les Trois Glorieuses (13, 14 et 15 août 1963), un espace littéraire très créatif. La plupart de ses écrivains, et particulièrement les romanciers, sont (ont été) engagés, à des titres et à des niveaux divers, dans la vie politique effective de leur pays. Une approche sociocritique des romans congolais à partir des microlectures, dans une perspective intertextuelle, fait émerger la politique comme un moule structurateur de la plupart des fictions. L'analyse du contexte du roman congolais à thématique politique en révèle des particularités (1ère partie). Cette contextualisation permet de comprendre pourquoi le référent politique est si envahissant dans la fiction romanesque congolaise. La thématisation de la politique (2ème partie) comme sujet, motif ou topos permet une meilleure appréhension des univers imaginaires. La représentation des indépendances, des révolutions et de la vie sociale éclaire les complexes rapports entre le scribe et le prince. Les personnages des fictions se positionnent par rapport aux pouvoirs institués comme des révoltés, des révolutionnaires ou des collaborateurs. En général, ils dénoncent le vécu quotidien dans la dissidence et le refus du statu quo. Toute une rhétorique du politique ressort du traitement que les auteurs font de ce dernier (3èmepartie), et met en évidence une politique de l'écriture, à savoir des stratégies d'expression des univers politiques. Sont ainsi utilisés: le masquage par l'anthroponymie et la toponymie, le surgissement d'univers étranges (magique, merveilleux, carnavalesque, onirique, etc.) dans la trame narrative, ainsi que le recours à un langage crypté. Les postures pour dire le politique varient selon les écrivains. Qu'ils participent au pouvoir ou non, et du fait de leurs appartenance à la phratrie, tous se retrouvent en Congolie, contrée imaginaire libérée, et déclarent leurs « rêves du changement », ou leur aspirations à un mieux vivre ensemble, rendu de façon originale par Henri Djombo dans Lumières des temps perdus. Les fictions s'interrogent sur le politique, mais aussi et surtout sur l'acte d'écrire et sa finalité. Les textes posent ainsi une large problématique : la rencontre des champs politique et littéraire, la difficulté de l'écrivain à dire la politique en pays de dictature, ou le statut des valeurs. / In Congo Brazzaville, beginning from the Three Glorious 13th, 14th and 15th August 1963, there developed a very creative literary space. Most of its writers, especially as concerns the novelists, are (have been) committed, by titles and diverse levels, to the political life of their country. From a socio-critical perspective of Congolese novels using micro-lectures, from an intertextual perspective, brings out politics as a structuring mould for most fiction. An analysis of the context of the Congolese novel, with politics as a thematic concern reveals a number of particularities (Part 1). Putting things to context in this manner allows for understanding why the political referent permeates romanistic Congolese fiction. Thematizing politics (Part 2), as subject, motive or topos allows for a better understanding of imaginary universes. The representation of independences, of revolutions and of social life brings light to the complex relationships between the scribe and the prince. Characters in fictions position themselves in revolt to institutionalized powers, as revolutionaries or as collaborators. Generally, they denounce the day to day experience in dissidence and reject the status quo. An entire political rhetoric springs forth from the treatment which the authors give to the latter (Part 3) and establishes a writing policy, namely, strategies of political expression. Here employed are: masking by anthroponomy and toponymy, the cropping up of strange universes, (magic, the sublime, carnival, imaginary, etc) in the plot as well as making use of crypt language. Postures of political expression differ with writers. Whether they participate in power or not, and from the fact of their belonging to the phratry, all find themselves in Congolie, the imaginary liberated territory and declare their « Dream for Change » or their aspirations to a better communal life, rendered in an original manner by Henri Djombo in Lumières des temps perdus. The fictions dwell on politics, but also, and especially on the act of writing and its finality. In this wise, the texts pose a large statement of the problem: the meeting of political and literary spheres, the difficulty of the writer to express political issues in a dictator nation or the statutes of values.

This paper, then, purposes to examine these two characteristics of Styron's novel form--structure and point of view--as they are handled in his major works, the novels Lie Down in Darkness and Set This House on Fire, and the novella The Long March.

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This thesis aims to analyse the behaviour of an “analogue search engine”, created by the romance novel community. The existing commercial recommendation systems for romance novels are found lacking, as they fail to fill the requirements of the user group. The user group fills this need by creating separate communities, where they use their expertise in the genre to create a more accurate recommendation system.  Using ethnographic research over a long period of time allowed the behaviours and habits of the group to be catalogued. Using that framework and interaction design practises, several design proposals were created showing how the findings can be used to add nuance to recommendation system interfaces.

Univerzita Karlova Filozofická fakulta Ústav germánských studií Filologie-germánské jazyky a literatury REPRESENTATIE VAN MANNELIJKHEID ENVROUWELIJKHEID IN DEHAAGSE ROMANS VAN LOUIS COUPERUS REPREZENTACE MASKULINITY A FEMININITY VHAAGSKÝCH ROMÁNECH LOUISE COUPERUSE THEREPRESENTATION OF MASCULINITY ANDFEMININITY INTHE HAGUE NOVELS BY LOUIS COUPERUS Abstract in English Anna Phillips Vedoucí práce: doc. dr. Ellen J.Krol 2018 1 Abstract in English This dissertation examines masculinity and femininity in what are referred to as the 'Hague novels' of Louis Couperus: Eline Vere, The Books of the Small Souls (De boeken der kleine zielen), and Old People and the Things that Pass (Van oude menschen, de dingen, die voorbijgaan…). The following research questions were asked: 1) In what ways are masculinity and femininity represented in the Hague novels of Louis Couperus? 1) Are these representations of the masculine and the feminine diametrically op- posed, and if so, in what ways does the opposition manifest? 2) Do the representations of masculinity and femininity in the individual Hague novels differ? If so, how? The research method is theoretically grounded in views of masculinity and femininity common to the 'fin de siècle' period (1878-1914) in which the Hague novels were published, and which forms the setting of...

abstract: While the African American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s is one of the most famous and celebrated parts of American history, rhetoric scholars have illuminated the ways this subversive movement has been manipulated beyond recognition over time. These narrative constructions play a role in preserving what Maegan Parker Brooks calls the "conservative master narrative of civil rights history," a narrative that diminishes the work of activists while simultaneously promoting complacency to prevent any challenge to the white supremacist hegemony. This dissertation argues that the graphic memoir trilogy March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell challenges this conservative master narrative through visual rhetoric, in particular through the comics techniques "braiding" and "weaving." Braiding occurs when authors create "webs of interrelation" (Miodrag 134) by repeating a technique throughout the text, which can sometimes involve a secondary narrative (Groensteen). Braids are associations in the network of panels of the comic that go beyond the parameters of strictly linear storytelling as panels echo those the reader has encountered before. The braids in March compare the past and present through a direct juxtaposition of January 20, 2009—the inauguration day of Barack Obama—with John Lewis' activism from 1959 to 1965. While this juxtaposition risks reinforcing a progress narrative that suggests racism is in the past, in fact, the braided inauguration scenes help the reader connect the moments of the past with their present, calling to mind the ways white supremacy endures in contemporary America. Weaving refers to the reader’s action of moving back and forth in the comics narrative to create meaning, and artists use techniques that facilitate this behavior, such as leaving out or minimizing significant cues and creating a sense of ambiguity that leads the reader to become curious about the events in the sequence. Weaving can disrupt an easy linear narrative of depicted events—such as Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony at the Democratic National Convention—as artists present several opportunities for the reader to interpret these stories in ways that challenge a conservative master narrative of the events in the trilogy. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2019