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The omission of boredom from 1950s cultural and literary discourse is somewhat glaring, especially considering the frequency with which terms such as banality, conformity, and uniformity appear in scholarly and popular representations of the era. Such evocations of social and personal malaise derive from postwar sociological and theoretical critiques that rather uncritically dismiss mass culture as hostile to expressions of individuality. For Frankfurt school theorists such as Theodor Adorno, Henri Lefebvre, and Herbert Marcuse, the capitulation of individuals to a contented (and thoroughly dull) status quo is symptomatic of the disappearance of culturally distinct localities into a standardized national space, the parameters of which are determined by commodity culture. I argue that a closer inspection of filmic, literary, and archival texts from the era reveals the limitations of such macro geographies; texts often acknowledge such mass cultural rhetoric while at the same time offering a more nuanced and optimistic appraisal of the potential for meaningful engagement with the marketplace. Texts such as Norman Foster’s Woman on the Run, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer, and John Cheever’s “The Swimmer” attribute postwar boredom to passive, diversionary consumption habits that mediate and inhibit the consumer’s ability to find fulfillment within local environments. By scrutinizing setting, characterization, narration, and other formal concerns within the context of boredom theory and Michael de Certeau’s spatial phenomenology, it becomes clear that these texts encourage a mode of spatial and cultural literacy capable of revealing opportunities for meaningful engagement within local environments that remain vital.

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Uppsatsen analyserar tre centrala karaktärer samt tre mindre framträdande bipersoner i Rick Riordans bok Född till hjälte (2018). Syftet med analysen är att se hur karaktärerna beskrivs i boken och om de beskrivits stereotypiskt manligt eller kvinnligt, samt varför de är beskrivna på det sättet. Uppsatsen utgår ifrån olika perspektiv på genus, normer, manligt och kvinnligt samt vad som är typiskt för fantasygenren. Analysen visar att tre av de sex karaktärer som analyserats på något sätt bryter mot de stereotypiska könsnormer som beskrivs i arbetet. De resterande tre framställs med tills största del antingen manligt eller kvinnligt kodade egenskaper. En avslutande del kring hur man kan arbeta med litteratur och genus i skolan avlutar uppsatsen.

The evolution and diversification of Young Adult literature (YA) in the last two decades have brought about significant changes, particularly in the representation of LGBT characters. Tropes have always been a staple in literature, but their use in YA has taken on a unique significance when it comes to LGBT representation. These tropes have developed in parallel with the political landscape of the USA and the rise of LGBT rights. In this context, the analysis of three popular YA series, Percy Jackson and The Olympians, The Mortal Instruments, and The Raven Cycle, and their respective sequels and spin-offs, becomes crucial. By examining the use of tropes and the treatment of LGBT characters in these series, we can better understand the changes that have occurred over time and the commonalities and differences among them. Moreover, this analysis will also shed light on aspects outside the novels that have contributed to these developments. While similar patterns emerge in all three series, each one handles LGBT topics differently, depending on the time of publication. Finally, we will also explore the current state of publishing and the role that communities play in shaping these popular series. By examining these issues, we can gain a better understanding of the role that literature plays in shaping our perceptions of LGBT individuals and the broader social context in which these works are produced.

It is the principal purpose of this study of the early criticisms of Shelley to contrast the opinions of him in England and America and to find reasons for the widely divergent attitudes of the reviewers in the two countries.

Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961) was a prolific Australian-American composer whose cutting-edge musical works ushered performers, conductors, and audiences into the modern era with little regard for their comfort zones. Some of his most important work was the research, collection, and arranging of folk songs, particularly British folk songs. Grainger often set these folk songs for wind band, an ensemble for which he was a strong proponent. His works for band were some of the earliest to include prominent saxophone parts and solos. He was a vocal proponent of the saxophone family and is an important figure in the history of the instrument. Despite Grainger's outspoken love for the saxophone, he never composed any original solo repertoire for the instrument. The new, original composition Pictures of Percy: Suite for Soprano Saxophone and Piano (2023) was crafted in an effort to remediate this void within the saxophone repertory. The work includes new arrangements of Grainger's compositions as well original music. The work is intended to add some semblance of Grainger's compositional voice to the saxophone literature while also paying homage to his passion for the saxophone family and his influence on its history.

This thesis examines the relationship between Southern literature and socio-cultural realities of the Southern region of the United States of America. Analyzing works of five distinguished Southern writers, this thesis examines the reflection of specific Southern culture features in literature of the region in the period from the end of the American Civil War to the second half of the 20th century. The thesis oppose the opinion that the primary goal of Southern literature was to promote Southern identity and its cultural superiority above the North. The central hypothesis, that is being verified by this thesis, is that despite the indisputable contribution of highly recognized Southern writers to building of Southern identity, these authors expressed in their works also often sharp critiques of the social conditions in the South.

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