The present dissertation examines constructions of femininity in the lyrical and didactical works of Elisabeth von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1510-1558). It shows how this widow ruler and promoter of the reformation transforms and re-interprets contemporary ideas about women and gender according to her own personal interests, and how gender roles are thus negotiated in her texts. In accordance with current theoretical ideas about subjectivity, discourse, and gender, it is shown among other things how Elisabeth von Braunschweig-Lüneburg uses established genres to further her own personal agenda, and how she manipulates contemporary notions of gender in order to create authority for herself as a political force, as an upholder of Christian virtues, and, most importantly, as a writer. The analysis is based on an understanding of subjectivity as dialogical – as a negotiation with the surrounding culture – and of gender as socially constructed. Using the theories presented by Judith Butler and Joan Wallach Scott as a basis, the study shows how Elisabeth works within the various discourses available to her in order to describe established gender roles in a fashion that challenges prevailing notions of femininity and a woman’s place in society. The study focuses on a number of aspects of femininity important in Elisabeth’s texts as well as in the cultural context in which they were written. The textual construction of woman as writer, ruler, preacher, wife, mother, and widow is examined. The dissertation presents not previously acknowledged insights into the ambivalence coloring Elisabeth’s descriptions of women and femininity.

艾凡赫（又名劫後英雄傳）是華特．史考特(Sir Walter Scott，有時譯為司各特)所作的威佛利系列小說(Waverley Novels)中最受歡的小說之一。史考特在出版了幾本有關蘇格蘭的小說之後，決定嘗試寫一部純粹只與英格蘭有關的作品。在閱覽評論艾凡赫的文章中，我發現大部分的學者忽略了艾凡赫或許與蘇格蘭有關的可能性。因此我決定透過蘇格蘭國族主義的角度來分析艾凡赫，探究其與蘇格蘭的關係。 從中古世紀到十九世紀的蘇格蘭歷史中，我得到了啟發。我認為我們可以將國族主義形成的過程分成「集體身分認同」、「國家和國族主義」以及「國家身分認同與進階國族主義」來討論。本論文共有五個章節，除了序論和結論之外，中間三個章節將按照上述的三點進行分析。第一章將藉由閱讀蘇格蘭中古歷史和文學作品從中了解蘇格蘭集體身分認同的形成，並將其形成的模式套用於艾凡赫，進而解釋理查國王(King Richard)如何建立英格蘭集體身分認同。第二章所探討的是蘇格蘭歷史與威佛利中蘇格蘭如何成為國家以及其國族主義的建立，並以所得的結果分析理查國王如何使英格蘭成為真正的國家與其建立英格蘭國族主義的手法。第三章將重點擺在小說中英格蘭國家身分認同與其進階的國族主義，希望經由與前兩章相同的對應手法反向解釋史考特如何運用艾凡赫表達自己的蘇格蘭國家身分認同以及其進階的蘇格蘭國族主義。 / Among Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley Novels, Ivanhoe is one of the most popular works. After writing several novels related to Scotland, Scott boldly attempted to create a purely English novel as an experiment in his life as a novelist. In reviewing the papers on Ivanhoe, I find that critics in and after Scott’s time seem to overlook the possibility that Ivanhoe, like any of its predecessor, is related to Scotland. Therefore, this thesis examines the relationship between Scottish history and Ivanhoe from the perspective of nationalism. Learning from Scottish history, I suggest discussing the formation of Scottish nationalism from aspects of “collective identity,” “nation and nationalism,” and “national identity and advanced nationalism.” The thesis is divided into three chapters according to aspects and a concluding chapter. Chapter One focuses on the building of Scottish identity in history and the building of English identity in Ivanhoe. Chapter Two discusses Scotland as a nation, the appearance of Scottish nationalism before the Union and Scottish nationalism in Waverley and Ivanhoe. Chapter Three looks into while the characters exhibit their English national identity and King Richard pursues his advanced English nationalism in the novel, Scott shows his Scottish national identity and develops an advanced Scottish nationalism that, with a well-preserved Scottish national identity, consecrates to reach a harmonious peace between the Scots and the English via Ivanhoe. Conclusion closes the thesis by reconfirming the relationship between Scott’s Ivanhoe and Scotland through the three-stage process of Scottish nationalism.

En observant le contexte architectural actuel, on note que les architectes s'intéressent davantage à faire valoir l'apparence de la surface de l'enveloppe extérieure de leurs bâtiments. Ce déplacement nous interpelle sur les raisons derrière ce type de changement au niveau conceptuel en architecture. L'examen de deux ouvrages récents nous révèle l'existence d'une tension entre l'aspect significatif et l'aspect matériel, ou pour le dire autrement, entre le signe et la matière. Notre objectif sera de faire l’histoire de cette dialectique afin de mieux saisir la nature de ce déplacement et comment cette opposition a pu déplacer la conception vers la surface et vers l'enveloppe extérieure. Notre étude montre que l'hypothèse de base de la dialectique du signe et de la matière se divise en trois parties. La première expose la dialectique existante, dans les années 1950 en Angleterre, du formalisme de Colin Rowe et Robert Slutzky et d'autre part, de l'image des matériaux trouvés comme tels des brutalistes promus par Reyner Banham. En deuxième partie, cette dialectique se développe aux États-Unis à partir des armées 1960 pour prendre une autre forme d'opposition entre le modèle sémiologique de Robert Venturi et de Denise Scott Brown et en contre partie le projet tectonique de Frampton basé sur son interprétation matériel et significatif de la construction. L'opposition actuelle entre les descriptions phénoménologiques de la surface et l'ambition d'une politicisation significative de l'enveloppe constitue le troisième moment de la dialectique du signe et de la matière. Avec chaque position, cette dialectique est reformulée par les modèles théoriques de chaque discours. Ainsi, l'introduction de la sémiologie a déplacé l'ambigüité perceptuelle par une ambigüité plus sémantique. Par la suite, les considérations phénoménologiques apportées à la matière ont introduit des notions sensorielles. La nouvelle opposition illustre une apparente incompatibilité de modèles et de sensibilités qui appelle une réconciliation dont 1'horizon n'est pas encore perceptible. Le développement de la dialectique du signe et de la matière à partir des années 1950 est donc l'explication que nous proposons au déplacement conceptuel du débat sur l'apparence et plus particulièrement au niveau de la surface et de l'enveloppe. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : façade, surface, enveloppe, théorie, conception, dialectique, opposition, matière, signe, construction, représentation, Colin Rowe, Robert Slutzky, Kenneth Frampton, Reyner Banham, Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, David Leatherbarrow, Alejandro Zaera Polo.

Joseph Raz has developed a concept of authority based on the special relationship between reasons and action. While the view is very complex and subtle, it can be summed up by saying that authorities are authorities insofar as they can mediate between the reasons that happen to bind their subjects and the subjects’ actions. Authorities do this by providing special reasons via directives to their subjects. These special reasons are what Raz calls “protected reasons.” Protected reasons are both first-order reasons for action and second-order “exclusionary reasons” that exclude the subject from considering some reasons in the balance of reasons for or against any action. I first make clear what Raz’s view of authority is, and I then defend this view from some contemporary critics.

In this thesis, I describe and evaluate two recent accounts of naming. These accounts are motivated by Kripke?s response to Russell?s Description Theory of Names (DTN). Particularly, I consider Kripke?s Modal Argument (MA) and various arguments that have been given against it, as well as Kripke?s responses to these arguments. Further, I outline a version of MA that has recently been presented by Scott Soames, and consider how he responds to the criticisms that the argument faces. In order to evaluate the claim that MA is decisive against all description theories, I outline the Nominal Description Theory (NDT) put forth by Kent Bach and consider whether it constitutes a principled response to MA. I do so by exploring how Bach both responds to Kripke?s arguments against descriptivism and highlights the problems with rigid designation as a purely semantic thesis. Finally, I consider the relative merits of the accounts put forth by Bach and Soames. Upon doing so, I argue that MA is not as decisive against description theories as it has long been thought to be. In fact, NDT seems to provide a better account of our uses of proper names than the rigid designation thesis as presented by Kripke and Soames.

This essay explores Swarm Consciousness in relation to the novels Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Remembering Babylon by David Malouf, and the manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. Through these novels, Swarm Consciousness can be reimagined in order to challenge the ways insects have previously been considered in literature. Swarm Consciousness is originally a concept from biology that explains the self-organizing systems of social insects such as for example bees or ants. Previously it was believed that these insect societies consisted of a great majority of mindless drones that were governed by a central authority, most commonly envisioned as a queen. However, if we base our vision of Swarm Consciousness on the more recent understanding of insect self-organization it is possible to challenge this rigidly divided traditional perspective into one that instead has the potential to give rise to visions of new and more creative interactions between humans and insects. These interactions are not limited to an in-group, out-group mentality, but Swarm Consciousness can be used to imagine interactions between groups, irrespective of their species identity. Due to this shift towards a more decentralized perspective, it is possible to create a new way of imagining the umwelt, as Jakob von Uexküll would define it, the unique environment, of vastly different creatures. The limits of the umwelt can be breached with the aid of Swarm Consciousness and create new possible forms of interspecies imagination. However, these intimate interactions surpass the individuals involved and create opportunities for glimpsing a wider planetary perspective which gives rise to an increased sense of planetary responsibility. Thus, Swarm Consciousness challenges both how we can think, but also who we can think with and, as a consequence, opens up new ways of perceiving unique and individual worlds, as well as the entire planet.

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Building on Donald and Patricia Stewarts' The Life and Legacy of Fred Newton Scott (1997), this dissertation addresses aspects of Scott's life which have been ignored or left underdeveloped in the work of composition historians, including Scott's early education at the Indiana State Normal School and at Battle Creek College, along with his personal, academic and professional relationships with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, John Dewey, and Joseph Villiers Denney. This examination, providing a more precise knowledge of Scott's academic and professional life, clarifies the significance and originality of Scott's contributions to the discipline.At the Indiana State Normal School, Scott was exposed to an innovative adaptation of Pestalozzian and Herbartian educational philosophies. The philosophy and methodologies employed at the school likely influenced Scott's thinking about teacher training, while encouraging his adaptation of psychology in the teaching of English.Scott again was exposed to a reform-minded educational agenda at Battle Creek College. There, Scott encountered an holistic educational program that sought to improve the intellectual, physical, and spiritual components of students' lives.Through his long friendship with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, Scott gained an intimate knowledge of the medical profession, an awareness Scott utilized in his own writing about understanding student errors in composition. Scott's academic and professional relationship with John Dewey at the University of Michigan demonstrates their multiple shared interests and activities. The Thought News newspaper project illustrates their attempt to implement philosophy into practical arenas. Their working relationship, as well as Scott's educational background at the Indiana State Normal School and at Battle Creek College, suggests that Dewey has been erroneously viewed as the source of Scott's innovative approach to composition.Finally, Scott's collaborative relationship with Joseph Villiers Denney, the writer with whom Scott wrote his most popular textbooks, illustrates the importance Scott placed on collaboration as well as the competence of those with whom he collaborated. Denney's own scholarly work in composition demonstrates his originality and resourcefulness as an equal partner in their collaborations. / Department of English

During the 1910s, there was an increasing concerted effort on the part of Canadian artists to create art and literature which would affirm Canada's sense of nationhood and modernity. Although in agreement that Canada desperately required its own culture, the Canadian artistic community was divided on what Canadian culture ought to be. For the majority of Canadian painters, writers, critics and readers, the future of the Canadian arts, especially poetry and painting, lay in Canada's past. These cultural conservatives championed art which mirrored its European and Canadian predecessors. Their domination of the arts left little room for the progressive minority, who rebelled against prevailing artistic standards. In painting, the Group of Seven was one of the first groups to challenge this stranglehold on Canadian culture. The Group waged a protracted and vocal campaign for the advancement of Canadian approaches and subjects. In literature, A. J. M. Smith and F. R. Scott began a similar movement to modernize Canadian poetry and reform critical standards. By examining the poetry, essays, criticism and archival material of these poets and painters, the thesis establishes strong parallels between the modernist campaigns of these two groups and investigates this cross-fertilization between the modern Canadian arts.