The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the processes of consolidation and decomposition of the Venezuelan party system and their relation to democratic stability. Both processes are analyzed through a theoretical framework based on four conditions for institutionalization and three conditions for decomposition of a party system. Preliminary findings reveal that the Venezuelan party system became institutionalized as of 1969 but began to unravel during the 1980s. This particular order, whose legitimacy rested on the distribution of rents, solidified an arrangement that collapsed when confronted with a deteriorating economic environment combined with growing popular disenchantment stemming from its institutional inability to represent and respond to shifting demands. The thesis also concludes that current political developments do not respond to a process of institutionalization of a new party system but to the development of an inchoate system.

<p>A study of the place of Boris Pilnyak in Soviet Literature faces several practical difficulties; biographical data are scanty, critical material is very scarce, and some of his works are unavailable or difficult to obtain. Until greater latitude is allowed to Soviet scholars and until the author's works are more readily available, non-Soviet scholarship can only render preliminary judgments upon Pilnyak and his works. There is always the possibility that a substantial amount of "desk-drawer literature" by the author will be published at a later date.</p> <p>The scope of this study is general, the basis of more detailed investigations in the future; Pilnyak is viewecl in the context of the 1920's and 1930's, the period in which he wrote the great majority of his novels and stories. Pilnyak is not only an interesting author, but also worthy of attention as a central figure in the struggle for power between various literary groups or camps.</p> <p>The first part of this thesis deals with Pilnyak the author -- his concern with the Revolution, his themes, and his characters. The second half of the thesis deals with Pilnyak the literary politician-- his role in the Union of Writers and his difficulties with the Soviet literary and political establishments.</p> <p>I hope to attain two goals as a result of this study: 1) to shed some light upon Boris Pilnyak as an author and personality; 2) to delineate the fratricidal struggle in the literary arena of the late twenties through the case of Boris Pilnyak.</p> <p>I have used the transliteration of the name "Pilnyak" which is most common in English; the correct form is "Pil'njak."</p> <p>All quotes from Pilnyak's works are in Russian, with the exception of those quotation which are llvailahle only in English.</p> <p>I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Louis J. Shein, Chairmnn of the De-partment of Russian, McMaster University, and to Dr. C. ,J. G. Turner, for their advice and assistance.</p> <p>I also wish to thank McMaster University for granting financial assistance in the form of a Graduate Teaching Fellowship.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>A brief analysis of the element of nature in a selection of Chekhov's short stories.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>An analysis of the nature of the hero in Fedin's early stories and in his seven novels. Contains a preface and four chapters. Chapter I sketches Fedin's life and outlines his early stories: Anna Timofevna, A Tale of One morning, The Chief Gunner, The Orchard. Chapter II deals with the novels: Cities and Years, The Brothers, The Rape of Europe, Arctur Sanatorium, and with a story Transvaal. Chapter II analyses the trilogy: The Early Joys, An Extraordinary Summer, Conflagration. Chapter IV summerizes some of the findings.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>An analysis of the dialectic of freedom in three of Dostoevsky's major novels.</p> <p>The thesis contains a preface and five chapters. Chapter I attempts to define the several types of freedom, its dimensions and problems. Chapter II discusses the novel "Crime and Punishment" (1866) with particular reference to the possibility of total freedom. Chapter III deals with "The Devils", sometimes translated as "The Possessed" (1871), and Stavrogin's confrontation with the 'abyss beneath'. Chapter IV is concerned with Dostoevsky's last novel "The Brothers Karama zov" (1880), in which Father Zosima reveals the 'abyss above'. Chapter V is a summing-up and critique of Dostoevsky's ethic of freedom.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>A brief analysis of the treatment of the theme of war in the prose writings of V. P. Nekrasov.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The thesis contains a preface and six chapter. Chapter I summarizes the works that have been published about Prishvin's style so far; it offers a few biographical comments about the writer and a brief outline of the contents of the analysed works. Chapters II - V deal with the main effects of his early prose: Chapter II looks at the homgeneity of the narrator and the material, Chapter III discusses the vividness of Prishvin's images, Chapter IV is concerned with the effect of mystery and Chapter V with humor. Chapter VI sums up our findings.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>An analysis of Chekhov's humour. Contains a preface, an introduction and four chapters. Introduction: Chekhov's Humour in its Context. Chapter I: First Period Beginnings up to 1885 a) Biographical, b) Analysis of the works. Chapter II: Second Period: 1886-1891, a) Biographical, b) Analysis of the works. Chapter III: Third Period 1892-1904. a) Biographical, b) Analysis of the works Chapter IV: Conclusion.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>A study of theme in the published work of Alexander Ismevich Solzhenitsyn</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>An analysis of the portrayal of women in Maxim Gorky's short stories of 1892 - 1899 and some of the novels of 1899 - 1911.<br />The thesis contains a preface and four chapters. The preface gives a brief introductory sketch of the image of Maxim Gorky presented by Soviet literary criticism. The first chapter discusses some of the female characters in Gorky's early short stories. Chapter II deals with some of the women portrayed in his novels: Foma' Gordeev (1899), Troe (1900-1901), and Zhizn' Matveya Kazhemyakina (1911). The third chapter discusses the female personages in his novel Mat' (1907) and Chapter VI summarizes my main findings.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)