John Stevens was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and the Edward F. Schmidt Family Commissioning Fund to compose a concerto for its principal tubist, Gene Pokorny. The piece began with multiple conversations between composer and performer and from these meetings actualized the influences that shaped the work. The most important influences that the performer mentioned were his passions for American steam locomotives and the Three Stooges, both of which were used by Stevens in his rendering of the composition. This concerto was designed to be played on the famous CC York tuba that was played by the former principal tubist of the CSO, Arnold Jacobs, the same instrument used today. Insight into the history of the York tuba will be given as well as their influence on contemporary manufacturing and design. Focus is given to how Stevens writes the piece idiomatically to the CC tuba and potential performance problems when a performer uses tubas of a different key. Conversations with both gentlemen will display the non-musical influences on Journey and how this effects the composition. Stevens' compositional language is explored and discussed in respect to the challenges and idiosyncrasies within the work. Collegiate tuba professors provide explanation for works level of interest within their respective schools and experiences.

Saint Elizabeth's spital in Pohořelec The extant altarpieces of the spital's chapel Abstract This thesis deals with the Saint Elizabeth's spital in Pohořelec near the monastery of Premonstratensians in Strahov. This spital was founded by the abbot Kaspar Questenberg and was located in the western part of Pohořelec. However, the original building wasn't preserved, because it had to yield to Prague's fortification in the 60's of the 17th century. Under the abbot Vincenc Makarius Frank the new spital was constructed. There was the chapel dedicated to the patron St. Elisabeth, which was mentioned in the written sources since the beginning of the hospital existence. During few years there were also ordered altarpieces. The contemporary literature associates only two paintings of saints with Saint Elizabeth's spital (St. Barbara and St. Rosalia). These paintings were placed on the side altars of the chapel and today are in the possession of the Royal Canonry of Premonstratensians at Strahov. Thanks to the preserved written sources, we were able to discover additional information of the spital's equipment and the chapel main altarpiece. This thesis summarizes the previous research and determines templates of altarpieces and their sources of inspiration. The attention is also aimed to the history of the spital,...

No description available.

This thesis is inspired by an ending—that of a cowboy hero riding away, back turned, into the setting sun. That image, possibly the most evocative and most repeated in the Western, signifies both continuing adventure and ever westward motion as well as a restless lack of final resolution. This thesis examines the ambiguous endings and the conditions leading up to them in two film Westerns of the 1950s, George Steven's Shane (1953) and John Ford's The Searchers (1956). Fascinatingly, the tension and uncertainty conveyed throughout these films is also characteristic of life in modernity, a connection which has previously gone overlooked. In my analysis, I study the ties between the postwar film Western and the philosophy of modernity to interpret these works in a new light, illuminating their generic context and their understudied philosophic dimensions. This reading highlights these films' continued relevance, showing how they have enabled creators and audiences to reflect on experiences of modernity in the idiom of the celluloid century.

No description available.

No description available.

Cette thèse se concentre sur ce que j'appelle «l’espace négatif» de la représentation dans la poésie de Stevens comme étant un véritable espace d'engagement politique, une interprétation qui se distingue de la plus grande partie de la critique sur Stevens. En suivant les écrits philosophiques d'Emmanuel Levinas, j'affirme que l'emphase que Stevens place sur la représentation de la représentation elle-même ouvre un espace au-delà des limites rigides de l'identité-ce que Levinas appelle « le je [sujet] semblable », permettant un contact authentique avec « l'Autre» ainsi qu’avec le concept de « l'infini ». Bien que Stevens s’est farouchement opposé à la notion Romantique de la sublime transcendance, c’est-à-dire d'un espace censé exister en dehors des limites de l'imagination humaine, il se concerne néanmoins avec l'exploration d'un espace au-delà de l'identité individuelle. Pour Stevens, cependant, « la transcendance» est toujours, nécessairement, liée par les restrictions reconnues du langage humain et de l'imagination, et donc par la réalité du monde perceptible. Toute « transcendance» qui est recherchée ou atteinte, dans la poésie de Stevens ne devrait donc pas - ma thèse affirme - être entendu dans le sens sublime déterminé auparavant par les Romantiques. Une connexion plus appropriée peut plutôt être faite avec la transcendance concrète et immédiate décrit par Lévinas comme le «face à face ». L’attention que Stevens accordent aux notions concrètes et immédiates est souvent exprimé à travers son attention sur les qualités esthétiques de la langue. Sa poésie a en effet la poésie pour sujet, mais pas dans le sens solipsiste qui lui est souvent attribué. En se concentrant sur le processus actif et créateur inhérent à l'écriture et à la lecture de la poésie, Stevens explore la nature de l'Etre lui-même. Je compare cette exploration dans le travail de Stevens à celle du dessinateur, ou de l'artiste, et dans ma conclusion, je suggère les liens entre l'approche d'enquête de Stevens et celle d’artistes visuels contemporains qui se sont également engagés à la figuration du processus créatif. L’ artiste sud-africain William Kentridge est mon exemple principal , en raison de sa conviction que la méthode est intrinsèquement liée à l'engagement politique et social. / This dissertation focuses on what I refer to as a “negative-space” of representation in the poetry of Wallace Stevens’s in order to explore what, contrary to the bulk of Stevens research to date, I understand to be a genuine politics of engagement. Drawing on the philosophical writings of Emmanuel Levinas, I argue that Stevens’s emphasis on the representation of representation itself opens up a space beyond the rigid limitations of identity—what Levinas refers to as the “I of the same”—allowing genuine contact with the concept of “the infinite,” or “the Other.” Though Stevens staunchly opposed himself to the Romantic notion of sublime transcendence—of a space purported to exist outside the limits of the human imagination—he nonetheless concerns himself with the exploration of just such a space “beyond” individual identity. For Stevens, however, “transcendence” is always, necessarily, bound by the acknowledged restrictions of human language and imagination and therefore by the reality of the perceivable world. Any “transcendence” that is sought, or achieved, in Stevens’s work should not, therefore, be understood in the sublime sense intended by the earlier Romantics—a more apt connection can instead be made with the concrete and immediate transcendence described by Levinas as the “face to face.” Stevens’s concern for the concrete and the immediate is often expressed through his attention to the aesthetic qualities of language. His is indeed a poetry about poetry—but not in the limited, solipsistic sense that is often assumed. In concentrating on the active, creative process inherent to writing and reading poetry, Stevens explores the nature of Being itself. I compare this exploration in Stevens’s work to that of the draftsman, or to the artist’s sketch, and in my conclusion suggest the connections between Stevens’s investigative approach and contemporary visual artists who are also committed to the figuration of the creative process. South African artist William Kentridge provides my chief example, due to his conviction that the method is linked intrinsically to political and social engagement.

Not available / text

Cette thèse se concentre sur ce que j'appelle «l’espace négatif» de la représentation dans la poésie de Stevens comme étant un véritable espace d'engagement politique, une interprétation qui se distingue de la plus grande partie de la critique sur Stevens. En suivant les écrits philosophiques d'Emmanuel Levinas, j'affirme que l'emphase que Stevens place sur la représentation de la représentation elle-même ouvre un espace au-delà des limites rigides de l'identité-ce que Levinas appelle « le je [sujet] semblable », permettant un contact authentique avec « l'Autre» ainsi qu’avec le concept de « l'infini ». Bien que Stevens s’est farouchement opposé à la notion Romantique de la sublime transcendance, c’est-à-dire d'un espace censé exister en dehors des limites de l'imagination humaine, il se concerne néanmoins avec l'exploration d'un espace au-delà de l'identité individuelle. Pour Stevens, cependant, « la transcendance» est toujours, nécessairement, liée par les restrictions reconnues du langage humain et de l'imagination, et donc par la réalité du monde perceptible. Toute « transcendance» qui est recherchée ou atteinte, dans la poésie de Stevens ne devrait donc pas - ma thèse affirme - être entendu dans le sens sublime déterminé auparavant par les Romantiques. Une connexion plus appropriée peut plutôt être faite avec la transcendance concrète et immédiate décrit par Lévinas comme le «face à face ». L’attention que Stevens accordent aux notions concrètes et immédiates est souvent exprimé à travers son attention sur les qualités esthétiques de la langue. Sa poésie a en effet la poésie pour sujet, mais pas dans le sens solipsiste qui lui est souvent attribué. En se concentrant sur le processus actif et créateur inhérent à l'écriture et à la lecture de la poésie, Stevens explore la nature de l'Etre lui-même. Je compare cette exploration dans le travail de Stevens à celle du dessinateur, ou de l'artiste, et dans ma conclusion, je suggère les liens entre l'approche d'enquête de Stevens et celle d’artistes visuels contemporains qui se sont également engagés à la figuration du processus créatif. L’ artiste sud-africain William Kentridge est mon exemple principal , en raison de sa conviction que la méthode est intrinsèquement liée à l'engagement politique et social. / This dissertation focuses on what I refer to as a “negative-space” of representation in the poetry of Wallace Stevens’s in order to explore what, contrary to the bulk of Stevens research to date, I understand to be a genuine politics of engagement. Drawing on the philosophical writings of Emmanuel Levinas, I argue that Stevens’s emphasis on the representation of representation itself opens up a space beyond the rigid limitations of identity—what Levinas refers to as the “I of the same”—allowing genuine contact with the concept of “the infinite,” or “the Other.” Though Stevens staunchly opposed himself to the Romantic notion of sublime transcendence—of a space purported to exist outside the limits of the human imagination—he nonetheless concerns himself with the exploration of just such a space “beyond” individual identity. For Stevens, however, “transcendence” is always, necessarily, bound by the acknowledged restrictions of human language and imagination and therefore by the reality of the perceivable world. Any “transcendence” that is sought, or achieved, in Stevens’s work should not, therefore, be understood in the sublime sense intended by the earlier Romantics—a more apt connection can instead be made with the concrete and immediate transcendence described by Levinas as the “face to face.” Stevens’s concern for the concrete and the immediate is often expressed through his attention to the aesthetic qualities of language. His is indeed a poetry about poetry—but not in the limited, solipsistic sense that is often assumed. In concentrating on the active, creative process inherent to writing and reading poetry, Stevens explores the nature of Being itself. I compare this exploration in Stevens’s work to that of the draftsman, or to the artist’s sketch, and in my conclusion suggest the connections between Stevens’s investigative approach and contemporary visual artists who are also committed to the figuration of the creative process. South African artist William Kentridge provides my chief example, due to his conviction that the method is linked intrinsically to political and social engagement.

This study performs a reading of Wittgenstein’s thought that integrates his sometimes sidelined remarks on aesthetics and belief, and emphasises consideration of language use on the level of practice. It analyses the many ways that Wittgenstein engages with the inexpressible or the limits of expression through comparison with poetry as a practice. The potential of a Wittgensteinian method of literary analysis concentrating on grammatical structures, exemplary forms of expression and quotidian meaning-making is shown by viewing several poets’ work in connection with specific forms of the inexpressible. This thesis consists of three parts. The first chapter surveys previous applications of Wittgenstein to aesthetic appreciation and analysis, and considers common interpretations of his earlier and later work. Incorporating a wide range of Wittgenstein sources allows a new reading to emerge that gives appropriate weight to his hitherto under-researched writings. This reading is tested in Chapters 2-5, in each case studying a poet or poets alongside a philosophical text or topic. Chapter 2 uses the negative theology of Pseudo-Dionysius to probe the ineffable; through Cora Diamond’s resolute reading of the Tractatus, Kei Miller’s ‘Church Women’ series and John Burnside’s intimate ineffable of ‘Parousia’, a grammatical understanding of inexpressibility emerges. Chapter 3 compares John McDowell’s minimal realism in Mind and World with Wallace Steven’s Supreme Fiction, demonstrating how Stevens’ – and Wittgenstein’s – rich conception of experience can close off a number of philosophical lacunae. Chapter 4 concentrates on the poetry of Jorie Graham, whose conception of the self is saturated with language. Parallels with Wittgenstein’s methodology are drawn, and some reminders issued to curb the excesses of postmodern accounts of subjectivity. The focus in Chapter 5 moves to the use of cartographical metaphor in Philosophical Investigations and Kei Miller’s poetry. The constraints of specific discourses on our thinking are examined, together with poetry’s potential for laying bare or reinvigorating the pictures by which we navigate. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses a selection of poetic projects completed alongside my research, to extend the reading of Wittgenstein into the area of creative practice. This thesis demonstrates Wittgenstein’s prolonged engagement with the limits of expression and with poetry, as well as the profit of a Wittgensteinian approach to poetry. It thereby questions a number of current responses to Wittgenstein’s work, and displays its own original creative outcomes.