This dissertation consists of a novel, The Buddha on Page 13 and a dissertation of limited extent, "Buddhist symbolism and metaphoric, and the perception of sin, guilt and punishment in The Buddha on Page 13." In the dissertation of limited extent the role that guilt plays in the motivation of an individual's actions is investigated. The Christian and Buddhist views of sin are compared, and the conclusion is made that neither Christianity nor Buddhism can explain why mankind experiences the feeling of guilt. The central character, Toit Brink, finally accepts this "so-ness" of things: "thathatha". The dissertation explains how the style of the text wishes to be neutral, and how this neutrality is harnessed for Buddhist reasons. The Buddhist element in the novel's symbolism and metaphoric is illuminated, as well as the apparent contradiction of some of the metaphors. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

Orientador: Wilma Patricia Marzari Dinardo Maas / Banca: Maria Lídia Lichtscheidl Maretti / Banca: Fernando Brandão dos Santos / Resumo: O seguinte trabalho consiste em uma análise de um romance, Lucinde, escrito por Friedrich Schlegel em 1799. Este romance situa-se no período literário alemão conhecido como Primeiro Romantismo, em alemão Frühromantik. Tal período encontra-se entre os anos de 1798 e 1804. Um dos principais objetivos do trabalho é estudar a construção do romance de Schlegel, e descrever a alegoria, bem como seu emprego como forma de expressão estética, a qual compete decisivamente para a criação de um romance romântico. Como se vê em Lucinde, os românticos enfatizavam o caráter ficcional da obra literária e a reflexão sobre a criação e o ato criador. Com isso, por meio da alegoria e da poética romântica, estudamos os mecanismos para a formação da poesia romântica: a Poesia Universal Progressiva. A pesquisa também descreve o grupo de Jena, isto é, os Primeiros Românticos alemães e seu programa literário. Além desse estudo, o trabalho busca uma fonte para os principais conceitos presentes no programa literário dos românticos. Assim, a pesquisa descreve acerca dos gregos antigos, e principalmente a respeito de Heráclito de Éfeso, que já ditava os pressupostos para a totalidade da natureza humana, os quais seriam depois descritos na poética dos Primeiros Românticos e no próprio romance de Schlegel, como se vê neste trabalho. / Abstract: The following paperwork consists of an analysis of a novel, Lucinde, written by Friedrich Schlegel in 1799. This novel is situated in the German literary period know as the Early Romanticism, or Frühromantik in German. That period is found between the years of 1798 and 1804. One of the main goals of this work was to study the building blocks of Schlegel's novel, and to describe the allegory, as well its use as an esthetic way of expression, which was decisive for the creation of a romantic novel. As we can see in Lucinde, the romantics emphasize the fictional character of a piece of work and the reflection of the creation and the creation act. Thus, with the allegory and the romantic poetics we can make a study upon the formation of a romantic poetry: the Progressive Universal Poetry. This paper also describes the Jena group, we mean, the German Early Romanticism and their literary program. Besides this study, this research paper describes a source for the main concepts found in the romantic literary program. This way, the paper describes a little about the ancient Greeks, mainly about Heraclites of Ephesus, who has already talked about the totality of the human nature which was later described by the Early Romantics and can be also found in Schlegel's novel, as we can see in this paper. / Mestre

This study examines evidence as to Conrad's principles provided by the symbolism in five novels and one novelette.

Black people, and blackness as a general symbol, has traditionally occupied a marginal or disadvantaged position in American literature, as opposed to representations of white people and whitness as a general symbol. Morrison's fiction in effect reverses this representation and positions white people in the position of the Other.

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Often overlooked in the nineteenth century Gothic novel are the complicated social issues existing within the text. In Emily Brontèe's Wuthering Heights and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Master of Ballantrae, the authors each create villains who represent the preoccupation with appropriate sexuality and conventional gender roles existing in Victorian England. Brontèe's Heathcliff and Stevenson's James Durie embody all that is immoral and non-normative in society with their depraved behavior ; however, because of the authors' craftiness with language, the authors, through their villains, manage to magnetize the other characters and subsequently emasculate those men in the text who emulate the Victorian ideal of masculinity. By focusing their novels on the plight of the Other and his disruption to the homogeneous rules regarding sexuality and gender in the nineteenth century, both authors articulate a profound understanding of the societal fears regarding these issues existing in their time. / by Dana DeFalco. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This thesis probes the materiality of a text by focusing on elliptical matters. In The Culture of Time and Space, Stephen Kern introduces the term "positive-negative space" to describe the primacy of empty space as a formal subject matter in sculptures of the early twentieth century. With some caveats and distinctions, the thesis argues that Kern's theory of positive-negative space is crucial for reading Faulkner's crytic and polyvalent production of space. Using a smorgasbord of approaches including psychoanalytic and reader-response criticism, feminist and critical race theories, post-structuralist and formalist notions of space, theories of the "hole" in fine arts sculpture, and the New Southern studies, my thesis reinvents the conception of positive-negative space, and asserts that positive-negative space as an artistic principle" is the modus operandi of William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and Sanctuary. / by Simone Maria Puleo. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Traditional fairy tales represent some of the oldest and most archetypal forms of literature. However, as humanity rapidly evolves, the genre and content of traditional fairy tales still operates as a prevalent socializing agent that fails to promote pluralism. Instead, traditional fairy tales illustrate and uphold limited gender roles and expectations. This paper examines Hermann Hesse's role as a pioneer in a now burgeoning movement of fairy tale revisions that blur boundaries between fantasy and reality by introducing specific, everyday locations, countries, and individuals coupled with a copious use of the double. This formula draws the reader into the tale via the uncanny and prompts a reevaluation of especially violent historical moments and issues that affect all within a society. Hesse's work within this new tradition of revisions of beloved fairy tales, as well as his creation of literary fairy tales, has significantly influenced the work of key postmodern feminist fairy tale revisionists like Jeanette Winterson. / by Brittany K. Rigdon. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Charles Finney's The Circus of Dr. Lao, published in 1936, has been widely read in the last eighty years and has influenced significant authors in the field of fantasy, yet it has been examined in just three critical studies in that time. This study examines Finney's novel as an epistemological fantasy, a heretofore undefined term that precipitates an epistemological crisis of knowing and certainty. The novel opens a way for fantasy literature to establish itself in a Modernist landscape by foregrounding the marvelous and extraordinary knowledge that lies just outside the realm of human experience. Finney presents Dr. Lao's circus as a surrogate model of success, and while many of the characters in the novel are unable to accept the truth offered them by the beings of fantasy, the author uses their experiences to satirize the complacencies he witnessed upon returning to America from the Far East in the 1930s. / by Daniel B. Creed. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

"Bingo" and Other Stories is a collection of short stories whose individual primary characters are forced to make profound changes in the wake of a discovery that comes about as a result of a tragedy or strained personal relationship or a combination of both. This collection is multigenerational in its collective scope and it reflects influences that come from the African-American and Southern literary traditions. In addition, it uses realism to create the settings for and sensibilities of the characters who populate the stories. Stories in the collection are also connected in how they conjure up various geographical locations in Florida, especially regions of Florida that identify with the traditional American South. / by Richard Peacock. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.