"December 2003" / Bibliography: leaves 249-263. / vii, 263 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, Discipline of English, 2004

Thesis (Ph.D. (English)) - Rhodes University, 2008

La presente investigación estudia de qué manera Úrsula de Jesús (Lima, 1604-1666) negoció su condición de afrodescendiente en el monasterio de Santa Clara y en la sociedad colonial limeña del siglo XVII. En una época en donde la espiritualidad barroca estaba en su total efervescencia, ella se vinculó, como esclava domestica de la mística Luisa de Melgarejo (Tunja, 1578-Lima, 1651), a un nicho de misticismo limeño que se había conformado en la casa de su ama. A la edad de trece años, Úrsula de Jesús ingresó como esclava de una religiosa al monasterio de Santa Clara de Lima. Allí, comenzó a negociar su condición, pues pasó de ser esclava a liberta y de liberta a donada, como consecuencia de la manifestación de una excepcional piedad religiosa y a ejemplares virtudes. Además de los éxitos logrados, utilizó creativamente el espacio de legitimidad que le brindaba el monasterio para iniciarse en la experiencia mística e inmortalizarla en la escritura de un texto místico, con ayuda de algunas compañeras clarisas. En el Diario Espiritual, escrito entre 1650 y 1661 y publicado en Lima en el 2004, la liberta, Úrsula de Jesús, reflexiona sobre la condición de los afrodescendientes en la tierra y en el cielo, y plantea un modelo de seguimiento espiritual que los sitúa como privilegiados para alcanzar la salvación. Esta investigación se ubica en la intercesión de la historia social, la historia de género y la historia cultural y, propone una lectura del Diario Espiritual, que dialoga con el contexto mayor de la esclavitud en Lima del siglo XVII. / Tesis

Please read the abstract in the 00front part of this document / Thesis (DLitt (English))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / English / unrestricted

In this paper, Ursula K Le Guin’s 1968 fantasy novel, A Wizard of Earthsea will be investigated in two ways. First, through a thematic analysis of the primary antagonist through a deconstructive close-reading technique. Second, through a pedagogic analysis of the depiction of hegemonic masculinity in the novel. The thematic analysis reveals that Le Guin departs from the typical expectations of the fantasy genre to highlight the themes of accepting personal responsibility and acknowledging the consequences of one’s actions, values which are reflected in the Swedish national curriculum. The pedagogic analysis of Le Guin’s treatment of hegemonic masculinity in school culture has the further potential to be used in an EFL classroom setting as part of a teaching unit problematizing the performance of hegemonic masculinity in modern school culture. This is also reflected in the central content for the English Syllabus. / <p>Due to Covid-19 restrictions/precautions, the final presentation seminar took place over Zoom.</p>

This thesis is a development of the theories presented by Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Bruno Bettelheim concerning archetypes, the anima/animus concept, the Hero Cycle, and identity development through fairy tales. I argue that there are vital rites of passage missing in Anglo-Saxon culture, and while bibliotherapy cannot replace them, it can help adolescents synthesize their experiences. The theories of Jung, Campbell, and Bettelheim demonstrate this concept by defining segments of the story and how they apply to the reader. Because of the applicability, readers, despite their age, can use the examples in the book to help reconcile their own experiences and understand life as it relates to them. The works I examine include J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy, and David Eddings' Belgariad. Though it is impossible to test the effects of reading such works on readers, the possibility of those effects exists. Bettelheim's work, The Uses of Enchantment, discusses similar themes and he provides scientific support through his use of anecdotal evidence. Following his example, I have tried to include evidence from my own life that exemplifies the effect reading epic fantasy has had on me. The aspects of epic fantasy in relation to going through adolescence I examine include the concept of responsibility and its relation to progress and maturity; gaining a social identity; and reconciling oneself to the dark side within and without, in society. These aspects are found within the superstructure of the Hero Cycle and the actions and motivations of the characters—archetypes—within the cycle. They are also present in real life and necessary concepts to understand to be accepted into society as a mature contributor.

This dissertation uses a feminist cultural materialist approach that draws on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Luce Irigaray to examine the neglected genre of postwar-Cold War American teen girl romance novels, which I call female junior novels. Written between 1942 and the late 1960s by authors such as Betty Cavanna, Maureen Daly, Anne Emery, Rosamond du Jardin, and Mary Stolz, these texts create a kind of hieroglyphic world, where possession of the right dress or the proper seat in the malt shop determines a girls place within an entrenched adolescent social hierarchy. Thus in the first chapter, I argue that girls adherence to consumer-based social codes ultimately constructs a semi-autonomous female society, still under the umbrella of patriarchy, but based on female desire and possessing its own logic. This adolescent female society parallels the network of women who produced (authors, illustrators, editors) and distributed (librarians, critics) these texts to teenaged girls. Invisible because of its all-female composition, middlebrow status, and feminine control, yet self-governing for the same reasons, the network established a semi-autonomous space into which left-leaning authors could safely (if subtly) critique American social and foreign policies during the Cold War. Chapter Two examines the first generation of the network, including Anne Carroll Moore, Bertha Mahony, Louise Seaman, and May Massee, who helped to create the childrens publishing industry in America, while Chapter Three investigates the second generation, including Mabel Williams, Margaret Scoggin, and Ursula Nordstrom, who entrenched childrens and adolescent literature in publishing houses and library services. In Chapter Four I explore the shifting concept of what constitutes quality within these texts, with an emphasis on the role of authors, illustrators, and critics in defining such value. Chapter Five investigates the use of female junior novels within the classroom, paying particular attention to the role of bibliotherapy, in which these texts were used to help teenagers solve their developmental tasks, as suggested by psychologist Robert J. Havighurst. A brief conclusion discusses the fall of the female junior novels and their network, while a coda addresses the republication of these texts today through the nostalgia press.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2010. / Title from screen (viewed on July 19, 2010). Department of English, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Karen Kovacik, Peggy Zeglin Brand, Ronda C. Henry. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83).

This thesis examines selected speculative novels by Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin, Doris Lessing and Marge Piercy. It argues that a specifiable ecological ethic can be traced in their work – an ethic which is explored by them through the tensions between utopian and dystopian discourses. The first part of the thesis begins by theorising the concept of an ecological ethic of respect for the Other through current ecological philosophies, such as those developed by Val Plumwood. Thereafter, it contextualises the novels within the broader field of science fiction, and speculative fiction in particular, arguing that the shift from a critical utopian to a critical dystopian style evinces their changing treatment of this ecological ethic within their work. The remainder of the thesis is divided into two parts, each providing close readings of chosen novels in the light of this argument. Part Two provides a reading of Le Guin’s early Hainish novels, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Word for World is Forest and The Dispossessed, followed by an examination of Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time, Lessing’s The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The third, and final, part of the thesis consists of individual chapters analysing the later speculative novels of each author. Piercy’s He, She and It, Le Guin’s The Telling, and Atwood’s Oryx and Crake are all scrutinised, as are Lessing’s two recent ‘Ifrik’ novels. This thesis shows, then, that speculative fiction is able to realise through fiction many of the ideals of ecological thinkers. Furthermore, the increasing dystopianism of these novels reflects the greater urgency with which the problem of Othering needs to be addressed in the light of the present global ecological crisis.