Long before the publishing of Verlaine's Poetes maudits , it has been written and thought, in various circles and contexts, that writers of genius were doomed to an unhappy life. Nevertheless, it was only about 1760--1770 that the conditions allowing for the emergence of a myth of the unhappy writer were gathered. This myth affirms the christlike vocation of the author and associates greatness to unhappiness. This thesis seeks to understand this mythical phenomenon within a historical perspective. The first part recounts the three principal families of topoi associated, before 1770, to authorial unhappiness. These three series are those of melancholy, poverty and persecution. In the chapters concerning these topoi, the objective is to bring to light their specificity and also the representations and the exempla that they call to mind. Moreover, the goal is to identify the connections that are at work, in discourses, between melancholy and genius on the one hand, poverty and truth on the other hand, and finally persecution and merit. Even if one can't already consider that these various discursive connections are sufficient to build a mysticism of the unhappy man of letters, they still can be studied, in their context, for what they are: a pool of topoi where the writers would soon draw some discursive materials, and from which this myth will get its historical acceptability, its obviousness. The second part of the thesis is devoted to the study of this obviousness. After Rousseau, some believe that unhappiness is inseparable from genius, and that literary vocation is a curse spelled on the poet. From then on, the object of study is not anymore to follow each topos as if it was a separate thread, but instead, to see how all this acquires the value of commonplace (lieu commun ) between 1770 and 1840, in addition to imposing itself as an horizon of meaning. The last chapter and the epilogue show that the myth lives on, during the second half

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

China inspired and fascinated the Western early-20th-century author. Some, like Pearl S. Buck, writing about a China where she grew up and lived for many years, offered careful, portraits of the Chinese people she loved. Others, such as Fu Manchu creator Sax Rohmer, depicted China as an evil empire and the Chinese as cruel and dangerous criminal masterminds. French author Victor Segalen saw China as the last crumbling frontier of an elusive exotic world that existed in stark contrast to the suffocating modernity and alienation of Europe. This thesis project examines three specific examples of Western literature about China from the early twentieth century: British author Sax Rohmer, whose depictions of exaggeratedly evil Oriental vilains reinforced Western fears of the Chinese Other; French writer Victor Segalen whose mystical portraits of a magnificent Chinese Empire served as the basis for his artistic manifesto on exoticism, and Pearl S. Buck, whose portrayals of sympathetic Chinese peasants helped shift American popular opinion and foreign policy. These three authors, though their styles, approaches and motives varied greatly, all feature the intersecting themes of exoticism, modernity and imperialism. The tensions between these three elements play out in different ways in each chapter of this thesis, and yet all three are examples of exotic writing about China at a time when exoticism was a lost cause, or as Chris Bongie describes it, “an idea with no future” (15). In these examples, imperialism still coloured perceptions of a racially distinct other, and modernity’s inevitability made imagining the exotic a depressing, frightening or naïvely hopeful exercise. In all three examples, this results in an exoticism that seeks to extend the boundaries of what had become a shrinking frontier. Some of the authors succeed in balancing the tensions between exoticism, imperialism and modernity, but in general most do not, and the texts remain deeply conflicted. / Graduate / 0295 / 0332

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1934.

Diss.--Kirchengeschichte--Wien, 1973. / Bibliogr. p. 183-196.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1934.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Potsdam, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-293).

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of History, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-43).

Texte extr. de: Th.--Madrid, 1968. / Bibliogr. p. 195-227.

abstract: Despite a quickly growing repertoire list for the brass quintet, the music of the early Argentine tango has remained relatively neglected by brass quintet arrangers and performers. With the goal of bringing a neglected art form to the brass quintet repertoire, three arrangements based on early twentieth century Argentine tango songs are presented here: "Elegante Papirusa" by Tito Roccatagliata, "A La Gran Muñeca" by Jesús Ventura, and "La Cotorrita" by Samuel Castriota. The arrangements follow the style of three early recordings produced by The Victor Talking Machine in 1920 and 1922, as performed by two authentic Argentine orquesta típicas: Orquesta Típica Select and Orquesta Típica Fresedo. A brief history of the style and instrumental evolution of tango music from its influences and origins up until 1920 is discussed, followed by a detailed account of the musicians and circumstances involved in the three early recordings. An explanation of the issues encountered by the author in adapting the early tango style to the brass quintet setting is discussed, along with the solutions realized in order to make the project successful and practical for a moderately advanced brass quintet. The full brass quintet scores are provided as part of the Appendix. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2011