Simone de Beauvoir's fiction is still a largely unexplored field. This thesis offers new readings of her whole fictional corpus, using as critical lenses Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis in an ironically polemical move : vehemently anti-Freudian at the beginning of her career, Beauvoir denied the validity of his theories. Revealingly, however, her fiction tells a different tale. It is this untold Beauvoirean story I set out to tell in my study, which unfolds on three levels of critical interpretation. Firstly, using her own autobiographical admissions I examine her resolute resistance to psychoanalysis and offer possible reasons for her initial violent disavowal of its concepts. Secondly, I trace her explicit engagement with psychoanalysis as a clinical discipline through a chronological examination of her fiction, and, finally, I employ psychoanalytic literary theory as a magnifying optic onto her entire fictional output, thus offering new interpretations of her most underread texts. My conclusions are as follows : Beauvoir's resistance to psychoanalysis in fact stemmed from her own experience; by denying its value, she could also deny her own vulnerability, since the deep psychological damage caused by her unhappy childhood was still present in the strata of her own unconscious. Secondly, the thematic development of her fiction parallels the gradual acceptance of psychoanalysis as a valid clinical discipline following her self-analysis throughout her autobiographical creations - in her final two works, childhood and madness are laced together in a potent thematic explosion of her own articulated neuroses. And finally, the obsessive textual patternings betray her own repressed fears : throughout every fictional text, Oedipal triangles, fragmented identity and psychological breakdown play against each other against the backdrop of the symbiotic lure of idealised love. I thus hope to prove the relevance psychoanalysis has with regard to Beauvoir, despite her professed resistance to it.

This thesis is a study of religion in the works of Nikos Kazantzakis.

A collection of poetry.

The forty-one poems comprising this thesis are written in a variety of styles and reflect my general international eclecticism. The most prominent influences on my work are ancient Chinese verse, as exemplified by the poems for N., and Zen tanka and haiku, as exemplified by "Detail from a Cubistic Autobiography." Largely imagistic rather than narrative, the poems were conceived in an effort to record my experiences and to define my reactions to those experiences.

The protagonist of each of these stories has the same problem. Without really willing it, he finds himself involved with people whom he really does not like. These people have little regard for his individuality or for his welfare because they are so immersed in their own worlds that they cannot imagine anyone existing outside them. In both stories the protagonist realizes finally that he is being dragged into these worlds against his will. More importantly, both characters realize that passive resistance will not work, that they must resist actively if they are to retain personal dignity and their very identities. Sammy, in "A Cimmerian Holiday," rejects the Ashburns' world by walking away; Andy, in "Darkling I Listen," repudiates the various worlds of his acquaintances by withdrawing into the solitary world of books and music.

This thesis attempts to examine the spell which story holds, to enquire its nature, and to discuss certain parallels with Christian Truth. It analyses the way in which literature requires a fundamental 'looking away' from the self, sinking into the stories of others, before returning, refreshed and opened up by new possibilities. In the same way, it is argued, Christian Truth equally depends on an essential 'looking away' from the self - both in Creation and Redemption -, seeing one's life hid with Christ in God, sinking into the story of Christ, before returning to one's old life with increased self-knowledge. It is argued that C.S. Lewis' stories show this Christian Truth both in their form and content - insofar as they indicate man's existence to be contingent upon God. In his works, it is contended, Lewis followed the pattern of the Incarnation - adoption and adaption - wresting to evangelistic purposes literary media that were otherwise often hostile. On the other hand, this thesis suggests that in certain respects these particular literary genres - science fiction, fantasy, children's literature - inherently incline to such Christian use by their tendency to both question the nature of reality and offer a different perspective wherewith to view it. The thesis pursues three themes -order, vicariousness (or identification), escapism and realism - analysing how these are reflected in the works of C.S. Lewis, his predecessors, contemporaries and successors. The manner in which some literature can be said to 'go away never to return' is examined and religious parallels discussed, together with the way in which fantasy is often used to reveal the insanity of evil's denial of contingence. The thesis concludes by exploring the implications of this basic 'looking away' content of Christian Truth for various aspects of life.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2017. / Multicomponent gas mixtures are inherently challenging to produce in the laboratory because of matrix effects, boiling points and reactivity amongst other factors. Therefore, methods must be continuously developed to control these challenges. The purpose of this work was to study these complex gas mixtures to improve their measurements with emphasis on the reduction of uncertainty. There are three critical steps to be followed in gas metrology for primary reference gas mixtures of the highest metrological level; purity analysis of source gases, gravimetric preparation and verification/validation which includes stability testing. Purity analysis of select source gases was quantified using various techniques. This methodology incorporated the use of molar masses and their uncertainties in order to obtain purity values for the chemical composition of gas mixtures. While many preparation methods such as permeation and dynamic methods are available, a static gravimetric method was used to prepare the complex stack and automotive gas mixtures following International Standard Organisation: 6142-1. For the mole fraction range of interest, four components (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitric oxide) excluding propane, were obtained from analysis by non-dispersive spectroscopy techniques calibrated by several standard gas mixtures of different mole fractions. Propane was analysed by a gas chromatograph coupled with flame ionisation detection. Multipoint calibration was used to evaluate the linearity or nonlinearity of the detector. The final results for the stack gas mixture components showed an achievement of 0.4% to 0.8% percentage relative expanded uncertainty and 0.4% to 1.3% for carbon dioxide depending on the matrix of the standard gas mixtures used, 0.5% to 1% for propane, 0.8% to 1.8% for nitric oxide, 2% to 6% for carbon monoxide and 0.3% to 2.3% for sulphur dioxide. One of the most important suppositions drawn was the incidence of synergistic effects associated with calibration by nonrepresentative standard gas mixtures when these were used for analysis for some of the components of stack mixtures. To evaluate improvements in measurement capability, the results of the current work were compared to the data of the laboratory in 2008-2011 and there was an improvement in the measurement of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, propane and nitric oxide. These improvements are attributed to rigorous purity analysis of starting materials, reduction of uncertainty and developments in measurement expertise. In this work, different measurement and calibration methods were used to analyse the components of the new stack gas mixtures. The stability of these components was evaluated by analysing them at different times and the statistical D-test was used to check for significant instability. An unknown stack sample was compared with the standard gas mixtures prepared for this work. In combination with same matrix and same concentrations, single point calibration was found suitable for stack gas measurement. To reiterate the concept of matrix effect, the results of carbon dioxide in a mixture containing carbon monoxide and oxygen as well in nitrogen, were used to show how differences in matrix often give erroneous results and same conclusions cannot be made for different mixtures. While the data of this measurement was unsatisfactory, an improved method developed for this type of emission multicomponent was very successful. Emission industries also require automotive primary reference gas mixtures. These are equally important and complex multicomponent mixtures measured and improved in this work. A very precise and repeatable single point method was developed for the analysis of the components of automotive mixtures. The repeatability of the gas chromatography method was 0.2% for oxygen, 0.1% for carbon monoxide, 0.5% for carbon dioxide and 0.3% for propane. The percentage relative expanded uncertainty was 0.4% for oxygen, 0.8% for carbon monoxide, 0.8% for carbon dioxide and 0.5% for propane. However, its limitation was the use of different calibration gases for each analysis. This led to inconsistencies in the calculated mole fractions, non-predictability and instability. A proficiency testing scheme was coordinated by the laboratory for automotive emission as part of this study. Given the complexity of the samples, the work aimed to check any improvements that could be made to the capability of measurement over the years. This new method using gas chromatography coupled with different detectors (residual gas analyser) was successful in verifying the gravimetric values very V accurately. Finally, the results of the stack gas mixtures were ≤1% relative except carbon monoxide and ≤1% for automotive mixtures. This work aimed to support the emission industry by providing it with representative and accurate reference gas mixtures, extend the accreditation scope of the laboratory and improve its calibration and measurement capability for multicomponent gas mixtures. / LG2018

School climate is a crucial concept used to explain school differences. Nevertheless, this concept is elusive in the literature, conveying different meanings. To address the relation between school climate and school outcomes, its historical roots are reviewed and a multivariate approach to it is proposed, in contrast to a unidimensional conception. In four papers, this strategy is used to study associations among various school climate factors (SCFs) and school outcomes, including teacher turnover, teacher job satisfaction, students' math achievement, and students' social attitudes. In paper 1, schools serving more socioeconomically disadvantaged students are found to present higher rates of teacher turnover. A complementary study shows that SCFs (supportive school leadership, positive school relationships, and academic monitoring) present differing effects on teacher turnover. In paper 2, the relationships between SCFs (teacher student relations and school discipline) and teachers' job satisfaction and withdrawal cognitions (intentions to quit) are estimated. These SCFs appear to play a protective role with respect to teachers' withdrawal cognitions, and these effects are indirect via their relationship to teachers' job satisfaction. In paper 3, the relationship between the experience of bullying and students' achievement is addressed. The relationship is found to be indirect, with key roles played by perceptions of school belonging and students' classroom engagement. Finally, in paper 4 the relationship between civic knowledge and the endorsement of democratic values is estimated. This link is found to be partially mediated by ideological beliefs (authoritarianism), and the role of open classroom discussion (a SCF) as a moderator of these effects is demonstrated. This work demonstrates that in order to specify theory-driven models of different school outcomes, school climate should be conceptualized as diverse social-contextual effects operating in a complex multivariate setting with mediated and moderated pathways to outcomes.

Within 20th. Century art, the concept of the ‘normative’ image, as an attribute of things, has been challenged. As a consequence, paintings must now picture the ‘real’ world in other ways, incorporating knowledge and meaning beyond the analogon. Such descriptive representations were revealed as paradigmatic, rather than incontrovertible fact. Dependent on pre-conceived notions of stereotypicality, these descriptive images relied on surface illumination. My thesis explores images of things in the world as culturally inspired and information based. I examine paintings and sculptures of other cultures, such as black African, and other historical periods such as the Medieval, which reveal metonymously the basis for variations in representations of the ‘real’ world. The new enhanced representations which Modern artists created in their work were denigrated as deviant from the absolute ‘normative’ or regarded as distortions for purely mannerist and stylistic reasons. Postmodern research has reassessed them as multiple or extended imagings in whose facture new knowledge and human responses can be incorporated. These new forms of representation can be regarded as theoretical constructs rather than stylised depictions of appearance. In this way referents are transferred through the mind onto objects and vistas in the real world to align with our developed view of the physical world and better our understanding of humanity’s symbiotic relationship with nature.