Thesis (D. Min.)--Harding University Graduate School of Religion, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-210).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Harding University Graduate School of Religion, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-210).

This study is an adaptation analysis focusing on character portrayals in Studio Ghibli’s film Howl’s moving castle, which is based on a book of the same name, written by Diana Wynne Jones. Both the film and the book are discussed and analyzed to find differences and similarities between the two. The purpose of the paper is to identify the changes that have been made to the film adaptation in the form of characterizations. Through this study I have shown the media specific differences that have contributed to changes but also reported important similarities. The relationships between the characters have changed a lot to the film adaptation, many emotions appear more open in the film than they did in the book. Media specific differences lie behind much of this, through the filmmaker’s possibilities in the visual medium. The important narrative changes can be based on this, but also through Studio Ghibli’s choice to emphasize the war as a central part of the story. This paper can give light to the changes that take place when a work is being adapted into a different medium.

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of English, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-69).

British speculative fiction writer, Diana Wynne Jones, has published over forty books for middle school to adult readers, and her work continues to receive many awards for its creativity and high quality. Jones is a prolific and talented writer who has contributed to and influenced speculative fiction. She uses magical contexts to comment on social situations in what she sees as an essentially non-magical world. Whether she is being humorous, drawing upon myths and legends, or using fantasy or science fiction, Jones reflects the contemporary unpredictable adolescent mind. Jones's unusual childhood has influenced her writing, and a brief biography of Jones's life provides insight into her work—why certain themes have greater interest to her over others. Recurring themes in her books include alienation, empowerment, and identification. Through often convoluted plots, she encourages her readers to think for themselves. From her stories, readers learn to appreciate and accept the complexity and inexplicability of life. While her themes are consistent, her work varies. Some of her work is humorous, some is based on myths, some leans more towards science fiction than fantasy, and some seems more like fantasy than science fiction. Despite this diversity, Jones consistently seeks to learn from her own work by questioning basic assumptions and endeavors to contribute wisdom to her readers through her fiction. Jones uses myth and the heroic ideal to encourage readers to question their motives and recognize the empowerment that comes from self-sacrifice.

The surface response of a polymer substrate to external stimuli such as initial wetting is controlled by the outermost molecular layer. Thus, changes on the nanoscale may be engaged to control macroscale wetting behavior. Our work has predominantly focused on surface modification of conventional polyurethane coatings (HMDI-BD-PTMO). Studies on network constrained phase separation and facile polydimethylsiloxane surface functionalization led to the discovery of a simpler one-step and more general approach to functional polymer surfaces that we have designated as “Bottle-Brush Nanoglass” (BB-NG) after the two principle components: (a) a polyoxetane soft block “spine” with side chain “A” bristles and triethoxysilyl chain ends and (b) an alkoxysilane that together with BB chain ends comprise precursors to a “nanoglass”, NG phase. This paper focuses on the extent of modification for a conventional aliphatic polyurethane using a range of fluoropolyoxetane (poly(trifluoroethoxymethyl-methyl oxetane) diol) or 3F diol based modifier concentrations. Upon generating a blend of the polyurethane with the modifier, the BB-NG which is a minor constituent of the blend, phase separates to provide the topmost layer of the coating. Initial results demonstrate that the modified polymer coatings exhibit an expected increase in contact angles with water. Wetting behavior was characterized using the sessile drop technique as well as Dynamic Contact Analysis (DCA, Wilhelmy Plate). Surface composition as well as near surface topology and morphology are characterized by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Tapping Mode Atomic Force Microscopy (TM-AFM) respectively. Contrast in phase images reflect the surface modulus and viscoelasticity, from which physical form or compositional differences may be deduced. These characteristics have also been explored in our study by hardness tests via nanoindentation.

Studien analyserar Diana Wynne Jones bok Det levande slottet (2005) och Studio Ghiblis film med samma titel (2004) i syfte att undersöka vilka förändringar som skett i övergången från bok till film. Delarna som undersöks är narrationen, karaktärerna, värderingar och budskap samt ifall filmen anpassats till japanska förhållanden och/eller japansk publik. Detta görs genom en komparativ metod. Studien diskuterar även möjligheten att använda något av verken i undervisning för årskurserna F–3. Resultatet visar att skillnaderna mellan bok och film är så stora att det är svårt att endast tala om en filmadaptation och att det därför är bättre att använda begreppet transformation. Även om filmen fortfarande har ett gemensamt tema med boken – alla ska kunna accepteras för den de är – har förändringarna och det nya temat krig tagit överhanden och påverkat narrationen, budskap, värderingar och karaktärer. I filmen finns inga förändringar som pekar på specifik anpassning till japansk publik, men genom filmens teckningar är det ändå tydligt att filmens regissör Hayao Miyazaki ingår i en japansk kultur. Resultatet visar dessutom problematik kring bokens användning i årskurserna F–3, men att det trots detta finns möjligheter att använda både den och filmen för att diskutera värden och budskap i de lägre årskurserna.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This thesis investigates the function of representations of the Orient in fantasy literature for children with a focus on The Chronicles of Narnia as exemplifying its most problematic manifestation. According to Edward Said (2003:1-2), the Orient is one of Europe’s ‘deepest and most recurring images of the Other… [which]…has helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience.’ However, values are grouped around otherness in fantasy literature as in no other genre, facilitating what J.R.R. Tolkien (2001:58) identifies as Recovery, the ‘regaining of a clear view… [in order that] the things seen clearly may be freed from the drab blur of triteness or familiarity.’ In Chapter One, it is argued that this gives the way the genre deals with spaces and identities characterized as Oriental, which in Western stories are themselves vested with qualities of strangeness, a peculiar significance. Specifically, new ways of perceiving the function of representations of the Other are explored in the genre of fantasy. Edward Said’s concept of imaginative geographies is then introduced and the significance of this concept in light of the fictional spaces of fantasy is explored. Next, fantasy’s links to representations of the Orient in Romance literature are explained, and the way in which these representations are determined by the heritage of Orientalist discourse is examined. Finally, the issue of children’s literature as colonial space and the implications of this in a fantasy framework are discussed. Chapter Two begins by introducing C.S. Lewis and explaining the ideology at work in The Chronicles of Narnia. The order in which The Chronicles should be approached is then established, and the construction of identity in the first three of The Chronicles is examined. Chapter Three focuses on The Horse and His Boy, the book in which the pseudo-Oriental space of Calormen most prominently figures. Chapter Four is devoted to the last two books of The Chronicles with emphasis on the role played by the Other in the destruction of Narnia in The Last Battle. In Chapter Five, I sum up the essential problems of representing the Orient as illustrated by my study of The Chronicles of Narnia. Representations of the Orient in The Chronicles are compared with pseudo-Oriental constructions in Castle in the Air, by Diana Wynne Jones, Emperor Mage and The Woman Who Rides Like A Man by Tamora Pierce and both Voices and The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. Le Guin. The similarities and differences evident in the representations of the Orient in all these works are traced and the implications of them are explored. Le Guin in particular is noted as an author who demonstrates some ways to break free of Orientalist paradigms of identity. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / English / Unrestricted