114 research outputs found
Food and eating in fiction since 1950 with particular reference to the writing of Angela Carter, Doris Lessing, Michele Roberts and Alice Thomas Ellis.
No full textPhDEating is a fundamental activity. What people eat, how and with whom, what
they feel about food, what they do or do not want to eat and why - even who
they eat - are of crucial significance in any reading of human behaviour.
In this thesis, I consider the diverse and complex uses of food and eating
in fiction since 1950, especially that written by women. I argue both that food
and eating carry much of the meaning of a novel or story and that the acts of
cooking, feeding and eating depicted are inseparable from issues of power and
control: individually, interpersonally, culturally, politically.
My discussion centres on the writing of Angela Carter, Doris Lessing,
Michele Roberts and Alice Thomas Ellis. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory,
sociology, anthropology, Foucault, Bakhtin and others, the thesis aims to
construct an interdisciplinary perspective which both resists reductive
interpretations and emphasises the centrality, complexity and diversity of food
and eating in literature in our culture.
I begin with an examination of the ambiguities of maternal feeding and
nurturing, moving on to explore the links between appetite, eating and sexuality.
I explore cannibalism and vampirism as manifestations of oppression, but also as
indicating insatiable emptiness and transgressive appetite. The body itself is
crucial, and my argument considers the paradox of not eating as
control/enslavement, also tracing self-starvation as a positive route towards
wholeness and connection. The last part of my argument focuses on social
eating, examining conventions, rituals and food itself in connection with power
relations, and finally considers how we might truly speak of food and eating in
the context of society as a whole
Brush up your Shakespeare! O szekspirowskich inspiracjach w amerykańskim musicalu teatralnym i filmowym (na wybranych przykładach)
No full textThe article examines the manifestations of William Shakespeare’s output in the American musical, both theatrical and cinematic. The author shows that almost since its very beginning, these stage forms have drawn inspiration from the famous Bard’s dramas and comedies. Using the examples of musicals inspired by his works, such as The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Swingin’ the Dream (1939), Kiss Me Kate (1953) and West Side Story (1957), the article analyzes the reasons why the subject matter undertaken by Shakespeare proves to be universal and remains relevant, thus constituting an inexhaustible source of inspiration for American authors of musicals. The author describes the manners of drawing from Shakespeare’s works, as well as forms of development and adjustment of his plays to the convention of musical
Brush up your Shakespeare! O szekspirowskich inspiracjach w amerykańskim musicalu teatralnym i filmowym (na wybranych przykładach)
No full textThe article examines the manifestations of William Shakespeare’s output in the American musical, both theatrical and cinematic. The author shows that almost since its very beginning, these stage forms have drawn inspiration from the famous Bard’s dramas and comedies. Using the examples of musicals inspired by his works, such as The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Swingin’ the Dream (1939), Kiss Me Kate (1953) and West Side Story (1957), the article analyzes the reasons why the subject matter undertaken by Shakespeare proves to be universal and remains relevant, thus constituting an inexhaustible source of inspiration for American authors of musicals. The author describes the manners of drawing from Shakespeare’s works, as well as forms of development and adjustment of his plays to the convention of musical
Architecture in tension: an examination of the position of the architect in the private and public sectors, focusing on the training and careers of Sir Basil Spence (1907-1976) and Sir Donald Gibson (1908-1991)
No full textIn the early 1900s tensions began to appear within the architectural profession,
as private practitioners struggled to deal with the implications of professional
colleagues moving into public sector employment. Sir Basil Spence and Sir
Donald Gibson began their architectural training in the mid-1920s and, as
tensions between the sectors intensified, Spence entered private practice and
Gibson chose to enter the public sector. Each became an exemplar of his
chosen sector of the profession and yet both have, until recently, escaped
critical attention. The tensions between the public and private sectors of the
profession have been acknowledged within the historiography, but not received
detailed analysis.
This thesis advances the current historiography by presenting an examination
of the division between the sectors, focusing on the relationship between the
RIBA and the public sector union AASTA and assessing the influence of
AASTA on Gibson's Coventry City Architect's Department.
Through an examination of archival material, contemporary published material,
and buildings, this thesis builds on the work of the Sir Basil Spence Archive
Project, adding detailed accounts of his early life, architectural training, and
RIBA presidency, presenting new information and correcting certain aspects of
the accepted historiography. It likewise presents new information on Gibson's
early life and training and his central role in achieving improved status and
representation for the public sector. An analysis of selected projects provides a
comparative study of their contrasting approaches to architecture: the
technically informed, collaborative team-work of Gibson and the individual
artistry of Spence.
Both men played pivotal roles in reforming the RIBA and in changing public and
professional perceptions of the architect, nevertheless, the long lineage and
complex nature of tensions within the profession meant that the public/private
division was never be bridged and issues of status and representation
remained essentially immutable
Limina / Strange Freedom : Liberal Religion and the Play of Imaginaries
No full textWithout an external giver, like God, the Nation, or an ideological system, the sense of the world has to be formulated and enacted by humanity itself. This is typical of the modern era, and one of the difficult challenges imposed on the modern self. In this study, the starting point is the hypothesis that liberal religion, as a non-dogmatic and non-universalist undercurrent in the plurality of modern religious traditions, can be seen as a possible response to this challenge. The author states that this undercurrent represents not only a specific spiritual community, but a condition in which every modern human partakes: he formulates this as the condition of sensus liberalis. In order to analyze this condition, a theoretical lens is developed that works with a new concept of freedom: a ‘strange’ freedom already addressed by Albert Camus in the 1950s, which engages a new insight into creation as imagination. The author makes use of the current theories of social imaginaries, like in Charles Taylor’s work, of axial theory, of Hannah Arendt’s theory of action, and of the deconstructions of the relation between secular modernity and religion by Jean-Luc Nancy and Peter Sloterdijk. Imaginaries are the spaces or ‘worlds’ created by people, but these spaces create their creators in return. In this interplay, freedom appears beyond negative or positive liberty. Nietzsche’s hymn on the “Three metamorphoses” of humanity in his Thus Spoke Zarathustra is used to clarify this complex dynamic of playful imagination.Ohne einen äußeren Geber, wie Gott, die Nation oder ein ideologisches System, muss der Sinn der Welt von der Menschheit selbst formuliert und in Kraft gesetzt werden. Das ist typisch für die Moderne und stellt eine der schwierigen Herausforderungen für das moderne Selbst dar. Ausgangspunkt dieses Beitrags ist die Hypothese, dass eine freisinnige Religion, verstanden als nicht-dogmatische und nicht-universalistische Unterströmung in den pluralen religiösen Traditionen der Moderne, als eine mögliche Antwort auf diese Herausforderung betrachtet werden kann. Es wird dargelegt, dass diese Unterströmung keine spezifische spirituelle Gemeinschaft repräsentiert, sondern eine Bedingung, an der jeder moderne Mensch teilhat, formuliert als die Bedingung des sensus liberalis. Für deren Analyse wird eine theoretische Sichtweise entwickelt, die mit einem neuen Konzept von Freiheit arbeitet: einer ‚fremden‘ Freiheit, wie sie bereits in den 1950er Jahren von Albert Camus thematisiert wurde, die eine neue Perspektive auf die Schöpfung als Imagination entwirft. Der Autor bedient sich dabei der aktuellen Theorien sozialer Imaginaries, wie im Werk Charles Taylors, der Axialtheorie, der Theorie des tätigen Lebens von Hannah Arendt und der Analysen der Dekonstrukion der Beziehung zwischen säkularer Moderne und Religion von Jean-Luc Nancy und Peter Sloterdijk. Imaginaries sind vom Menschen geschaffene ‚Welten‘, doch diese Räume erschaffen im Gegenzug auch ihre Schöpfer. In diesem Zusammenspiel entsteht eine Freiheit [freedom] jenseits von negativer oder positiver Freiheit [liberty]. Zur Verdeutlichung der komplexen Dynamik des Spiels der Imaginaries wird die Rede „Von den drei Verwandlungen“ in Friedrich Nietzsches Also sprach Zarathustra herangezogen
The socio-cultural milieux of the left in post-war Britain
No full textThis thesis examines the relationship between activist subjectivities and the shaping of Britain’s late
sixties extra-parliamentary left cultures. Based on the oral narratives of ninety men and women, it
traces the activist trajectory from child to adulthood to understand the social, psychological, and
cultural processes informing the political and personal transformation of young adults within the
new left cultures that emerged in the wake of Britain’s anti-war movement, the Vietnam Solidarity
Campaign (VSC). To this end the study charts the development of the political and cultural shifts on
the left over the decade from the early 1960s to the early 1970s. It shows how throughout this
period dialogue between inner and outer activist life occurred against a background of ongoing
realignment on the left from a fluid, eclectic cultural network around the VSC to a demarcated post-
VSC left after 1969, that saw increasing divergence between a non-aligned libertarian New Left on
the one hand and a Trotskyist far left milieu on the other.
The study seeks to claim a valid space for Britain’s left activist landscape within the political,
social and cultural framework of ‘1968’ and British post-war historiography. Privileging individual
and collective subjectivities, the thesis examines ways of belonging inside Trotskyist and non-aligned
left milieux by situating the respondents, their radical histories and activist cultures within the
changing post-war fabric. It shows that investigating individual and collective memories provides
deeper understanding of the ‘cognitive maps’ that young men and women created, as they
attempted to situate themselves as radical, global beings as well as local, gendered social citizens.
As micro-studies the individual stories reveal how the experience of social, emotional and
political maturation from child to adult intersected with a specific social and political moment – the
formation of a new and distinctive left culture that came to full fruition only in the aftermath of 1968
with the arrival of Women’s Liberation and the new personal politics. Exploring the social and
psychological impact of post-war childhood and youth, the study engages with the political and
emotional impact of Women’s Liberation on the men and women within the cultural context of the different left milieux.
Overall, the thesis questions how, from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, the variant
cultures of the milieux penetrated public and private spaces, and shaped early life experiences of
work, political activity, family, and political and personal relations in order to understand how
activism shaped social patterns and psychic being
Political trajectories in the painting of P. Wyndham Lewis
No full textThis thesis presents an analysis of the political dimension to the paintings of Percy Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957).Through an exegesis of the discreet and latent "voices" in Lewis's paintings the ideological parameters of his thought world are disclosed. These imperatives are examined for their display of political predispositions, for values and attitudes, which reveal a loading towards specific socio-cultural standards. In so far as these standards can be identified with historically relevant political programmes they become manifestos for political actions. Or, at the very least, they can be seen to exist as critical and prescriptive social insights. Importantly, the focus of this examination and interpretation remains the visual image and its related texts. A key aspect of both the methodology and argument within this thesis, insists that the visual image is the bearer of meaning in both its subject matter and technique. Values are communicated not only in reference to the thing displayed, but, in the manner of the display. Hence, an analysis of the intellectual and formal strategies employed by Lewis in his painting becomes a central concern of the thesis. Finally, the thesis rounds on the actual nature of Lewis's politics as revealed in his approach to art. While it is accepted that the mediation from the political to the painted throws up many and substantial barriers, the thesis insists that a political reading of Lewis's creative work is not only appropriate but necessary. In offering just such a reading the author hopes to transcend the boundaries between the disciplines of Art History and Sociology
A condição feminina no matrimônio, delineada pela ficção
No full textTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Literatura, Florianópolis, 2009A presente tese baseia-se na leitura temática de seis romances, sendo três deles ambientados no séc. XIX (Madame Bovary, de Flaubert, L#Adultera e Effi Briest, de Theodor Fontane) e três no séc. XX (São Bernardo, de Graciliano Ramos, Um casamento sem amor [A proper marriage] e O verão antes da queda [Summer before the dark], de Doris Lessing). A proposta de leitura busca descerrar o universo feminino e as relações entre os gêneros na vida conjugal, delineados pela ficção. O primeiro capítulo apresenta as narrativas do séc. XIX, em que a questão do casamento encontra-se fortemente ligada ao problema do adultério. A leitura desses romances aqui levada a efeito encontra-se permeada de modo mais intenso de questões tais como educação e sociedade. O segundo capítulo, a seu turno, apresenta as narrativas do séc. XX, trazendo à discussão os aspectos feministas e as questões de gênero presentes nas obras. Os romances que compõem a leitura, excetuando-se L#Adultera, representam o matrimônio como polo de conflitos e desilusões derivados, em parte, da condição de opressão da mulher em uma sociedade de orientação androcêntrica
Creative constriction : the use of the American short story at the turn of the twentieth century
No full textThesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Dept. of English, 2010.This dissertation argues that authors use the specific aspects of the short story genre to enact formal and social innovations. As short story theory has developed, the problem of definition has continued to pervade it, creating what Susan Lohafer calls an “aristocracy of genres” wherein the novel reigns supreme. However, as Wai Chee Dimmock notes, genres only exist in the “plural.” To move away from this aristocracy but retain the usefulness of a comparative study, I ask what the short form can do. My dissertation examines the ways in which authors treat the formal features of the short story to manipulate reader expectations and narrative progression, and I draw on novelistic examples which highlight generic differences. The short form has historically been guided by a sense of formal rigidity, exemplified by writers like O. Henry, who enjoyed mass popularity for formulaic plotlines and trick endings. Aspects such as episodic storylines, constricted settings, and stereotyped characterization have come to define the form, even as scholars often view these formal features as liabilities. However, other authors writing at the same time as O. Henry undermined the expectation of formulaic or episodic elements; they incorporated ambiguity and modernist narrative styles or tested the limits of the constriction that characterized the short form. In this project, I turn to American authors, Henry James, Edith Wharton and Kate Chopin, all of whom enacted formal manipulations of the novel and the short story at the turn of the twentieth century. James’ “The Beast in the Jungle” (1903), Wharton’s “The Muse’s Tragedy” (1899), and Chopin’s “At the ’Cadian Ball” (1892) and its sequel “The Storm” (1898) all retain the constricted focus of a single marriage plot, but each author uses it to craft a multiplicity of progressions, endings, or identities. James experiments with how a refusal of action can become the only action in the tale; Wharton uses multiple, unreliable narrations to simultaneously create a sense of bounded-ness and to defy narrative closure; and Chopin manipulates the expectations of a sequel by undoing the work of the preceding story and concluding ambiguously. Examining these authors’ use of the short story not only reveals how the genre can be used for itself, but also exemplifies its malleability
The Scientific romances of Charles Howard Hinton : the fourth dimension as hyperspace, hyperrealism and protomodernism
No full textThis thesis examines the epistemological, socio-cultural and aesthetic impact of the hyperspace philosophy of Charles Howard Hinton, as expressed within his two-volume
collection of Scientific Romances (1884-1896). Hinton's hyperspace philosophy is founded on the belief that the fourth dimension exists as a transcendental yet material
space that is accessible to both the mind and the physical senses. Inspired by Immanuel Kant's discussion of space as an a priori intuition, Hinton's project is one of
consciousness expansion: he argues that 'a new era of thought' can be attained through the recognition of the fourth dimension. The thesis demonstrates that, in the Scientific Romances, Hinton seeks to engender the 'reality' of the fourth dimension within the reader's imagination through the collaboration of reader and author. Hinton's hyperspace philosophy is thus concerned with mediation, the ways in which the consciousness thinks and creates with and through the aesthetics of space. In addition to providing the most developed analysis of Hinton's writing to date, this thesis examines the work of Hinton's contemporaries
exploring the ways in which the discourse of the fourth dimension can offer new readings of familiar literary texts. A recurring explanatory device throughout
hyperspace philosophy is the dimensional analogy, and the thesis illustrates how this trope resonates across the work of contemporary writers including Lewis Carroll, H. G. Wells, HenryJames, Friedrich Nietzsche and William James
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