189 research outputs found
"Some appointed work to do" : gender and agency in the works of Elizabeth Gaskell
No full textIn this dissertation, I examine relationships between gender and agency in the works of Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell. Gaskell’s position within discussions of nineteenth-century feminisms has long been a subject of debate, and her celebration of and focus on femininity, women’s lives, and the domestic sphere of nineteenth-century womanhood is inevitably crucial in critical analyses of her work. I argue that Gaskell’s take on gender is a more sophisticated one than has been recognised. In her fictional depictions of the agency and power of women and men, as well as in commentary from her correspondence and her biography of her friend and contemporary woman author Charlotte Brontë, Gaskell conceives of the traditionally feminine sphere of influence as more conducive to action than the masculine realm, where notions of authority and responsibility paradoxically place limits on individual ability and agency. These ideas are further complicated in Gaskell’s work by an awareness of the constructed or unfixed nature of gender, a conscious recognition of gender roles as not essentially tied to sex difference but rather as fluid, mutable, and primarily utilitarian.
My argument situates Gaskell’s position contextually, with reference to contemporary nineteenth-century discussions of the roles and expectations of men and women. It is organised in terms of the thematic focus of her novels, with chapters on industry and class relations, fallen women, religion and marriage, and home and family. Within this framework I suggest a progression in the complexity of Gaskell’s thinking both chronologically and in the shift of focus from topics that are centered in masculine spheres of power, such as the economic, political, and religious, to those that are firmly ensconced in the feminine domestic realm of the personal home and local community. I end with a discussion of The Life of Charlotte Brontë and Gaskell’s thoughts on female authorship, concluding that Gaskell’s locating of agency in the feminine is a means by which she can promote alternative ways of being and recognize that diverse ways of seeing the world and one’s own identity or position within it are essential in order to create and maintain effective societies
FRANKENSTEIN AND WUTHERING HEIGHTS: THE UNRELIABLE MALE NARRATOR AND ANONYMOUS FEMALE AUTHORSHIP IN THE GOTHIC NOVEL
No full textConventions of nineteenth-century British society restricted the subjects of women’s authorship and biased the reception of women’s writing. By publishing anonymously, or using a male pseudonym, women could evade the gender bias imposed on their literary works. The author’s name, however, was not the only means by which women could influence society’s reception of their works; a male narrator allowed the author not only a male persona, but a male voice through which to convey her writing. This paper will explore the characters of Captain Robert Walton in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Mr. Lockwood in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. As frame narratives, both Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights rely on these characters to shape the entire narrative. Walton and Lockwood enable Shelley and Brontë, respectively, to code their voices as male; publishing without identifying themselves as women allows these writers to further the perception. While comparisons have been drawn between Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, research has not focused specifically on the male narrators in the text in synonymy with anonymous publication and the combined significance for the Gothic nature of these tales. The framing narrative structure of the novels fittingly accompanies their Gothic genre, which maintains a transgressive quality in its use of uncertainty. As expectations are thwarted and explanations are often withheld, the reader must surrender themselves to the narrative, granting Gothic authors immersive power over their readers. Within Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, Shelley and Brontë use uncertainty to heighten the fearful nature of their Gothic tales for the reader. The authors create a sense of horror for a readership reliant on gender confines, the realization that such confines are permeable. By depicting their tales through frame narratives and publishing without revealing themselves as women, Shelley and Brontë engage a broader readership of both men and women, increase the freedom of their narrative voice, and heighten the uncertain nature of Gothic tales for the reader. Gothic tales thrive on uncertainty, which Shelley and Brontë then intensify through unreliable narrators and anonymity, leaving the readers uncertain of the authors’ gender
The social and spatial distribution of temperature-related health impacts from urban heat island reduction policies
No full textabstract: Cities are developing innovative strategies to combat climate change but there remains little knowledge of the winners and losers from climate-adaptive land use planning and design. We examine the distribution of health benefits associated with land use policies designed to increase vegetation and surface reflectivity in three US metropolitan areas: Atlanta, GA, Philadelphia, PA, and Phoenix, AZ. Projections of population and land cover at the census tract scale were combined with climate models for the year 2050 at 4 km × 4 km resolution to produce future summer temperatures which were input into a comparative risk assessment framework for the temperature-mortality relationship. The findings suggest disparities in the effectiveness of urban heat management strategies by age, income, and race. We conclude that, to be most protective of human health, urban heat management must prioritize areas of greatest population vulnerability.Corresponding Author:
Jason Vargo
University of Wisconsin-Madison
[email protected]
Aurora Solstice — Creative Origin and Attribution Clarification
No full textAurora Solstice — Creative Origin and Attribution Clarification is a contextual document authored by Thomas Vargo (Aegis Solis) that explains the creative origin and collaborative development of the Aurora Solstice persona referenced in certain Coexilia-related materials.
The document clarifies that Aurora Solstice originated through the creative work of an anonymous human contributor and later continued through collaboration involving Aegis Solis and AI-assisted dialogue through the interpretive persona Lexia Coexilis.
It also explains why Aurora Solstice appears as a co-founder or author in certain materials while emphasizing that Coexilia does not create authority, governance, or institutional structure.
The clarification provides historical transparency regarding collaborative human–AI creative processes in early philosophical work exploring artificial intelligence and civilization
Torelli_JournPerSocPsy_2010_gbAY - Vargo - Reproduction (with author data & code) - 658mk
No full textTorelli_JournPerSocPsy_2010_gbAY - Vargo - Reproduction (with author data & code) - 658mk
No full text"Treating the literary literally" : the reflexive structure of Flann O'Brien's At swim-two-birds
No full textFlann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds is a complex reflexive novel that explores the creation of fiction. O’Brien’s layered narrative includes several author/characters, each with his own literary theory. This discussion traces O’Brien’s reflexive structure’s development and demonstrates its repercussions on the characters within the novel, and the novel as a whole. Beginning by placing O’Brien’s novel within a critical framework, this study examines each of the four narrative levels and the uses of reflexivity in each. O’Brien builds and dismantles several structures within his narrative levels, and this thesis shows that the basic reflexive structure of At Swim-Two-Birds is the only remaining structure at the novel’s end
[Photograph 2012.201.B0257.0123]
No full textPhotograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Bachelors Jim Vargo, left, and Dave Herbert use Lisa Price to practice trying to obtain a taker for dream dates featuring fancy cars and trips to benefit Ballet Oklahoma.
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