1,251 research outputs found
Sherlock's progress through history: feminist revisions of Holmes
No full textIn 1927 Arthur Conan Doyle published The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes , his fifth and final collection of short stories about the iconic detective
Reflecting on Miss Marple
No full text© 1991 Marion Shaw and Sabine Vanacker. All rights reserved. Originally published in 1991, Reflecting on Miss Marple looks at the incongruous combination of violence, murder and a sweet, white-haired old lady, and examines why this makes such a potent but unlikely formula. The book is an astute and engaging account which reveals Miss Marple as a feminist heroine, triumphantly able to exploit contemporary prejudices against unmarried women in order to solve her case. The authors explore the inherent contradictions of Agatha Christies Miss Marple novels, their social context, and their place in detective fiction as a whole
The Gothic threshold of Sabine Baring-Gould : a study of the Gothic fiction of a Victorian squarson
No full textThis thesis is a study of the Gothic fiction of Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-
1924), with particular attention given to Baring-Gould’s roles as squire and parson. I
have chosen to analyze two of Baring-Gould’s Gothic works, the novel Mehalah
(1880) and the novella Margery of Quether (1884), both which allow a particularly
profitable examination of the influence of Baring-Gould’s roles on his fiction.
In studying these texts I apply my theory of Gothic fiction as a particularly
modern genre built upon a "Gothic threshold," a meeting point of extreme opposites
which ambivalently contrasts and merges the categories of the modern and the
medieval.
In the first chapter I describe how Baring-Gould’s unique Hegelian-influenced
Tractarian philosophy influenced his creation of the dialectical setting of Mehalah. I
argue that because of this influence Mehalah should be recognized as a significant
contribution to the literature of the Oxford Movement.
In the second chapter I argue that Mehalah’s historical setting in the time of
the French Revolution and the influence of Wuthering Heights reinforce Mehalah’s
use of the “Gothic threshold” structure and contribute to its theme of ambivalent
progress.
In the third chapter I discuss the influence of Baring-Gould’s sermon-writing
on Mehalah and consider connections between Baring-Gould’s role as parson and the
novel’s botched marriage theme.
In the final chapter I discuss Margery of Quether as an innovation in the
Gothic and vampire tradition as perhaps the only Gothic work that directly dramatizes
the Land Law debate and presents that debate as a "Gothic" contest. I argue that
Margery channels Baring-Gould’s tensions as a landowner.
In the conclusion I argue that Mehalah and Margery display Baring-Gould’s
technique of constructing miniature Gothic battles that relate to larger confrontations,
and that the ultimate terror presented in these works is the conclusion of the battle
between ancient and modern forces
Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle: multi-media afterlives
No full textCo-edited collection with Sabine Vanacke
Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle: multi-media afterlives
No full textCo-edited collection with Sabine Vanacke
The immigrant experience: multiculturalism, religious identity, Thatcherism and the clash of generations in selected works by Hanif Kureishi.
No full textThis thesis, focusing on a wide range of texts by Hanif Kureishi, discusses postcolonial aspects of multiculturalism, racism, evolving religious identity, and the ways in which Thatcherism led to class rifts as well as entrepreneurial opportunities. It also examines how the social milieu of British society and the ancestral values of its immigrants resulted in clashes of cultures and generations. Within the theoretical framework of Homi K. Bhabha, the characters’ behaviour and their psychological reactions to the changing dynamics of British society are scrutinized through reference the key concepts of hybridity, liminality, ambivalence, and third space of enunciation. The thesis examines five primary works of Kureishi which are The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), The Black Album (1995), My Beautiful Laundrette (1986), My Son the Fanatic (1997), and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1992). Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003) and Ed Husain’s The Islamist (2007) are used as supporting texts in this research. The arguments in this thesis are further substantiated by some of Kureishi’s essays, interviews, documentaries, and newspaper articles in addition to the literary works indicated above. The uniqueness of this thesis lies partly in my argument that Kureishi - as a Westernised, atheistic creative author - inadequately and at some points sarcastically projects Islam; my emphasis on the way multiculturalism, despite celebrating diversity can trigger racism and violence, raising questions about the integration and assimilation into British society; and my discussion of the paradox of Thatcher’s economic policies which were detrimental to the working-class people. The thesis also explores how Kureishi, being a second-generation author of Asian heritage, presents a broader spectrum of the disparities and differences between the first-generation and second-generation immigrants in his works
The immigrant experience: multiculturalism, religious identity, Thatcherism and the clash of generations in selected works by Hanif Kureishi.
No full textThis thesis, focusing on a wide range of texts by Hanif Kureishi, discusses postcolonial aspects of multiculturalism, racism, evolving religious identity, and the ways in which Thatcherism led to class rifts as well as entrepreneurial opportunities. It also examines how the social milieu of British society and the ancestral values of its immigrants resulted in clashes of cultures and generations. Within the theoretical framework of Homi K. Bhabha, the characters’ behaviour and their psychological reactions to the changing dynamics of British society are scrutinized through reference the key concepts of hybridity, liminality, ambivalence, and third space of enunciation. The thesis examines five primary works of Kureishi which are The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), The Black Album (1995), My Beautiful Laundrette (1986), My Son the Fanatic (1997), and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1992). Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003) and Ed Husain’s The Islamist (2007) are used as supporting texts in this research. The arguments in this thesis are further substantiated by some of Kureishi’s essays, interviews, documentaries, and newspaper articles in addition to the literary works indicated above. The uniqueness of this thesis lies partly in my argument that Kureishi - as a Westernised, atheistic creative author - inadequately and at some points sarcastically projects Islam; my emphasis on the way multiculturalism, despite celebrating diversity can trigger racism and violence, raising questions about the integration and assimilation into British society; and my discussion of the paradox of Thatcher’s economic policies which were detrimental to the working-class people. The thesis also explores how Kureishi, being a second-generation author of Asian heritage, presents a broader spectrum of the disparities and differences between the first-generation and second-generation immigrants in his works
“Parodied, pastiched, pilloried” and polished: Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham’s development of the gentleman detective
No full textThis dissertation deepens and extends the modern field of study of “golden age” mystery authors Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham by closely examining the two writers’ individual development of the classical trope of the gentleman detective.Since its inception, classical detective fiction has been considered by critics to be both formulaic and conservative. Though this limited perspective has recently been challenged and deconstructed, Marsh and Allingham are still too often sequestered by both genre and sex into a devalued class of writers; this study aims to complicate the regular framing of their work in particular as lesser, homogeneous, and stereotypical.Each of these authors accomplished the same feat in the same genre, through different methods and in different series, centering on their unique detective protagonists. This dissertation acknowledges Marsh and Allingham’s similar achievements as well as their individuality by analyzing them in separate, parallel chapters which first examine the worlds of detection created by each author; these are followed by sections investigating their nuanced portrayals of the divided morality inherent to the figure of the gentleman detective; finally, each chapter culminates with an analysis of a novel each in which the detective in some way fails to properly detect and emerges triumphant in the narrative anyway, revealing Marsh and Allingham’s considerations of the purpose of fictional detection beyond the purely intellectual crossword-like puzzle it was often considered to be.Through close-reading analysis spanning each author’s series supplemented by theories of performance, modernism and postmodernism, abjection, and the rich field of crime fiction scholarship, this study illuminates the breadth and the depth of both Marsh and Allingham’s development of the figure of the gentleman detective. Their explorations of the classical detective genre and its central character reveal a far more complicated consideration of class, gender, and the morally ambivalent nature of escapist fiction than that for which they have historically been given credit
“Parodied, pastiched, pilloried” and polished: Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham’s development of the gentleman detective
No full textThis dissertation deepens and extends the modern field of study of “golden age” mystery authors Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham by closely examining the two writers’ individual development of the classical trope of the gentleman detective.Since its inception, classical detective fiction has been considered by critics to be both formulaic and conservative. Though this limited perspective has recently been challenged and deconstructed, Marsh and Allingham are still too often sequestered by both genre and sex into a devalued class of writers; this study aims to complicate the regular framing of their work in particular as lesser, homogeneous, and stereotypical.Each of these authors accomplished the same feat in the same genre, through different methods and in different series, centering on their unique detective protagonists. This dissertation acknowledges Marsh and Allingham’s similar achievements as well as their individuality by analyzing them in separate, parallel chapters which first examine the worlds of detection created by each author; these are followed by sections investigating their nuanced portrayals of the divided morality inherent to the figure of the gentleman detective; finally, each chapter culminates with an analysis of a novel each in which the detective in some way fails to properly detect and emerges triumphant in the narrative anyway, revealing Marsh and Allingham’s considerations of the purpose of fictional detection beyond the purely intellectual crossword-like puzzle it was often considered to be.Through close-reading analysis spanning each author’s series supplemented by theories of performance, modernism and postmodernism, abjection, and the rich field of crime fiction scholarship, this study illuminates the breadth and the depth of both Marsh and Allingham’s development of the figure of the gentleman detective. Their explorations of the classical detective genre and its central character reveal a far more complicated consideration of class, gender, and the morally ambivalent nature of escapist fiction than that for which they have historically been given credit
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De Lingua Sabina: A Reappraisal of the Sabine Glosses
No full textThis thesis offers a reappraisal of the Sabine glosses through the analysis of thirty-nine words, all glossed explicitly as Sabine in ancient sources ranging from the first century BCE to the sixth century CE.
The study of the Sabine glosses found in ancient grammarians and antiquarians goes back to the beginnings of Italic scholarship. Over time, two positions on the Sabine glosses have crystallised: (a) the Sabine glosses are evidence of a personal obsession of the Republican author Varro, in whose work many Sabine glosses survive, and (b) the Sabine glosses are true remnants of a single language of which little or no epigraphic evidence has survived.
By using the neogrammarian observation that sound-change is regular and exceptionless, it is possible to ascertain whether or not the Sabine glosses are likely to be from the same language. This thesis finds that the sound-changes undergone by the Sabine glosses show no broad agreement. The developments are characteristic of different languages – Latin, Faliscan and various Sabellic languages – and many changes are mutually exclusive. This consequently throws doubt on the assertion that the Sabine glosses are all taken from one language. Instead, the glosses should be seen as part of a discourse of the relationships between Romans, Sabines and Sabellic-speaking peoples.
During the Republic, Sabines were central to Roman myth, historiography and political rhetoric. As the Sabines were a distinct people in the Roman foundation myths, but were largely Romanised in the Republican present, they became a convenient bridge between Rome and the Sabellic-speaking peoples of Central and Southern Italy, to whom Greek and Roman writers ascribed myths tracing origin back to the Sabines. This continued into the Empire, when emperors such as Claudius and Vespasian utilised their (supposed) Sabine heritage to gain ideological capital. In light of this, the phenomenon of Sabine glosses cannot be seen as one man’s interest, but as a means of reflecting on Rome’s relations with Sabellic-speaking Italy
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