Monstrative acts and becoming-monster: on identity, bodies, and the feminine other

Using two examples of literary monsters, the Creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), and Grendel’s Mother in Beowulf, this thesis demonstrates the bearing fictional identities have on “real” bodies, through an examination of two further literary texts, David Henry Hwang’s play, M. Butterfly (1986) and J. M. Coetzee’s novel, Disgrace (1999). Western definitions of Being have historically divided body and mind, favouring the mind as formative of subjective experience and denigrating the body as secondary and impure. This thesis demonstrates that this mind/body binary is symptomatic of the masculine ontological imperative to disown the body and its effects on Being, simultaneously ridding itself of the feminine it believes is its irrational opposite. Using recent feminist reviews of the canon, which emphasise the body’s importance to ontology and demonstrate the conceptual association between the feminine and the corporeal, this thesis links performative identity practices to theories of monstrosity, explaining how fictional qualities adhere to monstrous bodies by proposing a new theoretical category, the “monstrative.” The monstrative is a performative force that makes the Other into a living sign of Otherness; however, unlike earlier theories of Othering, the monstrative accounts for the Other’s being other to herself. This thesis also attempts to read the misrepresented body of the Other as a possible site for more empowered identity performances, where the monstrous “I” is interpreted as a potentially positive model for identity practice, through the conceptualisation of identity as a process of Becoming rather than Being. The transferal from a noun to a verb not only emphasises the performativity of identity, but also suggests fluidity and multiplicity in identity practice, which always already indicates a monstrosity at work. Thus, while monstrative acts constitute bodies as monstrous, Becoming-monster is an empathetic response to the Other’s monstrosity.

A bookish history of Irish Romanticism

This chapter argues that authors of Irish Romantic novels and national tales, such as Maria Edgeworth and John and Michael Banim, are not only concerned with the extent to which their novels sought to copy from Irish culture but are also worried about the slightness of the novel form in relation to the copiousness of that culture. Such concerns led to attempts by Thomas Crofton Croker and others to add texture and tactility to their depictions of the Irish past, through antiquarian methodologies but also facsimiles, lithography, and other developments in print culture. The chapter demonstrates the ways in which Irish literary texts were concerned not only to accurately and minutely detail the past, but also to adduce evidence of such historical and cultural authenticity, working against teleological accounts of the birth of the modern historical method, which see Romantic history as unconcerned with the evidentiary foundations of the past.

Social paranoia and absurdist fiction in Cold War America and Soviet Russia: a comparative study

This thesis explores the theme of social paranoia as depicted in the Absurdist fiction of Cold War America and Soviet Russia. The central hypothesis informing this research maintains that, despite the ideology of moral and cultural “Otherness” constructed and reinforced by both nations throughout much of twentieth century, the US and the Soviet Union more often than not functioned as mirror images of paranoia and suspicion. Much of the fiction produced in Russia from the Revolution onwards and in the US during the Cold War period highlights how these two ostensibly irreconcilable nations were consumed by similar fears and gripped by an equally pervasive paranoia. These parallel conditions of anxiety and mistrust led to a surprising congruity of literary responses, which transcended the ideological divide between capitalism and communism and, as such, underscored the homogeny of fear which lay beneath the façade of constructed difference. I contend that, because Soviet Russia and the America of the Cold War period were nations consumed by fear and suspicion, authors living in both countries became preoccupied by the mechanics of such deeply paranoid societies. Consequently, much of the fiction of the US and the Soviet Union during this period was preoccupied with the themes of paranoia, conspiracy, intensive bureaucracy and the politicisation of science, which resulted in the terror of the Nuclear Age. This thesis explores how these central themes unite apparently diverse literary texts and illustrate the uniformity of terror which transcended both the physical and ideological boundaries separating the United States and the Soviet Union. In doing so, this research focuses primarily on the multi-faceted manifestations of paranoia in selected works by Soviet authors Mikhail Bulgakov, Daniil Kharms and Yuli Daniel, and American authors Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon and Kurt Vonnegut. Focusing on key works by each author, this research considers these texts as products of two culturally diverse, yet equally paranoid societies and explores their preoccupation with issues of spying, infiltration and conspiracy. This thesis thus emphasises how these authors counter simplistic notions of Cold War Otherness by revealing two nations possessed by a similar sense of vulnerability and insecurity. Furthermore, this thesis examines how this social anxiety is reinforced by the way in which these authors position issues such as the mechanics of the bureaucratic system and clandestine scientific experimentation as the focal point of the paranoid imagination. Ultimately, by examining the concordance of paranoiac representation in America and the Soviet Union during this period, I demonstrate that these ostensibly divergent nations harboured similar fears and insecurities.

A literary occupation: responses of German writers in service in occupied Europe

This thesis examines the literary output of German servicemen writers writing from the occupied territories of Europe in the period 1940-1944. Whereas literary-biographical studies and appraisals of the more significant individual writers have been written, and also a collective assessment of the Eastern front writers, this thesis addresses in addition the German literary responses in France and Greece, as being then theatres of particular cultural/ideological attention. Original papers of the writer Felix Hartlaub were consulted by the author at the Deutsches Literatur Archiv (DLA) at Marbach. Original imprints of the wartime works of the subject writers are referred to throughout, and citations are from these. As all the published works were written under conditions of wartime censorship and, even where unpublished, for fear of discovery written in oblique terms, the texts were here examined for subliminal authorial intention. The critical focus of the thesis is on literary quality: on aesthetic niveau, on applied literary form, and on integrity of authorial intention. The thesis sought to discover: (1) the extent of the literary output in book-length forms. (2) the auspices and conditions under which this literary output was produced. (3) the publication history and critical reception of the output. The thesis took into account, inter alia: (1) occupation policy as it pertained locally to the writers’ remit; (2) the ethical implications of this for the writers; (3) the writers’ literary stratagems for negotiating the constraints of censorship.

Behind the paravent: a study of Konrad Bayer's dramatic texts

This thesis is a study of Konrad Bayer's dramatic texts. It has evolved out of various attempts to read those texts, some filed and some more successful. It does not claim to be authoritative or complete, since the nature of Bayer's texts, as will become clear in the course of the ensuing chapters, means that they resist such an interpretation. To accept this was an important prerequisite for the writing of this thesis, but a difficult one to fulfill because for the Bayer commentator it constitutes a certain acceptance of defeat even before one begins. Chapter 1 will begin by providing some introductory information about Konrad Bayer, including details of his life and his membership of the Wiener Gruppe, a formative phase in his development as a writer. It will also consider the historical and cultural climate of 1950s Austria that provided the backdrop for Bayer's literary work. The phenomenon of the Wiener Gruppe will then be examined against the background of preceding experimental movements, for the purpose of situating Bayer's work historically and artistically. The aim of this historical and artistic survey is to prepare for the confrontation with Bayer's texts that makes up the other chapters of the thesis. Chapter 2 will constitute a close textual study of one of Bayer's dramatic texts using criteria from the field of text linguistics. Such a study will offer an entry point into Bayer's texts and will supply material which will form the basis for the interpretative investigations of the chapters that follow it. Chapter 3 will consider the influence of language and the individual. In chapter 4 the figure of the Lion of Belfort, a recurring figure in Bayer's dramatic texts, is discussed. The final chapter of this thesis will examine the recurring motifs of violence and cannibalism and will consider them in terms of the findings of preceding chapters.

The Celtic dragon slayer - a literary analysis of Tochmarc Emire in connection with Tristan et Iseut

As Celtic scholars have long noted, the medieval Irish tale Tochmarc Emire “The Courtship of Emer” is heavily indebted to other medieval Irish texts. In this tale of courtship and otherworldly quests, the Irish hero Cú Chulainn must prove himself worthy of the hand of the noblewoman Emer. Among his overseas adventures, Cú Chulainn rescues a princess from three attackers of the Fomoire. This episode may represent the only medieval Irish example of AT300 “The Dragon Slayer”, a story pattern known from classical models such as the stories of Perseus and Andromeda; and Hercules and Hesione. Moreover, in the company of Cú Chulainn we find a character otherwise unknown to Irish tradition by the name of Drust mac Seirb. This has led scholars to argue that Tochmarc Emire may preserve a Celtic precursor of the Continental Tristan legend, seeing in Drust the Pictish origin of the character Tristan, himself a famous dragon slayer. In this interdisciplinary dissertation, a number of questions are addressed. If the redactor of Tochmarc Emire drew on material from outside Irish tradition, what does this tell us about medieval Irish concepts of literature and genre? Further, what evidence do we have for tracing the origin of the Continental Tristan legend back to Pictland, and what explanation might we offer for a putative Pictish prince featuring in an Irish Dragon Slayer story? Finally, what place does the Dragon Slayer episode occupy within Tochmarc Emire and can we find other narratives, Celtic or classical or other, fitting the pattern of AT300, which may strengthen the link between Tochmarc Emire and Tristan?

L’isola delle madri assenti: tracce di presenza femminile nella narrativa storica siciliana contemporanea (1990-2007)

The watershed constituted by the historical novels of Leonardo Sciascia (1921- 1989), Vincenzo Consolo (1933-2012) and Andrea Camilleri (born 1925), are starting points for analysing subsequent writings of history in Sicily, particularly those that deal with the hermeneutical function of literature as a means of critically reading official historiography. Nevertheless, whereas ample critical attention has been paid to male writers, whose work is deemed ‘mainstream’, there has been insufficient analysis of the role of female authors in relation to literary representations of Sicilian history. By considering the distinctiveness of the Sicilian literary tradition, the thesis identifies a series of transformations of the genre which have occurred in recent years within the context of feminine writing, and examines the historical narratives of contemporary Sicilian writers Maria Attanasio, Silvana La Spina and Maria Rosa Cutrufelli produced between 1990 and 2007. The study problematizes the lack of critical debate about feminine narratives in Sicily, and places these works in relation to developments in gender and genre theory, focusing particularly on Margherita Ganeri’s studies on the historical genre and the canon. After an introductory chapter which argues the case for examining Sicilian female historical fiction as a distinct literary practice, the subsequent chapters feature textual analyses of each author’s main historical fiction works, supporting the reading of the texts with theoretical readings, including the micro-history of Carlo Ginzburg, the écriture féminine of Hélène Cixous, the abjection theory of Julia Kristeva, the theoretical propositions on “experience” by Joan Wallach Scott and Teresa De Lauretis, and the theory of gender as performance proposed by Judith Butler. The analyses underline the importance of the authors’ distinct feminine perspective over Sicilian history and ultimately suggest that the three writers represent significant examples of a “nomadic writing” to be placed outside the Sicilian male literary tradition.

Diverse heritage: exploring literary identity in the American Southwest

Since the age of colonisation, the territory of New Mexico has been exposed to a diversity of cultural influence. Throughout recorded history various forces have battled for control of this territory, resulting in a continuous redefinition of its political, geographic and economic boundaries. Early representations of the Southwest have been defined as “strategies of negotiation” between Anglo, Hispanic and Native populations, strategies that are particularly evident in the territory of New Mexico. The contemporary identity of regions like northern New Mexico have destabilised the notion of what constitutes racial purity in regions which are defined by diversity. This thesis aims to evaluate the literary history of northern New Mexico in order to determine how exposure to a diversity of cultural influence has affected the region’s identity. An analysis of Anglo and Native writers from northern New Mexico will illustrate that these racial groups were influenced by the same geographic landscape. As such, their writing displays many characteristics unique to the region. In providing a comparative analysis of Native and Anglo authors from northern New Mexico, this thesis seeks to demonstrate commonalities of theme, structure and content. In doing so this research encourages a new perspective on New Mexico writing one which effectively de-centres contemporary notions of what the American canon should be.

Betha Cholmáin maic Luacháin: an ecclesiastical microcosm of the twelfth-century Irish midlands

Betha Cholmáin maic Luacháin (BCh) is a key source of information about a small ecclesiastical community of the Irish midlands in the medieval period. BCh is one of the longest medieval Irish hagiographic texts. A sole copy exists. Scholarly concern with manuscript Rennes 598, and the Life of Colmán therein, diminished following the 1911 edition of BCh. The most attention paid to BCh in the following decades focused largely on its onomastic information. The necessary detailed study of the text has not been undertaken. The present work is an initial view of significant areas of interaction between the church of Lann and its ecclesiastical, social and political milieu. While social and cultural aspects of the text may constitute the focus of this study, linguistic data is also investigated, complementary to evidence regarding its social and political testimony. In this way, light is cast on a complex ecclesiastical microcosm in the twelfth-century Irish midlands. In keeping with recent methodological work in the field a variety of tools are used to aid investigation, and to show the Life within its genre and wider context. An interdisciplinary approach will bring together strands of literary, cultural, archaeological, onomastic, historical, geographical, genealogical and hagiographical information, with reference to linguistic evidence where appropriate. This thesis seeks to suggest a template for studies undertaken on smaller church communities, and is set out in two main sections. The first section investigates the figure of the saint, his life, church, the manuscript source and the combination of prose and verse in the text. The second section examines the testimony of the Life regarding the ecclesiastical and secular concerns of the community of Lann, and how these concerns are represented. Evidence regarding the members of this community and their interaction with the church and the wider world is also discussed.

“Fiction makes a better job of the truth”: dialogism, oppositional consciousness and re-membering in the novels of Helena María Viramontes

This thesis comprises close textual analyses of Chicana author Helena María Viramontes' two published novels, Under the Feet of Jesus (1995) and Their Dogs Came With Them (2007). These analyses fall under three broad frameworks: space, time and body. Chapter One engages with the first of these frameworks, space, and explores concepts of cognitive mapping and heteroptopias. Chapter Two, which looks at time, employs theories of intertextuality and the palimpsest, while Chapter Three looks at the interrrelationship between mythology and images of the body in the texts. This study emerges five years after the publication of Viramontes' last novel, Their Dogs Came With Them, but offers fresh insight into the contribution of the author to both the Chicano literary tradition and also the U.S. canon through her critique of hegemonic power structures that suppress not only the voices of lower class ethnic citizens but also of ethnic writers. In particular, her work chastises the paucity of attention given to ethnic women writers in the U.S. This thesis reaffirms Viramontes' position as one of the most important writers living and writing in the U.S. today. It corroborates her work as a contestation against ethnic and gender suppression, and applauds the craftsmanship of her narrative style that delicately but decisively exposes the socio-political wrongs that occur in ocntemporary U.S. society.

Medieval Irish vision literature: a genre study

This dissertation examines medieval literary accounts of visions of the afterlife with an origin or provenance in Ireland from the perspective of genre, analysing their structural and literary characteristics both synchronically and diachronically. To this end, I have developed a new typology of medieval vision literature. I address the question in what manner the internationally attested genre of vision literature is adapted and developed in an Irish literary milieu. I explore this central research question through an interrogation of the typological unity of the key texts, both in formal arrangement and in the eschatological themes they express. My analysis of the structure and rhetoric of these narratives reveals the primary role of identity strategies, question-and-answer patterns and exhortation for their narrative cohesion and didactic function. In addition, I was able to make a formal distinction at text-level between the adaptation of the genre as an autonomous unit and the adaptation of thematic motifs as topoi. This further enabled me to nuance the distribution of characteristic features in the genre. My analysis of the spatial and temporal aspects of the eschatological journey confirms a preoccupation with personal eschatology. It reveals a close connection between the development of the aspects of graded access and trial in the genre and a growing awareness of an interim state of the soul after death. Finally, my dissertation provides new editions, translations and analyses of primary sources. My research breaks new ground in the hitherto underexplored area of genre adaptation in Ireland. In addition, it contributes significantly to our understanding of the nature of vision literature both in an Irish and a European context, and to our knowledge of the transmission of eschatological thought in the Latin West. Discusses the visions of: Laisrén, Fursa, Adomnán, Lóchán, Tnugdal, Owein and Visio Sancti Pauli Redactions VI and XI.

"Ladyes, damesels, and jantilwomen": female autonomy and authority in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur

Popular medieval English romances were composed and received within the social consciousness of a distinctly patriarchal culture. This study examines the way in which the dynamic of these texts is significantly influenced by the consequences of female endeavour, in the context of an autonomous feminine presence in both the real and imagined worlds of medieval England, and the authority with which this is presented in various narratives, with a particular focus on Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur. Chapter One of this study establishes the social and economic positioning of the female in fifteenth-century England, and her capacity for literary engagement; I will then apply this model of female autonomy and authority to a wider discussion of texts contemporary with Malory in Chapters Two and Three, in anticipation of a more detailed study of Le Morte Darthur in Chapters Four and Five. My research explores the female presence and influence in these texts according to certain types: namely the lover, the victim, the ruler, and the temptress. In the case of Malory, the crux of my observations centres on the paradox of the capacity for power in perceived vulnerability, incorporating the presentation of women in this patriarchal culture as being vulnerable and in need of protection, while simultaneously acting as a significant threat to chivalric society by manipulating this apparent fragility, to the detriment of the chivalric knight. In this sense, women can be perceived as being an architect of the romance world, while simultaneously acting as its saboteur. In essence, this study offers an innovative interpretation of female autonomy and authority in medieval romance, presenting an exploration of the physical, intellectual, and emotional placement of women in both the historical and literary worlds of fifteenth-century England, while examining the implications of female conduct on Malory’s Arthurian society.

Four nations feminism: Una Troy and Menna Gallie

The emergence of four nations framework in literary and historical scholarship has helped us to arrive at a fuller understanding of the complex and overlapping histories of the islands of Britain and Ireland, while recent research into Wales and Ireland in particular has helped to make the map of our relations more fully comprehensible. But what is the relevance and meaning of the four nations context for womenâ s writing in Ireland and Wales? What part does gender play in the interconnected histories of Wales and Ireland, and how are questions of sexual and artistic identity addressed within texts that imagine British-Irish history in gendered terms? This lecture identifies finds evidence of a feminist reimagining of archipelagic relationships by two writers: Munster novelist and playwright Una Troy, and Welsh writer Menna Gallie, born into a mining community on the western edge of the South Wales coalfields. Both Troy and Gallie wrote novels that deploy plots of female friendship to interrogate the relationship between gender and national affiliation in a four nations context.

'Muchos Méxicos': widening the lens in Rulfo's cinematic texts

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Juan Rulfo’s two major pieces of fictional narrative work—his haunting, enigmatic novel Pedro Páramo (1955) and his unrelenting depictions of the failures of post-revolutionary Mexico in his short story collection El Llano en llamas (1953). In her foreword to the Margaret Sayers Peden English translation, Susan Sontag hails Pedro Páramo as ‘not only one of the masterpieces of 20th Century world literature, but one of the most influential of the century’s books’. García Márquez has compared the influence of Rulfo on 20th Century world literature to that of Sophocles: ‘No son más de 300 páginas, pero son casi tantas y creo tan perdurables como las que conocemos de Sófocles’ and, completing this oftrepeated triumvirate of recommendations, Jorge Luis Borges has referred to Pedro Páramo as: ‘una de las mejores novelas de las literaturas de lengua hispánica, y aun de la literatura.’ Despite the praise heaped upon Rulfo’s two most famous books, when his third book of fiction, El gallo de oro y otros textos para cine, was finally published in 1980, just six years before his death, it was greeted with almost critical silence. It is precisely this publication that provides the focus of this investigation. The collection contains three texts—El despojo, La fórmula secreta and El gallo de oro. Constituting a third of the fictional work he published in his lifetime, expanding upon themes present in El Llano en llamas and Pedro Páramo while, at the same time, examining new ground, no thematic discussion of Rulfo’s written output is complete without including these texts. Yet they are frequently dismissed. In this way this investigation attempts to go some way towards filling this critical gap in the work of one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century