Commandeering Aesop’s Bamboo Canon: A 19th Century Confederacy of Creole Fugitive Fables

In my thesis, “Commandeering Aesop’s Bamboo Canon: A 19th Century Confederacy of Creole Fugitive Fables,” I ask and answer the ‘Who? What? Where? When? Why?” of Creole Literature using the 19th century production of Aesopian fables as clues to resolve a set of linguistic, historical, literary, and geographical enigmas pertaining the ‘birth-place(s)’ of Creolophone Literatures in the Caribbean Sea, North and South America, as well as the Indian Ocean. Focusing on the fables in Martinique (1846), Reunion Island (1826), and Mauritius (1822), my thesis should read be as an attempt capture the links between these islands through the creation of a particular archive defined as a cartulary-chronicle, a diplomatic codex, or simply a map in which I chart and trace the flight of the founding documents relating to the lives of the individual authors, editors, and printers in order to illustrate the articulation of a formal and informal confederation that enabled the global and local institutional promotion of Creole Literature. While I integrate various genres and multi-polar networks between the authors of this 19th century canon comprised of sacred and secular texts such as proclamations, catechisms, and proverbs, the principle literary genre charted in my thesis are collections of fables inspired by French 17th century French Classical fabulist, Jean de la Fontaine. Often described as the ‘matrix’ of Creolophone Literature, these blues and fables constitute the base of the canon, and are usually described as either ‘translated,’ ‘adapted,’ and even ‘cross-dressed’ into Creole in all of the French Creolophone spaces. My documentation of their transnational sprouting offers proof of an opaque canonical formation of Creole popular literature. By constituting this archive, I emphasize the fact that despite 200 years of critical reception and major developments and discoveries on behalf of Creole language pedagogues, literary scholars, linguists, historians, librarians, archivist, and museum curators, up until now not only have none have curated this literature as a formal canon. I also offer new empirical evidence in order to try and solve the enigma of “How?” the fables materially circulated between the islands, and seek to come to terms with the anonymous nature of the texts, some of which were published under pseudonyms. I argue that part of the confusion on the part of scholars has been the result of being willfully taken by surprise or defrauded by the authors, or ‘bamboozled’ as I put it. The major paradigmatic shift in my thesis is that while I acknowledge La Fontaine as the base of this literary canon, I ultimately bypass him to trace the ancient literary genealogy of fables to the infamous Aesop the Phrygian, whose biography – the first of a slave in the history of the world – and subsequent use of fables reflects a ‘hidden transcript’ of ‘masked political critique’ between ‘master and slave classes’ in the 4th Century B.C.E. Greece.

This archive draws on, connects and critiques the methodologies of several disciplinary fields. I use post-colonial literary studies to map the literary genealogies Aesop; use a comparative historical approach to the abolitions of slavery in both the 19th century Caribbean and the Indian Ocean; and chart the early appearance of folk music in early colonial societies through Musicology and Performance Studies. Through the use of Sociolinguistics and theories of language revival, ecology, and change, I develop an approach of ‘reflexive Creolistics’ that I ultimately hope will offer new educational opportunities to Creole speakers. While it is my desire that this archive serves linguists, book collectors, and historians for further scientific inquiry into the innate international nature of Creole language, I also hope that this innovative material defense and illustration of Creole Literature will transform the consciousness of Creolophones (native and non-native) who too remain ‘bamboozled’ by the archive. My goal is to erase the ‘unthinkability’ of the existence of this ancient maritime creole literary canon from the collective cultural imaginary of readers around the globe.

EXTENDED-RANGE OBOE: THE IMPACT OF TECHNICAL AND MUSICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN 19th-CENTURY AND CONTEMPORARY OBOE REPERTOIRE

I believe that the purpose of expanding the oboe’s repertoire is to not only create original compositions, but to also utilize technical advancements in order to achieve access to a wider range of repertoire through the art of transcription. This paper examines the various paths to achieving such expansion, including utilizing unique performer skills, use of auxiliary instruments, advancements in the instrument itself and musical developments that challenge the perception of the oboe’s solo role in a particular era of music history. The oboe need not be relegated to the confines of a compositionally limited stereotype. The goal of my “extended-range” dissertation project is to expand the “range” of programmable repertoire, with a focus on music in both the 19th and 21st-centuries, while simultaneously expanding the technical capabilities and expectations of the modern oboe—in part by exploiting the new possibilities of the recently invented low-A extension key.

Origins of the bottom trawling controversy in the British Isles: 19th century witness testimonies reveal evidence of early fishery declines

Bottom trawling (nets towed along the seabed) spread around the British Isles from the 1820s, yet the collection of national fisheries statistics did not begin until 1886. Consequently, analysis of the impacts of trawling on fish stocks and habitats during this early period is difficult, yet without this information, we risk underestimating the extent of changes that have occurred as a result of trawling activities. We examined witness testimonies recorded during two Royal Commissions of Enquiry (1863-66 and 1883-85). These enquiries interviewed hundreds of fishers about the early effects of sail trawling and the changes they were witnessing to fish stocks, habitats and fishing practises during this time. We converted all quantitative statements of perceived change in fish stocks and fishing practices to relative change. Witnesses from the north-east of England interviewed during 1863 revealed an average perceived decline in whitefish of 64% during their careers, which many blamed upon trawling. Between 1867 and 1892, trawl-landing records from the same location suggest that this trajectory continued, with fish availability declining by 66% during the period. Fishers adapted to these declines by increasing distances travelled to fishing grounds and increasing gear size and quantity. However, inshore declines continued and by the early 1880s even trawl owners were calling for closures of territorial waters to trawling in order to protect fish nursery and spawning grounds. Until now, these testimonies have been largely forgotten, yet they reveal that alterations to near-shore habitats as a result of trawling began long before official data collection was initiated.

Commercial Whaling, Especially for Gray Whales, Eschrichtius robustus, and Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, at California and Baja California Shore Stations in the 19th Century (1854–1899)

Shore whaling along North America’s California and Baja California coasts during 1854–99 was ancillary to the offshore and alongshore American whale fishery, which had begun in the North Pacific in the early 1800’s and was flourishing by the 1840’s. From its inception at Monterey, Calif., in the mid 1850’s, the shore fishery, involving open boats deployed from land to catch and tow whales for processing, eventually spread from Monterey south to San Diego and Baja California and north to Crescent City near the California–Oregon border. It had declined to a relict industry by the 1880’s, although sporadic efforts continued into the early 20th century. The main target species were gray whales, Eschrichtius robustus, and humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, with the valuable North Pacific right whale, Eubalaena japonica, also pursued opportunistically. Catch data are grossly incomplete for most stations; no logbooks were kept for these operations as they were for high-seas whaling voyages. Even when good information is available on catch levels, usually as number of whales landed or quantity of oil produced, it is rarely broken down by species. Therefore, we devised methods for extrapolation, interpolation, pro rationing, correction, and informed judgment to produce time series of catches. The resulting estimates of landings from 1854 to 1899 are 3,150 (SE = 112) gray whales and 1,637 (SE = 62) humpback whales. The numbers landed should be multiplied by 1.2 to account for hunting loss (i.e. whales harpooned or shot but not recovered and processed).

Female sexuality in Ireland 1920 to 1940: Construction and regulation

The central objective of this study is an examination of discourses of Irish female sexuality and of the apparatuses of control designed for its surveillance and regulation in the period nineteen-twenty to nineteen-forty. It is argued that during this period sexuality, and in particular female sexuality, became established as an icon of national identity. This thesis demonstrated that this identity was given symbolic embodiment in the discursive construction of an idealised, feminine subject, a subject who had purity and sexual morality as her defining characteristics. It is argued that female roles and in particular female sexuality, emerged as contested issues in post-colonial Ireland. This is not unusual given that women are frequently constructed in nationalist discourses as repositories of cultural heritage and symbols of national identity (Kandiyoti 1993). This thesis demonstrates that the Catholic Church played a central role in this process of establishing female sexuality as a national icon. Furthermore, it illustrates that through a process of identification and classification, women, whose behaviour contested the prescribed sexual norm, were categorized and labeled as 'wayward girls' 'unmarried mothers' or 'prostitutes'and mechanisms for their control were set in place. Finally, this thesis reveals that the development of these control apparatuses was mediated by class, with the sexuality of working class women being a primary target of surveillance, regulation and indeed reformation.

A history of the Irish Red Cross Society, 1939-1971

This research is concerned with assessing from a national perspective the role, work and historical impact of the Irish Red Cross Society (IRCS) between 1939 and 1971. During this period the IRCS discharged three primary functions: it provided first aid services both in war-time and peace-time; it pioneered public health and social care services; and acted as the State’s main agency for international humanitarian relief measures. Although primarily a national organisational history of the Society, it is not a history in isolation. A broader perspective demonstrates that the work undertaken by the IRCS has relevance to the medical, social, religious, cultural, political and diplomatic history of twentieth century Ireland. This study assesses the impact of a number of significant public health and social care initiatives which the IRCS implemented and developed since its inception and how most of these were subsequently developed independently by the State. During the early 1940s, the Society’s formation of a national blood transfusion service ultimately laid the foundations for the establishment of a national blood transfusion service. The Society’s steering of a national anti-tuberculosis campaign in the 1940s brought the issue of the eradication of TB to the fore and helped to change public attitudes towards the disease. The concept of caring for the needs of the elderly in Ireland was largely unknown until the IRCS began addressing the issue in the 1950s and, for more than two decades, was effectively the only organisation in the State that campaigned and introduced innovative services for the aged. The IRCS made a significant impact in terms of its commitment to the needs of refugees and the provision of international humanitarian relief from Ireland. The Society’s donation in 1945 of a fully equipped hospital to the population of Saint-Lo in France, its war-time overseas relief efforts and its post-war work for child refugees earned Ireland significant international recognition and prestige and, more importantly, justified Ireland’s war-time policy of neutrality. With Ireland’s admission to the UN, the government became more dependent on the IRCS to consolidate that position.

AN EXAMINATION OF 19TH CENTURY AUSTROGERMAN VIOLIN SONATAS

For my dissertation recital project, I traced the course of the violin-piano sonata in Austro- German in the 19th century, after Beethoven. My project presented works in three general categories. First, I presented works that are frequently-played standards of the violin sonata repertoire, works by Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, and Robert Schumann. The Second category is works by composers better known for their other compositions: Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Strauss. Finally, I choose the works seldom played these days, but worth of consideration, by Carl Maria von Weber and Max Reger. For my first recital, I performed Schubert's Violin Sonata, No. 1, Op. 137 in D major, Schumann's Violin Sonata, No. 1, Op. 105 in a minor, and Brahms' Violin Sonata, No.3, Op. 108 in d minor, with Naoko Takao as pianist. My second recital included works of Weber's Sonata, No. 1, Op. lob, in F major, Mendelssohn's Sonata, in F major (1838), and Schumann's Sonata, No.Z,Op.121 in d minor with Grace Cho. I concluded my final recital with the works of Reger's Violin Sonata, No. 1, Op. 1 in d minor and Strauss' Violin Sonata, Op. 18 in E flat major, Soo-Young Jung at the piano. All three programs are documented in a digital audio format available on compact disc, with accompanying programs also available in digital format.

Becoming private property: custom, law, and the geographies of ‘ownership’ in 18th- and 19th-century England

The making private of hitherto public goods is a central tenet of neoliberalism. From land in Africa, Asia, and South America to the assertion of property rights over genes and cells by corporations, the process(es) of making private property matters more than ever. And yet, despite this importance, we know remarkably little about the spatial plays through which things become private property. In this paper I seek to address this imbalance by focusing upon the formative context of 18th- and early-19th-century England. The specific lens is wood, that most critical of all ‘natural’ things other than land in the transition to market-driven economies. It is shown that the interplay between custom, law, and local practices rendered stable and aspatial definitions of property impossible. Whilst law was the key technology through which property was mediated, the cadence of particular places gave these mediations distinctive forms. I conclude that not only must we take property seriously, but we must also take the conditions and contexts of its making seriously too.