Digital Commons Network^™

Post-Racial Or Racial Plateau?: Pym’S Revisions Of Arthur Gordon Pym’S Racism, Alyssa Amaral

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Ossianic Telegraphy: Bardic Networks And Imperial Relays, Eric Gidal

Studies in Scottish Literature

Relates James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry (1760) and other Ossianic poems to evolving Scottish networks of commerce and communication, especially commercial telegraphy and the postal system, and posits associations also with comments in Adam Smith's Lectures on Jurisprudence and Theory of Moral Sentiments, to suggest that Macpherson's remediation of oral poetry asserted ideas of authorial identity and readership as "relays" in a new imperial network.

John Byrne's The Slab Boys: Technicolored Hell-Hole In A Town Called Malice, William Donaldson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Presents a detailed discussion and appreciation of the Slab Boys tetralogy, a sequence of four plays by the Scottish playwright and painter John Byrne, beginning with The Slab Boys (1978), focused on a group of apprentices in the color-mixing room of a Paisley carpet-factory in the 1950s, and then tracing the divergence of their lives through three later plays, The Loveliest Night of the Year (1979, later titled Cuttin' A Rug), Still Life (1982), and Nova Scotia (2008); examines Byrne's characterization, "excoriatingly destructive wit," and "rambunctiously demotic language"; analyzes the tetralogy's continuing major themes of the relation between art …

The Narrative Of Traumatic Memory In Postcolonial Irish Fiction, Kayla Mccarthy-Curtis

Master’s Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Catholic Guilt : Longing And Belonging In The Fiction Of François Mauriac And John Mcgahern, Eamon Maher

Articles

No abstract provided.

Revised Emblems Of Erin In Novels By John Mcgahern And Colum Mccann (2015), Shaun O’Connell

New England Journal of Public Policy

In “Cathal’s Lake,” a 1996 story by Colum McCann, “a big [Irish] farmer with a thick chest” lives by a lake, “which in itself is a miniature countryside—ringed with chestnut trees and brambles, banked ten feet high on the northern side, with another mound of dirt on the eastern side, where frogsong can often be heard.” In By the Lake, a 2002 novel by John McGahern, an aging Irishman also lives by a lake, another enclosed space of tranquility, as is suggested in the opening lines: “The morning was clear. There was no wind on the lake. There was …

Home And Away: Imagining Ireland Imagining America (2013), Shaun O’Connell

New England Journal of Public Policy

From the 2013 Editor's Note by Padraig O'Malley: Shaun O’Connell has lost none of his touch. In “Home and Away: Imagining Ireland Imagining America,” O’Connell juxtaposes two novels: Alice McDermott’s Charming Billy (1998) and Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn (2009) and reveals the parallels and contrasts that enrich the discussion of Irish and Irish American identities. Toibin, an Irish writer, would have us see an America, land of the free, as an open, inviting place but exacting in redeeming promises made; McDermott, an American writer, portrays an Ireland that is magical, a little bit of heaven, but finally a closed and bitter …

Stephen Dedalus' Search For Identity In Catholic Ireland, Cristina L. Cuevas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my research was to explore the interplay between religion and art in James Joyce’s novel, A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN. My aim was to trace the development of the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus by analyzing how Catholicsim is an institution that forms him, yet must reject to realize his artistic potential. I researched Joyce’s background to gain an understanding of the exilic experience on the literature. Through the exilic lens, I realized that Catholicism was the predominant influence on Stephen’s need to embark on a self-imposed exile at the end of the novel. …

Domestic Spaces In Transition: Modern Representations Of Dwelling In The Texts Of Elizabeth Bowen, Shannon Tivnan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In much of the writing of twentieth century Anglo-Irish author Elizabeth Bowen, houses, and in particular family homes, often reflect the psychological and social status of their inhabitants. They can be understood as the structural embodiments of the vast cultural and economic network taking shape as the forces of urbanization and industrialization changed the landscape. Yet, even as these domestic spaces represent the predominant social relations characterizing the first half of the twentieth century, the family homes also can play a key role in character development and gender identity, defining the lives of those who inhabit them, by perpetuating these …

The Wilderness In Medieval English Literature: Genre, Audience And Society, Lisa Myers

English Language and Literature ETDs

The Wilderness in Medieval English Literature: Genre, Audience and Society' focuses on the disjunction between the actual environmental conditions of medieval England and the depiction of the wilderness in the literature of the time period from the Anglo-Saxon conversion to the close of the Middle Ages. Using environmental history to identify the moments of slippage between fact and fiction, this project examines the ideology behind the representations of the wilderness in literature and the relationship of these representations to social practices and cultural norms as well as genre and targeted audience. The first chapter argues that the depiction of early …

Understanding The Human Experience Through Short Story: A Comparative Analysis Of Four Stories From James Joyce’S Dubliners And George Saunders’ Tenth Of December, Patrick Gallagher

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

Transatlantic And The Invention Of Wings: Historiographic Metafiction In Contemporary Novels And The Importance Of Intersectionality On The Journey To Self-Knowledge, Samantha Rump

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

A Bard Unkend: Selected Poems In The Scottish Dialect By Gavin Turnbull, Patrick G. Scott

Faculty Publications

The Scottish-born poet and actor Gavin Turnbull (1765-1816), a younger contemporary of Robert Burns, published two volumes of poetry in Scotland before emigrating in 1795 to the United States, where he settled in Charleston, South Carolina. This selection draws attention to a neglected aspect of Turnbull's work, his writing in Scots. Drawing on advance research for the first collected edition of Turnbull's poetry, the selection includes verse in Scots from all phases of his career, including poetry in Scots published in America, together with a biographical introduction and background notes.

Revised Emblems Of Erin In Novels By John Mcgahern And Colum Mccann, Shaun O’Connell

New England Journal of Public Policy

In “Cathal’s Lake,” a 1996 story by Colum McCann, “a big [Irish] farmer with a thick chest” lives by a lake, “which in itself is a miniature countryside—ringed with chestnut trees and brambles, banked ten feet high on the northern side, with another mound of dirt on the eastern side, where frogsong can often be heard.” In By the Lake, a 2002 novel by John McGahern, an aging Irishman also lives by a lake, another enclosed space of tranquility, as is suggested in the opening lines: “The morning was clear. There was no wind on the lake. There was …

Undead Empire: How Folklore Animates The Human Corpse In Nineteenth-Century British Literature, Charles Hoge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores representations of the human corpse in nineteenth-century British literature and ephemeral culture as a dynamic, multidirectional vehicle used by writers and readers to help articulate emerging anxieties that were complicating the very idea of death. Using cultural criticism as its primary critical heuristic filter, this project analyzes how the lingering influence of folklore animates the human corpses that populate canonical and extra-canonical nineteenth-century British literature.

The first chapter examines the treatment of the human corpse through burial and mourning rituals, as specific developments within these procedures provide interpretive windows into how the idea of death was quickly …

New York City Street Theater: Gender, Performance, And The Urban From Plessy To Brown, Erin Nicholson Gale

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigates the ordinary, public performances of fictional female characters in novels set on the streets of Manhattan during the years of legal segregation in the United States. I examine a range of actions from bragging to racial passing, and I argue these ordinary performances are central to our ability to interpret race, gender, and class relations. I detect race, class, and gender-based impulses to segregate and exclude others that overlap with the motives guiding the national, legal edict to segregate people by race. These guiding inclinations, legible through the history of Manhattan's grid, zoning laws, and the city …

The Black Frontier, Aparajita Nanda

English

As a nationalistic concept, frontier refers to America's westward expansion, which was propelled in the nineteenth century by Manifest Destiny. Culturally, frontier promises even more: the creation of communities, the development of markets and states, the merging of peoples and cultures, and the promise of survival and persistence based on values of equality and democracy. Thousands of people left their homes in the East to pursue these ideals, including large communities of African Americans. However, African Americans, like many other cultural groups who moved westward, encountered struggles when they reached the new frontier. In some cases, they faced the same …

“Do Not Ask Me To Remain The Same”: Charles Darwin In Lizzie Bright And The Buckminster Boy, Rachael D. Tague

English Seminar Capstone Research Papers

In Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, Gary D. Schmidt uses Darwin to allow his young protagonist to question the mindless acceptance of organized religion and to force his readers to engage difficult conversations, come to their own conclusions, and apply truth to their lives. Darwin provides answers and adventure, delivers Turner from his prison-like label, draws him closer to his father, his friends, and nature, while at the same time disconnecting him from the self-righteous town, its corrupt church, and its unjust God. Phippsburg was a prison; Darwin is freedom.

The Importance Of Appearances In Literature: What Does It Mean To Be A Redhead In Literature?, Chelsea J. Anderson

Honors Theses

In literature, appearances always seem to play a major part of each character. The physical descriptions of each character are important to the development of the story. Therefore, it seems that a character’s physical appearance becomes an important part of character development, and his/her physical traits help to determine the type of character he/she will be. Often times, different hair colors carry associations along with them. Redheads have been associated with certain temperaments and personality traits throughout history. In literature, red-headed characters often have the temperaments, traits, and negative connotations associated with redheads. One of the major assumptions made about …

Irish Enough?, Jordan Marie Abbruzzese

English Student Capstone Projects - Creative Writing

"Irish Enough?" is an essay collection that primarily describes my travels to Ireland. Before leaving America, I was overwhelmed with the prospect that I would be touring the country for eleven days, exploring where my great-grandparents came from, and essentially journeying to “the homeland” (as my family referred to it at a wedding, months later). Through the collection I explore not only what it is like to travel through Ireland as an outsider, but also the expectations and realities of being an American with Irish heritage “returning” to Ireland. The collection tackles questions, such as “Why does our society romanticize …

From England's Bridewell To America's Brides: Imprisoned Women, Shakespeare's Measure For Measure, And Empire, Alicia Meyer

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis examines the experience of largely single women in London’s house of correction, Bridewell Prison, and argues that Bridewell’s prisoners, and the nature of their crimes, reveal the state’s desire for dependent, sexually controlled, yet ultimately productive women. Scholars have largely neglected the place of early modern women’s imprisonment despite its pervasive presence in the everyday lives of common English women. By examining the historical and cultural implications of early modern women and prison, this thesis contends that women’s prisons were more than simply establishments of punishment and reform. A closer examination of Bridewell’s philosophy and practices shows how …

A Tale Of Acadie: Le Grand DéRangement Acadien Et Son Identité LittéRaire, Molly I. Parent

Senior Theses and Projects

In 1755, close to 12,000 Acadians, the descendants of French colonists, were expelled by British forces from their home in present-day Nova Scotia. They were then dispersed throughout the thirteen Atlantic colonies of the British Empire and forced to begin their lives anew in the wake of the trauma that they had suffered. This event has since been coined the “Grand Dérangement,” a title that ultimately suggests the havoc that was caused by the disruption of a culture. The Acadians were a people who had separated themselves from the European powers that fought over their land, a people who found …

[Review Of The Book "Other People's Diasporas": Negotiating Race In Contemporary Irish And Irish American Culture By Sinead Moynihan], Kathleen Vejvoda

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

George Lippard’S The Quaker City: Disjointed Text, Dismembered Bodies, Regenerated Democracy, D. Berton Emerson

English Faculty Scholarship

This essay argues that George Lippard’s The Quaker City (1844–1845), originally published in ten separate numbers, is best understood when read more consistently with Lippard’s own mid-production assessment: that he was producing two different books, a novel and its sequel. Doing so reveals that the target of Lippard’s unruly social protest transitions away from a nation-framed story featuring the seduction of an innocent woman and the moral degradation of a community in which such a crime would be possible, to a broader complaint in the sequel against the lack of democratic power and agency at the local level. I start …

The Rise And Fall Of The New Edinburgh Theatre Royal, 1767-1859: Archival Documents And Performance History, Judith Bailey Slagle

ETSU Faculty Works

Excerpt: In 1859, the Edinburgh house of Wood and Company published a Sketch of the History of the Edinburgh Th eatre-Royal in honor of its fi nal performance and closing, its author lamenting that “Th is House, which has been a scene of amusement to the citizens of Edinburgh for as long as most of them have lived, has at length come to the termination of its own existence” (3).

James And Shakespeare: Unification Through Mapping, Christina Wagner

ETD Archive

The art of exploration became an important aspect of theater in early modern England. Exploration is typically done through the utilization of a map. The map scene in Lear provides a focal point to peer into the political ventures of King James I. As a proponent for peace, James both unified and divided his kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland through the use of cartography as a way to show the aspirations of a king. Lear, in dividing his kingdom between his three daughters, shows Shakespeare's careful strategic planning of the division of a kingdom and what that means in …

Living By The Code: Authority In Gerard Stembridge's The Gay Detective, Kathleen A. Heininge

Faculty Publications - Department of English

Irish drama has few representations of police officers as anything but a trope for authority, tending to avoid any substantive character development. Likewise, it has few representations of homosexual characters, and when such representations do exist they are often caricatures. Reductive portrayals of police often arise from the complex relationship the Irish have with authority and with the legal system. But one of the few exceptions to this trend, and the only play to tackle the representation of a police officer and a homosexual at once, is Gerard Stembridge’s play The Gay Detective (1996). The play offers up the character …

Criterion: A Journal For Literary Criticism, Criterion: A Journal For Literary Criticism

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

The Life Aquatic: Liquid Poetics And The Discourse Of Friendship In The Faerie Queene, Steven Swarbrick

Publications and Research

From Michel de Montainge’s essay “Of Friendship” to Jacques Derrida’s rearticulation of the former in The Politics of Friendship, scholars both early modern and modern have sought ways to address the fluid co-mixture of bodies from which the discourse of friendship can and does emerge. More recently still, new materialist thinkers of ontology have begun to shift our attention to the ways both human and nonhuman bodies inter-animate in the making of political, interpersonal, and artistic life worlds. Together with these investigations, I argue that an aquacentric account of relation is necessary to think the subject of friendship …

Cumulative Index Of Clcweb: Comparative Literature And Culture (1999-), Steven Tötösy De Zepetnek

CLCWeb Library

No abstract provided.