Arts and Humanities Commons^™

From The Printing Press To The Guillotine: Gracchus Babeuf And The Revolutionary Language Of Thermidor, David Brian Audley

Dissertations and Theses

The traditional history of Franc̦ois-Noel 'Gracchus' Babeuf has been centered on politics and socialism. Since his death in 1 797 historians have attempted to show the foundations of nineteenth and twentieth-century social revolution and communism in the polemical works of Babeuf. One result of this method of research has been an assumption of contradiction within Babeuf's writings in the months immediately following the fall of Maxmilien Robespierre. Historians have assumed that the seemingly anti-Robespierrist rhetoric found from September 1794 to February 1795 was both a product and an evidence of the 'Thermidorization' of Babeuf. However, a close textual analysis of …

"Sin Decidirlo Me Volví Distinta": Gender, Deception And Development In Angeles Mastretta's ArráNcame La Vida, Luisa Samaniego

Dissertations and Theses

With this research I locate Angeles Mastretta's novel Arráncame la vida in the Bildungsroman genre, examine the particular forces influencing the protagonist's development and gain insight into her process of identity formation. This modern Bildungsroman portrays the fate of a woman in the male dominated world of post-revolutionary Mexico. I analyze how class, gender, historical moment, psychological and cultural influences are woven into the intriguing formation of the heroine, Catalina, variously constraining or propelling her forward in her quest for development.

I argue that the heroine transcends the limiting factors in her patriarchal environment, struggling against culturally sanctioned deception, confining …

Orwellian Socialism And The Myth Of The Working Class, Malcolm P. Ringo Iv

Dissertations and Theses

George Orwell left behind a rich body of political writings. Most scholars until now have confined research on Orwell to one of three areas: his reaction to the British class system; his criticisms of left-wing intellectuals; and the contrasting visions of the future that contended for supremacy in his consciousness. Scholars have overlooked the fact that the very foundation of Orwellian socialism rested on the creation of a political myth - the myth of the northern British working class. The northern British proletariat held specific traits, such as generosity and decency, that were created and shaped by particular socio-historical conditions. …

Predicate Clefting In Kisi, George Tucker Childs

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper examines the focus construction of Kisi, an Atlantic language (Niger-Congo) spoken by some half a million people primarily in Guinea but also in nearby Sierra Leone and Liberia. The data come from work done in 1983-84 on the southern dialect spoken in the Foya area of Upper Lofa County, Liberia. Of particular interest is the presence of what has been known in the literature as "predicate clefting'', e.g., DeGraff 1996. Its interactions and complementarity with negation, an inherently focusing construction (Marchese 1983), evince some complexity. Despite some superficial similarity, however, substantial syntactic differences exist. More similarities exist in …

Unwilling Accents : Reading Percy Bysshe Shelley’S Julian And Maddalo, Melody Ann Wilson

Dissertations and Theses

Most of the critical readings to date of Shelley's Julian and Maddalo have relied on the biographical elements of the poem. No doubt valid, these readings might have diverted attention from other elements of what might well be one of Shelley's most important poems.

Julian and Maddalo is the first of a projected series of four poems which Shelley never completed. lt does, however, participate in a group of poems linked thematically- if not consciously. These poems consist of Julian and Maddalo, "Ode to the West Wind," and "To a Sky-Lark." Each of these poems explores the notion of the …

Robert Francis Kelley And The Eastern European Division Of The State Department: 1917-1933, Agnes Eileen Olsen

Dissertations and Theses

This study traces the career of Robert Francis Kelley and his influence on American-Russian Relations during the nonrecognition period (1917-1933). The focus of this examination is Kelley's role in formulating, implementing, and sustaining America's anti-communist policy developed and solidified during the 1920s and 1930s. Particular attention is given to the senate recognition hearing of 1924, Kelley's training of future diplomats (George Kennan, Charles Bohlen, et al.), and his contributions to the preparations leading to the United States' recognition of Russia in 1933. Using Kelley's papers and personal correspondence, this study shows the growth of a man and the evolution of …

Le "Devenir Féminin" Dans La Sociéte Moderne Occidentale À Travers Les Deux Romans De Virginie Despentes, Nadia Louar

Dissertations and Theses

Les deux premiers romans de Virginie Despentes, Baise-moi (1995) et les Chiennes Savantes (1996), attestent de la mutation socio-culturelle qui affecte la societe contemporaine. Son style insolent, son langage corrosif et volontairement Prosaïque confirme et signe I 'évolution dans le monde occidental des valeurs, des désirs et aspirations de 1'homme, et plus crucialement de la femme des années 90. Plus qu'une révolution des moeurs, on assiste dans ses deux premières oeuvres á une véritable mutation culturelle qui bouleverse les rôles et modéles traditionnels des individus dans la société. Ce bouleversement qui s'exprime dans la vie banale, mais définitivement violente de …

The Poetics Of John Keats In “The Fall Of Hyperion, A Dream”, Amy A. Zenger

Dissertations and Theses

The Hyperion poems are Keats's epics. Like Wordsworth in The Excursion, in these poems Keats attempts to write an epic of the unexplored regions of the human mind. Unlike Wordsworth, however, Keats uses the narrative vocabulary of Hellenic myth--a vocabulary already at hand--but alters it to suit his own purposes. As they are concerned with the mind, these poems deal with the same issues that characterize contemporary debates about the relation of mind to language, issues that illuminate what these poems are about as much as they illuminate Keats's own use of language and theory of poetry.

This essay reads …

The Female Identity In Rosario Ferrâe’S Papeles De Pandora, Marcie Lynn Pratt

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines four stories from Rosario Ferre's first book of short stories, Papeles de Pandora: "La mufieca menor," "Cuando las mujeres quieren a los hombres," "Amalia," and "La bella durmiente." In Papeles de Pandora, Ferre explores the portrayal of female identity by dismantling the traditional roles that are assigned to women in Puerto Rican, patriarchal society. This thesis analyzes the ways in which Ferre skillfully deconstructs and (re )constructs the identity and sense of self of her female protagonists.

To demonstrate Ferre's deconstruction and (re)construction of the female identity, This study focuses on Ferre's use ofrecurring motifs such as: …

Measure 9: Oregon’S 1992 Anti-Gay Initiative, Patricia Jean Young

Dissertations and Theses

In 1992 Oregon voters rejected Measure 9, an anti-gay initiative sponsored by the Oregon Citizens Alliance, a conservative, religious organization. Measure 9 sought to amend the Oregon Constitution to prohibit the state from establishing civil rights protections based on sexual orientation. Its passage also would have required government agencies and schools to set a standard that declared homosexuality as abnormal and perverse.

The Measure 9 campaign was emotional and divisive. Rhetoric was at an all-time high as the issue of gay-rights made front-page news, and Oregonians from all walks of life were forced to examine their beliefs about homosexuality, religion, …

Lincoln C. Andrews And The Enforcement Of National Prohibition, 1925 To 1927, Philip Earle Metcalfe

Dissertations and Theses

Using newspaper accounts, congressional testimony, and recently declassified personnel files, this thesis traces the institutional history of the Treasury Department's Prohibition Unit in the years 1925 to 1927. From its inception in I 920, the Prohibition Unit functioned as a constitutional morals police, signally extending federal authority into the area of states' rights, with consequent scandal and public criticism. In an attempt at reform, the Treasury Department in 1925 placed Customs, the Coast Guard, and Prohibition enforcement under a single commander: Brigadier General Lincoln C. Andrews, an efficiency expert and West Point graduate. Andrews' plan was to wage a two-front …

Postwar Vice Crime And Political Corruption In Portland, Robert Christian Donnelly

Dissertations and Theses

The present thesis describes the connection between political corruption and vice crime in Portland as it was portrayed by media and public institutions and agencies in the 1940s and 1950s. The main body of the thesis discusses attempts to rid Portland of its vice problem through the City Club's crusade against crime and crooked politicians in the late 1940s and early 1950s and Mayor Dorothy McCullough Lee's subsequent reform movements against gambling and prostitution. The thesis will analyze The Oregonian's expose' on bootlegging, gambling, prostitution and links drawn by the newspaper to the Teamster's Union and Oregon politicians. From there, …