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English Language and Literature Commons

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Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Theses/Dissertations

2012

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in English Language and Literature

Reading Through Prayer: Lectio Divina And "Liturgical Reading" In Some Medieval Texts, Marie Schilling Grogan Jan 2012

Reading Through Prayer: Lectio Divina And "Liturgical Reading" In Some Medieval Texts, Marie Schilling Grogan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prayer texts found in a variety of medieval genres merit more careful scrutiny from literary critical perspectives. Such attention to the verbal artifacts, prayers, that memorialize an activity of central importance in medieval culture, praying, deepens our understanding not only of the prayers and the works in which they are found, but also of the milieu that produced them. This study seeks to model such a critical turn by reading three particular works "through" the prayers that constitute, punctuate and frame them -- privileging the prayers as the starting points for the investigation of their literary and devotional settings. This …


Recollecting Turbulence: Catastrophe And Sacrifice In The "History Of My Life" By Henry Darger, Carl Watson Jan 2012

Recollecting Turbulence: Catastrophe And Sacrifice In The "History Of My Life" By Henry Darger, Carl Watson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study of "The History of My Life" the 5,086 page autobiographical text by the outsider artist/author Henry Darger, uses non-linear modes of analysis, such as chaos and complexity theory, to explore the meaning of Darger's epic narrative. Beginning with the idea that turbulence, seemingly chaotic, actually comes about as a compensatory restructuring of inadequate or unstable system dynamics, this study goes on to show that, as both influence and effect, turbulence is found at every level of Darger's life and art, both in theme and structure. "My Life" is a prime example: an extended narrative describing a cataclysmic tornado, …