Literature in English, North America Commons^™

Wandering In Contemporary Literature: A Narrative Theory Of Cognition, Hillel E. Broder

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study offers a theory of wandering cognition as an animating feature of western literature, in general, and of contemporary literature, in particular. Unlike existing theories of peripatetic bodies and minds in fiction that focus primarily on political critiques, cultural practices, or pleasures of digression, this theory of wandering offers an aesthetic philosophy and ethical critique of representing cognition, memory, and narrative identity that finds affinities in the political, phenomenological, and ethical thought of Walter Benjamin, Emmanuel Levinas, and Giorgio Agamben.

Unlike existing cognitive theories of literature that apply cognitive theory to literary study (or vice versa), this study develops …

The New Reflexivity: Puzzle Films, Found Footage, And Cinematic Narration In The Digital Age, Jordan Lavender-Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“The New Reflexivity” tracks two narrative styles of contemporary Hollywood production that have yet to be studied in tandem: the puzzle film and the found footage horror film. In early August 1999, near the end of what D.N. Rodowick refers to as “the summer of digital paranoia,” two films entered the wide-release U.S. theatrical marketplace and enjoyed surprisingly massive financial success, just as news of the “death of film” circulated widely. Though each might typically be classified as belonging to the horror genre, both the unreliable “puzzle film” The Sixth Sense and the fake-documentary “found footage film” The Blair Witch …

Proto-Postmodernism: Constructing Postmodern Ethics Through Cold War Literature And Theory, Rock Lamanna

Departmental Honors Projects

While postmodern theory and literature is typically viewed as either “anti-humanist” or a rejection of Humanism, this essay reconsiders these assumptions by exploring ethical questions in early postmodern novels and theory, referred to as “proto-postmodernism.” For proto-postmodernists such as Hannah Arendt, Albert Camus, Ralph Ellison, Joseph Heller, and Kurt Vonnegut, Humanism—the ethical framework that asserts a centered “self” and a collective “metanarrative” of human progress—causes and legitimates violence, yet in their theories and literature, they promote the humanist value of dignity in their critiques of modern ethics and politics. To examine this hybrid stance toward Humanism, the first section situates …

Toward An Ontology Of Exhaustion: On The Affective Structures Of Masculinity In The American Oilfield, John W. Jepsen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

What is the significance of the oil encounter in the lives of men living and working in the modern oilfields of the United States? Engaging with both literary examples of the lives of men in the Interior West and the personal experiences and reflections of the author, this essay seeks to examine the connections between ideology and place as it works to shape the identity and affect of men in America's oilfields, ultimately ending in them identifying with the very resources their activities seek to exploit and exhaust. Utilizing Theodore Adorno's Minima Moralia as its moral touchstone, this essay works …

The Philosophy Of Ecology In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath, Stephanie A. Steinbrecher

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the possibilities for ecocritical study in fiction through John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath. Major ecocritical interpretation has yet to gain much traction in novels; by focusing on human nature, this form’s “anthropocentric” posture seems itself to be antithetical to ecocritical efforts, which aim to unseat humans as the center of the moral universe. However, by analyzing The Grapes of Wrath’s formal, narratorial, and thematic valences, I argue that principles of social justice concurrently imply environmental justice in the philosophical currents of the text. Tenets of deep ecology and Aldo Leopold’s “land ethic” …

The Transition From The Psychical To The Psychological: An Examination Of William James’ Influence On Henry James’ “The Turn Of The Screw”, Harry A. Jones Iv

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will show that, in its original form, “The Turn of the Screw” acted as a monument to the intellectual unity shared between Henry James and his brother William. Through evaluating James’ biography, memoirs, and letters with William, this thesis will illustrate the subtle collaborative inspirations that initially helped James write the first twelve-part serial edition of “The Turn of the Screw” for Collier’s Weekly, which ran from January 27, 1898 until April 16, 1898. I will also demonstrate the effect of William’s philosophy and his death on the revisions James’ made to his story as published in the …

The Somewhere We Wish Were Nowhere: Dystopian Realities And (Un)Democratic Imaginaries, Benjamin B. Taylor

Senior Independent Study Theses

How do political practices influence mass culture? Conversely, how does mass culture influence political practice? This project addresses these questions by turning to the concepts of utopia and dystopia. Imagined utopic and dystopic visions express both the hopes and anxieties of the societies producing them. Dystopias also highlight the mechanisms of power that function within particular social orders. Through readings of Lois Lowry’s The Giver and Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, I demonstrate how utopia and dystopia function and how we can respond to dystopic realities by theorizing solutions that are more conducive to the …

Ethics Of Counter Narrative In Delillo’S Falling Man, Qingji He

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "Ethics of Counter-Narrative in DeLillo's Falling Man" Qingji He analyzes Don DeLillo's counter-narrative in his post-9/11 novel Falling Man. The objective is to show how ethical dimensions function fundamentally in formulating an appropriate counter-narrative and why DeLillo's counter-narrative echoes views expressed in his "In the Ruins of the Future." He argues that DeLillo's counter-narrative entails the necessity of ethical consciousness and responsibility. It is Giorgio Morandi's still life paintings instead of media representation that become pivotal in Lianne's transformative and redemptive process after the terrorist attack. Similarly, David Janiak's performance art and Richard Drew's picture …

"Pitiful Creature Of Darkness": The Subhuman And The Superhuman In The Phantom Of The Opera, Jessica Sternfeld

Music Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"This chapter focuses on The Phantom of the Opera, the megamusical that perhaps most boldly faces the idea of disability head-on, as it stars a character whose face, as one journalist described it, looks 'like melted cheese' (Smith, 1995). The musical's approach to the Phantom's disability is remarkably layered and inconsistent; the Phantom is portrayed in numerous ways (monster, criminal, genius, god, ghost) and his physical disability blurs regularly with his 'soul;' which is where numerous characters locate the origin of his problems. His face and its famous mask covering are both feared and thrilled over, but with a reassuring …

"Casting Aside That Ficticious Self.": Deciphering Female Identity In The Awakening 2015, Anne L. Dicosimo

Master's Theses

Kate Chopin’s female protagonists have long since fascinated literary critics, raising serious questions concerning the influence of nineteenth-century female gender roles in her writing. Published in 1899, The Awakening demonstrates the changeability of the various representations of woman. In the nineteenth century, the subject of women may be divided into two categories: the True Woman and the New Woman. The former were expected to “cherish and maintain the four cardinal virtues of piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (Khoshnood et al.), while the latter sought to move away from hearth and home in order to focus on education, professions, and political …

Poetry Editorial: Audioecopoetics, Camilla Nelson

The Goose

Poetry Editorial by Camilla Nelson

From Away With The Birds, Hanna Tuulikki

The Goose

Poetry by Hanna Tuulikki

Dŵr, Rhys G. Trimble Mr

The Goose

Poetry by Rhys Trimble

Lip Poem, Alistair Noon

The Goose

Poetry by Alistair Noon; Notes on the Text by Camilla Nelson.

Countersong: Rising Or Falling, Jonathan Skinner

The Goose

A recording, analysis and poetic translation of countersong between two Hermit thrushes (Catharus guttatis) recorded in the mountains of Northern New Mexico (United States) on 19 July 2015.

Editor's Notebook, Lisa Szabo-Jones, Paul Huebener

The Goose

Editorial introduction to The Goose Volume 14, Issue 1 (2015).

The White City, Steven Hitchins

The Goose

Audio guide to The White City, a participatory sensing expedition through the streets of Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd.

Andscape: Marta Á Góðafoss, A Rawlings, Marta Guðrún Jóhannesdóttir

The Goose

Poetry by a rawlings and Marta Guðrún Jóhannesdóttir

Heirloom: A Piper's Orchard Abecadarian, Shin Yu Pai

The Goose

Poetry by Shin Yu Pai

Canine Haiku: Yellow Ball, Julie Andreyev, Tom (Canine)

The Goose

Poetry by Julie Andreyev and Tom.

Petrocan, Madelaine C. Longman Ms,

The Goose

Poetry by Madelaine Longman

Brushfire, Ariel Gordon

The Goose

“Brushfire” concerns itself with how people use urban forests, from indecent exposure to poaching to teenage drinking party-bonfires that get out of control. Though it could be construed as a manifesto on walking-in-the-woods, it also touches on some of the conflicts inherent in urban/nature experiences.

A Companion To Australian Aboriginal Literature Edited By Belinda Wheeler, Jose-Carlos Redondo-Olmedilla

The Goose

José-Carlos Redondo-Olmedilla reviews A Companion to Australian Aboriginal Literature, edited by Belinda Wheeler.

Critical Collaborations: Indigeneity, Diaspora, And Ecology In Canadian Literary Studies Edited By Smaro Kamboureli And Christl Verduyn, Chad Weidner

The Goose

Chad Weidner reviews Critical Collaborations: Indigeneity, Diaspora, and Ecology in Canadian Literary Studies edited by Smaro Kamboureli and Christl Verduyn.

Merging: Contemplations On Farming & Ecology From Horseback By Soren Bondrup-Nielsen, Anna Banks

The Goose

Anna Banks reviews Merging: Contemplations on Farming & Ecology from Horseback, by Soren Bondrup-Nielsen.

The Stag Head Spoke By Erina Harris, Joel Deshaye

The Goose

Joel Deshaye reviews Erina Harris's book of poetry entitled The Stag Head Spoke.

Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections With Other Animals And The Earth Edited By Carol J. Adams And Lori Gruen, Astrida Neimanis

The Goose

Astrida Neimanis reviews Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth, edited by Carol J. Adams and Lori Gruen.

The Cambridge Companion To Literature And The Environment Edited By Louise Westling, Randy Lee Cutler

The Goose

Randy Lee Cutler reviews The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Environment, edited by Louise Westling

Ringing Here & There: A Nature Calendar By Brian Bartlett, Joel Deshaye

The Goose

Joel Deshaye reviews Brian Bartlett's Ringing Here & There: A Nature Calendar

Balance Of Fragile Things By Olivia Chadha, Nicole Bartley

The Goose

Nicole Bartley reviews Balance of Fragile Things by Olivia Chadha.