OU - Dissertations

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Open Access
A Theology of Angels: The Representation of Spiritual Beings in Ten Dramatic Works of Tirso de Molina, OdeM
(2013) Kasperek, Marian Amos; Lauer, A. Robert
As a Mercedarian Friar in seventeenth-century Spain, Tirso de Molina composed many dramatic works in which religious themes and images are prevalent. While critics have investigated various aspects of theology and religious imagery in his works, to date no comprehensive study has explored the roles that supernatural beings fulfill in his drama. Consequently, the purpose of this thesis is to analyze the way in which Tirso represents spiritual beings in his dramatic works. The study will focus on the plays in which angels and/or demons appear in the cast of characters.
Open Access
The aesthetics of metamorphosis: Ovidian poetics in the works of Maria Luisa Bombal and Elena Garro.
(2004) Creager, Nuri L.; Genova, Pamela A.,; Davis, Mary E.,
The study begins with an analysis of the Ovidian concept of metamorphosis and its effects on the body, identity, and the corpus of the text. Chapter Two addresses the notion of "literary myth, " and contextualizes Bombal's and Garro's work within a tradition that allows the authors to reinscribe and transform myths (both Western and Mesoamerican) in their texts. Chapter Three locates Bombal's Impressionistic aesthetic within French Symbolist and Post-Symbolist poetics, and establishes Bombal as one of the first novelists to translate its aesthetic for Latin America. Chapter Four provides an explication of Bombal's La ultima niebla through the interpretation of the myths of Narcissus, Orpheus, and Pygmalion---myths that illustrate her protagonist's psychic transformation and reveal a deconstruction of discourses on romantic love through parody and irony. Chapter Five both contextualizes Elena Garro within the avant-garde that characterized post-Revolutionary Mexico, and scrutinizes Garro's critical response to the ideology of liberation. Chapter Six explores textual and temporal transformations in Garro's Los recuerdos del porvenir, a work that reinterprets both the Surrealist myth of a golden age and the Mesoamerican myths of cosmic periodicity. The conclusion argues that, through the intertextual aesthetics of metamorphosis, these authors exploit the ambivalence of language in order to subvert essential notions of feminine identity and convey the paradoxes of Otherness, gender, and limitation.
Open Access
Between Laughter and Weeping: Justo medio in the Cartas marruecas of Jose Cadalso
(2012) Waldroop, Matt Curtis; Lauer, A. R.
This dissertation examines the genre, narrativity and use of humor in Colonel José Cadalso's1774 work Cartas marruecas (Moroccan Letters). The Moroccan Letters consists of a fictitious correspondence carried on between three people: Gazel Ben-Aly, a Moroccan youth traveling in Spain; Gazel's mentor Ben-Beley in Africa; and Gazel's Spanish friend, the military officer Nuño Núñez. The relationship of the Moroccan Letters to other works in which an author criticized his own country through the guise of a supposedly impartial foreign observer is analyzed, works such as: Giovanni Paolo Marana's L'Espion du Grand Seigneur (Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy, 1684-86)), Montesquieu's Lettres persanes (Persian Letters, 1721), and Oliver Goldsmith's Chinese Letters (Citizen of the World, 1760-61). Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America (1835) is a well-known example from the nineteenth century of the observations of a foreigner visiting another country
Open Access
Bovarysme Beyond Bovary: From the Psyche to the Text
(2012) Whisman, Albert Samuel; Genova, Pamela A
"Bovarysme Beyond Bovary: From the Psyche to the Text," centers on examining the notion of bovarysme as a particular stance on literature, as well as a specific literary technique, and seeks to establish the emergence of a textualized bovarysme in selected works by Gustave Flaubert. Jules de Gaultier's 1902 definition of bovarysme as "le pouvoir départi à l'homme de se concevoir autre qu'il n'est," while useful as a point of departure, focuses largely on the psychology of the fictional character and does not extend the notion's implications further, such as into the realm of literary art. I therefore investigate if Gaultier's definition of bovarysme could apply to writing. Can language also conceive of itself other than what it is?
Open Access
A comparative study of the three French versions in verse of the story of "Barlaam et Josaphaz".
(2001) Ouellette, Edward G.; Genova, Pamela,; Busby, Keith,
Chapter 4. "The Parables." The parables are an important aspect of the story of Barlaam et Josaphaz, and many enjoyed a popularity outside the story of these two saints. In this chapter I examine Chardri's decision to leave them out of his version, and their treatment at both the hands of Gui de Cambrai and the anonymous author.
Open Access
CONVIVENCIA: RASGOS LITERARIOS Y CULTURALES
(2019-05) Gabaldon-Vielma, Juan Rodrigo; Cortest, Luis; Rioseco, Marcelo; Wray, Grady; Herrick, Dylan; Shekparu, Shmuel
This dissertation studies the influence of the cultural exchange and the representation of the “other” among Christians, Muslims, and Jews in important texts from the Hispanic Middle Ages. Among the works examined are: the Cantar del Mío Cid, the Cantigas de Santa María and the Cantigas profanas of Alfonso the Wise, some exegetical texts such as the Dialogus contra iudaeos of Pedro Alfonso, the Vikuhah of Nahmánides, the Disputa entre un cristiano y un judío of unknown authorship, the Llibre del gentile e dels tres savis by Raimond Llull, and the anonymous Coloquio entre un cristiano y un judío. Additionally, I examine the poetic forms of Arab-Andalusian origin such as the Zejel and the Muwasaha and some Sephardic texts of the XVI and XVII centuries such as La vara de Judah, written by Salomon Ibn Verga, the Diálogo del Colorado of Daniel de Ávila Gallego and some poetic examples from oral and written Sephardic tradition. Most of the studies of cultural exchange in medieval Spanish literature have been devoted to some particular text; for the most part, only the influence of Muslim or Jewish culture on Christian culture has been taken into consideration. For the most part, cultural exchange as a whole has not been evaluated. Few studies have examined the earliest examples of Hispano- Arabic literature, such as zejeles, muwashas and jarchas, and their impact on medieval Spanish culture in general. Even fewer scholars have examined the literary and cultural elements that Jews and Muslims took with them after their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula. In other words, very few studies exist in which so many texts have been evaluated together in order to observe this literary and cultural exchange, as well as the representation of the "other" in the Spain of the three religions. In addition, contemporary theories about cultural exchange between members of different societies have rarely been taken into consideration. In this dissertation all of these elements will be examined in order to provide a clearer idea of the mark that the interaction between Christians, Jews and Muslims left on Hispanic literature and culture in general. In the first chapter, I review the theory of convivencia and the historic background of Al- Andalus from when the Muslims arrived in 711 AC until the fall of the Kingdom of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. I also study the case of the Martyrs of Cordoba through the Memoriale Sanctorum of Eulogius of Córdoba and the Indiculus Luminosus of Paul Alvar of Cordoba, both authors who witnessed the episode and wrote about it firsthand. In the second chapter, I examine the Zejel, the Muwasaha, and the Jarcha, three Arab- Andalusian forms of poetry created between the 9th and the 10th century. I also study their influence on the Galician-Portuguese cantigas and the presence of the Zejel in important literary works, such as the Cancionero de Baena from the beginning of 15th century, the Cancionero musical de los siglos 15th y 16th, and the dramatic works of Gil Vicente. In the third chapter, I analyze the influence of Muslim and Jewish translations on the prose works of Alfonso “the Wise.” In addition, I evaluate the adoption and evolution of the Castilian language as the official language of the kingdom, and the influence of Arabic on Castilian. I also study the use of the Zejel in Alfonso’s Cantigas de Santa María and Cantigas profanas and the depiction of Muslims and Jews in both poetic works. In the fourth chapter, I examine the Arab influence on the Poema de Mio Cid. In particular, I focus on the probable influence of the Arabic epic, the supposed Arab authorship of the poem, and the representation of Muslims in the poem. I also review the supposed antisemitism in the episode of Rachel and Vidas. In the fifth chapter, I discuss the most well-known religious disputation texts such as Dialogus contra iudaeos written by Petrus Alfonso, the Kuzari by Yehudá Ha-Leví, the anonymous Disputa entre un cristiano y un judío, the Llibre del gentil e dels tres savis by Raymond Llull, and the Coloquio entre un cristiano y un judío by an unknown author. I also study the accounts of the public disputations of Barcelona and Tortosa. In the sixth chapter, I observe the footprints of the cultural exchange taken outside the Iberian Peninsula. This footprint includes the Judeo-Spanish language carried by the Sephardic Jews in their diaspora. It also includes poetic forms in both written and oral, popular traditions. Additionally, I take into account some examples of Sephardic prose, such as the Diálogo del Colorado by Daniel de Ávila Gallego and La vara de Judah, written by Salomón Ibn Verga. Most of the texts studied demonstrate a deep literary and cultural exchange among Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
Open Access
The demythification of reality in the narrative of Julio Ramon Ribeyro.
(1981) Douglas, Dianne,
This study was concerned with the Peruvian writer Julio Ramon Ribeyro, a self-proclaimed skeptic whose narrative probes reality, exposing the myths undermining Peruvian society while, at the same time, illuminating the precarious situation of twentieth century man in a world characterized by frustration and discord. Ribeyro's works penetrate the socio-cultural facades which control his characters' destinies and contribute to their repeated failures, self-effacement, and solitude.
Open Access
The denunciation of self-deprecation in the works of Ana Lydia Vega, Blas Jimenez, and Nancy Morejon.
(2003) Pardo, Diana.; Marquez, Ismael P.,
I examine the theme of black identity with an emphasis on pride in order to counteract the portrayal of black images as negative stereotypes. I illustrate how they assume the responsibility of questioning the national values that shape the thought of Caribbean society through a literature of resistance. I demonstrate how these writers humanize the image of blacks by representing various aspects and dimensions of a more credible and genuine black psyche. Their discourse replaces pessimism with a more authentic image of blacks in the Caribbean.
Open Access
Detectives que leen: el rol de la literatura, evolucion y resistencia en el neopolicial de Ramon Diaz Eterovic y Leonardo Padura Fuentes
(2017-12-15) Miller, Christina; Colin, Jose Juan
My dissertation explores detective fiction in Chile and Cuba that began in the late eighties and nineties in two series that have continued up to the present. The detective story in Latin America known as the neopolicial, a term coined by the father of the genre, Paco Ignacio Taibo II, serves as a narrative tool that Ramón Díaz Eterovic and Leonardo Padura Fuentes utilize for their respective collections. Each saga witnesses the development of an unusual investigator: the protagonists Heredia in the Chilean series and Mario Conde in the Cuban series. Each detective serves as a witness to their ever-changing community throughout the collections of which they are the protagonist, often challenging the official history in Chile and Cuba while maintaining a striking relationship with literature. It is precisely their relationship with literature that is the focus of this study, as it serves the main characters in a variety of ways: literature is the source from which they build their code of ethics, their refuge from exterior reality, their mode of understanding the world around them, and influences the way they approach their investigations as well as the manner in which they conceive their own existence. Eight novels are analyzed in this project: La ciudad está triste (1987), Pasado Perfecto (1991), El hombre que pregunta (2002), Adiós, Hemingway (2003), La oscura memoria de las armas (2008), La neblina del ayer (2005), Los fuegos del pasado (2016) and Herejes (2013). In each chapter, I analyze the development of the main characters, exploring different aspects of their relationship with literature and their society. In the final chapter of this study, I explore the concept of expansion in the neopolicial in each saga, demonstrating the small-scale expansion that Díaz Eterovic displays in this most recent novel Los fuegos del pasado and also the departure from the neopolicial in Padura Fuentes’ hybrid work, the novel Herejes.
Open Access
D√♭pages utopiques :
(2001) Swofford, Joel David, Jr.; Cottom, Daniel,; Genova, Pamela,
Afin de creer cet espace neutre dans lequel chacun des deux auteurs s'adressera au probleme designe, More et Montaigne entament un processus dialectique que j'appelle dans le troisieme chapitre "speculation utopique." Une fois le probleme cible, il leur importera d'entreprendre une reorganisation critique des espaces textuels par la suppression explicite de ces elements qu'ils jugent nuisibles a la stabilite et a la continuite des structures en train de se creer.
Open Access
An eighteenth-century poetic sensibility :
(1971) Rios, Francisco Armando,
Open Access
El existencialismo de Eduardo Mallea /
(1967) Collins, Alice Kent,
Open Access
EL PENSAMIENTO EXTRANJERO Y EL EXILIO DE LA LITERATURA CUBANA: EL UNIVERSO LITERARIO CUBANO LLEVA UNA FUERTE DIMENSIÓN FORÁNEA
(2021-05-14) Hidalgo, Angel; Colín, José Juan; Cortest, Luis; Marcelo, Rioseco; Anderson, David
In this study the idea of exile is fundamental to understanding the thinking of the Cuban writer. It was used to demonstrate that Cuban literature has been largely permeated from the diaspora. In the case of Cuban literature, this imprint of certain insurmountable sadness, is very present in the literature of the island as a result of that experience of feeling out of place because of being foreign from its beginnings, and this is one of the elements that have characterized and singularized it. The main idea was to present in this work the Cuban literary universe that since its beginnings has had dependence on foreign ideas. Therefore, when talking about Cuban literature, the foreign idea should not be set aside, because the Cuban literary universe carries with it a great foreign dimension since its inception and has been developed largely by writers living in exile. En este estudio la idea del exilio es fundamental para entender el pensamiento del escritor cubano. Fue utilizada para demostrar que la literatura cubana ha sido permeada en su mayor parte desde la diáspora. En el caso de la literatura cubana, dicha huella, la de cierta tristeza insalvable, está muy presente en la literatura de la isla como consecuencia de esa experiencia de sentirse fuera de lugar por ser lo foráneo, desde sus comienzos, y es uno de los elementos que la han caracterizado y singularizado. La idea principal fue presentar en este trabajo el universo literario cubano que desde sus inicios ha tenido la dependencia de las ideas foráneas. Por eso, cuando se habla de la literatura cubana, no se le debe apartar la idea extranjera, porque el universo literario cubano lleva consigo una gran dimensión foránea desde sus inicios y se ha desarrollado en gran parte por escritores viviendo en el exilio.
Open Access
El sino sangriento :
(1971) P√♭z, Arturo,
Open Access
El tema de la orfandad en la poes√≠de C√♭r Vallejo /
(1973) S√ʻhez, Sa√∫1943-
Open Access
Estados de excepción. La violencia transpolítica en la narrativa (reciente) de México, Colombia y Argentina
(2019-05-10) Romero Pedroza, Guillermo Alberto; Rioseco, Marcelo; Cortest, Luis; Wray, Grady C.; Colín, José Juan; Hirschfeld, Tassie
In the last decades, the political violence that characterized the first half of the twentieth century in Latin America has mutated, becoming a daily phenomenon and, therefore, invisible, that exemplifies what Jean Baudrillard has called trans political violence. The institutional, political, economic, and social changes that occurred in Latin America through the 1970’s and 1980’s, especially those developed under the regime of dictatorial governments, contributed to create the appropriate conditions for the implementation of the processes of economic liberalization and global market –as part of the concept of institutional modernization and cultural globalization– that gave rise to the neoliberal mentality. Neoliberalism becomes hegemonic as a mode of discourse, and is incorporated into the way people understand, interpret and live in the world. Its integration into a globalized society has promoted changes in the forms of labor, in social relations, as well as the dismantling of welfare necessities; more importantly perhaps, it has motivated the rise of new forms of contemporary violence which develop and nurture themselves from the political and economic opportunities that neoliberalism creates. In fact, the result of this process are precarious forms of life that especially affect the poorest levels of society. This work will present a theoretical approach to the concept of violence and will focus on its trans political manifestation, as a specifically contemporary form of violence produced in a context characterized by very particular historical, political, and social conditions. Subsequently, we will analyze the literary representation of this form of violence in a group of contemporary Latin American novels, belonging to a canon that we have called literature of violence. Through the study of works by Mexican Elmer Mendoza, Colombian Fernando Vallejo, and Argentinian Laura Alcoba, Elsa Osorio y Leopoldo Brizuela, in which each author approaches literarily a specific form of violence in their country, we will analyze the way in which these specific forms of violence (narco-violence in Mexico and Colombia and State violence in Argentina) give way to the trans political violence as it has been conceptualized by Baudrillard. Likewise, we will differentiate the way in which each form of violence is represented literarily.
Open Access
The evolution of the West Indian's image in the Afro-American novel,
(1978) Rahming, Melvin B.,
Open Access
The expanding significance of the shrinking hero in the novels of Marguerite Duras.
(1981) Olson, Robert Lydon,
For Marguerite Duras, life is an annihilating passion that is most appropriately expressed by an antithetical and irrational apprehension of reality. There is a progressive feminacy in the characters, be they men or women. The early novels, harmonious and cerebrally conceived, show a masculine, ordered interpretation of reality. With the middle and more recent works, wordy theorizing is replaced by a muted, poetic introversion of experience. The emergence of the psychotic heroes and antiheroes reveals Duras' revolt against the Freudian reality principle which masks the antithetical, destructive nature of human experience.
Open Access
Figures controversees: Retif de La Bretonne (1734--1806) et la femme.
(2006) Righeschi-caldwell, Cecile Isabelle.; Abramson, Julie,
This thesis proposes a synthetic analysis of his contradictory attitudes toward the female sex. The author's obsessive ambivalence toward the feminine, it is argued, signals a complex personality ill at ease with eighteenth-century expectations of masculinity. To situate this argument, Chapter 1 gives an overview of the representation and status of women in Ancien Regime France. Within this literary and historical context, the next chapters develop close readings drawn from the range of Retif's works. Chapter 2 examines traditionalist or retrogressive elements in his writing. The third chapter analyzes contrastingly progressive notions that suggest an early form of feminism. The antithetical currents brought forward in these chapters parallel ambiguities in the author's own literary persona, analyzed in Chapter 4. Retifs women ultimately mirror the author's own psychopathology. His contradictory portraits figure fault lines in a masculine self whose full realization entailed painful deviance from the ideal.
Open Access
Guillermo Valencia y su relacion con el Simbolismo Frances.
(1997) Bejarano, Luis Guillermo.; Davis, Mary E.,
The dissertation is divided into four chapters. In the first, I study Valencia's life and education, his primary contact with universal literary traditions, and the adoption of Symbolism, which eventually shapes his multicultural interests and linguistic mastery. In the second chapter, I analyze and compare the works of Valencia with some of the most representative poems by the French poets Baudelaire, Mallarme, Verlaine and Rimbaud. Valencia's translations of famous works of these French poets becomes the starting point to discuss his own Symbolist style. In addition, in the second chapter, I review the resonance and adaptability of French Symbolism into the Modernista movement in Latin America. In the third chapter I delve into some of the most important leit motifs of the Symbolist period that became part of Valencia's representative poems, primarily those of Ritos, which function as a paradigm of his poetic world. These motifs are: the living anguish of the poet, his destiny as an artist, his portrait of twilight and the mutability of life, and finally, Valencia's perception of the enigmatic nature of the Modernista woman. The fourth chapter serves as a confirmation of the originality of Valencia, not only of his personalized Symbolist style in Ritos, but also of his versatility as a creative translator in the Orientalist collection, Catay, which, despite differences in contexts and periods, confirms the aesthetic unity of Valencia's poetic work. The Symbolist imagery projected in Catay becomes more subtle and naive than that of Ritos and Otras poesias, but all the collections express different manifestations of the poet's consistent aesthetic. Finally, in the last chapter, I analyze a representative sample from all the poet's collections in order to justify the harmony between the suggestive imagery of the content and the architecture of the form. In the conclusion I suggest that Valencia's poetry as a whole merits further explanation of its Symbolist nature, and this dissertation provides a new framework to elucidate a syncretic and original aesthetic within the context of a wider formulation of Modernismo.