Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Arthur (Fictitious character) Fiction'

The aim of this thesis is to introduce, justify, and apply a better framework for analysing Sherlock Holmes, one of the most adapted characters of all time. The project works to resituate the focus of those involved in studying adaptations of Sherlock Holmes from an examination of the discrete transition of a text from page to screen, to the evolution of the character as it changes across various intertexts and through time. The purpose is to show that it is the character specifically, and not the literary text with its narrative, genric, and aesthetic qualifications, that is being adapted, and that with this in mind, studying adaptations of Sherlock Holmes should involve a study of the various processes, pressures, and mechanisms that shape, change, and define the character throughout its hundreds of screen afterlives. This thesis then analyses many of these processes with the aim of contributing to our understanding of how a character like Holmes is moulded through remediation. It takes into account how the character’s indices shift and accumulate as they are variously performed. It also considers how the mechanisms of selection function to privilege certain incarnations of the character, and how that privileging becomes a part of future readings. Finally, it addresses how reception and perception by audiences influence how the character is read, and thus how it is understood. By considering all of these aspects of the evolutionary process, and by avoiding a chronological or even a linear organization of the texts under scrutiny, this work seeks to offer a more complete answer to the question of how a single source can support a multitude of varied, even contradictory adaptations and remain relevant and interesting through the years.

viii, 94 p.
My thesis examines Star Wars fan fiction about Anakin Skywalker posted on the popular blogging platform LiveJournal. I investigate the folkloric qualities of such posts and analyze the ways in which fans through narrative generate systems of meaning, engage in performative expressions of gender identity, resistance, and festival, and create transformative works within the present cultural milieu. My method has been to follow the posts of several Star Wars fans on LiveJournal who are active in posting fan fiction and who frequently respond to one another's posts, thereby creating a network of community interaction. I find that fans construct systems of meaning through complex interactions with a network of cultural sources, that each posting involves multiple layers of performance, and that these works frequently act as parody, critique, and commentary on not just the official materials but on the cultural climate that produced and has been influenced by them.
Committee in charge: Dr. Dianne Dugaw, Chair; Dr. Lisa Gilman, Member; Dr. Debra Merskin, Member

Detective fiction highlights those qualities of masculinity that are most valuable to a contemporary culture. In mysteries a cultural context is more thoroughly revealed than in any other genre of literature. Through the crimes, an audience can understand not only the fears of a particular society but also the level of calumny that society assigns to a crime. As each generation has needed a particular set of qualities in its defense, so the detective has provided them. Through the detective's response to particular crimes, the reader can learn the delineation of forgivable and unforgivable acts. These detectives illustrate positive masculinity, proving that fiction has more uses than mere entertainment. In this paper, I trace four detectives, each from a different era. Sherlock Holmes lives to solve problems. His primary function is to solve a riddle. Lord Peter Wimsey takes on the moral question of why anyone should detect at all. His stories involve the difficulty of justifying putting oneself in the morally superior position of judge. The Mike Hammer stories treat the difficulty of dealing with criminals who use the law to protect themselves. They have perverted the protections of society, and Hammer must find a way to bring them to justice outside of the law. The Kate Martinelli stories focus more on the victims of crime than on the criminals. Martinelli discovers the motivations that draw a criminal toward a specific victim and explains what it is about certain victims that makes villains want to harm them. All of these detectives display the traditional traits of the Western male. They are hunters; they protect society as a whole. Yet each detective fulfills a certain cultural role that speaks to the specific problems of his or her era, proving that masculinity is a more fluid role than many have previously credited.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 1999.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-182). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p9955914.

This thesis is a study of the first four books of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. It accounts for the widespread success of the novels by examining their publication and marketing histories, and their literary achievement as narratives including a sophisticated mix of generic traditions. Chapter One looks at the popularity of the novels, comparing their material production and marketing by Rowling’s English language publishers: Bloomsbury in Britain and Scholastic in the United States of America. The publisher’s influence on the public perception of each book is demonstrated by comparative study of its mode of illustration and layout. Further, the design of the books is linked to their strategic marketing and branding within the literary world. The second chapter considers Rowling’s debt to the school story. It concentrates first on the history of this relatively short-lived genre, briefly discussing its stereotypical features and values. Traditional elements of setting and characterisation are then examined to show how the Harry Potter novels present a value system which, though apparently old-fashioned, still has an ethical standpoint designed to appeal to the modern reader. Chapter Three focuses on the characterisation of Harry as a hero-figure, especially on how the influence of classical and medieval texts infuses Rowling’s portrayal of Harry as a hero in the chivalric mode. The episodes of “quest” and “test” in each book illustrate specifically how he learns the values of selflessness, loyalty, mercy and fairness. Chapter Four surveys the contribution of modern fantasy writing to the series. It shows how Rowling creates a secondary world that allows us to perceive magic as a metaphorical representation of power. This focus on the relationship between magic and power in turn has a bearing on our assessment of the author’s moral stance. The thesis concludes by suggesting that Rowling’s unusual mix of genres is justified by the values they share, and which are inscribed in her work: the generic combination forms a workable, new and exciting mode of writing that helps to account for the phenomenal popularity of the series.

Caliban, the ultimate figure of linguistic and racial indeterminacy in The Tempest, became for African-American writers a symbol of colonial fears of rebellion against oppression and southern fears of black male sexual aggression. My dissertation thus explores what I call the "Calibanic Quadrangle" in essays and novels by Anna Julia Cooper, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins. The figure of Caliban allows these authors to inflect the sentimental structure of the novel, to elevate Calibanic utterance to what Cooper calls "crude grandeur and exalted poesy," and to reveal the undercurrent of anxiety in nineteenth-century American attempts to draw rigid racial boundaries. The Calibanic Quadrangle enables this thorough critique because it allows the black woman writer to depict the oppression of the "Other," southern fears of black sexuality, the division between early black and white women's issues, and the enduring innocence of the progressive, educated, black female hero ~ all within the legitimized boundaries of the Shakespearean text, which provides literary authority to the minority writer. I call the resulting Shakespearean intertextuality a Quadrangle because in each of these African-American works a Caliban figure, a black man or "tragic mulatto" who was once "petted" and educated, struggles within a hostile environment of slavery and racism ruled by the Prospero figure, the wielder of "white magic," who controls reproduction, fears miscegenation, and enforces racial hierarchy. The Miranda figure, associated with the womb and threatened by the specter of miscegenation, advocates slavery and perpetuates the hostile structure. The Ariel figure, graceful and ephemeral, usually the "tragic mulatta" and a slave, desires her freedom and complements the Caliban figure. Each novel signals the presence of the paradigm by naming at least one character from The Tempest (Caliban in Cooper's A Voice from the South; "Mirandy" in Harper's Iola Leroy; Prospero in Hopkins's Contending Forces; and Ariel in Hopkins's Hagar's Daughter).

This dissertation analyses the protagonists in The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, and Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin, and looks at the extent to which they confront the Jungian archetype of the anima. I demonstrate that individuation and wisdom are not achieved in these characters until they confront the anima archetype within their individual psyches. I analyse the experiences and behaviour of each protagonist in order to identify anima confrontation (or lack thereof), and I seek to prove that such confrontation precipitates maturity and wisdom, which are goals of the hero's journey. The essential qualities of the anima archetype are wisdom, beauty and love. These qualities require acceptance of vulnerability. I argue that the protagonist is far from anima integration when he displays hatred and fear of vulnerability, and conclude that each protagonist is integrated with the anima when wisdom, beauty and love are evident in his character.
English Studies
M.A. (English)

The aim of this study is to explore the importance of love in its various manifestations in the lives of the Harry Potter characters and its power to consequently influence the paths that they eventually choose to walk. Love is investigated as the reason behind the choice between good and evil as well as paradoxically both a fortifying as well as a destructive force. Furthermore, it attempts to examine the importance that love plays in the healthy or dysfunctional development of the characters. Numerous philosophies and theories that span two different eras will form the theoretical framework of this research paper. There will be a constant interplay between the theories and the main text, that is, the seven Harry Potter books that together represent the Harry Potter series. Additionally, the author‟s opinion acquired from invaluable fan interviews will be utilized in order to improve the understanding of the characters motivations. The introduction is a brief explanation of key terms and theories that are essential to the exploration of love in the Harry Potter series. The study comprises five chapters. The first three chapters are concerned with the three main manifestations of love represented in the series, namely; parental love, friendship and romance respectively. Chapter Four focuses on the adaptation of the novels into movies and the subsequent result that this has on the depiction of love. Chapter Five highlights the finding of the study conducted.
English Studies
M.A. (English)

Text in English with abstracts in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa
Herman Charles Bosman (1905–1951) remains a popular South African writer, despite the frequent occurrence of the offensive k-word for black people in his writings. Although the discipline of Translation Studies is presently dominated by ethical considerations, there are reasons to believe that ethical issues have been neglected in recent translations of Bosman’s English short stories into Afrikaans. His translators, Griebenow and De Lange, have conformed to a simplistic fidelity-driven perception of ethics, while more attention should have been paid to “sensitive” aspects of the original. The research problem is how this gap that exists in translation practice can be addressed, which in turn raises the question: How would one translate Bosman’s stories in an ethically responsible manner for the twenty-first century? This study not does deal with all of Bosman’s short stories but focuses on the Oom Schalk Lourens ones as these demonstrate the research problem best. Thus, the data consist of existing texts in printed form. The following stories have been selected for comparative analysis: “Makapan’s Caves”, “The Rooinek”, “The Gramophone”, “Mafeking Road”, “Splendours from Ramoutsa”, “Unto Dust”, and “Funeral Earth”. Since excerpts from the original and their corresponding translations are compared, translator style is inevitably included in the discussion. A committed approach, which considers translation as an activist and interventionist cultural activity (Brownlie 2011), forms the analytical framework of this study. The analyses indicate that Griebenow and De Lange have retained the offensive racial epithets of the source texts, rather than toning them down for modern target-text readers. Thus, the translators have been faithful to a dead author, instead of taking the socio-cultural and political context of reception into consideration. From a committed stance, I would strongly recommend that derogatory racial epithets, found in older texts, should be subdued in current translations. Otherwise, it may be better not to translate at all, as Pym (2012) suggests. Owing to translators’ responsibility for the effects of their translations on their readers, and South Africa’s political transformation to a democracy in which all people are deemed equal before the law, the use of racist language, is totally unwarranted.
Herman Charles Bosman (1905–1951) bly ʼn gewilde Suid-Afrikaanse skrywer, ten spyte van die gereelde voorkoms van die neerhalende k-woord vir swart mense in sy werk. Hoewel die dissipline, Vertaalkunde, tans deur etiese vraagstukke oorheers word, is daar rede om te vermoed dat etiese kwessies afgeskeep is in die onlangse vertalings van Bosman se Engelse kortverhale in Afrikaans. Die vertalers, Griebenow en De Lange, vereenselwig etiek met getrouheid aan die skrywer, in plaas daarvan om meer aandag te skenk aan “sensitiewe” aspekte van die oorspronklike. Die navorsingsprobleem is hoe om hierdie gaping in vertaalpraktyk aan te spreek: Hoe behoort Bosman se verhale op ʼn etiese, verantwoordelike wyse vertaal te word vir die een-en-twintigste eeu? Hierdie studie fokus op Bosman se oom Schalk Lourens-verhale wat die navorsingsprobleem die beste illustreer. Die data is derhalwe saamgestel uit bestaande tekste in gedrukte vorm. Die volgende verhale is vir vergelykende ontleding gekies: “Makapan’s Caves”, “The Rooinek”, “The Gramophone”, “Mafeking Road”, “Splendours from Ramoutsa”, “Unto Dust”, en “Funeral Earth”. Aangesien grepe uit die brontekste en die vertalings daarvan vergelyk word, is vertalerstyl noodwendig deel van die bespreking. ʼn Betrokke benadering waarvolgens vertaling as ʼn aktivistiese en intervensionistiese kulturele aktiwiteit beskou word (Brownlie 2011), vorm die ontledingsraamwerk van die studie. Die ontledings dui daarop dat Griebenow en De Lange die rassistiese skeldname van die oorspronklike behou het, in plaas daarvan om dit “sagter” uit te druk vir hedendaagse doeltaallesers. Die vertalers was getrou aan ʼn afgestorwe skrywer, eerder as om die sosiokulturele en -politiese konteks van resepsie in ag te neem. Vanuit ʼn betrokke standpunt sou ek sterk aanbeveel dat neerhalende, rassistiese benamings wat in ouer tekste voorkom, gedemp moet word in hedendaagse vertalings. Anders sou dit beter wees om hoegenaamd nie te vertaal nie, soos Pym (2012) voorstel. Vanweë vertalers se verantwoordelikheid vir die effek van hul vertalings op hul lesers, en Suid-Afrika se politiese transformasie in ʼn demokrasie waar alle mense gelyk geag word voor die wet, is die gebruik van rassistiese taal verregaande.
UHerman Charles Bosman (1905-1951) ngomnye wababhali abaphume izandla baseMzantsi Afrika, nangona iincwadi zakhe zizele ligama elingamkelekanga eliqala ngo-k elibhekiselele kubantu abantsundu. Nangona Izifundo Zoguqulo zikuthathela ingqalelo ukunanzwa kweenqobo ezisesikweni xa kuguqulelwa, kukho izizathu ezibangela ukuba kukholeleke ukuba imiba engeenqobo ezisesikweni iye yatyeshelwa xa bekuguqulelwa kwiAfrikaans amabali amafutshane kaBosman abhalwe ngesiNgesi. UGriebenow noDe Lange abangabaguquli bathande ukulandela uluvo olubonisa intembeko kumbhali, endaweni yokugxila kwimiba “enobuethe-ethe” ekwisicatshulwa sentsusa. Injongo yolu phando kukufumana indlela esinokuvalwa ngayo esi sikhewu kwimisebenzi yoguqulelo, nto leyo ebangela ukuba kubekho imibuzo ethi: Umntu angawaguqula njani amabali amafutshane kaBosman kwinkulungwane yamashumi amabini ananye apho umguquli azithathela ingqalelo iinqobo ezisesikweni. Olu phando aluwahlautyi onke amabali amafutshane kaBosman, koko lugxila kuphela kula ka-Oom Schalk Lourens kuba ingawo ayivelisa kakuhle le ngxaki/njongo yophando. Izicatshulwa ezihlalutywayo zezishicilelweyo kuphela. Amabali akhethelwe ukuthelekiswa nokuhlalutywa ngala: “Makapan’s Caves”, “The Rooinek”, “The Gramophone”, “Mafeking Road”, “Splendours from Ramoutsa”, “Unto Dust”, and “Funeral Earth”. Njengoko kuthelekiswa iziqendwana ezikula mabalana neenguqulelo zawo, isimbo sokubhala sabaguquli siyaqukwa kolu hlalutyo. Isakhelo sohlalutyo esisetyenzisiweyo kolu phando seso sisekelwe kwiingcamango zikaBrownlie (2011) ezihlela uguqulelo njengesenzo senkcubeko sokuphembelela nokungenelela. Uhlalutyo lubonisa ukuba uGriebenow noDe Lange bawagcinile amagama ocalucalulo ngokobuhlanga anyelisayo asetyenziswe kwizicatshulwa zentsusa, endaweni yokuwatshintsha ngelokulungiselela abafundi ekujoliswe kubo beli xesha. Abaguquli ke ngoko baye bathembeka kakhulu kumbhali owaswelekayo endaweni yokuthathela ingqalelo imeko yokwamkelekileyo ngokwezopolitiko nentlalo. Ndiphakamisa ukuba amagama anyelisayo ocalucalulo ngokobuhlanga asetyenziswe kwiimbalo zakudala athonyalaliswe okanye atshintshwe kwiinguqulelo zangoku. Kungenjalo, kungcono kungenziwa nguqulelo kwaphela njengoko ecebisa uPym (2012). Ngenxa yoxanduva olusemagxeni abaguquli ngeziphumo zeenguqulelo zabo kubafundi bazo, nokutshintsha kwemeko yezopolitiko yoMzantsi Afrika itshintshela kwidemokhrasi apho abantu balinganayo ngokomthetho, ukusetyenziswa kolwimi olucalulayo akwamkelekanga.
Linguistics and Modern Languages
D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics with specialisation in Translation Studies)

The purpose of my dissertation is to conduct an intertextual study of two fantasy texts — Alice in Wonderland by Victorian author Lewis Carroll, and Stardust by postmodern fantasy author Neil Gaiman — and their filmic re-visionings by Tim Burton and Matthew Vaughn respectively. In scrutinising these texts, drawing on insights from feminist, children’s literature and intertextual theorists, the actions of ‘growing up’ and ‘falling down’ are shown to be indicative of a paradoxical becoming of the text’s central female protagonists, Alice and Yvaine. The social mechanisms of the Victorian age that educate the girl-child into becoming accepting of their domestic roles ultimately alienate her from her true state of being. While she may garner some sense of importance within the imaginary realms of fantasy narratives, as these female protagonists demonstrate, she is reduced to the position of submissive in reality – in ‘growing up’, she must assume a ‘fallen down’ state in relation to the male.
English Studies
M.A. (English)

Trees, as threshold beings, effectively blur the line between the real world and fantastical alternate worlds, and destabilise traditional binary classification systems that distinguish humanity, and Culture, from Nature. Though the presence of trees is often peripheral to the main narrative action, their representation is necessary within the fantasy trope. Their consistent inclusion within fantasy texts of the twentieth century demonstrates an enduring arboreal legacy that cannot be disregarded in its contemporary relevance, whether they are represented individually or in collective forests. The purpose of my dissertation is to conduct a study of various prominent fantasy texts of the twentieth century, including the fantasy works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert Holdstock, Diana Wynne Jones, Natalie Babbitt, and J.K. Rowling. In scrutinising these texts, and drawing on insights offered by liminal, ecocritical, ecofeminist, mythological and psychological theorists, I identify the primary function of trees within fantasy narratives as liminal: what Victor Turner identifies as a ‘betwixt and between’ state (1991:95) where binaries are suspended in favour of embracing potentiality. This liminality is constituted by three central dimensions: the ecological, the mythological, and the psychological. Each dimension informs the relationship between the arboreal as grounded in reality, and represented in fantasy. Trees, as literary and cinematic arboreal totems are positioned within fantasy narratives in such a way as to emphasise an underlying call to bio-conservatorship, to enable a connection to a larger scope of cultural expectation, and to act as a means through which human self-awareness is developed.
English Studies
D. Litt. et Phil. (English)