Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Metamorphosis in fiction'

Aquesta tesi investiga la construcció i representació del monstre masculí en el cinema de ciència ficció contemporani. El monstre masculí en aquest cas és un home que experimenta una metamorfosi que trenca els binaris com, per exemple, masculinitat/feminitat, jo/altre i humà/maquina. Els cinc capítols examinen cince figures de masculinitat monstruosa: el mutant, el ciborg subjugat, el ciborg poderós, l’alienígena i el transhumà. Al cap i a la fi, la tesi pregunta per què els personatges masculins pateixen transformacions profunds, i normalment dolorosos, tan sovint a la gran pantalla.
Esta tesis investiga la construcción y la representación de los monstruos masculinos en el cinema de ciencia ficción contemporáneo. El monstruo masculino en este caso es un hombre que experimenta una metamorfosis que resulta en la confusión de las categorías binárias cómo, por ejemplo, masculinidad/feminidad, humano/maquina o yo/otro. Los cinco capítols consideran cinco figuras de monstruos masculinos: el mutante, el cíborg subyugado, el cíborg-villano poderoso, el alienígena y el transhumano. La pregunta central de la tesis es por qué los hombres padecen transformaciones corporeales y psicológicas— y muchas veces dolorosas— tan frecuentamente en la gran pantalla.
This dissertation investigates the construction and representation of the monstrous masculine in contemporary science fiction cinema. That is to say, men who undergo a striking metamorphosis resulting in the blurring of binaries such as masculine/feminine, human/machine and self/other. A close-reading of key films and a consideration of their historical and socio-cultural contexts serves to identify and explore the mechanisms at work in the formation of male monsters as well as examining the growing presence and influence of technology and posthuman ideas in the portrayal of monstrous men. The five chapters consider five recurrent figures of monstrous masculinity: the mutant, the disempowered cyborg, the cyborg super villain, the alien and the transhuman. Ultimately, the thesis addresses the question as to why masculine characters so often undergo profound, often painful, corporeal and psychological transformations.
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Teoria de la Literatura i Literatura Comparada

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Humanities, Department of English, 2007.
Bibliography: p. 239-289.
Introduction -- Fantastic metamorphosis as childhood 'otherness' -- The metamorphic growth of wings : deviant development and adolescent hybridity -- Tenors of maturation: developing powers and changing identities -- Changing representations of werewolves: ideologies of racial and ethnic otherness -- The desire for transcendence: jouissance in selkie narratives -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Appendix: "The great Silkie of Sule Skerry": three versions.
My central thesis is that fantastic motifs work on a metaphorical level to encapsulate and express ideologies that have frequently been naturalised as 'truths'. I develop a theory of motif metaphors in order to examine the ideologies generated by the fantastic motif of metamorphosis in a range of contemporary children's and young adult fantasy texts. Although fantastic metamorphosis is an exceptionally prevalent and powerful motif in children's and young adult fantasy literature, symbolising important ideas about change and otherness in relation to childhood, adolescence, and maturation, and conveying important ideologies about the world in which we live, it has been little analysed in children's literature criticism. The detailed analyses of particular metamorphosis motif metaphors in this study expand and refine our academic understanding of the metamorphosis figure and consequently provide insight into the underlying principles and particular forms of a variety of significant ideologies.
By examining several principal metamorphosis motif metaphors I investigate how a number of specific cultural beliefs are constructed and represented in contemporary children's and young adult fantasy literature. I particularly focus upon metamorphosis as a metaphor for childhood otherness; adolescent hybridity and deviant development; maturation as a process of self-change and physical empowerment; racial and ethnic difference and otherness; and desire and jouissance. I apply a range of pertinent cultural theories to explore these motif metaphors fully, drawing on the interpretive frameworks most appropriate to the concepts under consideration. I thus employ general psychoanalytic theories of embodiment, development, language, subjectivity, projection, and abjection; poststructuralist, social constructionist, and sociological theories; and wide-ranging literary theories, philosophical theories, gender and feminist theories, race and ethnicity theories, developmental theories, and theories of fantasy and animality. The use of such theories allows for incisive explorations of the explicit and implicit ideologies metaphorically conveyed by the motif of metamorphosis in different fantasy texts.
In this study, I present a number of specific analyses that enhance our knowledge of the motif of fantastic metamorphosis and of significant cultural ideologies. In doing so, I provide a model for a new and precise approach to the analysis of fantasy literature.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
[12], 294 p

L’œuvre romanesque d’Amin Maalouf propose un traitement particulier du personnage qui dépasse le cadre habituel de son analyse. Objet de toutes les attentions mais aussi de tous les débordements, le personnage reflète l’ensemble des problématiques qui opèrent à l’intérieur de la fiction. On trouve ainsi dans les romans d’Amin Maalouf une contamination, voire même une dissémination, du personnage vers d’autres instances. Ces instances le prolongent en peuplant, à leur tour, le roman et en se proposant d’y laisser une empreinte poétique.Les métamorphoses et les mutations successives, dont le roman fait l’objet, viennent relayer sa présence, lui octroyant une dimension nouvelle. En multipliant ses appartenances et ses origines, la fiction propose un voyage à travers les multiples facettes du personnage qui lui permettent de renouer avec sa nature originelle. Tourné vers le mouvement, aspirant à se redéfinir au travers des autres instances textuelles, le personnage s’impose comme un véritable agent romanesque. La thèse propose ainsi de révéler précisément les tenants de ces métamorphoses et de ces mutations romanesques, afin de mettre en lumière les infinis prolongements qui concourent à l’élaboration d’une poétique singulière
Amin Maalouf’s novels offer a special treatment of the character beyond the usual scope of its analysis. The object of all attention and excesses, the character reflects all issues operating within the fiction. Thus we find in Amin Maalouf’s fiction a sort of contamination, even a release of the character to other authorities. Throughout the novel these authorities extend adopt traits of the main character as personifications. They extend its presence their presence, occupy the fiction in their turn and try to leave a poetic mark.Metamorphoses and successive mutations, of which the novel is the subject, just relay its presence, giving it a new dimension. Increasing its appurtenances and its origins, fiction offers a journey through the many facets of character that allow it to return to its original nature. Facing movement, aspiring to redefine itself through other textual authorities, the character stands out as a true romantic agent.The thesis proposes to reveal precisely the proponents of these metamorphosis and mutations of fictions to highlight the infinite extensions that contribute to the development of a singular poetic

Le concept d'hétérogène est souvent employé pour définir une littérature contemporaine qui transgresse les catégories génériques traditionnelles, multiplie les références littéraires, pratique les changements de registre, les ruptures narratives ou formelles, qui mêle fiction et réalité. Chez Olivier Cadiot, ce trait de non-genre – polygénéricité et amphibologie narrative – est au service d'une écriture de l'expérience subjective. La fiction se coule dans une forme piège pluridimensionnelle modelée sur le flux de la conscience et la volatilité de la pensée. Le récit brasse les images, les impressions fugitives, les configurations imaginaires, composant avec une matière textuelle sensible, émotionnellement dense. Déployant son plan de multiplicité, l'écriture cadiotienne de l'hétérogène intègre les fragments d’énoncés, les concepts, les données factuelles, les perceptions, les phénomènes psychiques, la mémoire individuelle dans un système textuel et expérientiel ouvert
Le concept d'hétérogène est souvent employé pour définir une littérature contemporaine qui transgresse les catégories génériques traditionnelles, multiplie les références littéraires, pratique les changements de registre, les ruptures narratives ou formelles, qui mêle fiction et réalité. Chez Olivier Cadiot, ce trait de non-genre – polygénéricité et amphibologie narrative – est au service d'une écriture de l'expérience subjective. La fiction se coule dans une forme piège pluridimensionnelle modelée sur le flux de la conscience et la volatilité de la pensée. Le récit brasse les images, les impressions fugitives, les configurations imaginaires, composant avec une matière textuelle sensible, émotionnellement dense. Déployant son plan de multiplicité, l'écriture cadiotienne de l'hétérogène intègre les fragments d’énoncés, les concepts, les données factuelles, les perceptions, les phénomènes psychiques, la mémoire individuelle dans un système textuel et expérientiel ouvert

Entre 1919 et 1939, dans ce "symposium imaginaire" ou pendant plus de vingt ans les plus grands esprits europeens se rencontrent, fleurissent les "discours de l'inquietude" (derrida). Autour des memes questions et des memes mots (europe, esprit, culture, orient, occident. . . ), requisitoires et rhetoriques se deploient et disent l'inadequation du sens et de l'actualite. L'oeuvre d'artaud partage, partiellement, les inquietudes que ces discours contiennent et les bouleversements qu'ils recelent mais bien qu'engage dans une revision generale des valeurs occidentales, artaud deserte l'espace critique de ses contemporains. Son geste de rupture, a la logique complexe, repose sur une certaine comprehension, evoluant texte apres texte, du rapport homme-monde. C'est ce geste, les croyances qu'il pourfend et celles qu'il affirme, que nous analysons.

Le propos s'articule en deux parties qui correspondent aux tomes 1 et 2 , le troisieme tome est consacre au dossier iconographique. La premiere partie s'interesse plus particulierement a la periode marseillaise de joseph conrad (1874-1878). Elle tente de prouver le role primordial de ces annees de formation qui allaient ressurgir plus tard tout au long de son oeuvre litteraire. Elle fait sortir de l'oubli des gens rencontres, des lieux frequentes, des lectures faites a cette epoque en exploitant des documents tras varies (roles d'equipages, journaux, plans, photographies, lettres, guides historiques, etc. . . ). La seconde partie traite de l7afrique dans l'oeuvre de joseph conrad. On tente de definir la part de l'ecriture qui correspond a la realite africaine du debut du siecle; par des rapprochements avec des ecrits d'explorateurs africains comme stanley et living stone, on essaie d'analyser les procedes d'ecriture employes par conrad. Un parrallele est etabli entre l'ecriture conradienne et la peinture ainsi que les arts sceniques et la musique, tentant de definir ainsi le symbolisme de conrad
The two main parts (book 1; book 2) deal with facts and fiction in joseph conrad's works; book 3 contains documents, photographs, engravings, maps. Book one deals with conrad's years in marseilles (1874-1878). It is an attempt to show how the seeds were then sown of certain themes that were to reappear many years later and play a fundamental part in conrad's works. It sheds a fresh light on some of the people he met, the places he went to and the books he read. The documents pertaining to that period, in book 3 are very varied: nautical lists, newspapers, photographs, plans, letters guides, ect. . . Book 2 is about africa and particulary life in africa at the time when conrad travelled on the river congo, how he transmitted his own experienceinto his writing. It compares conrad's approach to writing with that of stanley and livingstone. Il shows conrad's ability to create new, original techniques. A comparison with painting, music and stage arts explores conrad's symbolism

In current research across the humanities and science, there is a burgeoning interest in ‘plasticity,’ epigenesis and ecocriticism. This project brings ideas from these fields together, and asks how they may be expanded and illuminated by metamorphoses articulated in Magic Real fiction. Thus, I argue that Magic Real literature has a significant role in disseminating contemporary bio-scientific ideas. My methodology consists of applying Catherine Malabou’s theory of plasticity to literature, arguing that ‘plastic readings’ evoke more complex and ecologically generative models of metamorphosis. As such, they subvert the merely ‘flexible’ or often vaunted general ‘interconnectedness’ of life. Philosopher of Biology John Dupré highlights the centrality of process to biological science, refuting the existence of discrete and unique individuals, and arguing that ecosystems are far more synergetic than a relatively simple interrelatedness suggests. Indeed, his theory of ‘promiscuous individualism’ repudiates the existence of discrete individuals, and ‘promiscuous realism’1 renounces inflexible species categories. The removal of such rigid classifications enable varied and limitless ‘plastic perspectives’ as evident in Magic Real fiction, and affectively convey more authentic, intensely ‘felt’ and shared responses to the environment. Thus, this thesis indicates ways in which a fusion of Magic Real literature and biological science, may productively contribute to ecocriticism. Furthermore, metaphors of skin describe the inclusiveness and ‘literal’ physicality of biological transformation in visceral and fantastic ways, connecting literature with science, and broadening the field of ecocriticism through approaches that challenge the centrality of the human self. Ecocriticism, defined by Cheryll Glotfelty in The Ecocriticism Reader, as ‘the relationship between literature and the environment,’ has previously largely involved a partial focus on ‘human’ environments, totemic species and the scientific or ‘factual’ genres of non-fiction and Western documentary. This thesis addresses these prejudices through the analysis of the work of two lesser known Postcolonial writers Suniti Namjoshi and Githa Hariharan. Their Magic Real literature addresses out-dated hierarchies of nation, gender, species and genre by elucidating metamorphoses of domestic or ‘lesser’ creatures, rather than the charismatic-megafauna more usually the subject of fiction and often employed by environmental conservation campaigns.

This thesis explores the generic interaction between Virgilian pastoral and Ovidian epic. My primary goal is to bring pastoral, substantially enriched by important critical work thereupon in recent decades, more energetically into the scholarly discussion of the Metamorphoses, whose multifaceted generic interplay is often limited to the study of its interaction with elegy. Secondarily, I hope to show how the Metamorphoses plays a pivotal role in the re-reading of the Eclogues. The fact that both epic and pastoral are written in hexameters facilitates the interaction between the two and enables the Metamorphoses’ repeated short-term transformations into pastoral poetry, which often end abruptly. I will try to show that although the engagement with pastoral occasionally appears to threaten the epic code of the poem, pastoral is ultimately integrated in the Metamorphoses’ generic self-definition as epic and partakes in Ovid’s dynamic recreation of the genre. My primary method is that of intertextuality, resting on the premise that all readings of textual relationships, as the one suggested here, are acts of interpretation. I also explore pastoral in the Metamorphoses intratextually by joining together various pastoral episodes of the Metamorphoses and arguing how similar thematics are replayed and rewritten throughout the poem. The main perspectives from which I examine pastoral in the Ovidian epic are those of fiction and the development of the thematics of the Golden Age. In the first part, I explore instances of song performances in the Metamorphoses, i) musical contests, ii) solo performances and iii) laments, in which I argue that pastoral is extensively at work. I suggest that the Metamorphoses employs pastoral’s overriding generic self-obsession and its tendency to create its own fiction internally, significantly through the means of singing performance and repetition. I argue that the mythopoetic means of pastoral are applied and reworked in the Metamorphoses for the creation of its epic world and heroes. In the second part, I explore the repeated occurrences of the Golden Age theme in the Metamorphoses and suggest that the remarkable engagement with pastoral is employed both to invite a political reading of the Golden Age, as set by Eclogue 4 and its post-Eclogues occurrences, and to recap the introversion of the pastoral enclosure and its seclusion from politics.

Quand le rêve authentique ou fictif intervient dans le texte littéraire, la vaste question de l’inconscient s’impose. La mise en œuvre littéraire du rêve témoigne non seulement de l’intérêt porté à la part inconsciente de l’homme et à son imagination, mais aussi à ses liens fructueux avec le réel : réciprocité, continuité ou rupture, ces liens font toute la dynamique du récit onirique des XIXe et XXe siècles. Le récit onirique s’inscrit dans une esthétique plus large qui, à tous les plans, rompt avec le progressisme et la suprématie de la raison, en établissant une poétique de l’invraisemblable. C’est ainsi, que personnages, espaces, temps, dérogent au normatif, construisant un monde différent qui ne manque pas de rappeler l’univers mythologique. Il s’agit surtout de réfléchir sur l’aventure du rêve littéraire parcourant les différents mouvements et esthétiques littéraires, et incarnant un miroir qui reflète les pensées, les réflexions, les poétiques de Gérard de Nerval, Théophile Gautier, Jules Supervielle et Michel Leiris
When the authentic, or fictitious dream intervenes in the literary text, the vast inconscious question imposes itself. The literary implementation of the dream testifies, not only the interest in the inconscious part of man and his imagination, but also his fruitful links with reality : like reciprocity (exchange), continuity or rupture. These links, make all the dynamic « dream story » of the 19 th/ 20 th centuries. The dream like narration is part of the broader aesthetic, which, in all respects, breaks with progressivism and the supremacy of real, by establishing poetics of the improbable. Thus, chahracters, spaces, time derogate from the usual, (normative), building a different world that does not fail to recall the mythological universe. It is above all, to reflect on the adventure of the literary dream, traversing the different literary and aesthetic movements and enbodying a mirror that reflects the thougts, reflections, poetics of Gérard de Nerval, Théophile Gautier, Jules Supervielle and Michel Leiris

Central to David Malouf's fiction is the importance of individual perception and interpretation in the determination of a reality which ultimately must be subjective and relative. Although his narratives include significant changes of place and circumstance it is through characters' psychological and spiritual development that transformation, or metamorphosis, is most apparent. In other words, external changes remain subordinate to the internal ones of individual growth of consciousness and altered perception. Malouf also focuses on transforming readers' perceptions through creating a new mythology. His is a mythology based on imaginative recreation of the past which is then synthesised with the present. It is these aspects of metamorphosis which will direct my analysis of Malouf's novels. Diverse thematic levels in Malouf's fiction afford a variety of critical perspectives. A review of the extensive range of material written about Malouf reveals that three critics dominate the field: Amanda Nettelbeck, Ivor Indyk and Philip Neilsen. Nettelbeck's analysis of Malouf's fiction demonstrates her claim that 'the tendency to look for national definition is [...] being replaced by a more critical concern with the processes and effects of national myth-making.' 1 The significance of language and memory, defining aspects of Malouf's style, form the basis for her detailed study. The value of 'memory' was also intrinsic to the nineteenth-century Romantic vision and indeed Nettelbeck acknowledges a Romantic influence in Malouf's novels: 'Malours writing is imbued with both a romantic aesthetic (in its appeal to enduring universals and natural cycles) and a political consciousness (in its review of cultural history in general and Australia's cultural history in particular).' 2 Despite her claim that his work contains 'contradictions' Nettelbeck asserts that Malouf achieves a perpetual balance or compromise between these two opposing critical perspectives: `Malouf forges a tentative but persevering balance between potentially oppositional ways of viewing and of knowing the world' (iii). Post-Romantic elements in Malouf's fiction are also noted by Philip Neilsen who published a revised edition of his 1990 critical volume Imagined Lives, in 1996. In this analysis of the binary oppositions underlying Malouf's writing, he also discusses the recurring themes of 'a yearning for self-transformation and for wholeness; [and] a postRomantic deference to Nature and the imagination' which prevail in Malouf's writing (218-9). Ivor Indyk, in David Malouf, provides a detailed analysis of post-Romantic aspects of Malouf's novels which include Malouf's portrayal of 'imagination as "the first principle of creation,' the significance of the organic cycles of nature, and psychological and spiritual self-transformation from fragmentation to wholeness and a sense of continuity (27). While I don't ignore the critical perspective of Nettelbeck which was, in fact, a major source of inspiration for this thesis, my analysis here emphasises the post-Romantic elements of Malouf's construction of individual metamorphoses. Although geographical, temporal and cultural issues play an important role, ultimately, my focus transcends national and contemporary aspects of identity. It is Malouf's fictional representation of the spiritual and emotional stages of life which direct my analysis. These 'stages' are exemplified by relationships with the natural world, experiences of loss and displacement, a coming to terms with one's own mortality and a search for spiritual meaning. It is these moments of inner metamorphosis, common to human development and regardless of culture or era, which create a universal dimension for Malouf's novels. In order to clarify the thematic focus for this thesis, 'aspects of metamorphosis,' I will explain some of the basic elements informing my concept of metamorphosis as it relates to Malouf's fiction. The concept of metamorphosis or transformation has interested humankind for centuries and much has been written about it from many perspectives. Theories of evolution and transformation have yielded valuable links to the past that have inspired fear and fascination throughout history. Changing form or substance, changing circumstances and changing attitudes, paradoxically remain constant elements of human experience from which we can trace our development. The idea of evolutionary connection between nature, animals and humankind remains a focus for both spiritual and biological arguments.

碩士
臺北市立教育大學
中國語文學系碩士班
100
The purpose of this study is to prove that the metamorphosis of beasts in Tang Dynasty fiction was originally inherited from myths, totem, religion, etc. Later, it was influenced by the quizzical style of writing in Six Dynasties, as well as the fascinating creation of scholars. The special arrangement of various of narratives and artistic skills led to the independence of Tang Dynasty fiction. Besides, it became the initiation of descriptive literature of novels, dramas, folk tales and other narrative literature. This study can be divided into five sections. The first part is about the naming and contents of these metamorphic beasts’ stories. The second part is to categorize these stories as (1) metamorphosis of ghosts, (2) metamorphosis of allure, (3) metamorphosis of omens (4) metamorphosis of witchcraft, and (5) metamorphosis of karma. The third part will be discussing the causes of creating these stories. There were many factors which affected the metamorphosis of beasts in Tang Dynasty fiction. Myths of ancient China were full of rich imagination and confrontation of nature without fear. At that time, human beings wished to extend their life. Therefore, the way to exend life was to transform into different kinds of appearances. Animal totems, symbolized the deification and personification of animals. Some animals with special power were worshipped and endowed with religion by Chinese people. The idea of Chi in Taoism thoughts,transcending through aging and witchcraft could be seen in the metamorphosis of beasts in Tang Dynasty fiction. Thus, Taoism beliefs played an important role in these stories. In addition to that, karma,destiny, the concept that all men are created equal, recitation, release practices from Buddhism beliefs could be spotted. The confrontation and struggle between Taoism and Buddism was presented in these stories as well. Part four is about the art of writing about metamorphosis of beasts in Tang Dynasty fiction. It absorbed the nutrients of the historical and biographical of literature, and the art of poetic writing. Their works combined facts and fantasies. Writers used argumentative techniques to express their ideas and anger. Being works of imagination and fiction, narrative literature added to some diversity and humanity. The vivid characters were portrayed with rich colors, which depicted the character of figures and deepened their artistic image. The fifth part is the conclusion which sums up all the above analysis.

Metamorphic characters, sometimes referred to as shape-shifters or shape-changers, are a staple, continual, and fascinating presence in mythic narratives, early literature, and present day popular culture. With labile, grotesque bodies, ambiguous natures, and the capacity to change at any moment, metamorphic characters remind the human subject of their inherent instability. The overwhelming portrayals of metamorphic processes gloss over the in-betweens, the stages of the process when the metamorphic subject is neither and both. Metamorphic comic characters are some of the most durable characters in the history of superheroes. The ongoing and diverse narratives of characters such as Mystique, Martian Manhunter, Metamorpho, Element Girl, Shift, and The Hulk provide representations and portrayals of instability, gender politics, and sexuality, which revolve around and centre upon the body. Investigating representations of metamorphic comic characters necessarily led to the investigation of the superhero narrative. Volume 1 of this thesis, Changing Bodies: Representations of Metamorphic Comic Characters, positions the superhero narrative as falling in the genre of the Marvellous-Uncanny which also provides space for Franz Kafka’s previously uncategorised short story, ‘Metamorphosis’. Changing Bodies shows that through the continual re-invention of the superhero narrative, superhero characters are necessarily re-inscribed as posthuman subjects. Metamorphic characters and posthumanism are linked through the figure of the cyborg which has come to dominate posthuman theory. In drawing upon both the cyborg man/machine and philosophical posthuman theory, Changing Bodies positions the cyborg shapeshifter, The Engineer, as an ideal posthuman subject. The posthuman metamorphic character is embedded in narratives, in mediums and genres, and thus in a world in which they can affect consciousness. When they affect our consciousness they therefore have “real world” effects. My research of the superhero narrative and metamorphic characters informed my writing of Volume Two of this thesis, Serpent Dawn. Like the superhero narrative, Serpent Dawn combines elements of science-fiction, fantasy, and myth. The relationship between Changing Bodies and Serpent Dawn is embodied in the main character, Acka – a metamorphic character in a hybrid narrative. Set in the year 2060 with South-Eastern Australia experiencing its eighteenth year of drought, Serpent Dawn is the story of Acka, a nineteen year-old girl living in the run-down Sydney suburb of Kings Hill. Acka has been experiencing some particularly vivid dreams of a snake eating the sun though thinks nothing of them. When her mother dies Acka steals some of her violent half-brother’s money and sets off on an Australian odyssey to meet up with her friend, Priscilla ‘Pussy’ Oakley, in the booming Western Australia town of Fitzroy Crossing. Travelling by train through the bleak tracts of Western New South Wales to Broken Hill, and then to Adelaide, Acka eventually finds herself virtually broke in the remote South Australian coastal town of Fowlers Bay which is populated by a strange group of Brothers. After slaughtering a beached whale, the Brothers, turn their attention to Acka, who is helped by a transgender woman, Andromeda. The two newly acquainted women barricade themselves in the Fowlers Bay church where Acka is presented with a conundrum which she must solve to be spared. She must interpret the Brothers’ collective dream, which unfortunately, they can’t remember. Acka does this, though she’s not sure how but suspects it is linked to her recent snake dreams, through a kind of lucid dreaming episode. Angered at Acka’s correct interpretation, the Brothers quickly change their mind to spare her. However Andromeda has snuck away and stolen the head Brother’s immaculate vintage XC Ford Falcon just in time to facilitate their escape. Acka and Andromeda drive to Perth where they meet Koko, an aboriginal woman who is able to sense people with Dreaming ability. Her senses go into overdrive when she meets Acka. Koko’s suspicions about Acka’s Dreaming ability are confirmed when Acka unknowingly heals a mutated crab. At Fitzroy Crossing, Acka finds Pussy is unable to follow through on her offer of a place to stay. Instead Acka accepts Koko’s invitation to go to her home town of Kokoberra in Arnhem Land and all three fly there in her Pussy’s Gyrodine. In Arnhem Land, Acka meets Koko’s father, Padaru, an aboriginal elder of high-degree, who straight-forwardly announces that Koko is correct – Acka definitely has Dreaming in her. Koko then explains she can ‘activate’ the Dreaming in Acka. Activation is dangerous though and only a few ‘activated’ people have survived. Acka decides that even if true, activation is too dangerous. Acka’s changes her mind when confronted with the spectacle of a swarm of flies that takes shape as a smiling replica of Acka’s own face. Koko then activates Acka but is unable to control the powerful forces involved. Over the next day and night, in a protracted and amazing transformation which threatens Acka’s life, she spectacularly changes into the Dreaming being, the Rainbow Serpent. After first taking respite in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Serpent rampages through the drought-ridden land of Southern Queensland and Western New South Wales followed by a huge storm front. The Serpent then splits into several other serpents which help reinvigorate the landscape by creating a new inland sea. Pussy and Koko follow the Serpents in the Gyrodine, but are brought down and stranded when debris thrown into the air damages the aircraft. The Serpents travel to Sydney, causing massive destruction, transforming the city and its surrounding precincts into a primordial swamp, while at the same time miraculously saving all the inhabitants. Koko and Pussy are rescued by Padaru and his friend Wulgaru, a dreamtime giant he has ‘sung up’ made of wood, stones, and wax. After they return to Kokoberra, Wulgaru sets off, returning later with an unconscious Acka. When she returns to consciousness, Acka has a heightened awareness of all objects and people around her. She relates that Dreaming beings are coming back to live in our time, to protect the land, and relieve its suffering.

Cada pessoa tem a sua própria cidade, cidade imaginária que combina pormenores de locais reais, mundos do sonho ou fantasias pessoais. É a nossa própria forma de encaixarmos na realidade. Absorvemos uma variedade de estímulos e conservamos o que na realidade nos deixou um eco nas nossas almas — hábitos culturais, experiências exóticas, pessoas, sentimentos, memórias, trajectos favoritos ou somente pequenos detalhes arquitetónicos… Ligando as nossas impressões, construímos o nosso mundo. Ele já não pertence somente a um lugar ou país, é global e misturado a partir de diferentes aspectos culturais. Com cada novo contato nós naturalmente mudamos e a nossa mente muda também. Este trabalho é minha cidade imaginária. Com este projeto quero mostrar partes da minha imaginação e incentivar as pessoas a partilharem as suas cidades «reais», as quais, no meu ponto de vista, ajudarão a compreendermo-nos melhor uns aos outros. Partes da minha cidade ficcional foram espalhadas pelas ruas de Lisboa, uma vez que este lugar tem uma influência mágica em mim. A cidade ficcional é representada através de diversas peças, feitas recorrendo a técnicas variadas. No fim deste projeto descobri que a metamorfose do reconhecimento pode de fato tornar-nos conscientes de aspetos familiares das nossas vidas quotidianas quando olhamos — ou contemplamos através de, mesmo que só visualmente — uma cidade ficcional.
Every person has their own city, imaginary city, that combines details of real or fictional places, of dream worlds or just personal fantasies. It´s our own way to fit to reality. We absorb lots of things and save what really has left an echo in our souls — cultural habits, exotic experiences, people, feelings, memories, favourite routes or just small architectural details… By connecting our impressions, we build our world. It no longer belongs just to one place or country, it´s global and mixed up from different cultural aspects. With every new piece we naturally change, and our mind changes as well. This work is my imaginary city. With this project I want to show parts of my imagination and encourage people to share their «real» cities, which, in my point of view, will help us understand each other better. Parts of the fictional city were spread and implicated on streets of Lisbon, as this place has a magical influence on me. The fictional city is represented through several pieces, made in different visual techniques. At the end of this project, I found that the metamorphosis of recognition can indeed make us aware of familiar aspects of our everyday lives when we look at — or travel through, even if only visually — a fictional city.

This dissertation analyzes the human and computer relationship in the novel. The database for this study consists of thirty-nine novels, selected for their depiction of anthropomorphized computers who engage in intimate and/or intense ties with humans. Two primary organizational schemas are used to categorize the human/computer interactions in these works. Kenneth Burke's rhetorical pentadic model is used as the principal structuring device. Within this framework, the fictional bonds are subdivided into three stages: the initial phase (transformation), the post-introductory phase (transmutation), and the transcendental phase (transfiguration). The findings of this research indicate that in popular-genre novels, personified computers are never regarded simply as tools for enhancing the efficiency of one's work. In these stories, the machines are converted from objects into intelligently conscious entities who are perceived as parents, children, friends, teachers, and/or gods. The communicative messages that are exchanged between fictive people and computers contain powerful potential for character metamorphosis. Ultimately, these works function as cautionary tales, warning that in interactions with computers, humans must be sensitive to the same issues that would arise in attachments to other people.

This thesis deals with the use of comic adaptations in literary lessons at primary and secondary schools. The aim of this work is to map available comic adaptations of literary works written by Czech authors. The comic adaptations of Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis will be evaluated based on pre-selected criteria. Part of the work will also be a comparison of the original text with the selected comic adaptation and noting the changes in the fictional world created by transferring it to the comic medium. The work will help teachers to understand the theory of comics. Theoretical knowledge will be applied in the creation of two teaching blocks built for the purposes of literary education at primary and secondary schools. The concrete implementation of both teaching blocks in practice will be compared.