Doctoral Theses / Doktorsavhandlingar Institutionen för språk och litteraturer
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Item A Transcultural Study of the Fiction of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Shashi Deshpande in Light of the Rasadhvani(2025-05-07) Hellberg, Johan; Hellberg, JohanThe thesis sets out to prove the efficacy of the rasadhvani, a traditional Indian aesthetic, to enable a transcultural reading of six literary texts by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Shashi Deshpande. The mainstream of post-colonial critical practice has already identified the need for adequate theoretical models within the field of post-colonial literary studies. But these same models become problematic with transcultural writers like Jhabvala and Deshpande because they move beyond the boundaries of traditional post-colonial approaches. Post colonial theory, in other words, mainly studies literary works which are based in a rich diversity of cultural settings outside Britain but are written by authors who share the English language as a means of literary expression. Post-colonial theoretical approaches, therefore, define themselves in terms of the ethnic origin of the author under critical examination. My claim is that the rasadhvani theory facilitates a transcultural reading which moves beyond the categorical limitations of culture and even of gender that we often unwittingly set up whenever we regard literature as the unproblematic expression of the ethnicity or gender of the author. In practice, the theory involves a particular kind of close study with the aim of discovering and identifying the presiding emotion (rasa) of a literary work. The concept of rasa refers to a heightened level of emotional response to a play in performance, a poem, a novel or even a painting or sculpture through the process of dhvani (suggestion). When it is applied to writing it considers the text in terms of two levels; the level of statement based on words alone (vacya) and the level of suggested meaning (vyaṅgya), where both words and meaning convey a further sense. In six close readings of fictional works by Jhabvala and Deshpande, I set out to resituate the critical discussion of these two writers using Indian literary concepts. In other words, the rasadhvani transforms basic human feelings aroused by incommunicable personal traumas into transcultural emotions which reach out to readers from any particular culture.Item La politesse en milieu commercial à Abidjan: une étude d’actes de langage en contexte(2025-03-03) Gunnarsdotter Koré, LinnéaThis dissertation explores politeness of verbal interactions in French that take place in small and medium-sized shops situated in Abidjan, the largest urban area in Côte d’Ivoire. Its analytical emphasis lies on requests; however, other speech acts are also taken into account as parts of the contexts where requests are uttered. The study has an empirical as well as a theoretical aim. The empirical aim is to collect linguistic data from commercial settings in Abidjan that can add new knowledge to our current understanding of the socio-pragmatic variation of requests in French. To pursue this aim, 200 verbal interactions containing 1140 requests were audio-video recorded. The theoretical aim is to test the frame-based approach to politeness, as proposed by Marina Terkourafi, on the collected data. The primary method for data collection was passive participant observation of naturally occurring interactions. The participants in the recorded interactions provided metadata about themselves, namely age, sex, profession and relationship to the interlocutor. This metadata, together with information about the cotext of the observed requests (interactional phase? solicited request? repeated request?) were used to construct independent variables in a descriptive statistical analysis. The dependent variables of the same analysis outlined the linguistic structure of requests. Qualitative case studies of face-work within specific frames completed the statistical analyses. Semi-structured interviews were also made with some participants, only to get information about the context of the recorded interaction, such as the social, economic, spatial and material reality of the setting. The empirical results show important differences in request behaviour between the studied interactions and request behaviour accounted for in previous research on requests in French. The theoretical analysis concludes that the frame-based view can explain occurrences of politeness, as well as some very rare occurrences of impoliteness and rudeness, in the data.Item Projektionsfigur Deserteur? Aushandlungsprozesse nachkriegsdeutscher Diskurse anhand des Motivs der Fahnenflucht in der Literatur (1948-1961)(2024-05-06) Schumacher, AnneThis dissertation analyses the literary figure of the deserter in a selection of post-war German literature. Previous studies predominantly argued that the literary motive of desertion represented a form of resistance and a literary counter-discourse to the stigma of the ,traitor to the fatherland’ that marked the dominant socio-political discourse until the late 1970s. This thesis shifts the focus by asking how the deserter/defector figure served, during the Adenauer-era (1949-1963), as a projection surface to negotiate symptomatic questions, particularly the issue of collective guilt. Against the backdrop of the discursive practices and semantics of the post-war period, this study explores and locates the ambivalences and issues encapsulated in the literary motive of desertion and shows how this motive was used to mark the discourse on collective guilt and to take a position in that question. Discursive negotiating mechanisms become primarily evident through the positioning and evaluation of desertion in relation to a value system that persisted from the time of National Socialism, particularly concerning the theme of camaraderie. The selected authors, Hans-Werner Richter, Siegfried Lenz, Alfred Andersch, Günter Grass, Bertolt Brecht, Arno Schmidt and Herbert Otto examine the validity of ethical principles such as loyalty, fidelity, and friendship by engaging with the topological antagonism, the elevation or denigration of the loyal comrade or treacherous deserter. The authors take their respective stances on the background of different spaces of experience (Koselleck), such as frontline experiences (for example Richter, Andersch) inner emigration (Schmidt) or exile (Brecht), and of different ‘horizons of expectation’, especially concerning the position and ‘function’ of post-war German literature. Blurred definitional boundaries facilitated a large range of approaches towards the deserter. The study shows how some authors process the act of desertion by drawing on existential philosophy, as in Der Überläufer (1951/2016) by Lenz, by levelling desertion with other forms of fleeing, as in Schmidts Aus dem Leben eines Fauns (1953) or by heroifying it, as in, Anderschs Kirschen der Freiheit (1952). This study thus contributes to an underexplored field in German literary studies and offers new insights into a topic that is currently gaining new relevance in the field of literature studies.Item Rethinking Art and Life: The Multiple Entanglements of Allan Kaprow’s Happenings(2023-11-23) Routledge, LauraThis dissertation examines Allan Kaprow's Happenings of the 1960s. It focuses on the ways in which these works spread out, reached into and became entangled with the social world in which they were written, organised and performed. Rooted in archival research and attention to the multiple forms of documentation produced in each Happening, the thesis traces the numerous and developing techniques by which Kaprow brought work and world into close, reciprocal relation in Happenings throughout the decade. It details the ways in which these techniques became a means of critical, experimental engagement with a range of social questions in 1960s America, including the changes in the nature of the public sphere and the shift towards a "post-industrial" society. The thesis explores entanglement not only as a structural principle of individual Happenings, but also as central to Kaprow's Happenings as a more broadly conceived project. It situates individual works within the context of Kaprow's writings and of his under explored organisational and promotional work related to the form. Drawing on a tradition that originates in Peter Bürger's Theory of the Avant-Garde (1971), the thesis argues that Kaprow developed the multifaceted, intertwining form of the Happening as a tool to examine, and to interrogate the possibilities of, the changing social roles, sites, audiences and values of modern art in 1960s America. As well as opening up new perspectives on Kaprow's Happenings, the thesis contributes to ongoing debates around the "neo-avant-garde", the relationship between ephemeral performance and its documentation, and meaning-making and agency in participatory art.Item Sprachvariation und Sprachkontakt in Existenzverbkonstruktionen des Pomerano. Eine korpusgestüzte Untersuchung einer niederdeutschen Varietät in Brasilien(2023-11-07) Hansen, MartinThis study investigates the Low German variety of Pomerano spoken by descendants of settlers who arrived in Brazil around 1860–1880 from the European region of Pomerania. The focus of this linguistic study is on existential constructions (Existenzverbkonstruktionen – EVK), which are used to express “existence” (Es gibt einen Gott) or an ingressive status of “coming into existence” (Es gibt ein Fest). The data comprises eight hours of spoken Pomerano recorded from 18 speakers in the Pomeranian settlements in Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina. The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the variation in existential constructions with GÄWEN, SIN, and HEWWEN in Pomerano on morpho-syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic levels. Additionally, the study aims to identify contact-induced variation through Brazilian Portuguese, taking sociolinguistic factors into account. The theoretical framework combines descriptive-structuralist methods with a usage-based cognitive approach to language contact. In general, the results indicate that the Low German construction in Pomerano appears relatively stable at the morpho-syntactic level. Contact-induced variation by Brazilian Portuguese occurs in the HEWWEN-EVK, which is documented here for the first time in about 14 % of the 285 tokens under scrutiny. This innovation is interpreted as a re-structured variant of the dominant HAVER/TER-EVK in Brazilian Portuguese and is discussed with the usage-based factors similarity and frequency. Additionally, the behavior of speakers in Santa Catarina and Espírito Santo, who are competent in High German or not, respectively, suggests that High German is deployed in preventing direct Portuguese influence on Pomeranian existential constructions, especially in relation to the NP. Speakers in Santa Catarina, who typically speak a High German variety alongside with Pomerano, use genuine German nominals or conventionalized loanwords in HEWWEN-EVK. Speakers in Espírito Santo, who generally lack High German competence, tend to use lexemes or spontaneous loan translations of Portuguese nominals. This makes the case for a regionally specific development of Pomerano that should be further investigated. The study also demonstrates multilingual speakers using different EVK variants depending on their communicative goals. This leads to intra-individual use of a variant repertoire in comparable semantic settings with highly conventionalized EVK, such as Es gibt einen Unterschied.Item La Fragilité des Limites - une lecture de la critique de la modernité chez Alain Finkielkraut(2023-11-02) Tiozzo, MatildeFor over forty years Alain Finkielkraut has been part of debates that have structured, and sometimes divided, public and intellectual life in France. He is an intellectual who arouses controversy, disapproval and admiration. The aim of this thesis is to go beyond these normative considerations and propose a hermeneutic analysis of his work. We argue that the question of limits is a constant feature of his thinking, and his conception of limits is crucial for understanding his critique of modernity. Limits, in their temporal and spatial dimensions, structure the relationship between the Old and the New, ensure the durability of the Common World, and delineate the public and the private sphere, thus ensuring both the separation and the bond between the Peoples of the common world. For this reason, Part I identifies limits in their various forms in Finkielkraut's thought and focuses on his “negative” critique and sheds light on how his conception of limits shapes his critique of the contemporary world. Part II looks at Finkielkraut's vision of literature, which the philosopher sees as a counterweight to ideology. We show that literature constitutes for him both an epistemological and an ethical exploration. The epistemological exploration refers to the idea that literature is a source of knowledge: the knowledge of the particular and the unforeseeable, specific to the human condition. It differs from the common philosophical concept in that it is not aimed at the general but at individual lives. The ethical exploration of, and through, literature means that it enables us to move beyond subjectivity and understand other experiences, thereby broadening the horizon of understanding. In this sense, we identify how the novel, in its Finkielkrautian conception, offers the possibility of accounting for the plurality of human beings. Part III focuses on Finkielkraut's “positive critique” and highlights what Finkielkraut advocates as necessary for the human condition, a human condition that he believes depends on both the Old and the New, on an alliance between universalism and particularism, and on the combination of freedom and culture.Item Worldmakers and Worldwreckers in Decolonial and Developmentalist Imaginaries of Environmental Justice from Western Europe and North America in the 2010s(2023-08-21) Blomqvist, Rut ElliotThis dissertation investigates imaginaries of environmental justice from Western Europe and North America in the 2010s. It explores the relevance of research on predominantly Global South environmental movements and writer-activism for a part of the Global North. A contribution to the cross-pollination of political ecology and literary studies, it develops decolonial, ecofeminist, and cultural materialist theory, and constructs an ecopolitical narratological method—an econarratology for political-ecological analysis of how the power to make and wreck worlds is imagined. The study teases apart colonial and decolonial conceptions of being and knowledge in six Anglophone texts: the pop music album ORDA: This Is My Land by Sofia Jannok; the creative nonfiction The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing; the science fiction novel New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson; the investigative journalistic book This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein; the design fiction The World We Made by Jonathon Porritt; and the textbook The Age of Sustainable Development by Jeffrey Sachs. These texts approach the intersections of sustainability and justice from different professed political positions and different forms of knowledge production. Part I presents a theoretical and methodological framework for the analysis of environmental justice imaginaries (Chapters 1 and 4), and also contextualises the study through an overview of academic-political debates on political concepts, ontology, and epistemology in environmentalism—research in political ecology, the environmental humanities, and ecocriticism that has previously not been synthesised (Chapters 2–3). Part II (Chapters 5–7) turns to the comparative analysis of the six texts, and identifies divergent conceptions of the makers and wreckers of sustainable and just worlds, and of the ways of knowing that can be part of worldmaking. This divergence is understood as producing two poles on a spectrum of imaginaries: ecological decolonisation and sustainable capitalist development. Part III (Chapter 8) further discusses this through a distinction between decoloniality and developmentalism, and considers the implications of the study for political ecology and the environmental humanities, as well as for social movements with an environmental justice orientation.Item Towards Critical Thinking Skills in Higher Education – The Case of English Courses at Swedish Universities(2023-08-21) Evelina, JohanssonThe present thesis investigates higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and critical thinking in English courses at Swedish universities. The rationale for investigating this topic is based on policy documents which state that students’ development of these skills is a goal in both Swedish and international higher education. Previous research indicates a connection between critical thinking and L2 proficiency, which points to a potential importance of HOTS and critical thinking in English courses. Hence, the present study seeks to explore students’ opportunities to develop thinking skills in English intermediate courses in Swedish universities. This topic was investigated through three studies. The first study was inspired by the theory of constructive alignment and analyzed assessment tasks and intended learning outcomes in English courses. The second study investigated English teachers’ views on and experiences of critical thinking and HOTS through interviews and a questionnaire. The data from both the first and the second studies was analyzed with the distinction between linguistics and literature in English courses in mind. Finally, the third study explored students’ development of both critical thinking and EFL proficiency in English intermediate courses. Critical thinking was measured through the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and EFL proficiency was measured through a vocabulary size test. The results show that critical thinking and HOTS were present in both intended learning outcomes and assessment tasks in English intermediate courses. However, there was a higher frequency of HOTS learning outcomes and assessment tasks in literature modules than in linguistics modules. While few differences between how teachers in linguistics and literature experienced and understood HOTS and critical thinking were detected, literature was often talked about as being more suitable for developing these skills. Although the teachers did not express a unified understanding of these concepts, they seemed to be aware of the importance of developing students’ HOTS and critical thinking. The study revealed that students did not develop critical thinking nor EFL proficiency, or that these were correlated. The results are discussed in relation to the short time frame of the study and students’ already high levels of critical thinking and EFL proficiency.Item The Role of Literary Texts in Swedish Upper Secondary EFL Education: The Teacher Perspective(2023-08-10) Wolcott, CatharinaThe English syllabus at the upper secondary level in Sweden stipulates that literary texts should be included in the lesson content at all three levels of English, but their role is not clearly defined. The overarching aim of the study is thus to examine the role of literary texts in upper secondary EFL education from the EFL teachers’ perspective, in order to discuss the relationship between curricular stipulations and EFL teachers’ decisions and approaches. The study relies on a mixed methods approach involving both a quantitative part (phase I - questionnaire) and a qualitative part (phase II - interviews). Key findings from phase I of the study suggest that literary texts are primarily used to improve reading comprehension in English 5 while the development of literary skills becomes increasingly important in English 6 and English 7. The results from phase II of the study show that while one teacher uses mainly contemporary texts at all levels of English another includes older literary texts already in English 5. Moreover, the findings further reveal both similar and different views of the functions of and approaches to literary texts based on EFL repertoires (teachers’ beliefs about literary texts linked to the syllabus of English) and teacher literary repertoires (teachers’ beliefs about literary texts not firmly linked to the syllabus of English) but also due to the idea of protracted curricula (the influence of expired curricula). For instance, while one teacher may prioritize language skills another may emphasize the significance of literary skills when working with literary texts. Nevertheless, results from both phases of the study point to a general consensus as to the importance of student-centered, collaborative forms of engagement where, for example, affective response and critical thinking are in focus. The present study highlights a need for a continued national debate on the role of literary texts in EFL. Keywords: literary texts in EFL, text selection, functions, approaches, upper secondary level, literature teaching and learning, the teacher perspective, mixed methods, EFL repertoires, teacher literary repertoires, protracted curricula, student-centered teaching, collaborative engagementItem Der Nobelpreis und die deutschsprachige Literatur. Eine Studie über die Vergabekriterien des Literaturnobelpreises 1901-1971Tiozzo, PaulusDetta är en historisk studie om Nobelpriset i litteratur och dess kriterier utifrån fallet tyska författare som nominerades till detta pris mellan 1901 och 1971. Den bygger på en kritisk undersökning av till största delen opublicerade arkivdokument från särskilt Svenska Akademiens arkiv. Dessa dokument är utlåtanden från Svenska Akademiens Nobelkommitté, förslagsskrivelser för Nobelpriset sända till nämnda kommitté samt de dåvarande akademiledamöternas korrespondens Den övergripande fråga som leder analysen är vilka faktorer eller argument som slutligen påverkade tillämpningen av kriterierna. Den kretsar i synnerhet kring spörsmålet ifall besluten och avböjningarna framför allt var föranledda av personliga, estetiska övertygelser hos akademiledamöterna eller politiskt motiverade hänsynstaganden. Av den föreliggande studien framgår härvid att estetiska ideal förvisso var mycket viktiga, men att politiska faktorer samtidigt utövade ett avgörande inflytande som inte sällan fick företräde framför dem. Detta framgår särskilt under perioden 1914–1945, på grund av de två världskrigen, Adolf Hitlers förbud för tyska medborgare att mottaga Nobelpriset samt förföljelsen av författare under den nationalsocialistiska diktaturens år. Studien inleds med en skärskådning av det litterära Nobelprisets kriterier i teori och praktik. I anslutning till denna granskas även de dåvarande ledamöternas personliga intryck av tysk litteratur – såväl den historiska som nittonhundratalslitteraturen. Deras politiska och estetiska värderingar granskas också. Därefter följer en kronologisk rekonstruktion och analys av samtliga Nobelpriskandidaturer av tyska författare – alltså kandidater som skrev på tyska och härstammade från Tyskland, Österrike, Schweiz eller annorstädes.Item Nature and Metamorphosis: A Study of Carl Adolph Agardh’s Latin Dissertations and Monographs on Botany and Biology(2022-10-24) Krook, Magnus;Carl Adolph Agardh (1785-1859), professor of botany and practical economy at Lund University, published a large corpus of Latin dissertations and monographs on the subjects of plant systematisation and plant physiology which merit a thorough examination both on account of their importance for the then contemporary natural science but also as they in hindsight consitute a corpus of Latin texts from the last period in which Latin was still a viable means of communication in the scientific community. Agardh’s most distinguished contribution to botany and biology is found in his works on algae, their systematisation and their physiology. An outcome of the latter is a theory concerning the metamorphosis of algae. The aim of the study is to analyse how Agardh verbalises these instances of metamorphosis in his Latin works, with a focus on the dissertation De metamorphosi algarum from 1820.To understand the observations of metamorphosis, Agardh’s underlying conception of nature is first examined. It displays influences from German idealism, in particular from the German philosopher F. J. W. von Schelling, from the Swedish Linnaean tradition, and from vitalism, a theory which was then prevalent among international naturalists. The outcome of the analysis of the verbalisations of metamorphosis is that Agardh neither establishes a defined terminology nor coins any neologisms to cope with the descriptions of metamorphosis. Instead, he uses already extant non-technical Latin terms and expressions signifying change to provide detailed and exact descriptions of each instance of metamorphosis. Thus, Agardh’s verbalisations ofcthe observations of metamorphosis show that a defined Latin terminology is not a prerequisite for exactness in scientific descriptions.Item The Multiple Functions of the Reflexive Prefix in Hehe, Sukuma, Nilamba, and Nyaturu(2021-10-21) Ngwasi, LengsonThis dissertation describes and analyses the multiple functions of the reflexive prefix in four North Eastern Bantu languages, Hehe, Sukuma, Nilamba, and Nyaturu, all spoken in Tanzania. Apart from encoding the reflexive meaning, the functions of the reflexive prefix that are dealt with in this study are reciprocal events and middle events. The study shows that the reflexive prefix is a productive means of encoding reciprocal events: events that are encoded by the reflexes of the Proto-Bantu reciprocal suffix *-an- in many Bantu languages. Furthermore, the reflexive prefix is also a productive means of encoding middle events, which have been reported to be encoded by a variety of morphemes across Bantu languages. The data from the languages under study also show that multiple forms exist, but most of them are undeniably less productive than the reflexive prefix. The analysis of the multiple functions of the reflexive prefix is made within grammaticalization theory. This study proposes two paths of grammaticalization: from reflexive to reciprocal marker, and from reflexive to middle marker. Each path of grammaticalization is argued to be triggered by a specific factor/context that invites inference for the reflexive prefix to be reinterpreted with a new function/meaning. The two paths of grammaticalization proposed in this study can account for the existing grammaticalization from the reflexive to the middle marker, without encoding the reciprocal, which is otherwise frequently observed in other Bantu languages.Item Le sommeil dans À la recherche du temps perdu de Marcel Proust: une étude intertextuelle(2021-10-05) Bruncevic, MersihaThis thesis examines the intertextual aspects of the sleep motif in À la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust. Literary scholars and theorists have generally iden- tified two dominant ways of depicting sleep in literature. One is the psychological approach, where the dreamer’s experience is considered to be a false, psycho-affec- tive one. The other approach, conversely, considers it as a real experience and often even as a spatio-corporeal journey into a different world. This study focuses on the spatio-corporeal approach in relation to Marcel Proust’s depiction of sleep. The theoretical framework of the study is informed by Michael Riffaterre’s notions of hypogram, descriptive systems and intertextualité obligatoire. The analysis is divided in two parts. Firstly, the spatial aspects of Proust’s sleep motif are considered. Notions such as spatialisation of sleep and geography of sleep, which have been established in previous Proust research, serve to highlight how Proust constructs a sleepworld within the novel, which runs parallel to the waking existence of the protagonist. Secondly, the study considers in more detail the specific intertextual convergences between the sleepworld of La Recherche and other literary texts, which also employ a spatio-corporeal logic in depicting sleep. These readings seek above all to underline the continuity in the repre- sentation of the sleep motif in Proust’s novel and the complex intertextuality that underpins it and highlights its spatio-corporeal nature. It is argued that the passages recounting sleep in Proust’s novel, far from being digressions or disparate parts with no relation to one another, form a whole within the work – a parallel world where the protagonist lives a second life.Item The Disruptive Semiotic: A Kristevan Reading of Thomas Hardy’s Fiction(2021-05-11) Hellberg, CatharinaAvhandlingen analyserar Thomas Hardys romaner med syfte att utröna varför de oftast väcker en känsla av ambivalens i läsaren. Med utgångspunkt ifrån Julia Kristevas teori om det semiotiska, enligt vilken intertextualitet uppstår genom en transposition av diskurser som har sin grund i primärprocesserna, åskådliggör avhandlingen hur intertextualiteten i Hardys berättarteknik bidrar till att skapa ambivalens. Intertextualiteten i Hardys fiktion utforskas här som härledande av de idéer Hardy tycks ha fängslats av under sina studier då man finner dem i hans anteckningar. Tesen vidgar diskussionen om Kristevas teori om intertextualitet i samband med Hardys fiktion genom att inkludera Jacques Lacans teori om driftprocessens dynamik och lusten. Genom att uppmärksamma en korrespondens mellan idéer i Hardys romaner och de grundläggande principerna i Kristevas och Lacans teorier, används Kristevas dynamiska syn på intertextualitet som process, ett frånstötande (abjektion) för att förklara denna korrespondens av idéer. Då Kristevas föreställning om intertextualitet anknyter till hennes syn på subjektets process, stödjer tesen hennes dynamiska syn på betydelseprocessen. Således pekas intertextuella knutpunkter ut som bevis på frånstötningsprocessen som skapar textambivalens. Avhandlingen använder sig av Roland Barthes fria associationsteknik för att få fram den flerlagrade dimensionen av Hardys text. Den fria associationstekniken avgränsas däremot till att tolka undertexten som återför till Hardys anteckningar men även till hans innersta väsen, i den bemärkelse att tesen stödjer synen på subjektets process. Även om avhandlingen i huvudsak är psykoanalytisk är den inte det i strängt freudiansk bemärkelse. Med hänvisning till Hardys motstånd till Realismen till förmån för ”inspirerad Konst” stödjer tesen synen på Hardy som konstnärligt lagd genom att lyfta fram indicier som tyder på Jagets frånstötningsprocess i Hardys romaner. Avhandlingen tolkar således Thomas Hardys romaner utefter de olika sätt den dynamiska betydelseprocessen tar sig uttryck för att skapa skiftande innebörder.Item The Curve of an Emotion: A Study of Change in the Portrayal of Children and Childhood in the Literature of James Joyce(2021-02-09) Ryan, BarryLiterary theorists and social historians consider fictional texts to be important for the study of children and childhood. James Joyce’s fiction is considered important for understanding Irish childhoods, and Joyce’s portrayal of childhood is often deemed unchanging within the major themes until the distinction between adults and children breaks down in Finnegans Wake. However, no extended studies of children or childhood in Joyce’s fiction exist, and while Joyce scholars generally consider the literary child in Joyce’s fiction to be an historical artefact within Joycean aesthetics, there exists only a limited scholarly engagement with the topic after A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. This thesis seeks to bridge this gap by exploring the depiction of children and childhood in all of Joyce’s major works of fiction up until Finnegans Wake. This thesis is structured chronologically, beginning with Dubliners and finishing with Ulysses. The methodology used is a dialectical discussion between Joyce’s texts and the social historical account. By applying this approach, each of Joyce’s texts has presented unique theoretical problems for the study of children and childhood. Accordingly, an eclectic approach is employed drawing from theoretical models of the child that span from classical antiquity to contemporary Marxist perspectives. Thus, the close readings, each presented as stand–alone articles, serve to demonstrate that the topic of children and childhood is treated uniquely by Joyce in each work of fiction before Finnegans Wake. These readings work towards a new way of viewing childhood in Joyce’s fiction by providing evidence of an uninterrupted trajectory of change that informs the major themes. However, this does not gesture towards radical change. Rather, it is suggested that it is more useful to consider change as following a curve of revised sensibility that reaches a vertex in Ulysses. Accordingly, it is argued that even with the wide arch of interpretational possibilities discussed in this thesis, the literary child in Ulysses undermines, but does not radically break free from, adult perspectives.Item Adapting Adulthood:Migrating Characters and Themes from Novels, Screenplays, and Films(2021-01-27) Hermansson, JoakimNär romaner adapteras till film förändras oundvikligen fiktionens karaktärer i processen. Det gäller även det tematiska innehållet. Denna avhandling betraktar karaktärerna och det tematiska innehållet i adapterad fiktion som migranter som lämnar romaner för att anpassas till ett liv filmduken med transformerade jag-identiteter. De fem artiklar som denna avhandling bygger på fokuserar på vad som händer med representationen av vuxenvarandet när romanerna adapteras till film. Artiklarna testar modeller som anpassats för tematisk representation. Som exempel används populära fiktionsverk som Atonement, Fifty Shades of Grey, Gone Girl, Me before You, Room, Shutter Island, The Da Vinci Code, The Martian, The Road, Up in the Air och romaner av Patrick McCabe. Eftersom roman-manus-film-adaptioner omfattar alternativa och kompletterande versioner av en berättelse så utgör de särskilt rika tematiska representationer av och metaforer för vad social anpassning kräver. I det sammanhanget betraktar avhandlingen adaptioner som processer och objekt på en och samma gång, med varje version som en integrerad del av en större dynamisk helhet. Utifrån nutida teori om fiktionens attraktionskraft presenterar kapitel 1 syftet med studien. I kapitel 2 beskrivs adaptionsprocessen som en icke-linjär tvåvägsprocess och en receptionsbaserad modell för hur adaptionskaraktärer kan betraktas som fiktiva migranter. Kapitel 3 skisserar en pragmatisk modell, med hjältens resa som grund, för att analysera den retoriska strukturen av tematiska resonemang i fiktion i allmänhet och i adaptioner i synnerhet. Därtill presenteras tematiska markörer som definierar vuxenvarandet och som används i artiklarna, innan kapitel 4 och 5 sammanfattar och diskuterar de fem artiklar som ingår i avhandlingen och konsekvenser av dem som rör adaptionsstudier, pedagogik och manusförfattande.Item Vom Lesen lesen. Zur Konzeption und Darstellung des Lesers im postmodernen Roman(2020-09-07) Barretta, IginiaI postmoderna romaner tillskrivs läsaren en avgörande roll. Läsaren träder ofta fram som fiktionaliserad figur respektive protagonist i texternas handlingar, där olika typer av läsning och dessas olika funktioner visas upp och reflekteras. Läsarens och läsandets förekomst i dessa romaner är dock inte enbart ett diegetiskt fenomen. Den vittnar även om en viss konception av förhållandet mellan läsaren/läsandet och det estetiska verket som i sin tur återspeglar de receptionsestetiska teorier som utvecklades i Tyskland i slutet av sextiotalet och är kända under namnet receptionsestetik. Dessa teorier framhäver och utforskar läsarens roll i skapandet av textbetydelse. Förutom återkommande skildringar av läsaren och läsningen utmärker sig postmoderna texter därutöver genom sina metafiktiva strategier, såsom exempelvis just läsarens fiktionalisering, intertextualitet, dialogiskt berättande, olika narrativa speglingar och andra självreflexiva företeelser. Utifrån receptionsestetikens teorier och i synnerhet med hjälp av Wolfgang Isers och Umberto Ecos arbeten om bland annat den implicita läsaren undersöker den här avhandlingen ovan nämnda strategier och deras samspel i fem postmoderna romaner. Syftet är att undersöka vilka funktioner dessa strategier har i de valda texterna samt hur de samspelar med varandra för att göra den empiriska läsaren medveten om både fiktionsskapande och om sin egen läsprocess. Särskild vikt läggs vid hur läsaren fiktionaliseras i texterna: gemensamma mönster i framställningen av läsaren identifieras och läsartyper liksom återkommande motiv som används för att tematisera läsande kartläggs, varvid analysen även utreder hur dessa mönster och motiv återspeglar en viss konception av läsare och läsande. Arbetet inleds med ett kapitel om Italo Calvinos "Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore" (1979). På grund av romanens status som ett slags mall för en typiskt postmodern skildring av läsaren och läsandet syftar analysen av denna roman till att introducera och beskriva centrala litterära mönster och motiv men även koncept och teorier som är avgörande även för förståelsen och analysen av de efterföljande tyskspråkiga romanerna, det vill säga Gerhard Köpfs "Die Strecke" (1985); Christoph Ransmayrs "Die Schrecken des Eises und der Finsternis" (1984); Felicitas Hoppes "Pigafetta" (1999) och Walter Moers’ "Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher" (2004). Å ena sidan visar analysen av de tyskspråkiga romanerna hur dessa använder sig av mönster och strategier som förekommer redan i Calvinos roman, å den andra framhävs även de olika romanernas individuella sätt att skildra läsaren och läsandet. Undersökningen visar att den fiktionaliserade läsaren faktiskt framställs på ett liknande sätt i alla de analyserade texterna. Därmed kan ett typiskt postmodernt sätt att avbilda och förstå läsaren identifieras. Kännetecknande är framförallt betonandet av läsaktens produktiva kraft och således även av det nära förhållandet mellan läsande och skrivande. Även specifika motiv kopplade till läsarens involvering i läsakten återkommer, exempelvis läsningen som kroppslig erfarenhet eller som hotande och farlig kraft. Samtidigt visar avhandlingen att samspelet mellan de undersökta narrativa strukturerna och metafiktiva strategierna tycks syfta till att göra den empiriska läsaren medveten om sin produktiva roll i det litterära meningsskapandet och receptionen av fiktion. På så vis blir läsandet till en lek eller ett spel där den empiriska läsaren är en medveten medspelare, ett synsätt på läsande och läsare som genomsyrar och därigenom kan förstås som kännetecknande för skildringen och konceptionen av läsaren i samtliga de undersökta postmoderna romanerna.Item Reconfiguring the Hero’s Journey – The Monomyth in Contemporary Popular Culture(2020-06-02) Sadri, HoumanDen här avhandlingen analyserar hur den så kallade hjälteresan eller monomyten gestaltas i samtida texter och media. Det övergripande syftet är att undersöka vilken giltighet och relevans strukturen som skapades av Joseph Campbell i The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) har inom engelskspråkig populärkultur. Genom att studera hur utvalda samtida texter korresponderar med viktiga stationer av den hjälteresa som Campbell utstakar visar avhandlingen på modellens fortsatta relevans för förståelsen av nutida hjältenarrativ. Projektet utforskar på vilket sätt monomyten och de undersökta texterna genomsyrar varandra, hur strukturen kan användas som ett tolkningsverktyg samt hur de undersökta populärkulturella texterna kastar nytt ljus på Campbells teori. Avhandlingen är strukturerad i enlighet med hjälteresan: Den börjar med ”The Call to Adventure” och avslutas med ”Master of the Two Worlds.” Analyserna presenteras i fristående artiklar som genom närläsning belyser hur monomyten kan användas för att förstå berättande och vice versa. I studien undersöks olika genrer och medier inom en populärkulturell sfär; litteratur för unga vuxna, actionfilm, serietidningar om superhjältar samt självbiografiskt berättande i grafiska romaner. Analyserna visar inte bara på en produktiv växelverkan mellan monomyten och de undersökta texterna, utan bidrar också till att se strukturen på ett delvis nytt sätt; nämligen som en framställning av den transitoriska rörelsen mellan två olika tillstånd hos berättelsens protagonist. I det att den gestaltar allt som hjälten går igenom, från uppbrottet ur den vardagliga hemmiljön till återvändandet i ny gestalt, representerar hjälteresan rörelsen genom olika stadier och över viktiga trösklar i livet. Genom att undersöka hur Campbells struktur yttrar sig i samtida populärkulturella texter blir det således möjligt att både utforska dess samtida relevans och att belysa den ur nya perspektiv.Item The Trials of the Intertextual: The Translation and Reception of Tatyana Tolstaya's Kys´ in Sweden and the United States(2020-01-09) Podlevskikh Carlström, MalinThis dissertation analyses the translation and reception of Tatyana Tolstaya’s novel Kys´ (2000). The analysis includes, as well as the Russian source text, the Swedish translation Därv (2003), translated by Staffan Skott and Maria Nikolajeva, and the English translation The Slynx (2003), translated by Jamey Gambrell. A basic premise for the investigation is that intertextuality takes particular expression in the Russian literary tradition, which is why it is vital to discuss possible strategies for translating intertextual references and also how the choice of strategies may affect the reception of a target text. The first part of the dissertation focuses on intertextuality and possible ways to classify and translate intertextual references. The analysis reveals that the Swedish translators have replaced many quotations from Russian poetry with Swedish or canonical poetry, while the American translator has translated the Russian quotations into English. To summarize, while the Swedish translators seem to have interpreted intertextuality as such as being important and recontextualized some of the references, the American translator instead seems to have interpreted the references to Russian culture and the actual referent texts as being important. The second part analyses the reception of the two target texts by means of a comparative analysis of twelve Swedish and sixteen American reviews in non-scholarly and non-professional publications. The analysis reveals that the reception differed between the two target cultures. While the English target text was primarily read as a novel about Russia, the Swedish critics were also able to relate the novel to universal topics such as art and human nature. Finally, the analysis revealed that an underlying theme among the Swedish reviews is “Can art/literature save us?” while an underlying theme among the American reviews is instead “Can Russia be saved?” To conclude, the Swedish translators managed to achieve an interpretation of the source text that was not only more intelligible for the target text readers but also more interesting and relevant from their perspective. Thus, intertextual literature may benefit from a translation strategy that takes the function of intertextuality into consideration and that also—when necessary—recontextualizes intertextual references.