Magister
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://dspace.univ-boumerdes.dz/handle/123456789/57
Browse
12 results
Search Results
Item Tragic disruptions and subversive discourse in late victorian fiction : jude the obscure, the picture of dorian gray, and heart of darkness(2012) Haddouche, HassinaThe main concern of this dissertation is a study of ideological subversion and containment in three late Victorian novels, i.e. in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. This study shows how subversive thrusts are contained in three main scenes: social in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, cultural in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and economic and political in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Our purpose is thus to bring out the tragic disruptions resulting from such discursive clash in the light of three poetics: Raymond Williams's theory of Cultural Materialism and his theory of Modern Tragedy, and Michael Bakhtin's theory of Dialogism. The theory of Cultural Materialism and that of Dialogism are mainly used to underpin discursive practices. Cultural Materialism helps us identify and assess the subversive strategies employed in these novels. The dialogues and events of the novels reveal the degree to which Victorian power is based on predation, deceit, and hypocrisy; however, this power is subject to undermining by dissident and subversive voices within Victorian society; yet this subversion is soon contained. The triumph of containment over the forces of subversion is more a mark of the late Victorian pessimism than a reinforcement of the Victorian power. The subversion-containment dialectic will show this at the level of themes, plot, and setting. Bakhtin's Dialogism will shed light on subversion at the level of language; in other words, the analysis of language in the light of Bakhtin's dialogism shows a subversive discourse which places the protagonists in a position of social antagonism to the Victorian power. As for the theory of Modern Tragedy, it is used to bring out how the containment of subversion is effected. Through characterization, we shall show the conflict of the tragic protagonists (anti-heroes) with their society. In the last analysis, the subversion of social issues in Jude the Obscure, of aesthetics in The Picture of Dorian Gray, and of politics in Heart of Darkness-whose initial aim is to effect drastic social changes-result in a consolidation of the Establishment's values at the expense of the pioneers of progress. Their ultimate failure takes on tragic tonesItem The theme of exile in James Joyce's a portrait of the artist as a young man (1916) and Frank McCourt's angela's ashes (1996)(2012) Guedouari, LamiaIrish writers, James Joyce and Frank McCourt, have long been considered "voluntary exiles". From a different approach, the present research work is an attempt to argue that the theme of exile in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes (1996) is, first and foremost, "involuntary and unhappy", and culturally coded. The study is tackled from two perspectives: historic (Kerby A. Miller), and literary (Edward Said and Hegel). Drawing on Miller's theory, we shall argue that Irish emigration has always been thought as "involuntary and unhappy exile". urthermore, the concept is deeply rooted in Irish History, culture, and particularly Irish Catholic culture. It goes as far back as early Christian Ireland. Exile, as "involuntary and unhappy", attained unbearable degrees in post-famine Ireland, and worsened in post-colonial Ireland because of inflexible Irish authoritarian practices. Gaelic Ireland with its three pillars, Catholicism, Nationalism, and social conventions, has done much to embitter Joyce's, McCourt's, and the majority of Irish writers' lives. Each of these institutions demanded absolute conformity, and any kind of deviations led directly to exile, physical or spiritual. By studying Joyce's A Portrait (1916) and McCourt's Angela's Ashes (1996), we shall also emphasize the continuity of 'exile' as a literary theme and fate in post-colonial Ireland till the 1950s. Both Joyce/Dedalus and McCourt/McCourt share many similarities (process of maturation, reasons behind departure, and fate) which are far from being a mere coincidence. On a different but connected level, we shall also throw light on positive aspects of the condition of exile. Edward Said's perience-based theory about exile stipulates that "involuntary exile" and "defensive nationalism" are directly proportional to each other. Said argued that exile empowers the feeling of belonging and nationalism. The exile acquires 'new eyes' with which to see the history of his country. From exile, Joyce and McCourt dedicated themselves to invent a "New Ireland" by recalling the brilliance of Irish culture through their autobiographical writings. A Portrait and Angela's Ashes are full of Irish myths, legends, songs, and nature beauty that make the process of reading very much appealing and attractive. Studying the positive aspects in A Portrait and Angela's Ashes, we shall in the process, highlight the central characteristic of exilic writing, dialectics. Joyce's and McCourt's relationships with Ireland as reflected in their autobiographical novels are one of a love-hate. Other exilic literary characteristics that can be mentioned at this level include: the autobiography genre as "the text of the oppressed", a quest for a home, and Irish history and Irish Catholicism as prerequisites for the understanding of Irish Literature. As a conclusion, conceived differently from exile, Joyce and McCourt succeeded in creating a 'fashionable' image about Ireland through their writing. Key word: Irish studies; the Irish tradition of exile; Ireland, exile, and nationalism; Ireland, exile, and autobiographies/memoirs; Ireland, exile, and globalisation; James Joyce and Frank McCourtItem Robert frost's quest for style in the nature writing tradition : an investigation into his stand on romantics and modernists(2012) Abdllatif, Schems EdhiafItem The representation of the intellectual in seven Of edgar allan poe's tales(2010) Mahdjoub Araibi, HichemItem The quest for identity in richard wright's native son and ralph ellison's invisible man(2012) Djellouli, IsmailItem Prospero and caliban in robinson crusoe, kim, heart of darkness, and a passage to India(2014) Boulfekhar, SaidaTaking Shakespeare's Prospero and Caliban as a paradigmatic binary and basing its theoretical approach on cultural materialism and postcoloniality, the present study attempts to address the issue of the coloniser-colonised relationship in four canonical novels in English literature, namely Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Rudyard Kipling's Kim, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and Edward Morgan Forster's A Passage to India. The study is conducted in the light of the British Empire's development starting from its incipiency up till its downfall in the twentieth century. This study examines the way in which the changing historical context of British colonialism bears on each writer's vision of colonial relations as reflected in his narrative through his characterisation and his dramatisation of the colonial encounter and, at the same time, attempts to track signs of consistency in the four writers' conceptions of colonial relationships so as to verify the hypothesis that despite the varying writers' views and despite the unquestionable influence of the changing colonial context, the colonial encounter is consistently conceived as a strong to weak and superior to inferior relationship; a core that proves immune to the historical changes of British expansionismItem Otherness and the absurd in joseph conrad's and albert camus's fictional works : a comparative study(2012) Mameche, FadhilaIn my research work I have chosen to look at four texts by two writers with a worldwide readership: Joseph Conrad and Albert Camus. Both Conrad and Camus are considered revisionist imperialists because they are caught in the contradiction between the orthodox Eurocentric view of Empire and their own –rather liberal-humanist. Their malaise lies in their intellectual predicament as well as in their spiritual instability both stemming from their civic status (one is an adopted Briton and the other is a reclaimed Frenchman). I have followed in this comparative study a Postcolonial and a neo-Marxist (Macherey) approach; two approaches that have revealed the political stands of Conrad and Camus. My comparative study is concerned with two of each writer’s fictional works: Heart of Darkness and L’Etranger on the one hand, and Lord Jim and La Chute on the other. In my thesis, I insist on the fact that Conrad and Camus were both fully aware of the negative impact of imperialism. Yet owing to historical and personal circumstances, they were caught in ambivalent stances. In order to resolve this dilemma, Conrad and Camus resorted to flight into metaphysics (the absurd in particular) yet without much conviction. I therefore attempt to shed light on the essential ambiguity that pervades their (unwitting) colonial discourses, laying emphasis on the ideological ‘strife’ within their minds. My outline comprises five chapters. The first chapter examines the socio-political background of both authors. It investigates their resemblances and differences in terms of biography and ideology. In the second chapter, I investigate Conrad’s and Camus’s stereotypical representation of the other in Heart of Darkness and L’Etranger respectively. At the same time I argue that their texts owe much to the colonial discourse, a discourse fraught with containment and condescension. In the third chapter, I attempt to show that Conrad’s and Camus’s discourses are characteristically ambivalent. This chapter further explores the tortuous complexity of the two writers’ worldviews through the analysis of some formal fictional aspects. Chapter four is concerned with Conrad’s and Camus’s escapism as appears in Lord Jim and La Chute. It also focuses on the ideological quandary faced by the two authors. Chapter five stresses the narrative strategies deployed by Conrad and Camus in their attempt to resolve the dilemma of the colonizer-colonized binary opposition. In the conclusion I argue that the kinship between Conrad and Camus can be accounted for by thematic similarities which, in a sense, are determined by nearly identical backgrounds. More explicitly, Conrad’s and Camus’s refusal to recognize –against their intellectual grain– the other as an equal, led them to adopt diversionary schemes. In other words, by escaping history, Conrad and Camus turn a blind eye on the struggle for recognition of the colonized as full-fledged human beings. As a result of their ideological muddle, Conrad and Camus fall back on artistic expressiveness, a saving grace which makes their readers overlook their political shortcomings. It is precisely their esthetic achievements which postcolonial critics and writers use as a stepping stone in their re-appraisal of Conrad’s and Camus’s worksItem Nature and nurture in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, H. G. Wells's the island of doctor Moreau and William Golding's lord of the flies(2012) Lameche, ZohraThis dissertation looks at how the theme of 'nature vs. nurture' is treated in three English novels written in three different periods: Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, H. G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau and William Golding's Lord of the Flies. A comparison of these novels allows us to survey the move from an ardent belief in the ability of nurtured man to tame nature and thus establish a 'utopia'; to a skeptical vision that doubts the ability of nurture (science) to improve la condition humaine and tame nature, the result of which being 'anti-utopia'; finally to a pessimistic view that sees nurture as helpless in transforming man and his environment for the better, thus resulting in 'dystopia'. What caused writers to despair of the ability of a well-nurtured man to achieve supremacy over the natural world is the main question this dissertation addresses. This research stems from the conviction that, through the analysis of this theme, we bring out the interactions between the authors and their times, between texts and contexts. To this end, we shall rely essentially, but not exclusively, on the theory of Cultural Materialism. This dissertation contains six chapters. The Enlightenment, as I show in the first chapter, was characterized by civilized man's confidence in his ability to tame wild nature. The second chapter is devoted to the analysis of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe which reflects the spirit of progress that dominated the late-seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries. The third chapter is concerned with the atmosphere of the late-nineteenth century doubts as to man's ability to successfully tame nature. This mood of skepticism and uncertainty is enhanced by man's fear of the misuse of science. H. G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau which is the concern of the fourth chapter epitomizes this spirit of doubt. The fifth chapter is an investigation into the twentieth century sense of hopelessness caused mainly by the disastrous results of the First and Second World Wars; the latter witnessed the dropping of the first atom bomb. In the sixth chapter, we discuss William Golding's Lord of the Flies which exemplifies the spirit of despair of the mid-twentieth century. In the conclusion, we find that the answer to the question of whether nurture enables man to tame wild nature depends on the writer's viewpoint which is, for its part, shaped by both the historical and literary ideology/ies of his/her timeItem George Bernard shaw's feminist vision in Mrs. Warren's profession, man and superman and pygmalion(2012) Temouh, OuahibaThe purpose of this dissertation is to assess the development, consistency and comprehensiveness of George Bernard Shaw's feminist vision. To this end, this study proposes to explore the playwright's feminist stance in three plays which represent different periods in his dramatic career: Mrs. Warren's Profession, Man and Superman and Pygmalion. Such works are analysed in the light of three poetics: the Marxist Feminist Theory, The Gynoecocentric Theory and the Socialist Feminist Theory. This research work is divided into five chapters. The first two set the scene for a better understanding of the dramatist's feminist thinking as they shed light on the social, cultural and literary backgrounds of the plays discussed. The first chapter in particular examines the social, economic, legal and political status of Victorian women. It highlights the central role played by the feminist movement in the struggle for the dismantling of the patriarchal system. The second chapter surveys the representation of the woman question by Shaw's predecessors and contemporaries. Furthermore, it discusses the position of Victorian women in the theatre as dramatists, actresses and actor manageresses. It also marks the role they played in the emergence of an English feminist drama by the late- nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. The chapters that follow are devoted to a thematic and textual study of the plays. The third provides a Marxist feminist analysis of Mrs. Warren's Profession. It reveals that, by the early 1890s, as a Fabian feminist, Bernard Shaw was concerned mainly with the economic dimension of woman's oppression. His feminist comitment was part of his reformist socialist project. The fourth chapter offers a feminist reading of Man and Superman in the light of L. F. Ward's Gynoecocentric Theory. The study of this play underscores the development of the Shavian feminist vision. It shows how, by the early twentieth century, apart from his interest in woman's economic independence, the playwright asserted her superiority over man, a superiority which stems from her reproductive power. This power is, in his view, the prime mover of creative evolution. Therefore the chapter explains how Shaw's vitalist philosophy was centred on his feminist convictions. Pygmalion, the last play in this dissertation, is discussed from a Socialist Feminist standpoint in the fifth chapter. The study of this work brings to light Shaw's ability to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the woman question by the second decade of the twentieth century. By this time, he argued that the overthrow of patriarchal dominance would result, not only from outer reforms such as the establishment of Socialism, but from women's inner revolt against oppression as well; in other words, from their psychological development. Hence the analysis of Pygmalion highlights the fact that in this period Shaw's feminist engagement transcended his socialist concern. Finally, in the conclusion I assert that the three plays, i.e. Mrs. Warren's Profession, Man and Superman and Pygmalion, dramatise a comprehensive, consistent, and developing feminist vision. Such characteristic features confirm Shaw's longstanding commitment to the cause of woman's liberation and his repudiation of the dominant phallocentric theatrical tradition