Commonly, Jewish Broadway plays are described in superficial readings as kitsch. However, this thesis claims that the theatre had a crucial role for the Jewish community between 1880 and 1930. By...Show moreCommonly, Jewish Broadway plays are described in superficial readings as kitsch. However, this thesis claims that the theatre had a crucial role for the Jewish community between 1880 and 1930. By engaging in the academic debate of memory studies, this thesis argues that memory had three main functions in Jewish Broadway plays: (1) the healing of traumatic memory through the interaction in performance,(2) the creation of a community bond and identity as well as (3) the facilitation of transcultural and intergenerational understanding. Therefore, this thesis illustrates how an artistic environment can facilitate the integration process of immigrants by connecting the old with the new homeland.Show less
This thesis examines the representation of female Presidents of the United States in popular culture. This thesis asks how these fictional depictions relate to the cultural understanding of the...Show moreThis thesis examines the representation of female Presidents of the United States in popular culture. This thesis asks how these fictional depictions relate to the cultural understanding of the actual office, and in particular how the characterization of these female Presidents reflects and challenges the public perception of the presidency as a masculine institution. To this end this thesis investigates Commander in Chief's portrayal of President Mackenzie Allen, State of Affairs’ depiction of President Constance Payton and House of Cards’ characterization of President Claire Hale Underwood with a focus on the presidents’ rise to power, their marriages and modes of motherhood, their issue competency and crisis management, and their femininity.Show less
This thesis explores how two novels lead the white liberal reader to recognize institutional racism in the American context. The main argument is that these novels, The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015...Show moreThis thesis explores how two novels lead the white liberal reader to recognize institutional racism in the American context. The main argument is that these novels, The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015) and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013), redefine racism and how it functions in society for a white liberal audience. These novels guide the reader to compare two different definitions of racism, and how they operate in American society.Show less
In my BA thesis I analyze two novels, The House of Mirth by Wharton and The Yellow Wallpaper by Gilman. I illustrate how the novels describe that women needed personal autonomy and how they wanted...Show moreIn my BA thesis I analyze two novels, The House of Mirth by Wharton and The Yellow Wallpaper by Gilman. I illustrate how the novels describe that women needed personal autonomy and how they wanted to escape patriarchal oppression. In order to do so I distinguish two selves within the female protagonists, namely the rebellious self and the obedient self. The rebellious self wants to break free from patriarchal oppression and its gender roles, whereas the obedient self adheres to these societal standards. Whilst analyzing these two selves in the novels, a link will be established between these selves and gothic imagery in order to illustrate women's precarious position in the American Victorian era.Show less
As a response to America's mainstream trend towards conformism in the 1950s and 60s, several subcultures arose, among the first of which was the Beat movement. While this movement consisted mostly...Show moreAs a response to America's mainstream trend towards conformism in the 1950s and 60s, several subcultures arose, among the first of which was the Beat movement. While this movement consisted mostly of men, there were also female Beatniks. Because these female Beatniks faced marginalization and alienation from within the Beat movement, as well as in traditional society, I will argue that they became more socially aware and driven to rebellion against conformity than their male counterparts, which makes these women the true embodiments of the ideals and actions of the Beat generation. Since the scope of this thesis does will not allow for extensive research on a range of Beat women, this thesis will explore the lives and works of two important female Beatniks; Diane di Prima (1934) and Hettie Jones (1934). By examining Di Prima’s and Jones’ literary output, the rebellion and marginalization found in their literary works can be put into historical context based on the examination of (auto)biographical texts.Show less
Over the past few years transgender rights have become increasingly mainstream, and issues affecting transgender people have frequently made headlines. When considering these issues, transgender is...Show moreOver the past few years transgender rights have become increasingly mainstream, and issues affecting transgender people have frequently made headlines. When considering these issues, transgender is often placed within the greater scope of LGBT rights. However, only fairly recently has the LGB community embraced the T. This research will look at the history of transgender activism, and how the sectional nature of homosexual men and lesbian women excluded the intersectionality of transgender people. This thesis will consider the relationship between these factions in activism, in medical terms and in social terms. It will further come to show that the history of transgender activism is a struggle that is still alive today.Show less
This thesis analyzes song lyrics by Nina Simone, James Brown, and Public Enemy, and questions how they are radical in the context of the diachronic development of black civil rights activism. It...Show moreThis thesis analyzes song lyrics by Nina Simone, James Brown, and Public Enemy, and questions how they are radical in the context of the diachronic development of black civil rights activism. It straddles both very broad context and detailed analysis.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to uncover the performative instead of the descriptive nature of trauma in contemporary American texts: Wild and Into the Wild. It is widely accepted that larger traumas...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to uncover the performative instead of the descriptive nature of trauma in contemporary American texts: Wild and Into the Wild. It is widely accepted that larger traumas need a narrative to be worked through, yet these seemingly non-typical examples show that narratives need a certain level of trauma as well. In chapter one the contradictions within trauma narratives will be analyzed by outlining the existing research. Chapter two places Wild amongst these theories and analyses Strayed as a learned, critical trauma author and her novel as autobiographical and calling upon the traditions of trauma. Chapter three both compares Wild and Into the Wild, one being autobiographical and the other describing someone else’s trauma. The positions chosen by the authors provide them with the opportunity to both link the stories to larger societal wounds and it gives the author as well as the audience the chance to work through their own traumas.Show less
The War on Drugs has largely been declared a policy failure, and the attack on the supply-side has been subject to scholarly debate (see Bagley, Bertram, Nadelmann, Tokatlian, Johns etc.). This is...Show moreThe War on Drugs has largely been declared a policy failure, and the attack on the supply-side has been subject to scholarly debate (see Bagley, Bertram, Nadelmann, Tokatlian, Johns etc.). This is in contrast to the somewhat glorified war narrative of ‘good versus bad’ that Narcos imposes on the events that occurred in early 1980s Colombia. The show’s perpetuation of the War on Drugs supply-side logic, the juxtaposition of narcotrafficantes with communism, and the demonization of the narcos all serve to justify the suspension of morality in the war against the narcos.Show less
When Freud first began to publish his theories on the unconscious around the turn of the 20th century, this represented a revolution within the field of psychology. However, Freud was much indebted...Show moreWhen Freud first began to publish his theories on the unconscious around the turn of the 20th century, this represented a revolution within the field of psychology. However, Freud was much indebted to literature, in which the existence of the unconscious had been postulated for some time. This thesis follows the developing perception of the unconscious in 19th century literature as it corresponds to the development of the concept of the unconscious within psychology, from a source of fear and mystery associated with pathology, to an accepted element of the human psyche recognised within everyone. In addition, it examines how particular concepts within Freudian psychoanalysis can be identified in some of the literature preceding him. Thus, it shows how Freud's theories were anticipated by 19th century literature.Show less
Novels Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, Falling Man by Don DeLillo and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid all engage with the individual and collective traumas...Show moreNovels Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, Falling Man by Don DeLillo and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid all engage with the individual and collective traumas of 9/11. They do so in different ways and from different perspectives, but each struggles with the desire for (or impossibility of) achieving narrative closure. My thesis will use Mieke Bal’s theory linking trauma to the impossibility of closure in order to analyze the novels’ strategies to address the trauma of 9/11. I will argue that the level of healing achieved is directly related to the degree of narrative closure each novel reaches. Oskar, the child protagonist of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (year), addresses the trauma of losing his father in the attacks by going on a quest and keeping a scrapbook in which he collects his memories of his father’s life and death. This process allows him (and the novel) to achieve closure. Falling Man (year) collects the fragments of the lives of direct and indirect New York victims of the attacks, and tries to reassemble them. Here, the trauma is addressed on a more collective level than in the case of ELaIC, sometimes successfully, in other cases less so. The Reluctant Fundamentalist (year) is a novel from the other side: its speaker and main character is a Pakistani activist, whose trauma consists of his rejection by American society after 9/11. Changez and the other characters function as metaphors for the national traumas incurred. These remain unresolved and the novel accordingly does not reach narrative closure. Together, these novels suggest that individual 9/11 traumas may be worked through successfully, but that there remains an unresolved collective or even global trauma.Show less
