This thesis presents an analysis of the way language is used as a form of power in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451. Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four represents a society which uses the...Show moreThis thesis presents an analysis of the way language is used as a form of power in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451. Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four represents a society which uses the manipulation of meaning in order to restrict individual thought. Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 likewise presents a government whose goal it is to diminish individual thought. However, Fahrenheit 451 focuses more on the violent destruction of written language.Show less
This thesis analyses how the character and stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle have been adapted in season three and four of the BBC’s Sherlock and how the character of the detective develops...Show moreThis thesis analyses how the character and stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle have been adapted in season three and four of the BBC’s Sherlock and how the character of the detective develops throughout these two seasons. This analysis was performed through the lenses of both Adaptation Theory (Hutcheon, Joyce, Kline) and Character Studies (Eder, Jannadis & Schneider, Redmond), in order to achieve a complete picture as to how the character of Sherlock Holmes was adapted from Doyle’s stories and further developed for the television series. This study, first critically explores the stories and the character of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories and how the detective handles the situations in which he finds himself as well as how he interacts with other characters. The second chapter studies the development of the character of Sherlock throughout both seasons of the series, with an emphasis on season three, as well as explore the cases Sherlock gets involved in, since they are starting to bleed into his personal life. The third chapter focuses on season four of BBC Sherlock, in which the character of Sherlock and his relationships completely overshadow the cases, shifting the series towards the genre of melodrama. The series is compared to the content of Doyle's stories throughout all chapter in order to explore how the creators of the television series adapted the Victorian Holmes to a twenty-first century Sherlock.Show less
Robert Heinlein is not only one of the most influential science fiction writers of the twentieth century, he is also one of the most controversial science fiction writers of this century. Heinlein...Show moreRobert Heinlein is not only one of the most influential science fiction writers of the twentieth century, he is also one of the most controversial science fiction writers of this century. Heinlein implemented his political convictions into his work, evolving through his career from a socialist viewpoint to a libertarian – arguably even anarchistic – viewpoint. This thesis tracks this development through a critical analysis of three novels from the early, middle, and late stages of his career. In Beyond this Horizon, which is a reaction to the Great Depression in the United States, Heinlein describes a utopian society based on a socialist economy in which all problems of the twentieth century are solved. In Starship Troopers, which is Heinlein’s response to President Eisenhower’s decision regarding the end of nuclear testing, he explores the ideology of a society which promotes individual freedom, arguing that freedom and responsibility ultimately leads to patriotism. The third novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, is Heinlein’s libertarian retelling of the American revolution and is the culmination of his political development from socialist to libertarian ideology.Show less
A strong argument can be made that both Robert Louis Stevenson and Arthur Machen were aware of contemporary degeneracy theories as formulated by naturalist and biologist Darwin and criminologist...Show moreA strong argument can be made that both Robert Louis Stevenson and Arthur Machen were aware of contemporary degeneracy theories as formulated by naturalist and biologist Darwin and criminologist and physician Lombroso and of contemporary dual brain theories as formulated by neuroanatomist and physiologist Franz Joseph Gall and psychologist Arthur Ladbroke Wigan. Stevenson incorporated these theories in his novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and Machen incorporated these theories in his novel The Great God Pan (1890). Both authors incorporated scientific theories in their novel as a tool to demonstrate their resent towards the moral dimension of Victorian science, which was used by scientists to attribute mental and physiological aspects of an individual with ideological constructs such as good and evil. Both authors also demonstrated that the scientific discourse of the Victorian age upheld not only the dominant moral framework, but also the dominant gender ideology.Show less
Inspiration drawn from the Middle Ages can be found in many forms of modern pop culture. In fact, so-called ‘neomedievalism’ has emerged onto the global scene, and has become almost as widespread...Show moreInspiration drawn from the Middle Ages can be found in many forms of modern pop culture. In fact, so-called ‘neomedievalism’ has emerged onto the global scene, and has become almost as widespread and as often referenced as when the Roman and Greek cultures were rediscovered during the Italian Renaissance. Neomedievalism is described as the postmodern ‘use’ of medieval cultures which often deliberately denies historical accuracy and is usually a nostalgic or romanticized version - or a crude representation - of medieval culture. This way of appropriating medieval themes and stories is possible because it is still “productive in the contemporary imagination”. This claim is substantiated by the popularity of countless medieval-inspired TV-series, films, medieval-styled ‘role playing games’, books such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book and TV series - and of course music containing neomedievalist themes. This thesis will explore the role of neomedievalism in Viking Metal, Anglo-Saxon Metal and Neofolk, to find out how neomedievalism fits in with the counter-culture of these music subgenres.Show less
The portrayal of witches and wizards in older fairy tales such as the Grimm brothers’ “Hansel and Gretel” and “Snow White” (1812) and L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz (1900) differ significantly...Show moreThe portrayal of witches and wizards in older fairy tales such as the Grimm brothers’ “Hansel and Gretel” and “Snow White” (1812) and L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz (1900) differ significantly from the witches that appear in more recent works of fantasy, like Garcia and Stohl’s Caster Chronicles (2009-2012) and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (1997-2007). Of course some of these differences can be attributed simply by the different attitudes towards witchcraft that circulated in the different eras in which these works were written. This thesis will show that, at least in part, the different literary representations of witches is due to the genre conventions that govern the text in which the witch-character appears. The close-textual analyses of William Harrison Ainsworth’s historical novel The Lancashire Witches(1848), Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Romantic verse narrative “The Witch of Atlas” (1820) and several witches in J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series will reveal that the genre conventions that are imposed on these literary works play a role in determining the appearance, the skills, and the role of the witch(es) in the story.Show less
This thesis analyses the function and meaning of the depiction of landscapes in Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho in relation to contemporary paintings, the emergence of the Gothic as a...Show moreThis thesis analyses the function and meaning of the depiction of landscapes in Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho in relation to contemporary paintings, the emergence of the Gothic as a genre, and the notions of the picturesque, the beautiful and the sublime.Show less
This thesis explores the clique-wallflower dynamic in four seminal teenage high-school films: Carrie (1976), The Breakfast Club (1985), Heathers (1988) and Mean Girls (2004).
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis focuses on haunting house tales - fictions which depict an active and malevolent house - through the lens of postmodernism. Using the theories of Brian McHale and Linda Hutcheon, the...Show moreThis thesis focuses on haunting house tales - fictions which depict an active and malevolent house - through the lens of postmodernism. Using the theories of Brian McHale and Linda Hutcheon, the thesis analyzes three American haunting house novels: Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," King's "The Shining," and Danielewski's "House of Leaves." Especially the notions of history, knowledge, and science are of relevance in this context. As is claimed, the haunting house does away with the idea that knowledge about the house and its past is empowering, since the supernatural events are not caused by a gruesome crime of the past.Show less
This thesis will show that Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy critically explore contemporary social concerns in modern-day America, such as the unfair...Show moreThis thesis will show that Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy critically explore contemporary social concerns in modern-day America, such as the unfair distribution of wealth, the potentially corruptive nature of power and the dual nature of identity. The trilogies also question the capability of both totalitarian and democratic political regimes to govern their people fairly. Both authors introduce their young-adult audience to such pressing socio-political topics by presenting them with two different prospective dystopian futures. Both the Hunger Games as well as the Divergent series present protagonists who are young adults themselves – making the storyline easier to relate to – and the novels critically explore socio-political themes specifically tailored for the young readership. Beyond these initial similarities, both trilogies exhibit a different vision regarding not only contemporary America, but its future development as well, giving relevance to their comparison. Whereas the Hunger Games series' social critique is mainly centered around governmental systems, the Divergent series focuses more on the controversy surrounding identity development, commenting on the precarious balance between a character’s free will to develop his or her own identity and an imposed identity constructed from various external social and economic forces.Show less
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Creature is introduced as a Romantic hero, with human emotions and needs and a grotesque appearance. The image of the Creature has since changed repeatedly...Show moreIn Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Creature is introduced as a Romantic hero, with human emotions and needs and a grotesque appearance. The image of the Creature has since changed repeatedly through mass-media adaptations of Shelley’s novel. For example, the current standard image of the Creature bears a strong resemblance to Boris Karloff’s Creature (Frankenstein, 1931) in appearance and personality. This thesis examines the form and function of “the Creature” in contemporary cinematic adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). By analysing the appearance, abilities and behaviour of the Creature in the original Frankenstein (1818) and in cinematic adaptations from various genres, it is shown how the representation of the Creature is influenced by internal and external genre cues of the adaptation in which he is featured. The genres that are explored are the horror genre and the action genre, represented by the movies Frankenstein: Day of the Beast (2011) and I, Frankenstein (2014), respectively.Show less
While much scholarly work has been done on American Cold-War science fiction, John Wyndham’s work has received relatively little attention from literary scholars. Only a handful of sustained...Show moreWhile much scholarly work has been done on American Cold-War science fiction, John Wyndham’s work has received relatively little attention from literary scholars. Only a handful of sustained literary discussions of his work have been published. An unfortunate event, since many of his books give a representation of post-war developments in the form of (post)-apocalyptic stories, and these narratives reflect the society’s fear of what humankind was able to invent, and how these inventions could be harmful to its very existence on a global scale. By embedding non-fictional post-war developments in his science fiction, Wyndham created stories that – even today – can be read as warnings against such dangers. This thesis examines the ways in which post-war social, political and economic developments are embedded in Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids (1951), The Kraken Wakes (1953), The Chrysalids (1955), and The Outward Urge (1959), and what rhetorical force his stories have. Moreover, the thesis concentrates on how the science fiction genre enabled Wyndham to warn his readership for the possible fatal consequences of the Cold War parties’ behaviour and how the genre facilitated Wyndham in expressing criticism of these two power blocs. Furthermore, it focuses especially on Cold War elements that affected British society, such as the nuclear threat, the Space Race, and the changing social position of women.Show less
C.S. Lewis is often criticized for being misogynist. In this thesis, I analyse the Chronicles of Narnia using the theory of Theological Feminism to point out that Lewis is not, in fact, misogynist,...Show moreC.S. Lewis is often criticized for being misogynist. In this thesis, I analyse the Chronicles of Narnia using the theory of Theological Feminism to point out that Lewis is not, in fact, misogynist, but in some ways even progressive in the way he portrays gender in the Chronicles. In order to contextualise and the novel better, I also analyse The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge using the same parameters. This study proves that none of these authors are anti-feminist or misogynistic while simultaneously pointing out which remarks and/or situations from the books do stem from Victorian ideology which the authors adhered to.Show less
This thesis explores to what extent Austen's Juvenilia and her adult novels "Northanger Abbey", "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" were shaped by her reading and understanding of the...Show moreThis thesis explores to what extent Austen's Juvenilia and her adult novels "Northanger Abbey", "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" were shaped by her reading and understanding of the Gothic tradition.Show less
