This thesis aims to explore the recent depictions of robots through the close reading of two science fiction works published within the last few years, in order to unveil the shifting,...Show moreThis thesis aims to explore the recent depictions of robots through the close reading of two science fiction works published within the last few years, in order to unveil the shifting, contradictory attitudes society has with regards to the artificial companions which continue to grow increasingly prevalent in our present-day lives. Both literary case studies exhibit the challenges of navigating a balanced hierarchy of power relations between robots and humans, because despite the mental and physical superiority of human replicas, their status as machines means robots are decidedly treated like slaves. Moreover, the thesis aims to demonstrate how both novels raise thought-provoking questions about humans' moral shortcomings in the face of their law-abiding and potentially messianic robot counterparts.Show less
This thesis offers an analysis of the development of Salman's Rushdie's work through a close reading of two early novels (Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses) and two most recent novels (The...Show moreThis thesis offers an analysis of the development of Salman's Rushdie's work through a close reading of two early novels (Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses) and two most recent novels (The Golden House and Quichotte). The research question is to establish whether a major change in style has taken place. The premise is that a shift seems to have taken place from what Brian McHale calls the ontological dominant in postmodernism to an ethical and moral dominant. This thesis focuses particularly on typical postmodern topics such as the questioning of the ontological relationship between reality and truth, since Rushdie’s style of fantastical writing invites such a focus.Show less
This thesis analyses how Brexit and its causes and consequences are reflected in three contemporary English novels. Scholars such as Anderson, Said and Leerssen have shown that national and...Show moreThis thesis analyses how Brexit and its causes and consequences are reflected in three contemporary English novels. Scholars such as Anderson, Said and Leerssen have shown that national and cultural identities are constructions. A decisive moment such as the outcome of the Brexit referendum shows how people have different constructions with regard to their common nation. This thesis explores what is distinct about English identity and shows the fragmented way in which it is formed. The chosen novels explore how these constructions influence both individuals and relationships. Anthony Cartwright’s The Cut, Amanda Craig’s The Lie of the Land, and Jonathan Coe’s Middle England show how people are confronted with the fact that they have been imagining their nation in fundamentally different ways than their fellow countrymen. The analysis shows that fragmentation and imagination have been key factors in the Brexit process.Show less
A comparative study of the ways in which African American authors Ralph Ellison and Toni Morrison use the classical tradition in their novels Invisible Man and Song of Solomon. The thesis explores...Show moreA comparative study of the ways in which African American authors Ralph Ellison and Toni Morrison use the classical tradition in their novels Invisible Man and Song of Solomon. The thesis explores the texts through the lens of reception theory and considers the potential problems involved in writing about black classicism or 'classica africana.' It finds that both Ellison and Morrison not only comment on the classical tradition but also, through strategic allusion and appropriation, challenge the ideas of cultural purity and literary hierarchy it has historically been used to assert.Show less
The research focus of this thesis is an analysis of Angela Carter's writing as her means of exploring and renouncing traditional ideals of femininity and social roles prescribed to women. Two...Show moreThe research focus of this thesis is an analysis of Angela Carter's writing as her means of exploring and renouncing traditional ideals of femininity and social roles prescribed to women. Two recurrent themes from her canon - violence and madness, are juxtaposed and analysed in relation to widespread gender stereotypes surrounding masculinity and femininity. Through exploration of the influence of psychoanalysis, psychiatry, cultural and literary depictions of women, this thesis traces Carter's manner of offering critique and analyses her role of a feminist writer.Show less
This thesis is an analysis of two modernist texts, Virginia Woolf’s 'Mrs. Dalloway' and Jean Rhys’ 'Good Morning, Midnight', as a means of exploring how the contrasting states of solitude and...Show moreThis thesis is an analysis of two modernist texts, Virginia Woolf’s 'Mrs. Dalloway' and Jean Rhys’ 'Good Morning, Midnight', as a means of exploring how the contrasting states of solitude and sociality influence self-concept. As both of these texts engage with concepts of selfhood amid themes of social engagement and social isolation, they make ideal candidates for an investigation of this kind. The intentions of this thesis are, firstly, to show how the texts reveal that perceptions of self can be moulded by these contrasting states of sociality and solitude, and, secondly, to highlight the novels’ depictions of the consequences of each state. Because the perceptions of self these states generate manifest themselves in real-world behaviour and essentially influence self-creation, it is worth considering these consequences as represented by a literary movement which so carefully scrutinised the dichotomies of perception and reality, and self and other. By employing a psychological approach to character analyses of selected figures in the texts, this research will cast light on these characters’ personal relationships with sociality and solitude, consequently revealing how their lives, and their understandings of themselves, are positively and negatively influenced by each.Show less
In literature, madness has frequently been used by female writers as a guise, or as Elaine Showalter refers to it, a mask, to express the inexpressible. Using Showalter's term of the 'mask of...Show moreIn literature, madness has frequently been used by female writers as a guise, or as Elaine Showalter refers to it, a mask, to express the inexpressible. Using Showalter's term of the 'mask of madness', this thesis explores the image of madness and its link to self expression in three contemporary novels by female authors. Through a close reading of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway (1925), Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing (1972), and Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects (2006) – novels all featuring protagonists exhibiting signs of mental illness – this thesis examines how the image of madness can feature as a response to oppression, and how it can be used as a tool for societal criticism.Show less
This thesis focuses on the representation of masculinity in the Sherlock Holmes character, both in the original stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the representation of masculinity in the Sherlock Holmes character, both in the original stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as in the modern BBC interpretation which first aired in 2010. It employs a Foucauldian notion of gender, which sees masculinity as a socially constructed concept and as such perceptible to change. The Sherlock Holmes stories were written over a forty-year time period. Two major historical events from this period could be said to have influenced the definition of masculinity, namely the Oscar Wilde trials and the First World War. Furthermore, Joseph Kestner has argued that Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories aimed to promote an ideal form of masculinity, which led us to consider the representation of Victorian masculinity in the Holmes character. Moreover, this thesis analyses the adaptation of Victorian Holmes in BBC’s Sherlock. Having defined Victorian and twenty-first-century masculinity, we will see that Conan Doyle’s Holmes aligns with numerous Victorian traits that were seen as masculine, and is portrayed as the ideal man. He is heroic, strong, brave, moral, rational and creative. Similarly, BBC Holmes aligns with masculine ideals of the twenty-first century but does not seem to personify the ideal man. He is strong, rational and creative, but his heroism is ambiguous, as well as his morality.Show less
This thesis deals with the topical themes of home, homelessness, exile, and migration as explored in James Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922). The aim is to analyze the manner in which Joyce has...Show moreThis thesis deals with the topical themes of home, homelessness, exile, and migration as explored in James Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922). The aim is to analyze the manner in which Joyce has presented the various perspectives on these notions, and to what extent these themes may be connected to the characters in the text, with an emphasis on the two male leading characters, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus. The thesis takes an original approach by using as its framework the sociological theories of Georg Simmel (1858-1918), a contemporary of Joyce.Show less
This thesis discusses Victorian gender roles in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The Victorian Era had strict ideas about gender roles, which can...Show moreThis thesis discusses Victorian gender roles in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The Victorian Era had strict ideas about gender roles, which can be seen in the literature from that time. Jane Eyre is the earliest novel that is discussed and it presents a complex view of masculinity and femininity. It might seem, at first glance, that the characters are mostly conforming to the gender roles, but it becomes clear that the lines between both genders are blurred. This is also the case in Middlemarch, where meddling wives and insecure husbands destroy their own marriages and happiness. This nuanced view of both male and female characters defies the rigid gender roles of the time. Dracula, on the other hand, is focussed on femininity rather than masculinity. Manliness is still important in the novel, but the main focus is on the transformation women undergo when they are turned into vampires. The perfect woman turns into an evil seductress when she is bitten by Dracula, and her misdeeds are harshly punished. This black and white view of femininity, or gender in general, is absent in the other novels.Show less
