Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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It is imperative for the West that the War on Terror not be won, yet it is also certain that the War on Terror will be won, a victory for the West which simultaneously signifies its defeat. This state of affairs is not paradoxical, but catastrophic, and as is argued in the course of this essay, the War on Terror is the logical and necessary terminus of the Western project and its attendant metaphysic. Beginning with Marx's analysis of the commodity in Das Kapital, it has become increasingly clear that the West (and for that matter, the rest of the world) is succumbing to a regime of simulation, in which reality is liquidated in favor of increased inertia of circulating signs. Using Jean Baudrillard's infamous critiques of the postmodern society as a guide, the following essay examines the emerging forms of terrorism and their relation to Western social structures, ultimately concluding that the West is on the brink of an abyss which is marked by the advent of the anonymous act of terrorism.
ContributorsOberhaus, Daniel Martin (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / King, Kristy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Classical literature features numerous prominent female characters. This thesis paper identifies and examines the pattern of masculinization of female characters in classical literature through case studies of two characters and two authors. The character Iphigenia is examined as an example of a heroically masculinized female character and the character Agave is examined as an example of an aggressively masculinized female character. The mythologies of these two women are analyzed through the writings of the authors Euripides and Ovid in order to compare and contrast the perspectives of a Greek and Roman author on masculinization. The texts analyzed for this paper were Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia Among the Taurians, and The Bacchae, as well as Ovid's Metamorphoses. This paper also analyzes the responses to masculinized female characters within the texts and identifies patterns of re-feminization in Euripides' writing and dehumanization in Ovid's writing. These responses are found to be reflective of cultural values regarding gender and this paper discusses how these literary characterization patterns are indicative of cultural anxieties regarding gender norms. Finally, this paper briefly addresses similar patterns of masculinization in modern film and literature exemplified by the proverbial "strong female character." This paper compares two modern "strong female characters", Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and the Bride from Kill Bill, to Iphigenia and Agave and draws parallels in their masculinization patterns. The results of this paper's textual analysis conclude that classical authors (as well as some modern authors) often masculinized their female characters but expressed subsequent cultural discomfort with those characters as a reflection of uncertainty regarding established gender norms.
ContributorsBardales, Abigail Gwendolyn-Joy (Author) / Poudrier, Almira (Thesis director) / King, Kristy (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05