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- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
Description
The hagiographic comedy written by Tirso de Molina Los lagos de San Vicente (1607) presents the journey of Santa Casilda in search of the cure of an illness in her blood that affects her. Casilda rejects the medical assistance offered to her by Muslim doctors and miraculously she finds the cure in the Christian world. In this quest, the intellectual and theological evolution of the future saint in defense of the Christian faith is presented. This dissertation will study the resources that Tirso de Molina employs to show the rejection and displacement against the Islamic world represented by a series of erotic behaviors that, in the effort of dramatizing these impertinences they are characterized within a second discourse. Tirso de Molina takes advantage of the hagiographic comedy's discourse nature and the baroque's obscure literary characteristics to express his messages. This dissertation will study in detail how the combination of hagiographic theatrical elements with linguistic expressions are used to convey a subversive discourse that therefore suggests the application of queer theory as a frame of reference. As a result of this investigation it is concluded that Tirso de Molina promotes the hagiographic model and in order to contrast the triumph of the moral Catholic world over the immoral Muslim world the play writer makes references to the nefarious sin.
ContributorsMurphy, Anayanci (Author) / Foster, David William (Thesis advisor) / Sanchez, Angel (Committee member) / Acereda, Alberto (Committee member) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Committee member) / Volek, Emil (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This document builds a model, the Resilience Engine, of how a given sociotechnical innovation contributes to the resilience of its society, where the failure points of that process might be, and what outcomes, resilient or entropic, can be generated by the uptake of a particular innovation. Closed systems, which tend towards stagnation and collapse, are distinguished from open systems, which through ongoing encounters with external novelty, tend towards enduring resilience. Heterotopia, a space bounded from the dominant order in which novelty is generated and defended, is put forth as the locus of innovation for systemic resilience, defined as the capacity to adapt to environmental changes. The generative aspect of the Resilience Engine lies in a dialectic between a heterotopia and the dominant system across a membrane which permits interaction while maintaining the autonomy of the new space. With a model of how innovation, taken up by agents seeking power outside the dominant order, leads to resilience, and of what generates failures of the Resilience Engine as well as successes, the model is tested against cases drawn from two key virtual worlds of the mid-2000s. The cases presented largely validate the model, but generate a crucial surprise. Within those worlds, 2008-2010 saw an abrupt cultural transformation as the dialectic stage of the Resilience Engine's operation generated victories for the dominant order over promising emergent attributes of virtual heterotopia. At least one emergent practice has been assimilated, generating systemic resilience, that of the conference backchannel. A surprise, however, comes from extensive evidence that one element never problematized in thinking about innovation, the discontent agent, was largely absent from virtual worlds. Rather, what users sought was not greater agency but the comfort of submission over the burdens of self-governance. Thus, aside from minor cases, the outcome of the operation of the Resilience Engine within the virtual worlds studied was the colonization of the heterotopic space for the metropolis along with attempts by agents both external and internal to generate maximum order. Pursuant to the Resilience Engine model, this outcome is a recipe for entropic collapse and for preventing new heterotopias from arising under the current dominant means of production.
ContributorsMcKnight, John Carter (Author) / Miller, Clark (Thesis advisor) / Hayes, Elisabeth (Committee member) / Allenby, Braden (Committee member) / Daer, Alice (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The nature of the link between a literary text and its film adaptation has been a point of contention within academic thought since the inception of cinema due to the fact that film adaptation forms part of film history since the early 20th century. For most of the past century, the main concern of critics has been the level of fidelity that adaptations exhibit in terms of their relationship with the text, which was viewed as "the original" that directors needed to use as a model. In the last 25 years, however, the discourse of fidelity has been challenged by a number of intellectuals as a result of poststructuralist thought, which rejects the notion of an "original" text and proclaims the existence of infinite meanings within each text that are constructed by the reader, not the writer. The present investigation will take into account this type of epistemology as its starting point in order to review and defy a number of theoretical approximations from the last several decades that deal with the relationship between literature and cinema towards its main goal of overcoming the limitations of fidelity discourse. This will be carried out through an in-depth analysis of Latin American texts that have been adapted to film. Thematically both the literary texts and the films contain elements that portray the reality of marginalized groups that build their existence in opposition to the model of patriarchal heteronormativity. In current epistemological thought such a modus vivendi falls within the realm of queer theory. Another common thread that unites all the cultural productions is the presence of violence that showcases the high level of intolerance towards any subject who somehow seems to be different, hence threatening the dominant configuration of patriarchy. Furthermore, the different texts and films expose a general fragmentation within Latin American society, a result of the constant struggles among its diverse social groups, between the ones who occupy the position of socioeconomic power and those who are left outside of it; such a fragmentation also stems from the multiple clashes that occur within the marginalized groups themselves.
ContributorsKokalov, Assen (Author) / Foster, David W (Thesis advisor) / Mcelroy, Isis (Committee member) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This research identifies several barriers to large scale implementation of solar photovoltaics into the modern US electricity system, along with solutions to help mitigate these challenges. The need for new technologies and utility rate plans are identified as two of these key barriers. In place of expensive, developing technologies this research explores the use of thermal energy storage (TES), a widely used, inexpensive, mature technology as a potential solution for a portion of this problem. A real-life example from Arizona State University (ASU) is used to illustrate the potential of TES. In addition, shortcomings of modern electricity rate plans are identified using both cost and system characteristics of residential solar and battery systems. This rate and system modeling also gives insight into the value that solar can provide to residential customers in a variety of settings.
ContributorsRouthier, Alexander F (Author) / Honsberg, Christiana (Thesis advisor) / Hedman, Mojdeh (Committee member) / Kurtz, Sarah (Committee member) / Miller, Clark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Solar energy is a disruptive technology within the electricity industry, and rooftop solar is particularly disruptive as it changes the relationship between the industry and its customers as the latter generate their own power, sell power to the grid, and reduce their dependence on the industry as the sole source provider of electric power. Hundreds of thousands of people in the western United States have made the decision to adopt residential rooftop solar photovoltaic technologies (solar PV) for their homes, with some areas of western cities now having 50% or more of homes with solar installed. This dissertation seeks to understand how rooftop solar energy is altering the fabric of urban life, drawing on three distinct lenses and a mixed suite of methods to examine how homeowners, electric utilities, financial lenders, regulators, solar installers, realtors, and professional trade organizations have responded to the opportunities and challenges presented by rooftop solar energy. First, using a novel solar installation data set, it systematically examines the temporal, geographic, and socio-economic dynamics of the adoption of rooftop solar technologies across the Phoenix metropolitan area over the decade of the 2010s. This study examines the broad social, economic, and urban environmental contexts within which solar adoption has occurred and how these have impacted differential rates of solar uptake. Second, using survey and real estate data from the Phoenix metropolitan area, it explores how solar energy has begun to shape important social and market dynamics, illuminating how decision-making in real estate transactions, including by buyers, sellers, agents, lenders, and appraisers is shifting to accommodate houses with installed solar systems. Lastly, the study explores patterns of rooftop solar adoption across major electric utilities and what those can tell us about the extent to which corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting have affected the practices of investor-owned electric utilities (IOU) within the western US.
ContributorsO'Leary, Jason (Author) / Fisher, Erik (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Clark (Thesis advisor) / Dirks, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This research will utilize the energy and poverty alleviation framework to investigate a sustainable energy ecosystem for the Wakapoa indigenous community of Guyana. Five questions guide the research – 1) Is there an energy access-development nexus? 2) Can the relationships and trends between key development indicators and electricity access guide policymakers on development activities? 3) Can small-scale concentrated solar and biomass systems provide adequate electrical power to meet the Wakapoa community's domestic and commercial loads economically? 4) What added social value could be generated from the energy system as per Wakapoa context? and 5) What governance systems can be considered to facilitate a sustainable energy ecosystem? In addressing questions 1 and 2, the research collected secondary data on selected countries' key development indexes from the World Bank and Our World in Data. Datasets include the human development index, human capital index, gross domestic product per capita, gross national income per capita, and electricity access. In addressing questions 3 to 5, the research utilized the convergent research design methods, where an inclusive data collection process targeted fifty (50) community residents as survey participants. Statistical analysis of the survey data proved useful in identifying the community needs for the renewable energy system design options utilizing system advisor model (SAM) software, identifying key economic activities that can add social value to the community, and giving key insight into governance practices preferred by the community. Key findings reveal that electricity access exerts a strong and moderate influence on key development indicators, the concentrated solar power and biomass hybrid system can satisfy the electricity demand of the community at the Tier-5 level that can support many traditional and non-traditional economic activities, while key governance support functions such as the community financial aid fund and community management committee can enhance the sustainability of the various operations as well as residents' well-being and livelihood. Future research can address project financing, community productive capacity, and the marketing of goods and services to promote a sustainable energy ecosystem.
ContributorsKanhai, Mahendra N. (Author) / Chhetri, Nalini (Thesis advisor) / Dirks, Gary (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Clark (Committee member) / Stechel, Ellen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
This dissertation examines neoliberal discourse’s construction and its impact represented in short stories published during the late 1980s and 1990s in the northern and central part of Mexico. Focusing primarily on short stories by authors Luis Humberto Crosthwaite, Rafael Saavedra, Oscar de la Borbolla, and Rosario Sanmiguel, this study analyzes how re-imagined, in their literary texts, the immediate aftermath of neoliberal policies in Mexican’s society, economy, culture, and politics. By re-imagining neoliberalism, I propose that each text creates a dialogue with and a juxtaposition of reality to the rhetoric constructed by the state apparatuses; and, at the same time, by exploring Mexicans’ daily lives, each text offers a different perspective on neoliberalism’s effects on them. Each chapter draws on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to provide a complete understanding of the origin of neoliberalism, its discursive evolution, its implementation in Mexico, its benefits and consequences, and its influence on the transformation of language, culture, politics, and feminism. Part I discusses the linguistic transformations on the Mexican side of the border after the arrival of neoliberal policies in areas of commerce, as presented in the short stories by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite and Rafael Saavedra. The conclusion of this analysis is that a kind of transitory bilingualism has emerged and, eventually, has become part of Tijuana’s linguistic identity. Part II explores the transformation of Mexico City represented in the book of Ucronías of Oscar de la Borbolla. In this part, I propose that these texts are ucronías políticas (political uchronies) –hybrid, humoristic news reports– that subvert neoliberal discourse by staging the negative effects of neoliberalism through the portrayal of marginalized spaces to make visible those forgotten by an apparently progressive rhetoric. Part III presents a rereading through an economic lens of Callejón Sucre y otros relatos, by Rosario Sanmiguel. The primary argument is that although the short stories in this book present feminist characters, some of them are neoliberal feminists. Neoliberal feminists are women in a privileged position of agency and empowerment; they can or need not accept patriarchal norms, and some characters in these stories decide to accept them.
ContributorsHernandez, Alfredo (Author) / Volek, Emil (Thesis advisor) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Committee member) / Rosales, Jesus (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
La literatura de quiosco y las escritoras: la novela corta escrita por mujeres en España (1900-1936)
Description
ABSTRACT
Research into the state of literature in the beginning years of the 20th century in Spain shows an absence of women’s voices. A logical conclusion, that women had no interest in written expression during the years of 1900-1936 in Spain, has shown itself to be completely false. Suffering under the pressure of unfair civil laws, the power of the patriarchy and the influence of the Church (“the angel of the house”), women were living in a world of silence. The lack of writings by women erases women from the historical memory in Spain and creates a literary emptiness. After researching in the shops of antique dealers and second-hand book shops of Spain, a large variety of kiosk literature written by women is revealed, exposing a substantial quantity of short novels intended for a women’s audience. Applying various literary theories such as feminism, queer theory, Marxism and deconstructionism, the literary value of these novels emerges and is worthy of being studied and included in the literary canon of Spain. In order to demonstrate the intrinsic cultural and literary value, an analysis of 9 novels written by 6 women whose literary talents had not as yet been recognized, was undertaken. The six women authors-heroins for their revolutionary literary expression- are: Magda Dontao (La carabina, Las otras dos), Sara Insúa (Salomé de hoy, La llama de Bengala ), Regina Opisso (Mi honor…!qué importa!), Angela Graupera (En las garras del hombre, Como las abejas) and Federica Montseny (Vampiresa). These novels, sold in kiosks across Spain, serve as the literary voices of women at that time that expressed the repressive condition of Spanish women, and which need to be included in the literary landscape of Spain. ABSTRACTO
Examinar la literatura de los albores del siglo XX en España pone de manifiesto una ausencia de voces femeninas. Una conclusión lógica de esta ausencia, de que las mujeres no tenían ningún interés en la expresión escrita entre los años 1900 y 1936 en España, se demuestra a lo largo de esta disertación completamente equivocada. Presionadas por códigos civiles injustos, el poder del patriarcado y las influencias de la Iglesia (“el ángel del hogar”), las mujeres parecían vivir en un mundo de silencio. La falsa escasez de textos escritos por mujeres las borra del mundo literario. Sin embargo, después de algunas búsquedas en los almacenes de los anticuarios y librerías de segunda mano en España, una gran variedad de literatura de quiosco—un modo novedoso de difusión literaria que rompe con las normas tradicionales de circulación de textos—en forma de novelas cortas escritas por mujeres para lectoras principalmente femeninas, se hace accesible para el investigador. Al analizar estas obras a la luz de varias teorías críticas contemporáneas como el feminismo, la teoría queer, el marxismo y la deconstrucción, se pone de manifiesto el valor de dichos textos durante el periodo estudiado. Es decir, la ausencia de autoras se debe a un fallo del canon, basado en la ideología patriarcal, y no a la ausencia de autoras y obras con un intrínseco valor literario, social y didáctico. En esta disertación se analizan 9 novelas escritas por 6 mujeres de este período—heroínas por su expresión literaria revolucionaria— son: Magda Dontao (La carabina, Las otras dos), Sara Insúa (Salomé de hoy, La llama de Bengala), Regina Opisso (Mi honor…!qué importa!), Ángela Graupera (En las garras del hombre, Como las abejas) y Federica Montseny (Vampiresa). Estas novelas, vendidas en los quioscos de España durante las primeras décadas de siglo XX, sirvieron como ejemplos literarios de las voces de las mujeres que existieron en aquellos años que expresaron la condición represiva de las mujeres españolas y que merecieron ser incluidas en el panorama literario español.
ContributorsMartino Jr, Albert Thomas (Author) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Thesis advisor) / Tompkins, Cynthia M (Committee member) / Garcia-Fernandez, Carlos J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Coming out from under the shadow of sight, blindness has a story to tell. From Tiresias to The Miracle Worker, literary and visual representations of blindness are cornerstones of compelling tales of loss and overcoming. In support of the inherent value of sight, these conventional narratives overshadow the stories and lived experiences of blind people themselves. In light of this misrepresentation, I explore what it means to read, write, and see blindness, as well as consider the implications of being blind in present-day Latin America. I achieve this through a transnational and interdisciplinary analysis of novels, short stories, film, and photography by blind and sighted artists and writers whose work has been published or exhibited after the year 2000. In this context, I will demonstrate how blindness can serve as a lens through which the production and reception of narrative and visual culture can be critically evaluated from a blind person’s perspective. Most importantly, this dissertation showcases the critical and creative work of blind people in order to demystify stereotypes and contextualize anxieties surrounding blindness, perception, and identity.
ContributorsNewland, Rachel Renee (Author) / Tompkins, Cynthia (Thesis advisor) / Foster, David W. (Committee member) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Hispanic Narratives of the Ill or Disabled Woman: A Feminist Disability Theory Approach, is a comprehensive study that delves into the topic of the ill or disabled female in the narratives of Hispanic female authors who either have a disability or who have been affected by a chronic or terminal illness, causing debilitation. In order to address this topic, this thesis investigates disability identity by utilizing feminist disability theory by Kim Q. Hall, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, and Susan Wendell, amongst others, and at the same time reviews current disability policies in both Latin American and Spanish societies. By providing a critical view of this theme from a feminist standpoint, this study places emphasis on the lived experiences that ill or disabled Hispanic women face, doubly marginalized, not only based on their illness or (dis)ability, but also their gender.
This in depth analysis of Fruta Podrida (2007) and Sangre en el ojo (2012) by Lina Meruane, Diario del dolor (2004) by María Luisa Puga, Clavícula: (mi clavícula y otros inmensos desajustes (2017) by Marta Sanz, Diario de una pasajera by Ágata Gligo (1997), Si crees en mí, te sorprenderé (2014) by Ana Vives, and The Ladies Gallery: A Memory of Family Secrets by Irene Vilar provides relevant information on societal norms, policies and current debate about healthcare and women’s rights in various Hispanic countries and the United States. At the same time, it emphasizes the disabled female as subject, and investigates the societal perpetuation of disability. This dissertation discusses various concepts from disability studies, such as the illness/disability narrative, corporeal invisibility, normalcy, medical pathologization, stereotyping, and ableism, and investigates them in relation to both chronic and terminal illness or physical and mental disability in relation to the ill or disabled Hispanic female.
This in depth analysis of Fruta Podrida (2007) and Sangre en el ojo (2012) by Lina Meruane, Diario del dolor (2004) by María Luisa Puga, Clavícula: (mi clavícula y otros inmensos desajustes (2017) by Marta Sanz, Diario de una pasajera by Ágata Gligo (1997), Si crees en mí, te sorprenderé (2014) by Ana Vives, and The Ladies Gallery: A Memory of Family Secrets by Irene Vilar provides relevant information on societal norms, policies and current debate about healthcare and women’s rights in various Hispanic countries and the United States. At the same time, it emphasizes the disabled female as subject, and investigates the societal perpetuation of disability. This dissertation discusses various concepts from disability studies, such as the illness/disability narrative, corporeal invisibility, normalcy, medical pathologization, stereotyping, and ableism, and investigates them in relation to both chronic and terminal illness or physical and mental disability in relation to the ill or disabled Hispanic female.
ContributorsKnupp, April M (Author) / Urioste-Azcorra, Carmen (Thesis advisor) / Tompkins, Cynthia (Committee member) / Foster, David W (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018