Matching Items (15)
Description
This thesis examines the use of the earth goddess figure in John Varley's Gaean Trilogy (1979-1984). In the figure of Gaea (Varley's alien goddess villain), the reader is presented with a host of popular culture feminine archetypes with connotations connected to the long-standing tradition of associating femininity and materiality, and Varley's literary examination, operating through the exaggeration of these archetypes, displays their essential flaws. The ultimate antagonistic functions of these archetypal figures, relative to the human characters occupying the world underwritten by them, suggests that Varley uses such figural archetypes to deconstruct, via their varied failures, both the archetypes themselves and the evocative symbolic contexts associated with them, therein demonstrating their inherent limitations and providing a cautionary tale that highlights the fallibility of projective archetypal construction-even seemingly positive ones. By examining these archetypes as performances of gender, the thesis illustrates Varley's integration, at the end of the 1970's, of second-wave feminist theoretical ideals into science fiction (a genre with a long history dedicated to the experimental examination of all social typology) initially sets up and then subsequently breaks down the archetypal villain, thus pursuing a political dimension as well. The narrative experiment in typology promotes a turning away from the ancient symbolic associations of femininity to explore a new kind of goddess, one not reliant on pre-existing archetypes but one more attuned to the emergence of "gender" itself as a construct used to define the feminine itself.
ContributorsPope, Geraldine (Author) / Lussier, Mark (Thesis advisor) / Sturges, Robert (Committee member) / Cook, Paul (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This project will attempt to supplement the current registry of lesbian inquiry in literature by exploring a very specific topos important to the Modern era: woman and her intellect. Under this umbrella, the project will perform two tasks: First, it will argue that the Modern turn that accentuates what I call negative valence mimesis is a moment of change that enables the general public to perceive lesbianism in representations of women that before, perhaps, remained unacknowledged. And, second, that the intersection of thought and resistance to heteronormative structures, such as heterosexual desire/sex, childbirth, marriage, religion, feminine performance, generate topoi of lesbianism that lesbian studies should continuously critique in order to index the myriad and creative ways through which fictional representations of women have evaded their proper roles in society. The two tasks above will be performed amidst the backdrop of a crucial moment in history in which lesbianism jumped from fiction to fact through the publication and obscenity trial of Radclyffe Hall's novel, The Well of Loneliness. Deconstructive feminist and queer inquiry of under-researched novels by women from the UK and the US written within the decade surrounding the trial reveals the possibilities of lesbianism in novels where the protagonists' investment in heteronormativity has remained unquestioned. In those texts where the protagonists have been questioned, the analysis of lesbianism will be delved into more deeply in order to illustrate new ways of reading these texts. I will focus on women writers who, as Terry Castle suggests, "both usurped and deepened the [lesbian] genre" with the arrival of the new century (Literature 29). It is my attempt to combat heteronormativity through a more positive approach. As Michael Warner asserts, "heteronormativity can be overcome only by actively imagining a necessarily and desirably queer world" (xvi). This is not to say this study will be all roses and no thorns; a desirably queer world is not about a wish for an utopia. For this project, it is about rigorously engaging in the lesbianism of literature while acknowledging how a lesbian reading, a reading for lesbianism, can continue to both expand and enrich the critical tradition of a text and the customary interpretation of various characters.
ContributorsWagner, Johanna M. (Author) / Clarke, Deborah (Thesis advisor) / Lussier, Mark (Thesis advisor) / Mallot, Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Human subject research is a sensitive ethical topic in today's society, and with good cause. The history of human subject research is full of tragedy and wrongdoing, which is what has led to the firm restrictions we presently have. At the same time, we also acknowledge the value behind human subject research and the information science can obtain from such endeavors. This project analyzes this conundrum through a narrative describing a group of scientists who choose to ignore some of the laws and regulations concerning human subject research in order to pursue neurological based research for a "greater good." In the novella, the scientists end up harming several people while performing their illegal research, but are able to obtain successful results. However, the group is eventually caught, and end up having to face the consequences of their actions. The situations and interactions the story presents are meant to juxtapose both sides of the human subject research ethical argument in a unique way in order to allow the reader to critically think through the argument themselves and form their own opinions on the matter.
ContributorsPirotte, Benjamin Daniel (Author) / Finn, Edward (Thesis director) / Cook, Paul (Committee member) / McGregor, Joan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis examines contemporary cinematic adaptations of the Ovidian Pygmalion story. The films Blade Runner (1981), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Ruby Sparks (2012), and Her (2013) are analyzed. This thesis seeks to understand why this particular myth is so resonant in today's popular culture and what this relevance reveals about modern society. The roles of female subjugation, sexualization, and relationship with technology will be major areas of concern. Research includes film criticism, Ovidian scholarship, and new advances in computer technology.
ContributorsStory, Sara Katherine (Author) / Corse, Taylor (Thesis director) / Ellis, Lawrence (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis examines how the physical construction of the ooloi Oankali aliens in Octavia Butler's trilogy Lilith's Brood enables the text to explore the limitations of a two-gender construct. It does so by positing the existence of other conscious organic life with a third gender outside the scope of Earth-bound organisms. The ooloi must be understood by a definition of gender that takes into consideration socially constructed and performed roles. The physical bodies of the ooloi have a "boundary-crossing" identity that is unambiguous. Their transformative and healing abilities, physical characteristics, and place in the social structure of the Oankali makes them the targets of disgust and hatred by humans who fear difference. This thesis analyzes how Butler uses the ooloi to demonstrate the possibility that humans living on a future Earth can supersede their innately destructive qualities.
ContributorsBrady, Sarah Rachel (Author) / Hattenhauer, Darryl (Thesis director) / Cook, Paul (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In my thesis paper, I examine the gothic elements found in classical gothic fairy tales from European and Japanese tradition, particularly those works by the Brothers Grimm and Yei Theodora Ozaki. By examining the principle gothic elements that are unique to both stories, and further analyzing the commonalities of story, plot, and other major tropes, a better understanding of the message meant to be imparted and other cultural nuances can be ascertained. Gothic literature creates an atmosphere of gloom and suspense, toying with concepts of dread and darkness by employing Gothic elements such as shadows, the supernatural, sinister buildings, and strong-willed villains, all of which affect the rational mind in an irrational way. Fairytales freely use such tropes to their advantage, playing with the many fears of children, while simultaneously painting an idealistic fantasy world. The degree of usage and the application of gothic elements is closely examined in the Grimm works, "Hansel and Gretel," and "The Robber Bridegroom," as well as the Japanese tales, "The Goblin of Adachigahra,""Kintaro the Golden Boy" and "The Monkey and the Crab." These stories have been chosen due for their usage of animal tricksters, themes of control, and aspects of isolation, supernatural entities, and substantial gothic imagery. The gothic elements of death, sinister older women, the supernatural, fears of abandonment, and cunning animals are akin to both Western and Eastern tales, while the concept of gothic setting and the type of monsters prepared to feast on men is significantly different for both cultures, similar lessons are intended to be gleaned by children from these tales, with the intention of generally producing positive results \u2014 while the means differ, the message is strikingly similar, yet there remain cultural differences in terms of central themes and character traits.The effect of re-introducing the darker, gothic elements of traditional fairy tales into modern literature and retellings of the original narratives has been profound.Today, whether it has been at the bequest of the public or simply a new-age movement by modern cinema audience for the "gritty and realistic," fairy tales are returning to their former gothic forms. "Snow White and The Huntsman" is one example of a film which has gone this route, opting for a more gothic, classic telling rather than the chip, cheery, rosy cheeked Disney versions. There is a tendency for most media nowadays to be far less censored and fantastical, aiming for a more realistic, grittier approach \u2014 this bleeds into film and literature likewise, and thus children are impacted by this shift as well. Children seem to be able to handle more, perhaps desensitized at younger and younger ages by the products of our widely consumerist society, or perhaps due to parents raising their children in such a way so that the darkness that tinges these tales doesn't disturb and derail but rather, emphasizes their meaning of teaching certain lessons. Tales such as these are still valuable, and will continue to be so long as we seek a reality greater than our own, where the evil of the world is wiped away, and we all live happily ever after.
ContributorsMoschonas, Jerasimos Theodore (Author) / Ellis, Lawrence (Thesis director) / Hoyt, Heather (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Both "After Annie" and "When It All Happens, The End, And She's in Her Forties" focus on evolving familial relationships characterized by both love and loss. Though told in different styles, different voices, different tenses, both stories triumph the power of memory in relation to love while simultaneously emphasizing the trauma and long-lasting effects of loss. With one, through the relationship between grandfather and granddaughter and the other, through a daughter's loss of her mother, both stories converge at the intersection of duty and the need for flight (and perhaps self preservation). "After Annie" and "When It All Happens, The End, And She's in Her Forties" speak to the careful ghosts of memory, which are sometimes, thankfully, even stronger than the pull of what's been left in their absence.
ContributorsArregoces, Christina Marie (Author) / McNally, T. M. (Thesis director) / Ellis, Lawrence (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Once upon a time and in a land that is not quite here, a girl and her brother are left in the woods on the cusp of winter and lose their way home. They find, instead, a little house that smells of ginger and cinnamon and the ancient, bent woman who presides over it and calls herself Oma Yaga. Three tasks she sets before the girl, with the promise of food as her reward. She accepts, not knowing that this deep, the woods are a strange and hungry place: you do not make it out the same as when you entered, if you make it out at all.
You have heard this story before, you think, or one like it—listen again. It is never the same twice.
You have heard this story before, you think, or one like it—listen again. It is never the same twice.
ContributorsBlitch, Savannah Morgan (Author) / Ellis, Lawrence (Thesis director) / Cruser, Laura (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
DescriptionIn this study, the first two novels of Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam Trilogy are discussed in their global context as social commentary on the current system of global economics. The study focuses on the novels' depiction of the commodification of women's bodies and the bodies of animals as consumable products.
ContributorsManning, Devan Marie (Author) / Sadowski-Smith, Claudia (Thesis director) / Voaden, Rosalynn (Committee member) / Mallot, Edward (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
I begin with a brief explanation of my creative process and an exploration of the themes I attempted to include in the creative project. Then follows the slides from the Powerpoint presentation I used during my defense. Finally, I have my creative project, a 18,000 word urban fantasy story about a high school senior named Damien and his first interaction with a being named Rem.
ContributorsEngler, Veronica Anne (Author) / Cook, Paul (Thesis director) / Wells, Cornelia (Committee member) / Morgan, Kelly (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2013-05