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philosophy of the animal in 20th century literature
Title
The philosophy of the animal in 20th century literature.
Creator
Johnson, Jamie, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
The following dissertation examines the philosophy of the animal as it appears in twentieth-century British and American literature. I argue that evolutionary theory, along with the Romantic emphasis on sympathy, creates an historical shift in our perception of humans and nonhumans. Beginning with Herman Melville's classic novel, Moby-Dick, the whale represents what I call a transitional animal figure in that the whale not only shows the traditionally symbolic literary animal but also the...
Show moreThe following dissertation examines the philosophy of the animal as it appears in twentieth-century British and American literature. I argue that evolutionary theory, along with the Romantic emphasis on sympathy, creates an historical shift in our perception of humans and nonhumans. Beginning with Herman Melville's classic novel, Moby-Dick, the whale represents what I call a transitional animal figure in that the whale not only shows the traditionally symbolic literary animal but also the beginnings of the twentieth century shift toward the literal animal-as-subject. My proposed comparative analysis consists of a return to classic existential and phenomenological philosophers with animal studies in mind. A handful of critical essays in recent years have conducted just such an analysis. My contribution extends these philosophical endeavors on the animal and applies them to major literary authors who demonstrate a notable interest in the philosophy of animals. The first chapter of the dissertation begins with D.H. Lawrence, whose writings in selected essays, St. Mawr, and "The Fox" continue considerations made by Melville concerning animal being. Because Lawrence often focuses on gender, sexuality, and intuition, I discuss how a Heideggerian reading of animals in Lawrence adds value to interpretations of his fiction which remain unavailable in analyses of human subjects. In Chapter Two, I move on to William Faulkner's classic hunting tale of "The Bear" and other significant animal sightings in his fiction and nonfiction. For Faulkner, the animal subject exists in the author's particular historical climate of American environmentalism, modernism's literary emphasis on visuality, and race theory., This combination calls for a natural progression from a Heideggerian existential phenomenology: a contemporary Sartrean reading of animal being. Finally, the last chapter examines J.M. Coetzee, an author whose texts show the accumulated existential and phenomenological progression in the philosophy of the animal with a combined interest in current political and social issues surrounding animal life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
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Date Issued
2009
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/192984
Subject Headings
Symbolism in literature, Animals (Philosophy), Human-animal relationships in literature, Animals in literature, American prose literature, Criticism and interpretation, English prose literature, Criticism and interpretation
Format
Document (PDF)
good woman is hard to find
Title
A good woman is hard to find: discovering the voice of the woman satirist in Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood.
Creator
Paxton, Virginia A., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
While Flannery O'Connor's characters and narrative landscape may share a history with those of other works often labeled "Southern gothic," her heavily judicious narrative voice utilizes the depravity of the South struggling to find its identity as a means to explore her vision of God's mercy and distinguishes her work as satirical criticism. This thesis analyzes her construction of a distinctive satirical narrative voice for Wise Blood, particularly as it deviates from how she initially...
Show moreWhile Flannery O'Connor's characters and narrative landscape may share a history with those of other works often labeled "Southern gothic," her heavily judicious narrative voice utilizes the depravity of the South struggling to find its identity as a means to explore her vision of God's mercy and distinguishes her work as satirical criticism. This thesis analyzes her construction of a distinctive satirical narrative voice for Wise Blood, particularly as it deviates from how she initially wrote the first chapters as presented in earlier short stories like "The Train" and "The Peeler." Here, the ways in which O'Connor revises her diction and syntax to create a satirical tone will be examined closely. For the purposes of this paper, satire is defined as a literary work aimed at utilizing irony, hyperbole, or sarcasm to reveal, critique, and correct some moral, ethical, or social phenomenon or situation that the author finds reprehensible.
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Date Issued
2009
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/221951
Subject Headings
Criticism and interpretation, Feminism and literature, Didactic fiction, American, Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
Format
Document (PDF)
Stormland
Title
Stormland.
Creator
Ferguson, Adam, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description
The narrative within this thesis follows events that transpire within a working class neighborhood over the span of three decades. The time and place in which these events occur, South Florida 1979-1989, lends itself to exploring themes such as race, class, addiction, the fragmentation of community, and the effects of these issues on the families that live there. Stylistically, the story makes three significant shifts in order to foreground each decade's dissimilarity. These shifts...
Show moreThe narrative within this thesis follows events that transpire within a working class neighborhood over the span of three decades. The time and place in which these events occur, South Florida 1979-1989, lends itself to exploring themes such as race, class, addiction, the fragmentation of community, and the effects of these issues on the families that live there. Stylistically, the story makes three significant shifts in order to foreground each decade's dissimilarity. These shifts intentionally disrupt reader expectation while a coherent narrative thread unifies the work, rendering it fragmented yet complete.
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Date Issued
2011
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3353088
Subject Headings
Symbolism in literature
Format
Document (PDF)