Browsing by Subject "Early modern"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Defining borders, defining bodies : insularities, Utopia and other ideal figures in Las Sergas de Esplandián(2011-05) Macaulay, Rachel Miriam; Harney, Michael, 1948-While islands have long been a point of literary interest and curiosity, in the 16th century, one begins to see the stubborn application of the island’s geographical structure to non-islands. Recent scholarship on the issue of insularity has placed emphasis on the development of modern literature through the ambiguity of insularity of spaces and the language used to describe them. In the English and Spanish traditions, the focus on insularity in 16th century literature can be tied to the influence of colonialism. Despite widespread popularity in the 16th century, Las Sergas de Esplandián has become little more than a footnote in reference to the name of California. Nevertheless, the geographic elements of Las Sergas deserve closer examination, as they highlight the connection between geographic and literary texts in their portrayal of gender in the early modern period. In this essay I apply border theory to Las Sergas to understand the way in which these elements interact in the early modern period. In many ways, Las Sergas achieves the opposite of Anzaldúa’s intent in her development of border theory, which was designed to highlight that which exists between or outside the hegemonic structure left behind by colonialism rather than re-colonize it, but some of the insular spaces within Las Sergas demonstrate a geographic, linguistic and gendered ambiguity that fits well within border theory.Item On female witches and woodcuts : Ulrich Molitor’s De lamiis et pythonicis mulieribus(2016-08) Srsic, Elizabeth C.; Smith, Jeffrey Chipps, 1951-; Holladay, Joan AThe present Master’s thesis seeks to develop a better understanding of two influential series of witchcraft prints and drawings: the woodcuts of Ulrich Molitor’s De lamiis et pythonicis mulieribus and three of Hans Baldung’s works. I will begin with a discussion of the role that gender played during the witch trials and how it influenced two of the woodcuts in De lamiis. Following the discussion of gender, I will examine the remaining De lamiis woodcuts in the context of the text and other visual sources. Finally, I will end with three of Hans Baldung’s witchcraft images, describing how they reflected and expanded established motifs.Item Shakespeare's writing practice : literary' Shakespeare and the work of form(2011-05) Lamb, Jonathan Paul; Rebhorn, Wayne A., 1943-; Bruster, DouglasIn its introduction and four chapters, this project demonstrates that Shakespeare responded to—and powerfully shaped—the early modern English literary marketplace. Against the longstanding critical limitation of the category “Literature” that restricts it to the printed book, this dissertation argues that the literary is not so much a quality of texts as a mode of exchange encompassing not merely printed books but many other forms of representation. Whether writing for the stage, the page, or both, Shakespeare borrowed from and influenced other writers, and it is these specifically formal transactions that make his works literary. Thus, we can understand Shakespeare’s literariness only by scrutinizing the formal features of his works and showing how they circulated in an economy of imaginative writing. Shakespeare self-consciously refashioned words, styles, metrical forms, and figures of speech even as he traded in them, quickly cornering the literary market between 1595 and 1600. Shakespeare’s practice as a writer thus preceded and made possible his reputation both in the theater and in print.