Browsing by Subject "England"
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Item 16th Century Cast-Bronze Ordnance at the Museu de Angra do Heroismo(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Hoskins, Sara GraceWithin the collections of the Museu de Angra do Heroismo (Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal) are nine cast bronze guns from the 16th century. Most were raised from the seafloor between the 1960s and 1990s, but this study comprises the first in-depth research into their design and manufacture. The importance of this kind of study lies in the fact that ordnance is commonly found on shipwrecks of this time. A greater knowledge of guns will help provide information about the ships from which they came. Careful documentation and study of the Museu de Angra cannon will add greatly to their value as museum exhibits, by allowing museum patrons to better understand where the guns came from, how they were cast, and why they were important. This documentation adds to our knowledge of Western European gunfounding technology during the sixteenth century, as four different countries commissioned the guns: Portugal, Spain, France, and England. With detailed documentation and publication, the Museu de Angra bronze guns can be added to the bibliography of ordnance of this period, which will aid future researchers who encounter similar pieces. The Museu de Angra bronze guns, as symbols of the military and naval power of the countries that commissioned them, were sent aboard ships, into the field, and mounted on fortress walls. Bronze guns of this time period are particularly important, as bronze was an expensive commodity, and the demand for ordnance was increasing rapidly. Countries developed more effective ways to make use of iron for the founding of guns, and the use of bronze became more symbolic of wealth. The information that each gun contains includes both the cutting-edge military technology of the time and the artistic statement of the founder. Some of the finest metalwork of the period was displayed in cast bronze guns, and due to the founding techniques, no two are the same, making each an important piece of history.Item An ordinary metropolis: the evolution of criminal justice in London, 1750-1830(Texas Tech University, 1998-12) Balch-Lindsay, Virginia SuzanneThis dissertation examines England's transition from a system of criminal law enforcement that relied on individual initiative to one that relied on state-centered institutions. Between 1750 and 1830, London experienced a confluence of events, and ideas, that promoted new goals forhumanity law enforcement. The prevention of crime, not only its punishment, became an achievable goal. Reform of the criminal was another. Efficiency, effectiveness, and, combined to push England's governors toward a more rational, more enforceable code of law.Item Between boulevard and boudoir : working women as urban spectacle in nineteenth-century French and British literature(2011-08) Erbeznik, Elizabeth Anne; Wettlaufer, Alexandra; MacKay, Carol; Wilkinson, Lynn; Coffin, Judith; Bergman-Carton, JanisBetween Boulevard and Boudoir examines the nineteenth-century obsession with documenting the modern metropolis and analyses visual and verbal portraits of working women to investigate how urban literature invented the seamstress as a type. Approaching the nineteenth-century city as a site of passive voyeurism where social relationships were increasingly mediated by print culture, I argue that sketches of French grisettes and British sempstresses replaced the endless variety among working-class women with a repetitive sameness through the fictionalization of these urban figures. Transforming producers of commodities into objects of consumption, popular fiction showcased the visibility of the city’s working women while ignoring their actual labor. These women were thus portrayed as exploited bodies, rather than exploited workers, destined to adorn, and then disappear into, the crowded city. This dissertation looks first at what Walter Benjamin dubbed “panoramic literature” — texts that sought to describe the metropolis and its inhabitants through a categorization of people and places based on appearances — and asserts that these fragmentary depictions created a widely recognizable urban typology that gained cultural currency and, ultimately, influenced other authors. Analyzing French and British urban text, I maintain, however, that even the most stereotyped representations destabilized the structures of classification that defined the working woman as a type. While novelists Eugène Sue, G.W.M. Reynolds, Charles Dickens, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning all seem to valorize self-supporting women, I demonstrate that, by turning their workers into wives and expelling them from the city, they discredit the premise of an urban destiny that confined these women to a type. This examination of the unique position of working women in Paris and London not only challenges established notions about nineteenth-century constructions of gender but also provides insight into the anxieties – vis-à-vis the rapidly changing city – that plagued the writers who codified these women as types. Investigating the fictionalization of working women, this study opens up urban literature to considerations of how gender and class determine inclusion within the city as it was produced by print culture.Item Engagement in Reading and Access to Print: The Relationship of Home and School to Overall Reading Achievement Among Fourth Grade English Speakers(2013-04-05) Allaith, Zainab A.The present study puts forward two models which examine the relationship between at home at school variables of (1) engagement in shared and independent reading and (2) access to print with reading achievement. Participants were fourth grade English speakers from Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia), New Zealand, England, and USA. Data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) questionnaires and reading achievement test were used to design the two models, and Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to analyze the data where students (Level-1) were nested within classrooms (Level-2). The results of the Engagement in Reading Model demonstrate that activities of shared reading at home and at school did not statistically significantly relate or related negatively with reading achievement. Parents helping their children with school readings emerged as the strongest negative predictor of reading achievement in the entire model. However, the relationship between how often participants talked with their families about what they read on their own and reading achievement was positive. Additionally, independent reading at school, reading for fun at home, and reading printed material (books and magazines) at home predicated reading achievement positively; reading for homework did not predict reading achievement; and reading for information and reading on the internet at home predicted reading achievement negatively. The results of the Access to Print Model demonstrate that while access to books and other reading material at home related positively with reading achievement, access to books and other reading material at school did not overall relate to students? reading achievement. Additionally, access to the library, generally, did not relate to reading achievement; and when statistical significance was found it was not replicated in all or even most of the countries. Based on the results of the present study, it is recommended that fourth graders be given ample opportunities to read books of their own choosing independently at school, and to develop students? habits and motivation to read for leisure during their free after school time. Additionally, children should be provided with ample access to reading material at home which is geared towards their interests.Item English funerary monuments 1782-1795 : taste, politics and memory(2011-05) Chalker, Matthew Edward; Charlesworth, Michael, 1955-; Leoshko, JaniceThis thesis discusses the funerary monuments of Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquis of Rockingham (1730-1782) and William Weddell (1736-1792). It investigates how each man’s political, social, cultural and collecting activities constructed their self-identities. Then, it discusses the construction and formal characteristics of their funerary monuments. Finally, it analyzes how the monuments reflect these identities and evaluates the relative efficacy of the practice.Item The invisible dance : persistence of the Turkish harem in Oscar Wilde's Salomé(2010-05) Tarlaci, Fatma; Richmond-Garza, Elizabeth M. (Elizabeth Merle), 1964-; Hoad, NevilleVarious representations of the figure of Salomé and the Biblical legend have been produced in the European, specifically in the English literature and arts throughout the nineteenth century. Oscar Wilde’s 1891 dramatic version of the legend in many ways epitomizes the full potential of the legend and capitalizes on the period’s fascination with the Orient. The climax of the orientalism of the play, the Dance of the Seven Veils, offers a unique reflection on European fantasies about the harem and invites a comparison to Ottoman representations of this same cultural space. This project seeks to analyze the relation between the Dance of the Seven Veils as presented by Wilde, and the figure of dancing woman in the harem of the Ottoman Empire. It is the slippage between the two which has informed various representations of the Oriental female figure in the West. The gap that emerges between the Western representations and the real practices in the harem, allows for a focused critique of Orientalist practices while recovering, in some ways, the actual experience of Muslim women.The vision of the harem that the Dance of the Seven Veils in Wilde’s Salomé offers is informed not by an actual encounter, but by the image of the harem as understood in nineteenth century English culture. At the same time, it participates in Victorian feminist debates on liberating the oppressed harem woman from her veils, her sexualization, and her objectification. Ultimately the dance functions as a reaffirmation of conventional gender roles as understood in Victorian society.Item The right to be free from offense : the development of hate speech laws in the European Union, UK, Canada, and Sweden(2011-05) Kyckelhahn, Tracey; Young, Michael P.; Sjoberg, Gideon; Ekland-Olson, Sheldon; Kelly, William R.; Smith, Steven K.With the increasing population heterogeneity and rising tensions in Western nations, the governments of those nations have sought ways to manage conflict between different groups. This often comes in the form of laws criminalizing certain speech, and numerous Western nations have passed bills strengthening sanctions against hate speech or adding previously unprotected groups. However, when the European Union attempted to pass strict hate speech legislation, many EU member states disagreed with its provisions and, due to the structure of the EU, managed to substantially change the resulting legislation. This study examines how proponents and opponents of hate speech legislative change frame the issue and the role the EU.Item Speaking England: nationalism(s) in early modern literature and culture(2009-06-02) Morrow, Christopher L.This dissertation explores conceptions of nationalism in early modern English literature and culture. Specifically, it examines multiple definitions of nation in dramatic works by William Shakespeare (Cymbeline), John Fletcher (Bonduca), Thomas Dekker (The Shoemaker's Holiday), and Robert Daborne (A Christian Turned Turk) as well as in antiquarian studies of England by William Camden (Britannia and Remains Concerning Britain) and Richard Verstegan (Restitution of Decayed Intelligence). This dissertation argues that early modern English nationalism is a dynamic phenomenon that extends beyond literary and historical genres typically associated with questions of national identity, such as history plays, legal tracts, and chronicle histories. Nationalism, this dissertation demonstrates, appears in Roman-Britain romances and tragedies, city comedies, and both dramatic and prose accounts of piracy. Nation appears in myriad voices - from ancient British queens to shoemakers and pirates. And the nationalisms they articulate are as varied as the genres in which they appear as nation is negotiated both across and within these works. Furthermore, this dissertation illustrates that not only are concepts of nation and national identity being explored, the very terms on which to construct nation are being defined and re-defined. Nation is variously filtered through a myriad of issues including the influence of the monarch (particularly James I), origin, language, gender, class, ethnicity, religion and national rivals. This dissertation also discusses works which move us beyond our pre-conceived notions about nation by advocating more corporate cosmopolitan models. The models are based on such qualities as membership, occupation, productivity and the pursuit of wealth rather than birth order or location. These corporate and piratical nationalisms extend beyond the confining geopolitical borders of most concepts of nation. Early modern English nationalism is not singularly defined by the monarch, the church, the legal system, or even antiquarian studies of Britain and England. It is not singularly defined by any one voice or text.Item Testimonies of change : experiences in social justice activism in Austin, TX and London, UK(2011-05) Mott, Michelle Lea; Carrington, Ben, 1972-; Richardson, MatthewIn this thesis, the author draws upon data collected through in-depth interviews with twelve social justice activists and organizers in London, UK and Austin, TX to look at contemporary practices of feminist antiracist social justice work. Informed by the Civil Rights, feminist and antiracist social movements of 1960s and 70s, activists and organizers in the United States continue to build upon theoretical understandings of intersecting systems of oppression to build new practices of community and racial justice.Item "The shame of our community": authors' views of prostitutes in late eighteenth century England(Texas A&M University, 2004-11-15) Gillard, Shannon ElayneThis thesis attempts to identify authors' attitudes toward late eighteenth century London prostitutes. Through the examination of several selected sources, one can isolate feelings that eighteenth century writers had about prostitution and those who practiced it. In these works, prostitutes were always rendered as of the lower orders, which the authors acknowledged and emphasized in their writings. What is striking is that none of these authors acknowledged the culpability of the male in the client-prostitute relationship. Therefore, in a close examination of eighteenth century authors' views of prostitutes, one can find both classist and sexist attitudes. The incorrect formulation of the situation is ironic, given that most of the writers of such works were attempting to reform English society and devalue the debauchery and lust that prostitution represented to them. The thesis begins by providing historical background of the lives of prostitutes in late eighteenth century England, showing that the prostitutes provided services to men of higher social and economic classes than they were, and were often young and economically disadvantaged. The main textual chapters are divided into three sections: the first examines works directly related to the Magdalen Charity for repentant prostitutes, namely sermons and titles written to govern or establish the charity, and finds that the authors of these works viewed the prostitute as someone who needed to be instructed in the correct ways to live her life. The second analyzes short works written to address what their writers saw as the problem of prostitution, and discovers that although these writers found different reasons for the causes of prostitution, they all agreed that prostitutes debased society and needed to reform so that the nation would not be ruined. The third researches works of fiction and advice literature, and determines that although women in these works were presented as wealthier than actual prostitutes were, they nonetheless were of the lower orders and should protect themselves from clever and seductive men. The conclusion emphasizes the ways that this study provides new insight into the problem of prostitution and how that relates to race and class in modern society.Item Too foul and dishonoring to be overlooked : newspaper responses to controversial English stars in the Northeastern United States, 1820-1870(2010-05) Smith, Tamara Leanne; Canning, Charlotte, 1964-; Jones, Joni L.; Wolf, Stacy; Thompson, Shirley E.; Forgie, GeorgeIn the nineteenth century, theatre and newspapers were the dominant expressions of popular culture in the northeastern United States, and together formed a crucial discursive node in the ongoing negotiation of American national identity. Focusing on the five decades between 1820 and 1870, during which touring stars from Great Britain enjoyed their most lucrative years of popularity on United States stages, this dissertation examines three instances in which English performers entered into this nationalizing forum and became flashpoints for journalists seeking to define the nature and bounds of American citizenship and culture. In 1821, Edmund Kean’s refusal to perform in Boston caused a scandal that revealed a widespread fixation among social elites with delineating the ethnic and economic limits of citizenship in a republican nation. In 1849, an ongoing rivalry between the English tragedian William Charles Macready and his American competitor Edwin Forrest culminated in the deadly Astor Place riot. By configuring the actors as champions in a struggle between bourgeois authority and working-class populism, the New York press inserted these local events into international patterns of economic conflict and revolutionary violence. Nearly twenty years later, the arrival of the Lydia Thompson Burlesque Troupe in 1868 drew rhetoric that reflected the popular press’ growing preoccupation with gender, particularly the question of woman suffrage and the preservation of the United States’ international reputation as a powerfully masculine nation in the wake of the Civil War. Three distinct cultural currents pervade each of these case studies: the new nation’s anxieties about its former colonizer’s cultural influence, competing political and cultural ideologies within the United States, and the changing perspectives and agendas of the ascendant popular press. Exploring the points where these forces intersect, this dissertation aims to contribute to an understanding of how popular culture helped shape an emerging sense of American national identity. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that in the mid-nineteenth century northeastern United States, popular theatre, newspapers, and audiences all contributed to a single media formation in which controversial English performers became a rhetorical antipode against which “American” identity could be defined.