Format: Thèse

Cette fiche apparait dans la figure du Diable et de la Sorcière.

« Faerie Pools and Magic Shoes is a collection of short stories based on my response to research into the figure of the devil in Scottish folklore and literature. Alongside this I look at similar folklore tropes, such as witches and faeries. In the accompanying exegesis, I examine the ways in which these figures adapt within the storytelling tradition, the way in which they overlap in a variety of storytelling techniques and the way they appear and are reworked in modern media forms. In the introduction I discuss the devil’s origins as a theological phenomenon and the work of theorists such as Neil Forsyth, who locates mythological analogues of the devil in figure in earlier pagan story cycles. My introduction specifically isolates the idea of the devil, or Adversary figure, as a narrative function, based on the work of Russian formalist Vladimir Propp. Chapter 1 discusses the ways in which the character of Satan infiltrated popular culture and folklore throughout the medieval and early modern periods in Europe and, more specifically, in Scotland through mediums like Morality Plays, folk tales and ballads. In the second chapter I discuss the devil as a fixture of Romanticism in the late eighteenth century and the way that Romanticism, and its interaction with folklore carried over into key works by nineteenth-century Scottish writers such as Walter Scott and James Hogg. In the third chapter I examine the ways in which the figure of the witch in folklore and fairy tales morphs and adapts across stories providing an, often female, analogue to the devil figure. Finally, the fourth chapter discusses the ways I have adapted these figures in my own creative work and how this research has informed my style and approach to short fiction throughout Faerie Pools and Magic Shoes as a collection. » (Résumé)

« The entity of Lucifer has long been an area of study and confusion throughout history. Among notable literary minds, Dante Alighieri stands out as an illuminating poet who brings to light the essence and nature of this nefarious character and his influence on mankind. In his revelatory work, the Commedia , Dante touches on but does not explicitly detail the scope and importance that music and specifically, song, has on the redemptive purgation of the soul.

This work provides a more in depth investigation into the generally overlooked issue, that is, the origin and initial intent of song, the perversion of which, by whom and why, and Dante’s perception of the subject revealed in his missive to mankind. Along with the Commedia, we will examine scripture, writings of prominent theologians, scientific theory, along with other works by Dante to provide a link between Lucifer, music, the sin of pride, and the corruption of the divine. » (Résumé)

« My dissertation examines the U.S.-Mexico border during the 20th century, not only as a socio-political space of conflict and struggle, but simultaneously as a 2,000-mile strip of “haunted” land, inhabited by many imaginary creatures, fantastic tales, monsters, and popular saints. It is through an examination of government proceedings, archival documents, religious artifacts, interviews, and ethnographic visits to border shrines and festival celebrations, that this research engages with the question of how communities utilize the fantastic and the uncanny to disseminate knowledge and inscribe history.

I analyze (a) the myth of the Devil along the border, (b) the Chupacabras, the livestock blood-sucking monster; and (c) the legend of Juan Soldado, a saint of undocumented border crossers. These three entities are used in order to create a genealogy of the effects of capitalism in the region, as each of them correlates to crucial periods of U.S.-Mexico relations. The first chapter begins by studying the legend of El Diablo (the Devil) along the U.S.-Mexico Border, in particular as it is narrated in the novel The Devil in Texas/El Diablo en Texas (1976) by Aristeo Brito. It explores the devil within the context of exploitative capitalism in the region and highlights the interconnection between the events of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the effects of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848), and the emergence of the modern Chicana/o Movement (1960-1970s). The second chapter traces the apparition of El Chupacabras (1994), or goatsucker within the the context of anti-American sentiments in Puerto Rico, the fears and the anxieties of the U.S. post-cold war years, as well as the dismantling of the welfare state. In particular, it analyzes the Chupacabras as a subversive image, used to unify and address the struggles of small farmers and create a sophisticated polysemic metaphor to illustrate the insatiable appetite and predatory practices of neo-liberalism as implemented by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during the 1990s. The third chapter continues with the study of Juan Soldado (1930s), one of the saints of undocumented border crossers, within the context of the border transformations created by American Prohibition (1920-1933), the Great Depression (1930s), and the mass “deportation” of Mexican-Americans and Mexican nationals (1929-1939). This research situates Juan Soldado’s conviction for the rape and murder of an eight years old girl, and the subsequent Tijuana riots surrounding this case, as a pivotal event in the long tradition of femicides along the border.

This dissertation explores how the battle for survival along the border is performed in the terrains of the fantastic and the uncanny, and where the real and the imaginary are not always clearly defined but deeply shaped by the socio-political and racial tensions of the region. In particular, it analyzes how these legends and popular saints are never random nor naïve, but rather they are sophisticated “in-context” social productions assembled and adapted to respond to specific socio-political and racial-economic transnational realities. This project shows how folklore and pop-culture are useful tools to reconstruct the history of violence along the border and to understand the coping mechanisms developed by Latina/o border communities. » (Résumé)

« This thesis is comprised of three parts: a critical dissertation, a creative work of fiction and a bridge piece that connects the two. The critical work is an examination of the Devil as a satirist in Faustian bargains. Through the usage of the Devil as a literary figure, his character has become a more secular being: a trickster rather than evil incarnate—a facilitator of sin rather than its originator. In the tragicomedy of pacts with the Devil, he acts as a mirror, reflecting mankind’s foibles and vanity, while elevating the reader in the process. The thesis considers the language, tone, purpose and conceits of several versions of the story. While the focus is primarily on American Literature, the influence of English, Scottish, French and German folklore and fiction are recognized as an essential component of the theme’s evolution. In the bridge piece, the pact with the Devil is literalized in a modern context; a corporate business of reaping souls is theorized in which techniques of persuasion are streamlined into an effective formula. Whether immersive or expository in approach, the portrayal of the supernatural depends on the literary principles of science fiction and fantasy in order to manipulate the reader and allow irrational concepts to obey rational laws. Such theories are cited to support how the Devil functions as a believable character. The novel, Could Be Much Worse, relates the story of an egocentric boss and his dependable employee, a scout who disguises himself as a taxi driver and seeks candidates who may succumb to temptation. Passengers’ monologues of desperation and pathos are interspersed throughout the protagonist’s day-to-day narrative. At times, the work is experimental, utilizing irregular storytelling techniques, alternative forms and conceits. Light-hearted, but nonetheless poignant, the story serves as a cautionary tale, illustrating the tedium of a bureaucratic job in a transmundane existence. » (Résumé)

« This dissertation traces the dialectical manoeuvers with which the Devil provokes conceptual change as it occurs in the work of E.T.A. Hoffmann, Gerard de Nerval, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and J.-K. Huysmans. These authors depict their heroes as nearly undone by the failure of the subject’s immanence in history; moreover, the ambiguous possibilities of a return to meaning-conferring, mythic sources produces a sense of abandonment in chronos. In the diabolical critiquе of synthesis, which emerges in the experience of chronos, the Devil discards his (or her) status as a strictly religious figure to become the aesthetic potential for a dialectical wholeness. » (Extrait du résumé)

« This dissertation is a study of the figure of Satan as a literary type in the works of three major poets of world literature: Rumi (1207-1273), Dante (1265-1321) and Milton (1608-1674). The common ground for comparison is their response to the question of dualism between good and evil. The multifaceted figure of Satan in these works makes him an interesting subject for study. In the Divine Comedy, Satan is a flat character. He is portrayed as anti-Christ and anti-Godhead. In fact, he seldom appears on stage though his presence can be felt in the entire Inferno. Dante’s Satan functions more as a sign; thus, Satan becomes the turning point in the spiritual journey of the pilgrim. Furthermore, Satan, stuck up to his waist in the frozen river of Cocytus, demonstrate how love, this divine gift, can be misdirected. In Paradise Lost this figure is more fully developed as a character. He represents the destructive power of evil who destroys himself and others through his commitment to evil. But at the same time he is depicted as a proud rebel who, even though he knows he has been defeated, will not submit. Here he becomes a tragic hero. The issue here is that although Milton’s Satan has heroic qualities, he is not “The Hero”. Satan employs these heroic qualities for the wrong ends. He chooses evil intentionally and freely. In the Mathnawi Satan is much more complex. Sometimes he is the devil and the tempter, at other times a tragic victim and a true lover of God. It is only in Rumi’s work that we see Satan (Iblis) as a true lover of God. However, these three poets have all tried to resolve the tension of opposites in their works by revealing the dualistic nature of man himself and how man is ultimately responsible for his choice. » (Résumé)

« Nikolaj Gogol”s obsession with the devil conditioned practically everything he ever wrote. This dissertation is an examination of the image of the devil–or, more broadly conceived, the aesthetic representation of evil–in Gogol”s two earliest cycles of prose fiction, Vecera na xutore bliz Dikan’ki. In order to get at the roots of the Gogolian demonic mode, the study begins with a broad survey of three traditions of speculation into the nature of the devil and radical evil that were closest to Gogol’; these traditions are found in Christian (especially Russian Orthodox) theology, medieval Russian literature, and East Slavic folklore. A biographical excursus follows, in which Gogol”s life through 1835 is discussed, with special attention to those factors in the writer’s childhood and early adulthood that may have conditioned his preoccupation with the devil. The final third of the dissertation consists of close readings of each of the eight Dikan’ka tales. In this section of the dissertation the author considers both the evolution of Gogol”s literary demonic idiom in Dikan’ka, as well as the numerous ways in which the shape of Gogol”s devil develops according to theological, literary, and folkloric models of evil. Characteristically “Gogolian” motifs of emptiness, fragmentation, pollution, and enclosure are shown to have diabolic underpinnings, as well as the Gogolian character’s typical lack of psychological depth or development. The author concludes with a selective survey of Gogol”s later work and suggests how the portrait of the devil as worked out in Dikan’ka will evolve and continue to exert a profound influence on the later fiction. » (Résumé)

« In this thesis I examine the creation, purpose and qualities of dramatic spectacle in relation to the character of the Devil in the comedia nueva. The corpus of texts studied is taken from the works of the following major authors: Calderón, Cervantes, Mira de Amescua, Ruiz de Alarcón, Tirso de Molina and Lope de Vega; to the works of these authors I have added those plays that contain devils from 30 of the first 34 Partes de comedias escogidas. The total of plays considered is 94.

Discussed in chapter two are such questions as: the onomastic range of the devil; his spectacular entrances and exits through flight or trapdoors; his physical appearance in disguised form; and the spectacle of violence as expressed through the character of the Devil.

Chapter three is devoted to the examination of devil-women. They are identified as dramatic sub-types and examined in relation to their use for the creation of horror, abjection and humour. A reduced number of plays forms the nucleus of this chapter, in particular: El esclavo del demonio (Mira), El mágico prodigioso (Calderón), La cueva de Salamanca (Alarcóon), and El Anticristo (Alarcón). Attention is drawn to the use of the spectacle of devil-women and its association at the level of themes, symbolism, and imagery in the works in which they appear.

The final chapter is concerned with ‘Rhetorical spectacle’ or spectacle created through language. There is a general attempt to classify this type of spectacle as well as commentary on its use, origins, and relationship to physical spectacle. Discussed in this chapter are such elements as the devil-pact , infiltration of bodies by Devils, offstage and disembodied voices, and the Devil’s value as a dramatic tool. » (Résumé)