Degree Level

The Efficacy of the Chickasaw Nation Early Care and Education Programs (open access)

The Efficacy of the Chickasaw Nation Early Care and Education Programs

The purposes of this research were to explore the effectiveness of the Chickasaw Nation early care and education program in promoting school readiness while infusing tribally relevant values in children from birth through age five; engaging parents in all aspects of their children’s learning; and supporting children and families through the transitioning to kindergarten. The study used qualitative methods to examine the experiences and perceptions of ten parents, ten teachers, and five administrators within Chickasaw Nation’s early care and education system regarding the four basic areas of school readiness, parent engagement, transition, and culturally relevant pedagogy. Four primary themes emerged from the semi-structured interviews: 1) socialization, school readiness, and transition, 2) learning, curriculum, and assessment, 3) the role of parents, and 4) cultural integrity. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, transcribed, and analyzed based on four research questions. Findings indicated parents, teachers, and administrators were satisfied that the program was successful with assisting children in making progress toward achieving developmental and school readiness goals and that the children were physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively prepared to enter kindergarten. The program provided activities to encourage and promote parental involvement; however, parents did not indicate active involvement or participation in the activities. …
Date: May 2014
Creator: Blackmon, Lisa
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Theory of Tragedy (open access)

A Theory of Tragedy

This study defines and applies a theory of tragedy which is based on the work of Friedrich Nietzsche in The Birth of Tragedy. In the first chapter the writer argues for the need of a widely accepted theory of tragedy and show that we do not presently have one. In the same chapter, the writer presents the theory that tragedy is a very specific art type which transcends genre and which is the product of a synthesis of the Dionysiac and Apollonian forces in Western culture. The writer argues that by understanding the philosophical and aesthetic nature of the forces as they are expressed in tragedy we can isolate and define the essential elements of tragedy. Tragedy must have a person of heroic stature as its main protagonist. It must have a specific kind of plot in which a reversal of the hero's experience of the universe occurs. It must have a choric element, which is a combination of two components: communality and lyricism. Finally, tragedy must contain a mythic background which allows for the expression of two themes, the Dionysiac theme and the Apollonian theme.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Dodson, Diane Martha
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Emergence of Arab Nation-State Nationalism as an Alternative to the Supranational Concept of Ummah

In this dissertation, I examine the political shift or reorientation of Arabs and Muslims from the supranational Ummah to the Western form of nation-state by attending to modern Arabic novel in the period between World War I and World War II. I explore the emergence of secularism in Arab national formation. One of my central arguments is that Arab nationalism is indeed a misleading phrase as it gives the impression of unity and coherence to a complex phenomenon that materialize in a number of trends as a form of struggle. In the first chapter, I defined the scope of my argument and the underlying structure and function of nationalism as a form of representation masked by nationalist ideologies. To investigate the reorientation of Arabs and Muslims from Ummah to adopting nation-state, I utilize Spivak's criticism of the system of representation along with Foucault's theorization of discourse. I argued along Edward Said that although the Western national discourse might have influenced the Arab nationalists, I do not believe they prevented them from consciously appropriating nationalism in a free creative way. I also explained that the Arab adoption of a secularist separatist nationalism was more an outcome than an effect in the …
Date: December 2023
Creator: Alhamili, Mohammed Ali M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
"image"/ "i" / "nation": A Theory and Practice of Becoming an A/r/tographer (open access)

"image"/ "i" / "nation": A Theory and Practice of Becoming an A/r/tographer

One can argue that embracing technological models may produce students who are illiterate in the "proper" methods of communication. With rapid technological change, some fear traditions in their "original" form may be lost. Practices such as trying to recapture the artist's intent should be abandoned as a way of opening up literacy discourse to multiple narratives. Failing to critically explore the possibilities of emerging models of thinking, teaching, and learning in a technological culture can produce a loss equal to the loss of tradition. An a/r/tographer works toward a fluid practice between the domains of artist, researcher, and teacher in order to negotiate emerging forms of visual/tactile/auditory communication which include the body as a networked organism situated recursively within the larger structure of society. This study occurred during two separate semesters of an art education course for pre-service elementary teachers. Through interaction with hypermedia, social networking, installation art, and mash-ups, the teacher and students became artists, researchers, and teachers in a community of practice. A new form of teaching practice was envisioned that opens the possibility for both collective and individual understandings in the formation of curricula. A set of guiding principles was invented through practice as a way of …
Date: August 2010
Creator: Sutherlin, Matthew Evans
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Descriptive Study of the Trend of Contraceptive Services Available to College Students (open access)

A Descriptive Study of the Trend of Contraceptive Services Available to College Students

This study investigated the perceptions of college student health center administrators concerning the availability of contraceptive services to college students. The major purposes of the study were (1) to determine the extent to which specific contraceptive services were available to college students from various sources, (2) to determine the extent and effectiveness of any opposition or support from various pressure groups concerning the provision of contraceptive services by student health centers, and (3) to describe the trend, as .perceived by student health center directors, of student access to contraceptive services from 1970 to 1975 and to project the trend to 1980. The findings indicated that pressure activity supporting the provision of contraceptive services by student health centers arose mostly from institutionally related student groups and was considered to be "effective" (i.e., influenced administrative decision making). Pressure which arose from other groups was found to be slight and of little effectiveness.
Date: August 1975
Creator: Pruitt, Buster E.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Process Used to Select High School Principals in the Large-City School Districts of the Nation (open access)

The Process Used to Select High School Principals in the Large-City School Districts of the Nation

The problem of this study was to examine the selection process used in the appointment of high school principals in the forty-eight large-city school districts of the nation. The purposes of this study were (1) to examine how principals of high schools in large-city districts are selected, and (2) to determine the criteria considered important in the selection process. In order to conduct this investigation a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was validated by a twelve-member panel composed of eleven public school administrators and a former United States Commissioner of Education. Significant findings which tend to be supported by the data are: 1. Human relations skills were considered as being most important in selecting principals. 2. Superintendents placed little value on the personal traits of candidates. 3. Instructional skills ranked third in importance. 4. The selection process depended heavily on biographical data and the use of the interview. 5. Teaching experience and a master's degree are essential. 6. Assistant superintendents are involved in the selection process more often than any other group, but superintendents are most influential in the selection process. 7. School facilities, pupils, and parents are seldom involved in the selection process, and when involved, their influence is …
Date: August 1975
Creator: Kudlaty, Frank
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Palestinian Archipelago and the Construction of Palestinian Identity After Sixty-five Years of Diaspora: the Rebirth of the Nation (open access)

The Palestinian Archipelago and the Construction of Palestinian Identity After Sixty-five Years of Diaspora: the Rebirth of the Nation

This dissertation conceptualizes a Palestinian archipelago based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the chronotope, and uses the archipelago model to illustrate the situation and development of Palestinian consciousness in diaspora. To gain insight into the personal lives of Palestinians in diaspora, This project highlights several islands of Palestinian identities as represented in the novels: Dancing Arabs, A Compass for the Sunflower, and The Inheritance. The identities of the characters in these works are organized according to the archipelago model, which illustrates how the characters rediscover, repress, or change their identities in order to accommodate life in diaspora. Analysis reveals that a major goal of Palestinian existence in diaspora is the maintenance of an authentic Palestinian identity. Therefore, my description of the characters’ identities and locations in the archipelago model are informed by various scholars and theories of nationalism. Moreover, this dissertation illustrates how different Palestinian identities coalesce into a single national consciousness that has been created and sustained by a collective experience of suffering and thirst for sense of belonging and community among Palestinians. Foremost in the memories of all Palestinians is the memory of the land of Palestine and the dream of national restoration; these are the main uniting …
Date: May 2015
Creator: Shaheen, Basima
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Population Policy Implementation and Evaluation in Less Industrialized Countries (open access)

Population Policy Implementation and Evaluation in Less Industrialized Countries

This study emphasizes the impact of family planning program components on contraceptive prevalence in less industrialized countries. Building on Lapham and Mauldin's "Program Effort and Fertility Decline" framework and policy evaluation's theory, the author developed two models to examine the impact of family planning programs on contraceptive prevalence and fertility under the constraints of socioeconomic development and demand for family planning. The study employed path analysis and multiple regression on data from the 1982 program effort study in 94 less developed countries (LDCs) by Lapham and Mauldin and 98 LDCs of the 1989 program effort study by Mauldin and Ross. The results of data analyses for all data sets are consistent for the most part. Major findings are as follows: (1) A combination of program effort and socioeconomic development best explains the variation of contraceptive prevalence. (2) Among socioeconomic variables, female literacy exerts the strongest direct and indirect influences to increase contraceptive prevalence and indirect influence to decrease total fertility rate. (3) Christianity performs a significant role in reducing contraceptive prevalence. (4) Among program effort components, availability and accessibility for fertility-control supplies and services have the most influence on contraceptive prevalence. (5) When controlling for demand for family planning, female …
Date: August 1993
Creator: Sirirangsi, Rangsima
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Women's Reproductive Rights in Developing Countries: A Causal Analysis (open access)

Women's Reproductive Rights in Developing Countries: A Causal Analysis

The issue of women's reproductive rights has become an international concern in the recent decade. Ongoing debates on women's reproductive rights in world conferences and conventions have heightened the need for empirical research and theoretical explanations of women's reproductive rights Nevertheless, very few sociological studies have treated women's reproductive rights as a dependent variable. This study examines the effects of family planning programs and the processes of modernization on women's reproductive rights. Several facets of modernization; processes of socioeconomic development, secularization, women's education, and levels of gender equality are considered. The study involves 101 countries identified by the World Bank (1994) as developing countries. It is argued, on the one hand, that variations in women's reproductive rights in developing nations may be explained by the social changes brought about by modernization processes. On other hand, the universality of the anti-natalistic population policies in developing countries in the late 20th century provides a strong state control over fertility rate, which may contribute to the attainment of women's reproductive rights. Using linear structural equation analysis, the study finds that fertility decline due to family planning programs leads to the achievement of women's reproductive rights. The empirical findings support the hypothesis that socioeconomic …
Date: August 1996
Creator: Wang, Guang-zhen
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors Associated with Ageism: A Survey of College Students (open access)

Factors Associated with Ageism: A Survey of College Students

The primary question addressed was, "What effect does educational attainment and acquired knowledge of ageing have on negative ageism?" Subsidiary questions are, "What effect does; age, sex, and positive/negative experiences with aged individuals, have on ageism?"
Date: May 1997
Creator: Nation, Patricia Ann Campo
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ethnic Politics in New States: Russian and Serbian Minorities After Secession (open access)

Ethnic Politics in New States: Russian and Serbian Minorities After Secession

New states are often born in a volatile environment, in which the survival of the new country is uncertain. While analysis of the nationalizing new governments exists, research focuses mainly on domestic politics. I argue that the treatment of minority that remains in the new states is a function of the interaction of the dual threat posed by the minority itself domestically on one hand and the international threat coming from the mother state to protect its kin abroad on the other hand. Specifically, I argue that there is a curvilinear relationship between domestic and international threat and the extent of discrimination against the politically relevant minority. Most discrimination takes place when domestic and international threats are moderate because in this case there is a balance of power between the government, the minority, and the rump state. With time-series-cross-sectional (TSCS) data analysis this dissertation systematically tests the treatment of Russian and Serbian minorities in all post-Soviet and post-Yugoslav states between 1991 and 2006 and finds statistically significant results for the curvilinear hypothesis. Territorial concentration of the minority and the ratio of national capabilities between the mother and the seceded states prove to be especially important predictors of minority treatment. In …
Date: May 2013
Creator: Batta, Anna
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Constructing Taiwan: Taiwanese Literature and National Identity (open access)

Constructing Taiwan: Taiwanese Literature and National Identity

In this work, I trace and reconstruct Taiwan's nation-formation as it is reflected in literary texts produced primarily during the country's two periods of colonial rule, Japanese (1895-1945) and Kuomintang or Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (1945-1987). One of my central arguments is that the idea of a Taiwanese nation has historically emerged from the interstices of several official and formal nationalisms: Japanese, Chinese, and later Taiwanese. In the following chapters, I argue that the concepts of Taiwan and Taiwanese have been formed and enriched over time in response to the pressures exerted by the state's, colonial or otherwise, pedagogical nation-building discourses. It is through an engagement with these various discourses that the idea of a Taiwanese nation has come to be gradually defined, negotiated, and reinvented by Taiwanese intellectuals of various ethnic backgrounds. I, therefore, focus on authors whose works actively respond to and engage with the state's official nationalism. Following Homi Bhabha's explication in his famous essay "DissemiNation," the basic premise of this dissertation is that the nation, as a narrated space, is not simply shaped by the homogenizing and historicist discourse of nationalism but is realized through people's diverse lived experience. Thus, in reading Taiwanese literature, it is …
Date: August 2018
Creator: Lu, Tsung Che
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The attitude of the sixty-fourth Texas legislators towards serving the severely and profoundly handicapped and handicapped infants below the age of three (open access)

The attitude of the sixty-fourth Texas legislators towards serving the severely and profoundly handicapped and handicapped infants below the age of three

The problem of this study was to determine the degree of Texas Legislative support for public school services to handicapped children not presently being served (birth through two and zero reject). This study has four purposes: To identify trends in respect to educating the handicapped birth through two and zero-reject; To determine State Legislative's attitude with respect to serving; To inform the legislature and educational leaders and familiarize them with the data collected; and to present recommendations to legislators, educators, and agencies of strategies that might be considered in future planning.
Date: August 1977
Creator: Phillips, Arthur A.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Method for Improving the Perception of Reality and Understanding of the Population Problem in the College Classroom: A Simulation Game (open access)

Method for Improving the Perception of Reality and Understanding of the Population Problem in the College Classroom: A Simulation Game

The purpose of this study is the development of an educational simulation game for use in college classes. The simulation game is based on selected aspects of the population problem. The panel approved or rejected objectives on the basis of their significance as goals for college students. Twelve objectives were approved by a majority of the panel. Upon completion of the exercise, students should be able to compute population increases, to predict population sizes, and to identify birth and death rates that cause a population to increase, decrease, or remain stable. Students should also be able to describe how the following factors affect population size: cultural and religious beliefs, pressure for economic growth, investments of capital, and financial losses. Students should understand the problems of governing a country with a rapidly growing population as compared to problems in governing a country with slower population growth, and they should recognize how rapid population growth can affect the quality of life. Students should recognize decreased birth rates, increased death rates, and increased economic production as possible solutions to the population problem. Finally, students should personalize the population problem and make commitments in seeking and participating in its solutions.
Date: August 1972
Creator: Connor, Thomas Dwight
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Regulation of Medically Assisted Procreation in Europe and Related Nations and the Influence of National Identity, Social Cultural, and Demographic Differences (open access)

The Regulation of Medically Assisted Procreation in Europe and Related Nations and the Influence of National Identity, Social Cultural, and Demographic Differences

This study details the Medically Assisted Procreation regulations in thirty-five nation-states, and explores the influence of national identity, social cultural and demographic differences on these regulations. Detailed data were gathered from ministries of health, offices of prime ministers, embassy staff, and others on regulations for each nation. These data were used to categorize the nations in regard to MAP legislation status and regulatory policy regarding marital or age restrictions; posthumous conception; sperm, ovum, or embryo donation, surrogacy; and policy on handling donors. Possible associations between national identity, social cultural, and demographic data for each nation and their regulations were explained. The thirty-five nations were treated as a population with common geographical and political ties. PRE methods, and eta coefficients were used to assess the associations. Sixteen nations have adopted MAP legislation, eight nations have either alternative regulatory guidelines or partial structures, four nations have legislation pending and possibly some laws, and seven nations are unregulated. Based upon statistical analysis, language group emerges as an important indicator for differences in MAP regulations. For example knowing a nation's language group enabled percent improved prediction of that nation's regulatory handling of embryo donation. The percent GDP spent on health care was found to …
Date: August 2002
Creator: Wunderlin, Beverly J.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Composing Processes of Blind Writers (open access)

The Composing Processes of Blind Writers

An examination of the composing processes of blind writers was conducted to determine the strategies used by these composers. Two individuals blind from birth and two persons blinded later in life participated in the study. Using participant observation and stimulated recall, the researcher examined the composing processes of these subjects. Each individual participated in four writing sessions and used the compose-aloud technique where by the composer repeats orally any thoughts that occur during writing. In addition, an interview was conducted with each participant which provided a writing history, attitude toward writing, and composing strategies. Results of the research indicated that blind writers use the same basic processes of writing as reported for sighted writers. Blind writers in this study did not make written plans prior to writing and spent between one and four minutes in prewriting. Planning was an ongoing feature of the composing process. The writers in this study demonstrated the recursive feature of composing. Rescanning was a continual part of their composing sessions . Three of the subjects reported using rescanning for planning and editing. One individual reported using rescanning for editing only. Some differences were found in the blind writers as compared to the research on sighted …
Date: December 1984
Creator: Bryant, Deborah Goforth
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Exploratory Investigation of Socio-Economic Phenomena that May Influence Accounting Differences in Three Diverse Countries (open access)

An Exploratory Investigation of Socio-Economic Phenomena that May Influence Accounting Differences in Three Diverse Countries

This dissertation attempts to provide an exploratory structure to respond to, and tries to resolve, an existing void in international accounting research. The void is a lack of coherently structured, nation-specific, descriptive research to investigate socio-economic phenomena which may influence financial accounting. This dissertation's salient features include a political economy theory, an exploratory, sociological method, and a case study format. The political economy of accounting, introduced by Tinker [1980] and refined by Cooper and Sherer [1984], emphasizes a persuasive social relations dimension. This theory motivates selection of three countries (the United States, France, and Japan) that appear to have divergent socio-cultural environments. An exploratory and analytical approach of modified (enlarged) exogenism, developed by Smith [1973, 1976] and adapted to accounting by McKinnon [1986], provides an analytic structure for this exploratory investigation. Modified exogenism focuses upon an open, dynamic social system (the process of financial accounting), and provides analysis reflecting four major areas (the environment, intrusive events, intra-system activity, and trans-system activity). After examining the nation-specific financial accounting (socio-economic) structures for each country, an analysis of selected financial disclosures attempts to gain a better understanding of how socio-economic factors have influenced the development of financial accounting. My primary objective is to …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Hudack, Lawrence R. (Lawrence Ralph)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Higher Education in Iran and a Proposal for Its Improvement (open access)

An Analysis of Higher Education in Iran and a Proposal for Its Improvement

The problem with which this study is concerned is the development of a plan to reform the structure of the current system of Iranian higher education, both quantitatively and qualitatively. These goals have been set by the Charter of Educational Revolution and coincide with the Development Plans of the nation which have aimed to bring about a fundamental change in society. Educational history of Iran since ancient times is discussed, with special emphasis on higher education, and the religio-cultural influences in shaping the organization of educational institutions and curricula are overviewed. The nation developed one of the world's oldest scholastic centers of higher learning, Gondi-Shapur Academy, whose international faculty contributed significantly to the advancement of knowledge. Iranian culture was exposed to Islam following the Arab invasion; and Islamic doctrine, which has been opposed to secular education, has dominated the educational philosophy of the country. Western education came to Iran through military institutions and religious institutions. Modern schools increased during the last decades of the nineteenth century; however, their progressive development can be traced only from the reign of Reza Shah, beginning in 1925. The first modern university of Iran was established forty years ago. The provincial universities and other institutions …
Date: May 1974
Creator: Naeli, Mohammed Ali
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attitudes and Actions of the First Six Presidents of the United States Concerning Higher Education (open access)

Attitudes and Actions of the First Six Presidents of the United States Concerning Higher Education

Higher education has always occupied an important place in this nation's concerns. This study was undertaken in an attempt to determine how the Founding Fathers, especially the nation's first six presidents, regarded the subject of higher education. The study was limited to these six men because they were charged with inaugurating the new government and because these six men were all participants in the drafting and ratifying of the Constitution. Findings for this study came from the personal and private papers of the first six presidents, government documents, and the press. A comparison of the findings indicates that these men shared many beliefs while disagreeing on some aspects of higher education.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Rushing, Dorothy M. (Dorothy Marie)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Quest for Equality: An Historical Overview of Women's Rights Activism in Texas, 1890-1975 (open access)

Quest for Equality: An Historical Overview of Women's Rights Activism in Texas, 1890-1975

This study presents a chronological examination of women's rights activism. The first three chapters cover the origin, growth, and success of the Texas woman suffrage movement. Chapter Four examines the issues of interest to Texas women after the right to vote was achieved, including birth control, better working conditions, unionization, jury duty, and married women's property rights. The last chapters explore the origins, growth, and success of the movement to secure an Equal Legal Rights Amendment to the state constitution, and its immediate aftermath. Sources include manuscript collections, interviews, newspaper and magazine accounts, and government documents.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Gammage, Judie Walton
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Banker's Acceptance: An Examination and Analysis of the Instrument and Market (open access)

The Banker's Acceptance: An Examination and Analysis of the Instrument and Market

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine and analyze the banker's acceptance and the bankers' acceptance market. A banker's acceptance is a money market instrument used to finance the export, import, movement, and storage of goods; it begins as a trade draft, and it is termed accepted when a commercial bank guarantees payment. The banker's acceptance represents an historical evolution of the medieval bill of exchange. The banker's acceptance as we know it today first appeared in England in the 1820s. The birth of the banker's acceptance in the United States occurred with passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. A survey was made of the twenty largest U.S. commercial banks in order to determine certain perceived characteristics of the banker's acceptance and the bankers' acceptance market. As a result of the survey, a new money market instrument is suggested. The new money market instrument is to be called a Banker's Acceptance Participation Certificate.
Date: May 1980
Creator: Wilson, Hoyet W.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
“What Are You?”: Racial Ambiguity and the Social Construction of Race in the Us (open access)

“What Are You?”: Racial Ambiguity and the Social Construction of Race in the Us

This dissertation is a qualitative study of racially ambiguous people and their life experiences. Racially ambiguous people are individuals who are frequently misidentified racially by others because they do not resemble the phenotype associated with the racial group to which they belong or because they belong to racial/ethnic groups originating in different parts of the world that resemble each other. the racial/ethnic population of the United States is constantly changing because of variations in the birth rates among the racial/ethnic groups that comprise those populations and immigration from around the world. Although much research has been done that documents the existence of racial/ethnic mixing in the history of the United States and the world, this multiracial history is seldom acknowledged in the social, work, and other spheres of interaction among people in the U.S., instead a racialized system based on the perception of individuals as mono-racial thus easily identified through (skin tone, hair texture, facial features, etc.). This is research was done using life experience interviews with 24 racially ambiguous individuals to determine how race/ethnicity has affected their lives and how they negotiate the minefield of race.
Date: May 2012
Creator: Smith, Starita
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A comparison of the evolution of accounting institutions in Germany and the United States (open access)

A comparison of the evolution of accounting institutions in Germany and the United States

The purpose of this dissertation is to compare the evolution of the German accounting profession with that in the United States from the late 1800's to the early 1930's. Included is an analysis of the interaction of the accounting profession with each nation's corporate/ banking institutions in influencing financial reporting and the demand for audits.
Date: August 1991
Creator: Harston, Mary Elizabeth
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Xenotopia: Death and Displacement in the Landscape of Nineteenth-Century American Authorship (open access)

Xenotopia: Death and Displacement in the Landscape of Nineteenth-Century American Authorship

This dissertation is an examination of the interiority of American authorship from 1815–1866, an era of political, social, and economic instability in the United States. Without a well-defined historical narrative or an established literary lineage, writers drew upon death and the American landscape as tropes of unity and identification in an effort to define the nation and its literary future. Instead of representing nationalism or collectivism, however, the authors in this study drew on landscapes and death to mediate the crises of authorial displacement through what I term "xenotopia," strange places wherein a venerated American landscape has been disrupted or defamiliarized and inscribed with death or mourning. As opposed to the idealized settings of utopia or the environmental degradation of dystopia, which reflect the positive or negative social currents of a writer's milieu, xenotopia record the contingencies and potential problems that have not yet played out in a nation in the process of self-definition. Beyond this, however, xenotopia register as an assertion of agency and literary definition, a way to record each writer's individual and psychological experience of authorship while answering the call for a new definition of American literature in an indeterminate and undefined space.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Lewis, Darcy Hudelson
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library