Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item PLIEGUES SUBLIMES: LO EXTRAÑO, LO RARO Y LO PERTURBADOR EN SIMÓN BOLÍVAR, JUANA MANUELA GORRITI Y RICARDO PALMA(2010) Munoz, Maria Veronica; Aguilar Mora, Jorge; Spanish Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation is about nineteenth-century Latin American fantastic narratives interestingly packed with dream sequences and ghostly apparitions. It works how Simón Bolívar, Juana Manuela Gorriti and Ricardo Palma delve into the uncanny dimensions of reality to subvert the national, hegemonic discourses by challenging and transgressing the boundaries of the epistemological status quo. In chapter 1, the conflicts inherent in the conception of Modernity are read vis-à-vis the critical lenses of the Kantian sublime, the allegory, and the fold. Gilles Deleuze ’ s fold serves to explore how intellectuals have constructed what they call reality, as their texts fold into their own narratives, or the writings of their generation, in order to unfold the cracking surface of their discursive agendas. Thus, the role of letrados is reconsidered as voices coming from the elites who envision themselves as that Other they themselves reject. Finally, Walter Benjamin ’ s allegory links ghosts and spirits directly to their historical background, establishing a consistent relationship between culture and politics, the impact of literary texts on social thought, and the dynamics of cultural transfer. In chapter 2, Bolívar ’ s poetic delirium acknowledges the risk of his dream for a unified Latin America turning into a delirious nightmare if it is solely founded on his strong leadership. On chapter 3, even though Gorriti ’ s short stories count with the support of her peers from the Generation of 37, I focus on how she exposes the abjection and ugliness that lies beneath the main debates of her times: civilization and barbarism, and the role of women in the new republics. Her poetics from behind the fog enables her to participate in these debates while being widely accepted in literary circles. Similarly on chapter 4, the narratives of Ricardo Palma and his miraculous poetic defy the core structure of a modern Peruvian state through an acknowledgement of popular voices, which he seems to perceive as the real builders of the nation. All these writers recognize the need to find alternative models for the challenges inherent in a postcolonial Latin America.Item Death and the Sublime Landscape(2008-05-27) Mitrocsak, Nandor; Noonan, Peter; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explores the sublime experience through architectural and landscape design. Narrations concerning time, nature, life and death are conveyed through the medium of architectural promenade. Do these experiences have the power to lift individuals from the everyday into the transcendental and memorial? Mount Washington sits atop Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, overseeing the flows of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. Its physical form and presence has been evolving over the last 300 million years, a timescale beyond typical human constructs. Today, its topography enables sweeping views across the city and the river valley beyond. The temporal and physical scale of Mount Washington renders it a sublime object, worthy of contemplation. The thesis seeks to engage natural and man-made features of Mount Washington throughout the site. Throughout history, cemeteries and other landscapes of the dead have been extraordinary subjects of sublime experiences. The thesis abstracts elements of cemeteries and reassembles a choreographed promenade. Using the language of path and place, this promenade seeks to accommodate and respect rituals of cremation and the accommodation of the dead in the landscape.