Bücher von Sven Klees

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Koblenz-Landau, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the status of contrabands in American society and the racial prejudice, they must cope with. In a second step, the Freudian concept of 'displacement' will be discussed and connected to Freud¿s findings about the super-ego. Finally, the findings of the previous chapters will be used to look at the primary text "My Contraband" by Louisa May Alcott in more detail. The choice of words, especially the choice of colours, is worth taking a closer look at. Further textual evidence will also be discussed in order to look at what image of her contraband the nurse is producing and why she does so."My Contraband" is certainly a story about race. However, it is not a story about racial prejudice and stereotypes. Quite on the contrary, it is a story about interracial sexuality. Although this interpretation might go a little too far, it certainly offers a quite uncommon view on the African American. Baym et al. admits that "My Contraband"only offers suggestions about such a possibility, for example a relationship between the two races. As we see the story world through the first-person narrator¿s eyes, we get access to Miss Dane¿s perceptions and thoughts. Miss Dane is a nurse and in the short story has the task to look after a wounded captain. When she enters the captain¿s sickroom for the first time she gets to see not only her patient but also the contraband who has been housed in the adjoining room. The first description of her impressions of him is very straightforward. She tells the reader that she feels decidedly more interested in the black man than in the white.Being attracted to a 'black' person and admitting this as clearly as in this passage is most likely to meet strong opposition in the society Miss Dane lives in. Although the reader can clearly see that Miss Dane does not show signs of racial prejudice, she still accepts the distribution of roles that the American society dictates. When she asks a favour of him she wants to offer comfort as a friend but instead merely gives an order as a mistress,

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Sociology - Gender Studies, grade: 1,3, , language: English, abstract: This paper aims to offer an explanation for the fact that "homosexuality" as we would label it today, the sexual intercourse between two individuals of the male sex, was condoned ¿ at least in a polis such as Athens ¿ and even developed into some kind of social institution that carried adolescent boys over to manhood. The most difficult thing about conducting an analysis about the ancient Greek world it that is has been interpreted differently and in contradictory ways by different scholars. It is therefore easy to lose one¿s way as the evidence in the form of literary works and visual art (usually vases) is contradictory in itself and does not inform straightforward analysis. It will be argued that male-male sexual intercourse is a manifestation of Greek polis¿ societies¿ rigid division into a "domestic" sphere, in which the leading female figure seems to be the dominant figure and a ¿public¿ sphere that was almost exclusively reserved for males. In other words, male-male intercourse is the public domain¿s equivalent of male-female intercourse in the the domestic sphere. In a second step, the idea of male-male sexual acts as an in-between stage of boyhood and manhood will be reviewed. This idea has to be accepted as long as there is no strong scientific evidence that contradicts the hypothesis. At least, some objects of visual art are likely to be proof of such a custom.Lastly, article by Lin Foxhall is analyzed and interpreted that although being less recent, offers an alternative to depicting women as generally inferior to their husband. Rather it suggests the opposite, at least with regard to the "domestic" sphere. This perspective is able to show that the two different spheres can offer an explanation of sexual activity between male and female individuals, that is husband and wife, in the "domestic"sphere, and two males in the "public" sphere.

Master's Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, University of Koblenz-Landau, language: English, abstract: This thesis examines the depiction of time and the settings in the two children's novels "The Chimneys of Green Knowe" by Lucy M. Boston and "Tom¿s Midnight Garden" by Philippa Pearce. A cognitive perspective of the two books is employed. The relationship between the real author and the readership is assumed to be dialogical; i.e. the meaning of a work is determined by both the author and the reader. Time structures the works follow are analyzed. A distinction is made between linear and mystical time and the consequences for the stories, for the protagonists and for the reader are emphasized. With reference to the socio-historical circumstances at the time the works were created, the significance of the mansions and their gardens as historical archives is analyzed. For the stories, these are an important place for oral transmission, without which it is difficult to make sense of the past. In the last part, the narrative structure of both works, namely the ¿story in the story¿, is used in order to be able to make statements about the textual strategies used, which can improve processing by the readership and achieve a higher level of reading motivation. Easier identification, sympathy, as well as pretend play are suggested as underlying strategies. The thesis closes with a change of perspective and takes a look at child readers' views.