The Honors Thesis in English

English majors can satisfy the Capstone requirement by writing an Honors Thesis. Most English theses are 60 pages or longer. Students work under the direction of a faculty advisor over two semesters (7 credits), usually the fall and spring of their senior year. The process culminates in a Thesis Defense meeting, at which the student discusses their work with their faculty committee.

Writing an Honors Thesis is an excellent option for students who are already interested in a specific author, text, or literary question that they wish to investigate more deeply. A thesis also works well for creative writers who would want to explore working in a longer form, such as a novel, novella, or poetry collection.

For more information about writing an Honors Thesis in English, contact your faculty advisor and check out this website: https://enrichment.tulane.edu/honors-thesis-0.

For examples of Honors Theses written by other English majors, see below!

2023

Abstract:

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as a result of the war of aggression launched by Russia, more than 8.1 million people have fled Ukraine, which makes it Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, and Slovakia are currently hosting the most refugees. The goal of this study is to analyze the response to and representations of Ukrainian refugees in these countries specifically and the reasoning behind it. Generally, Ukrainian refugees have received a very warm and generous welcome, from both the political leaders and ordinary citizens. However, it stands in stark contrast to the way the same countries reacted to refugees fleeing places like Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. The same countries that once refused to accept refugees, such as Poland and Hungary, are now happy to open their doors. The primary reasons for the differing attitudes are the perception of Ukraine as a fellow civilized Christian and European nation with strong cultural and historical ties to countries such as Poland, women and children making up the vast majority of refugees, a sense of solidarity arising from Ukraine’s neighbors vividly remembering life behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, and the pragmatic understanding of Ukrainian victory as a bulwark against Russian aggression towards other countries in its former sphere of influence. The point is not to downplay the horrific trauma and suffering of Ukraine but to examine the variety of cultural, political, economic, and geographic factors that affect how nations see humanitarian crises that supposedly are all equally deserving of empathy and aid in the name of our shared humanity.

Abstract:

This thesis is a creative project exploring the theme of the doppelganger or double. Written as a novella, it aims to reimagine the relationship between protagonist and doppelganger in a positive fashion. In doppelganger fiction, the doppelganger usually acts as a hostile figure toward the protagonist; it may plot the protagonist’s death, thwart their plans, or attempt to completely replace them. This thesis attempts to imagine the doppelganger as a figure of positive force with a potential for restoration rather than destruction. The project is born from an interest in doppelgangers as psychological shadows, representative of repressed thoughts, instincts, and impulses, as well as the possibility for positive thoughts or desires to be repressed rather than negative ones. The story traces the relationship between a man, David, and his doppelganger, Diego, seen through the eyes of a woman, Margaret, who becomes the mediator for their relationship. As Diego’s intent becomes clear, David grapples with reconciling Diego’s intentions and his own revulsion at the sight of his repressed emotions. This thesis places a spin on the doppelganger trope that succeeds and reimagines the history of doppelganger literature, reversing the usual trend of the doppelganger having hostile intentions for the protagonist. It provides a new way to view doppelgangers as a potential force for positive change, adding an unorthodox element to the canon of doppelganger literature.

Abstract:

This project seeks to exam the shift in Gwendolyn Brooks’ theorization of black girlhood across the 20th century. Via the tenacious and ever awe-stricken Annie in “Annie Allen” Brooks explores the liminality of the transition from girl to woman as a temporal and spatial realm tied fundamentally to images of possibility. Across the collection, she demonstrates an unwavering dedication to tradition, specifically in emulating ballad, sonnet, and epic forms. However, less than 20 years later, Brooks publishes In the Mecca, which meditates on the same thematic evolution, but frames the process as rooted in limitation. Additionally, she abandons formulaic restriction and toys with convention, writing almost entirely in freeform. This stark contrast comes at the hands of a personal political epiphany at the Second Black Writers Conference at Fisk University in 1967. Though Brooks once envisioned the innocence of girlhood as conceivable, she later positions it as unachievable, alluding to the oppressive impediment of hegemonic factors such as white supremacy and patriarchy. Brook’s rejection of orthodox modes of writing—established and proliferated by a predominantly white base of writers and literary scholars—acts in tandem with her developing revolutionary politic. Via comparative analysis and poetic structural evaluation using primary sourcing from Brooks’ work and secondary sourcing from literary critics, this paper will examine how sentiments and aesthetics of Brooks’ writing relate to notions of black liberation and radical through the destabilization of black girlhood.

Abstract:

This thesis uncovers the subversive portrayal of Beth March from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. The goal of this project is to illustrate the limitations of the saintly child trope and demonstrate Beth March’s complicated relationship with it at the time of publication and in subsequent adaptations and fan response. Chapter 1 of this project will explore the history and meaning of the trope and how to tell if a character you are reading about belongs to this special category. Chapters 2 and 3 explain how, although Beth may initially appear to align with this trope, in reality she represents a subversive and critical take on its limitations and harms. Chapter 4 will track how and why the incorrect assumption that Beth is a part of the saintly child trope has permeated throughout media in new film and book adaptations of Little Women, while the Epilogue explores how recent fans allow Beth to surpass and expose limitations of the trope via Tumblr, Archive of Our Own.com, and FanFiction.net. This thesis adds to Alcott studies because Beth March is discussed much more infrequently than other characters and when she is, she is relegated to the role of saintly child who must die without proper evidence that she is such a character. Additionally, no other work within Alcott studies has analyzed Beth’s subversive potential. This is an important step in Alcott studies because Little Women continues to be a part of classrooms and popular media, so if Beth’s subversion continues to be overlooked, this story can be harmful to women and people with mental or chronic illness due to the sentimentalized portrayal of characters like them.

Abstract:

This thesis examines how the gender politics of the Young Adult genre diminishes its literary value. It interrogates the correlation between a genre compromised almost entirely of women and the subsequent devaluation of that genre. To accomplish this, the thesis examines the literary canon, what differentiates and excludes young adult literature from the literary canon, what constitutes literary merit, the justifications for the exclusion of young adult literature from possessing literary merit, and how sexism and gender politics plays a crucial role. It will also compare modern novels categorized as young adult with novels in the literary canon to draw similarities and question why one is included while the other is looked down upon. Finally, it will make the case that young adult literature does possess literary merit: it contains expert social commentary, social politics, and succeeds in transcribing current problems and huge questions about identity, youth, power, and love into entertaining works for young people. Young adult literature helps form the minds and opinions of the next generation.

2022

Abstract:

This thesis is a creative project analyzing the changing relationship between a grandmother and a granddaughter. It begins with Anna’s, the granddaughter, birth and continues until her early 20s. It focuses on the gender dynamics of caregiving, emphasized by the grandmother’s development of Alzheimer’s. It asks, “Who cares for the caretaker?” It also incorporates the theme of moral obligation through the lens of Catholicism. It is written as a series of letters between the two of them, but it is to be understood that these are journal entries, and therefore never to be read by the other party. I draw inspiration from Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead and Rick Moody’s Purple America.

Abstract:

Domesticating Wildlife is a collection of stories set in New Orleans. The characters are caught trying to make sense of destruction and abandonment using old and retold frameworks of Catholicism, the animal kingdom, and any other such stories that might allow different ways to imagine their lives. Many of the stories were influenced by large and small recent stories in the news and city politics: the Hard Rock collapse, the crumbling Plaza Towers, Hurricane Ida, COVID, a wounded bald eagle found in Chalmette. Recapturing these events in fictional stories allowed for a closer examination of the ways lives are affected beyond the surface of ‘the news’. Retelling them in this way forces us to remember where we were and what we were doing during the circumstance, not just the circumstance itself. The stories contest regular modes of ‘learning’, and ask what does it mean to make art? What does school really teach you? How many different truths can be told? Where can you find spirituality, when all traces of it are seemingly absent?

Abstract:

Over the three centuries of New Orleans’s history, many have understood its recurring public-health disasters most notably from cholera, yellow fever, and HIV in a naïve, moralistic way as a sign of its intrinsically wicked population and as divine retribution for the city’s immoral culture. If we consider this history through Susan Sontag’s books, Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors, and through sophisticated literary and cinematic representations of the plague-ridden city, we can see that this explanation of the city’s health challenges is driven by the attempt to create meaning from disease to grapple with the mysterious, fear-inducing nature of death. Sontag concludes that metaphors which attribute disease to the moral failings of the afflicted are destructive, stigmatizing those who suffer from disease. The truth about illness is that it has no greater meaning at all. The real source of New Orleans’s public health challenges is the overwhelming presence of water, an accident of geography. After giving an overview of New Orleans history with disease and Sontag’s insights on metaphor, the thesis analyzes seven novels and two films that take place in New Orleans and incorporate disease, assessing how equating disease with meaning impacts the reputation of New Orleans. These novels includes Alice Dunbar-Nelson’s The Goodness of St. Roch, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, Josh Russell’s Yellow Jack, and Valerie Martin’s A Recent Martyr and Property. The thesis analyzes Elia Kazan’s film, Panic in the Streets, and Neil Jordan’s cinematic interpretation of Interview with the Vampire.

Abstract:

My research aims to explore the ways in which acts of sexual terror, which were often used by white supremacists as a calculated method of psychological terror against newly freed black communities, became formalized and enshrined into rape laws. The iconography of the lynched black male body has been considered one of the most enduring symbols of racial oppression in the South, and yet, the discussions of the institutionalized rape of black women were rarely in periodical studies of racial maltreatment. Even during this period, Black women were hardly ever silent about their mistreatment and frequently wrote about their sexual mistreatment in novels, narratives, newspaper interviews, periodicals, etc. Black women faced a multitude of sexual aggressors, which included black men, and this meant that black women’s assaults were often mislabeled as a non-racial issue. Although black women may have not faced a racially salient perpetrator, their victimization was fueled by their dual status as both black and female. To devalue black womanhood, white supremacists attacked their chastity, femininity, and physiognomy, and launched comprehensive social propaganda campaigns to label black women as ‘rape-able’. The goal of my research is to demonstrate the connection between the literary musings of early black women writers in response to the rape culture in the South, and in constructing the modern concept of black feminism and womanhood.

Abstract:

This thesis interrogates the linear model of time and its ramifications in relationships, experiences and society. In order to adequately challenge the linear model of time, I use creative writing to imagine a world where time functions in a more fluid way, and the ways in which time moves fluidly in ways we are not used to seeing. In four short stories, all exploring the subjectivity of time, I hope to foster an acknowledgment of the way the objective model of time is inaccurate to lived experiences. The thesis begins with a forward including theoretical explanations for this idea of time as well as literary inspiration for these stories. The first story “My Friend, The Feeling.” explores how connection to a person can be realized through a shared experience of time. The second, “Acela” explores the relationship between time and psychical space and the ways in which drug use alters the experience of time. The third story, “Mud House Loop” addresses the cyclical nature of time and how memory, relationships and time are interconnected elements of personal experiences. The fourth story “Kids, Anymore” uses a format that splits between chronological storytelling and the same story alphabetized by sentence. The story is about adolescence and having friendships end because of growing up at different speeds. I hope that these stories serve to expand the common understanding of time and reinforce the importance of challenging the singular linear model of time.

Abstract:

This thesis examines Bruce Springsteen’s queer fandom, analyzing the ways in which Springsteen writes about and performs queerness while simultaneously unpacking why (and how) fans respond to these expressions. The thesis places LGBTQ+ Springsteen fanzines in conversation with Springsteen’s lyrics, image, and live performances, analyzing why queer listeners are so drawn to his particular brand of masculinity. The work is borne out of a desire to push back against the mainstream view of Springsteen’s gender performance as all-American patriarchy, arguing that Springsteen’s masculinity is so constructed and so overt that it borders on butchness. Chapter 1 focuses on queer characters, queer desire, and queer emotions in Springsteen’s narrative oeuvre and Chapter 2 breaks down Springsteen’s performance of queered masculinity both onstage and offstage. While Chapter 3 is explicitly centered on queer fan narratives and the ways in which LGBTQ+ listeners reckon with Springsteen, quotes and images from queer fanzines are utilized throughout the thesis. Ultimately, by understanding a star’s persona as a construction, fans can read their own hopes and desires into their icons, creating a fan-made Springsteen who is simultaneously a lesbian, a queer man, a sage, and an outcast. The thesis adds to the body of Springsteen scholarship by spotlighting marginalized voices and incorporating novel primary sources in the form of queer fanzines, prompting further inquiry into how people listen to and relate to pop-cultural figures.

2022

Abstract:

This thesis examines the conceptualization of diaspora developed throughout Cathy Park Hong’s book of poetry Dance Dance Revolution. Hong’s model dubbed an â diaspora of convergence rethinks and reversed the common imagery associated with diaspora, which depicts migrating peoples as scattering seeds. Through diasporic convergence, Hong turns her readers’ attention instead to the culmination of historical events, languages, and cultures which make up diasporic subjectivities. Chapter One posits that Hong centers the importance of coalition in diaspora and thus critiques masculinist scattering-based narratives. She presents diasporic convergence through feminist coalition as a method of unity but not an imperative to resist the state’s oppressive expectations of normativity. Chapter Two examines convergences in the form of hybridization and creolization which, while often conceived of as inherently liberatory forces, are presented throughout Dance Dance Revolution as commodities and instruments of self-preservation. Hong thus points to the fact that diasporic convergence is not always conducive to creativity and resistance. Chapter Three argues that Hong develops setting as an allegory for globalization, and, in doing so, also traces the converging processes by which globalization harnesses and reinforces national divisions to oppress laborers and benefit the wealthy. She thus critiques both the conditions and common metaphors of globalization through attention to processes of mixing which are central to diasporic convergence. This thesis ultimately argues that Dance Dance Revolution promotes an understanding of diaspora which is more nuanced than common depictions of diasporic subjects as both scattered and inherently revolutionary.

Abstract:

This paper investigates characterizations of exile in literature, tracing changes in meaning over time and examining the categorical constraints of involuntary and voluntary exile. Edward Said has provided an influential portrait of the exile which excludes important exilic writers and their experiences, and which discounts the literature of exile in general as not representative of the exilic experience of those subjected to involuntary immigration on a mass—as opposed to individual—scale. Said insists on exile as an exclusively sorrowful, political, and unhealable tragedy, a reaction against Modernism, its myth of exile, and the literature of exile. A less exclusive and more full appreciation of the exilic experience is suggested by revisiting the case of James Joyce, whose exile was, technically, involuntary, and following the critical writing of Mary McCarthy and others, to argue that when we categorize types of exiled writers, such as the “expatriate” or “refugee” writer, those categories are dependent on the respect we pay to choice. “Exile” is a dignified title precisely because it implies that the person in question had a hand in their own banishment, either by leaving of their own volition, or by using their voice to oppose oppressive constraints in their country of origin—with the punishment of exile being the result. A reaffirmation of the importance of the literature of exile and a reclamation of the Modernist myth of exile as a redemptive privilege for the writer is proposed with reference to Joseph Brodsky’s depiction of the realities of writers in exile from the Soviet bloc countries. The view that literary exile can be a positive force for liberation is set forth to balance Said’s argument that exile is an exclusively involuntary and sorrowful political punishment, evolved from classical practices of banishment and adapted to a more highly populated contemporary world where policies of dehumanization produce mass migrations of refugees. By recalling the now often-excluded lineage of Modernist-inspired voluntary exile, a more holistic appreciation of the causes and effects of one of the oldest continual relationships between writer and nation is suggested.

Abstract:

The following is a collection of personal essays that outline some of my life’s scenes for the past year or so, beginning around February 2020, mostly set in New Orleans.

2020

Abstract:

Under The Gum Elemi And Other Essays is a collection of non-fiction work that paints a holistic, ever-evolving picture of my life being born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. These essays serve to inform my readers about The Bahamas as it relates to politics, discrimination, and different forms of abuse, while simultaneously generating a portrayal of myself, my family, and my upbringing. Although my thesis mainly teaches readers about The Bahamas, it has developed in such a way that a taste of New Orleans is additionally sprinkled throughout. The list of novels that I read for this independent study, cited in my bibliography, have each helped to shape my essays in various ways: developing conversational tone, building a sense of closeness with my characters, and learning how to take a step back from my work in order to analyze my experiences with a subjective eye. As my thesis draws to a close, I make a shift from reflecting on my life to instead, grappling with the task of describing it as it takes place— while I am still in the midst of it all. Under The Gum Elemi And Other Essays takes readers on an informative journey through my life in Nassau, Bahamas and how it has been further shaped by my experiences in the United States of America.

Abstract:

The Wise and Witty Women of Shakespeare’s and Austen’s Comedies is an analysis of feminine wit and wisdom as it appears in some of the most significant romantic comedies of the literary canon: Much Ado About Nothing, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice. The first chapter focuses on a Shakespearian character, Much Ado’s Beatrice, exploring the creative potential of feminine wit and wisdom as a metaphor for the transformative nature of comedy. The second and third chapters analyze the ways that Jane Austen works with Shakespeare’s ideas. Austen depicts heroines who are wise but not witty (Elinor Dashwood) or vice versa (Emma Woodhouse and Elizabeth Bennet). All of these characters and the problems they represent help us better understand the comedic genre as a means of providing social, political, moral, and religious commentary within its cultural context.

Abstract:

This thesis evaluates Albert Camus’s The Stranger, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through Slaughter on the basis of rebellion, as conceptualized in Camus’s own The Rebel. Chapter 1 focuses on The Stranger’s protagonist, Meursault, whose absurdist perspective of indifference to societal ideology represents a rebellion against the manipulation of meaning. In Chapter 2, Invisible Man is presented as having a reader-centered, pedagogical purpose implicit within the exhibition of the narrator’s journey towards awareness, that is meant to inspire both individuality and rebellion in its readers. Chapter 3 evaluates the notion of Ondaatje himself being the central rebel figure of his novel, which works to break barriers between author, reader, and characters. These three novels, then, when observed within a dialogue of Camus’s philosophy of rebellion, not only represent the different forms that rebellion may assume, but also illuminate the novel as a tool for invoking rebellion through the inspiration of individual thought and singular artistic vision in their readers.

Abstract:

This thesis is a creative project that examines facets of literary fiction and historical fiction. The story is character driven as compared to plot driven. The story was inspired by plays written by Sophocles in ancient Greece, in particular Oedipus Rex. By considering the characters’ relationships with one another and the world around them, the storyline weaves in questions of human nature, self-awareness, family, sympathy, and empathy.

Abstract:

In this thesis, I argue that the eponymous character of William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus exhibits behavior consistent with Autism Spectrum Disorder. First, I reason that Coriolanus’s unchanging demeanor and rigid adherence to his own behavioral rituals is directly pathologized by the DSM-V criteria for autism. I then discuss Coriolanus’s conduct using the concept of Aspie supremacy, which posits that “high-functioning,” white, male savants whose autism is often viewed as arrogance or rudeness (ex. Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory) have become the dominant and preferred stereotype of autism in modern culture. I contend that Coriolanus’s character fits this description neatly, using this stereotype to explore issues of social power and communicative privilege in both Shakespeare’s Rome and modern society. Finally, I argue that Judith Butler’s concept of “performing,” and its implied adaption of a social role, illuminates expectations of behavior in Shakespeare’s Rome, especially in the political realm. I determine that Coriolanus refuses to perform the role that he is expected to play in his theatrical society, alienated by his fellow Romans due to his insistence on performing as his autistic self. I conclude my thesis by considering the potential consequences of actors performing Coriolanus as autistic, taking into account the use of theatrical exercises to encourage autistic children to practice and adapt “neurotypical” social skills.

Abstract:

This thesis interrogates the stasis of the contemporary Christmas canon, thereby questioning what we require of songs in the canon, how each song fulfills these requirements, and what these requirements say about the American interpretation of Christmas. The Introduction situates the reader in the discussion of popular music, as Christmas music lies within the popular media realm, while explaining the methodology and thought process at place. Chapter One contextualizes the holiday genre through providing background on America’s celebration of the season. Chapter Two through Chapter Six provide historical, compositional/musical, and textual analyses of each consistently charting Christmas song, while Chapter Seven serves to interweave the commonalities and aspects responsible for the canon’s makeup, answering the aforementioned questions. This thesis serves to augment the current literature on Christmas music, of which there is very little, while supplying a holistic system of analysis, grounded in both composition and English studies.

Abstract:

This thesis aims to examine the impacts war and political tensions across 20th century Europe had on Woolf’s life and writings. Specifically, this thesis considers World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and the rise of World War II, alongside ideas of nationalism, fascism, and Nazism. Woolf’s writings reveal notions of war and nation to be an issue relating to masculinity. Woolf believed the catastrophes of the First World War destroyed the illusions of traditional Western society, releasing women from their role as “looking-glasses… reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size” (A Room of One’s Own 30). As the Great War led Englishmen and women to believe their great civilization was on the verge of ruins, artists such as Woolf portrayed the flaws of their gender-rigid society that ultimately threw citizens into a horrific war. Thus, Woolf advocates for positive change in the form of peace and equality through the introduction of feminine voices and perspectives. Nationalism grew in Europe, reflected in the Spanish Civil War, which took the life of Woolf’s nephew, while fascism and Nazism rose within the continent. These events hit Woolf personally, generating an anxiety of impending doom for the already mentally shaken author. Finally, in 1941 as Hitler’s powers continued to grow and the world faced another total war, Woolf took her own life. As Woolf’s life, death, and legacy were engulfed in the horrors and anxieties of the 20th century, her writings embody the same. This paper will include journal entries and essays by Woolf, as well as longer works such as Jacob’s Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, A Room of One’s Own, Three Guineas, and Between the Acts, that portray these events and ideals as problems deeply rooted in Western gender dynamics.

Stuck in between New York and Philadelphia. Shrouded in pollution. Reputed for sleaze. The state of New Jersey has long suffered as the butt of geographic as inhabitants of nearly every other state exercise regional superiority, and the domain of literature is no exception. But the mockery and inattention to New Jersey’s literature are no mere annoyance; they detract from a comprehensive study of American literature. Within the coastal Atlantic shores to the east and rural farmlands to the west lies a cultural bevy of literary importance. Authors and artists, united by a geographic influence, join in conversation to create a tradition, specific to the state of New Jersey. In this thesis, I analyze the works of Philip Roth, Bruce Springsteen, and Junot Diaz in order to identify a modern literary tradition in New Jersey and highlight the validity and stylistic characteristics of writing from this state. Throughout, I weave a larger narrative about the ills of industrialization, the existential dread inherent to suburbia, and segregation in communities divided along racial, ethnic, and linguistic lines. At times tragic, it is a rich and vibrant story of the working-class immigrant and her descendants, navigating the promises and pitfalls of the “American dream.” Guided by the lighthouse beacons of Barnegat Bay, its protagonists yearn for something that lies just beyond the roaring coasts of the Jersey Shore.

2019

Abstract:

This thesis seeks to understand Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure with a perspective from the Me Too Movement. It will determine the objectivity of assault in the play, despite the subjective frames that nearly deny these views. First, it will examine the ways in which today’s moment can be rightfully applied to Shakespeare through the lens of presentism. Then, it will consider the historical and contemporary events that bring about the Me Too Movement. Additionally, this thesis hopes to provide academic discourse concerning the Me Too Movement. Finally, it will critically interpret Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure on the understanding of Me Too provided in the previous chapter. In doing so, this thesis will establish the lack of order inherent in sexual violence that makes the proceeding justice so hard to exact.

Abstract:

This thesis focuses on the events which happened in Russia between 1915 and 1920, and the ways in which they have influenced the artistic and literary life in the country. The primary focus is five individuals: three poets (Marina Tsvetaeva, Anna Akhmatova, Vladimir Mayakovsky) and two artists (Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky). I am exploring the manner in which the October Revolution (1917) and the Civil War (1917-1922) influenced these people’s works. The initial inspiration behind the thesis is the overwhelming tendency in the academic circles to attribute great significance to the social and historical context of any creation in art and literature. As this work shows, it is not always the events, but the emotions and philosophies the artists experience and promote that influence their creations. This thesis explores the lives and works of five individuals with different political and social allegiances, presenting their distinct views on the Russian Revolution and World War I. I also meant to present the complexities behind the political changes in Russia, trying not to oversimplify the significance and repercussions of the October Revolution, as well as to dismantle certain stereotypes and assumptions still present in academia when approaching the subject.

Abstract:

This thesis examines the publication history of slave narratives throughout the antebellum period, specifically the years 1830-1859. The introduction will introduce the reader to two analyses of specific narratives’ publication histories and outline the methodology for how narratives would be analyzed in this thesis. The first chapter presents the narratives of the 1830s and analyzes the beginning of their publication not only as a narrative, but as an emerging genre. The second chapter presents narratives of the 1840s with highly impactful publication histories and discusses the motivations and implications of publishers choosing to publish one or more slave narratives. The third and final chapter investigates the concept of publishing narratives for profit, as well as the significance of publishers reprinting already-published narratives through the 1850s. The thesis concludes by stating that the slave narrative became a business venture for publishers, and, similar to slavery itself, became a way for white men to profit off of black people in the United States. The research conducted serves to present a unique history of the publication of nearly the entire slave narrative genre and to demonstrate that the slave narrative became fuel for a growing capitalist publishing industry in the United States.

2018

2017

2016