Spanish

Following the end of Fulgencio Batista’s regime and with the triumph of the
Revolution in January 1959, the new government joined efforts to give voice to
previously marginalized members of society. Examples of such marginalized groups
included peasants, afro-Cubans, and other low-class citizens. But homosexuals did not
fall under this social reform and were initially stigmatized with a conservative discourse.
Reinaldo Arenas explores this issue in his autobiography Before Night Falls (1992). The
text tells his story as a young man that was initially enthusiastic about the Cuban
Revolution, but who later grew resentful towards an oppressive political system that led
to his persecution, his incarceration, and finally in 1980 his exile. This research study
explores Arenas’ queer approach for an alternative interpretation of Cuban society that
challenges the Revolution’s homophobic political discourse during its first couple of
decades.

This thesis examines the role of food as a social critique in the picaresque genre of Spanish literature. The picaresque novel of 16th and 17th century Spain revolves around the pseudo-autobiographical narrative of a rogue hero who survives life by any means possible, including thievery and deception. The genre demonstrates that only the upper classes of society were enjoying the fruits of Golden Age Spain. In particular, Lazarillo de Tormes and El buscón are the novels used in this analysis to reveal that food, especially the lack thereof, is used satirically in picaresque novels to draw attention to the starvation and suffering of Spanish commoners.

L1-type cell adhesion molecule (L1-CAM) is a synaptic membrane protein that is associated with L1 syndrome, which exhibits spasticity, intellectual disability and hydrocephalus Neuroglian (Nrg) is the invertebrate homologue of L1-CAM in Drosophila melanogaster. In vitro studies have shown L1-CAM is proteolytically cleaved and the intracellular domain (ICD) translocates to the nucleus. There it is involved in the upregulation of genes that are involved in DNA damage response, cell cycle progression, apoptosis and cellular differentiation. In some forms of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) proteolytic cleavage of L1-CAM are enhanced. We studied the effects of expression of NrgICD in vivo. Our results indicate that ubiquitous expression of NrgICD like its vertebrate homologue resulted in upregulation of NBS1 and c-myc in Drosophila. We found that the ubiquitous expression of NrgICD resulted in reduced viability in various models of oxidative stress. This suggests that enhanced proteolytic cleavage of Nrg/L1-CAM contributes to the pathology of AD. Our results may provide new insights into the cellular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases.

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

This item is part of the Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM) digital collection, a collaborative initiative between Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM).

This thesis investigates the case of the legendary Mirabal sisters, or the so called “Mariposas” [the “Butterflies”]: three young Dominican women who sacrificed their lives to end the tyranny of General Rafael L. Trujillo. The purpose of this thesis is to compare the portrayal of the Mirabal sisters in two different books, In the Time of the Butterflies (1994) by Dominican-American writer Julia Álvarez and Vivas en su jardín [Alive in their Garden] (2009) by Dedé Mirabal, the only sister to survive. Mirabal implements an important biographical component in her testimony while Álvarez utilizes the genre of historical fiction to describe the events leading to the sisters’ assassination in 1960. This thesis explores the concepts of “truth” and “fiction” in Mirabal’s memoir and Álvarez’s historical novel, arguing that the range of objectivity and subjectivity in these two genres are interchangeable in the representation of this tragic episode in the history of the Dominican Republic.