At the Limits of Presentation : Coming-into-Presence and its Aesthetic Relevance in Jean-Luc Nancy's Philosophy

This study investigates the significance of art in Jean-Luc Nancy s philosophy. I argue that the notion of art contributes to some of Nancy s central ontological ideas. Therefore, I consider art s importance in its own right whether art does have ontological significance, and if so, how one should describe this with respect to the theme of presentation. According to my central argument, with his thinking on art Nancy attempts to give one viewpoint to what is called the metaphysics of presence and to its deconstruction. On which grounds, as I propose, may one say that art is not reducible to philosophy? The thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part, Presentation as a Philosophical Theme, is a historical genesis of the central concepts associated with the birth of presentation in Nancy s philosophy. I examine this from the viewpoint of the differentiation between the ontological notions of presentation and representation by concentrating on the influence of Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida, as well as of Hegel and Kant. I give an overview of the way in which being or sense for Nancy is to be described as a coming-into-presence or presentation . Therefore, being takes place in its singular plurality. I argue that Nancy redevelops Heidegger s account of being in two principal ways: first, in rethinking the ontico-ontological difference, and secondly, by striving to radicalize the Heideggerian concept of Mitsein, being-with . I equally wish to show the importance of Derrida s notion of différance and its inherence in Nancy s questioning of being that rests on the unfoundedness of existence. The second part, From Ontology to Art, draws on the importance of art and the aesthetic. If, in Nancy, the question of art touches upon its own limit as the limit of nothingness, how is art able to open its own strangeness and our exposure to this strangeness? My aim is to investigate how Nancy s thinking on art finds its place within the conceptual realm of its inherent difference and interval. My central concern is the thought of originary ungroundedness and the plurality of art and of the arts. As for the question of the difference between art and philosophy, I wish to show that what differentiates art from thought is the fact that art exposes what is obvious but not apparent, if apparent is understood in the sense of givenness. As for art s ability to deconstruct Nancy s ontological notions, I suggest that in question in art is its original heterogeneity and diversity. Art is a matter of differing art occurs singularly, as a local difference. With this in mind, I point out that in reflecting on art in terms of spacing and interval, as a thinker of difference Nancy comes closer to Derrida and his idea of différance than to the structure of Heidegger s ontological difference.

Les fleuves dans l'œuvre romanesque de Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio

Relying on Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception and on Mircea Eliade's works on the Sacred and the Profane, this study explores the river as a perceptual space and as the sacred Center in a cosmic vision of the world in twelve of Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio's fictional works, from The Interrogation (1963) to Revolutions (2003). In the first chapter, after introducing the field of study, I discuss the relation between the radical subjectivity and the evasiveness of perceiving subjects in Le Clézio's fiction. Next are some thoughts on the relation between Merleau-Ponty's and Le Clézio's ideas. The second chapter studies the river as an experience in the text, first as a topographical space, then as a sound world. The investigations move on to its water as a visual and a tactile phenomenon. Then follows the human use of the river, the (absence of) baths, and the river as a traveling space. The chapter closes with the study of the metaphorical use of the word, occurring mainly in urban space and for phenomena in the sky. The third chapter is organized around the river as the Center of the world in a religious cosmogony, where the river represents the origin of the world and of the human race. The core analysis shows how the middle of the river is a symbolic space of a new beginning. As a sacred space, the river abolishes time as the object of contemplation and as relative immobility from the point of view of a person drifting downstream. The functions of a new beginning and of abolition of time are combined in the symbolic immersions in the water. Finally, the dissertation explores other symbolical spaces, such as the unknown destination of the drift, and the river as the Center of a utopia. The chapter closes with the existential agony as a result of the elimination of the Center in the urban environment. In the final chapter, the river is compared to other watercourses : the creek, the brook and the rapids. The river is more of a spatial entity, whereas the actual water is more important in the smaller watercourses. The river is more common than the other watercourses as a topographical element in the landscape, whereas the minor watercourses invite the characters to a closer contact with their element, in immersions and in drinking their water. Finally, the work situates the rivers in a broader context of different fictional spaces in Le Clézio's text.

Jean Sibelius -viulukilpailun näkyvyys, argumentointi ja viihteellisyys valtakunnallisessa lehdistössä 1965 ja 2005

Kansainvälinen Jean Sibelius -viulukilpailu on järjestetty Suomessa kymmenen kertaa vuodesta 1965 lähtien, ja se on vakiinnuttanut asemansa musiikki-instituutiona niin Suomen kulttuurielämässä kuin valtakunnallisessa mediassa. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitetään kilpailun reseptiota, eli millaista näkyvyyttä Sibelius-viulukilpailu on saanut valtakunnallisissa viestintävälineissä vuosina 1965 ja 2005. Journalistisesta aineistosta poimitaan esiin niitä teemoja ja ilmaisun tapoja, jotka ovat korostuneet kilpailuun liittyvissä teksteissä. Tutkimuksessa pohditaan, onko toimittajien kirjoittamien tekstien argumentointi muuttunut neljänkymmenen vuoden aikana, ja kuinka internet sekä median viihteellistyminen ovat muuttaneet journalistista kilpailua eri viestinten kesken. Tutkimusongelmia lähestytään kvalitatiivisesti viestinnän oppiaineen tutkimusmenetelmiä hyödyntäen. Ensin sisällönanalyysin avulla hahmotetaan kokonaiskäsitys aineistosta, minkä jälkeen yksittäisiin teksteihin pureudutaan argumenttianalyysin keinoin. Tutkimusaineisto on rajattu valtakunnallisiin viestintävälineisiin, joita ovat suurimmat sanoma- ja aikakauslehdet, Yleisradion kilpailuaiheiset televisio- ja radio-ohjelmat sekä viulukilpailun internet-sivut. Sanomalehdissä julkaistu aineisto on laajuutensa ja monipuolisuutensa vuoksi tarkimpana analyysikohteena; muu tutkimusaineisto täydentää lehtitekstien perusteella tehtyjä havaintoja. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että Sibelius-viulukilpailu on ollut näkyvästi esillä valtakunnallisessa lehdistössä niin vuonna 1965 kuin 2005. Molempina vuosina kilpailun näkyvyys pohjautui hyvin vahvasti painettuun sanomalehteen. Lehdistöaineistosta erottuivat selvästi kansallisuuden, rodun ja sukupuolen käsittelyn näkökulmat, vaikka kielellinen ilmaisu onkin ajan mittaan neutraloitunut. Sisällönanalyyttinen tarkastelu ja argumenttianalyysit osoittavat, että toimittajien käyttämä argumentointi on muuttunut neljän vuosikymmenen aikana. Toimittajien työnkuva on monipuolistunut, ja viihteellisyys on vähitellen soluttautunut iltapäivälehdistä niin sanottuihin laatumedioihin . Internet on tehnyt kilpailun reaaliaikaisesta seuraamisesta entistä nopeampaa ja helpompaa.

"Kyl mä varmaan kohta ymmärrän." : Asunnon suunnittelu -opetusohjelma oppilaiden ajattelun ja oppimisen haastajana peruskoulun kotitalousopetuksessa

"I will soon understand." The House Planning Program as an Enhancer of Pupils´ Thinking Skills and Learning in Home Economics at Comprehensive School The aim of the research was to build a study program for home economics education in order to enhance pupils´ thinking skills. The program was based on the intervention programs or strategies known as Cognitive Acceleration (CA), which are founded on the theories of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Reuven Feuerstein. In addition, Carl Bereiter s theory of knowledge building was integrated to the research. The viewpoint of home economics was based on the multidimensional foundation of home economics science, particularly household technology and house planning. I first analyzed the kind of body of knowledge home economics science and home economics education provides for enhancing thinking skills in home economics. For the study, a CATE (Cognitive Acceleration through Technology Education) program was adapted and modified and a House Planning program was created for home economics classes. The house planning program consisted of five lessons during which pupils learned how to make functional floor plans as well as choose furniture, household appliances and materials for the home. In order to obtain the required data, various classroom experiments were arranged in 2005 with grade 9 pupils at a comprehensive school in Helsinki. All the experiments were videotaped, and five hours of the videotaped material was edited and transcribed for closer examination. The material consisted of all the video-recorded activity of the selected study group. Interaction study and content analysis were used to analyze the data. Following the experiments, a small survey was conducted to solicit pupils´ and teacher´s opinions of the program. The analysis sheds light on the nature of pupils´ interaction and knowledge building in small group activity. Special attention was given to tracking pupils´ interaction during the socalled construction zone activity. The models and qualities of teacher´s aid and support during the lessons were examined as well. The results revealed the versatility of the pupils social interaction and common knowledge building that occurred during the small group activity. The pupils discussions, including their arguments, their sharing of ideas, and the multiple perspectives that emerged reflected home economics knowledge building. The construction zone activity appeared through expressions of cognitive conflict and metacognition. Cognitive conflict was evident in the pupils´ words and involved questioning, doubting and disputing. The metacognitive activity emerged by thinking aloud, choosing the strategies, and negotiating the results. The pupils also coordinated their activity, allocated the responsibility, and systematized their work. The teacher assisted by preparing new themes for the pupils and by participating in the small group work. The teacher´s help during the small group sessions strengthened the pupils activity in the construction zone. The results showed that one can utilize the wide multidisciplinary basis of home economics, which includes scientific knowledge but also the knowledge derived from practical activity and experience. In this study practical activity was undertaken as a planning project the result of which was a plan or a new vision for the house planning situation. The study showed that the House Planning program was able to enhance the pupils´ social interaction and collaboration. The learning environment challenged the pupils in a way that could be a gateway to further developing their thinking skills. The method of analysis created in the study could be a potential tool for examining social interaction, construction zone activity, and knowledge building in other learning environments as well. Key words: home economics, house planning, classroom experiment, thinking skills,cognitive conflict, metacognition, social interaction, knowledge building