Questions to Artificial Nature: A Philosophical Study of Interdisciplinary Models and their Functions in Scientific Practice

This thesis presents an interdisciplinary analysis of how models and simulations function in the production of scientific knowledge. The work is informed by three scholarly traditions: studies on models and simulations in philosophy of science, so-called micro-sociological laboratory studies within science and technology studies, and cultural-historical activity theory. Methodologically, I adopt a naturalist epistemology and combine philosophical analysis with a qualitative, empirical case study of infectious-disease modelling. This study has a dual perspective throughout the analysis: it specifies the modelling practices and examines the models as objects of research. The research questions addressed in this study are: 1) How are models constructed and what functions do they have in the production of scientific knowledge? 2) What is interdisciplinarity in model construction? 3) How do models become a general research tool and why is this process problematic? The core argument is that the mediating models as investigative instruments (cf. Morgan and Morrison 1999) take questions as a starting point, and hence their construction is intentionally guided. This argument applies the interrogative model of inquiry (e.g., Sintonen 2005; Hintikka 1981), which conceives of all knowledge acquisition as process of seeking answers to questions. The first question addresses simulation models as Artificial Nature, which is manipulated in order to answer questions that initiated the model building. This account develops further the "epistemology of simulation" (cf. Winsberg 2003) by showing the interrelatedness of researchers and their objects in the process of modelling. The second question clarifies why interdisciplinary research collaboration is demanding and difficult to maintain. The nature of the impediments to disciplinary interaction are examined by introducing the idea of object-oriented interdisciplinarity, which provides an analytical framework to study the changes in the degree of interdisciplinarity, the tools and research practices developed to support the collaboration, and the mode of collaboration in relation to the historically mutable object of research. As my interest is in the models as interdisciplinary objects, the third research problem seeks to answer my question of how we might characterise these objects, what is typical for them, and what kind of changes happen in the process of modelling. Here I examine the tension between specified, question-oriented models and more general models, and suggest that the specified models form a group of their own. I call these Tailor-made models, in opposition to the process of building a simulation platform that aims at generalisability and utility for health-policy. This tension also underlines the challenge of applying research results (or methods and tools) to discuss and solve problems in decision-making processes.

Groteski suomalaisessa kirjallisuudessa : Neljä tapaustutkimusta

The grotesque in Finnish literature. Four case studies The topic of the dissertation is the grotesque in Finnish literature. The dissertation is twofold. Firstly, it focuses on the genre tradition of the grotesque, especially its other main branch, which has been named, following in Bakhtin s footsteps, subjective ( chamber ) grotesque, to be distinguished from carnivalistic ( public square ) grotesque. Secondly, the dissertation analyses and interprets four fictional literary works within the context of the grotesque genre, constructed on the basis of previous research and literature. These works are the novel Rakastunut rampa (1922) by Joel Lehtonen, the novel Prins Efflam (1953, transl. into Finnish as Kalastajakylän prinssi) by Sally Salminen, the short story Orjien kasvattaja (1965) by Juhani Peltonen, and the novel Veljeni Sebastian (1985) by Annika Idström. What connects these stirring novels, representing early or full modernism, is the supposition that they belong to the tradition of the subjective grotesque, not only due to occasional details, but also in a more comprehensive manner. The premises are that genre is a significant part of the work and that reading a novel in the context of the genre tradition adds something essential to the interpretation of individual texts and reveals meanings that might otherwise go unnoticed. The main characteristic of the grotesque is breaking the norm. This is accomplished through different means: degradation, distortion, inversion, combination, exaggeration and multiplication. The most significant strategy for breaking the norm is incongruence: the grotesque combines conflicting or mutually exclusive categories and elements on different levels. Simultaneously, the grotesque unravels categorisations and questions our way of perceiving the world. The grotesque not only poses a threat to one s identity, but can also pose a threat to the cognitive process. An analysis of the fictional works is presented as case studies of each chosen work as a whole. The analysis is based on the method of close reading, which draws on both classical and postclassical narratology, and the analysis and interpretation are expanded within the genre tradition of the grotesque. The grotesque is also analysed in terms of its relationship to the neighbouring categories and genre traditions, such as the tragic, the sublime, the horror story and the coming-of-age story. This dissertation shows how the grotesque is constructed repeatedly on deviations from the norm as well as on incongruence, also in the works analysed, and how it stratifies in these novels on and between different levels, such as the story, text, narration, composition and the world of the novels. In all the works analysed, the grotesque reduces and subverts. Again and again it reveals different sides of humanity stripped of idealisation and glorification. The dissertation reveals that Finnish literature is not a solitary island, even regarding the grotesque, for it continues and offers variations of the common tradition of grotesque literature, and likewise draws on grotesque visual arts. This dissertation is the first monograph in Finnish literature research focusing on the subjective grotesque.

Varities of National Metonymy in Media Accounts of International Mergers and Acquisitions

International mergers and acquisitions (M&As) often invoke national identification and national cultural differences. We argue that metonymy is a central linguistic resource through which national cultural identities and differences are reproduced in media accounts of international M&As. In this paper, we focus on two revealing cases: the acquisition of American IBM Personal Computer Division (PCD) by the Chinese company Lenovo and the acquisition of American Anheuser-Busch (A-B) by the Belgian-Brazilian company InBev. First, we identify the forms, functions and frequencies of national metonymy in media accounts of these cases. We present a typology that classifies varieties of national metonymy in international M&As. Second, we demonstrate how these metonyms combine with metaphor to generate evocative imagery, engaging wit, and subversive irony. Our findings show that national metonymy contributes to the construction of emotive frames, stereotypes, ideological differences, and threats. Combinations of national metonymy with metaphor also provide powerful means to construct cultural differences. However, combinations of metonymy with wit and irony enable the play on meanings that overturns and resists national and cultural stereotypes. This is the first study to unpack the deployment of metonymy in accounts of international M&As. In doing so, it also opens up new avenues for research into international management and the analysis of tropes in management and organization.

Only Connect?: Aspects of Intertextuality in Zadie Smith's On Beauty

Tutkielma käsittelee intertekstuaalisuuden eri muotoja Zadie Smithin romaanissa On Beauty (suom. Kauneudesta). Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on osoittaa kuinka oleellisesti intertekstuaalisuuden teoria on vaikuttanut kirjallisuustieteen metodeihin ja postmoderniin kirjallisuuskäsitykseen, sekä käsitellä sen soveltuvuutta nykykirjallisuuden tutkimiseen analysoimalla teorian sisäistä monimuotoisuutta ja ristiriitoja. Tutkimusmateriaalina käytetään Smithin romaanin lisäksi E. M. Forsterin romaania Howards End (suom. Talo jalavan varjossa), johon On Beauty tietoisesti viittaa. Teoreettisena viitekehyksenä tutkielmassa toimii Gérard Genetten teoksessa Palimpsests sekä Roland Barthesin esseessä Tekijän kuolema esille tuodut kirjallisuusteoreettiset käsitykset. Valittu metodologia antaa mahdollisuuden hahmottaa intertekstuaalisuus kahdella eri tavalla: Genetten strukturalistinen lähestymistapa soveltuu teosten välisten viittaussuhteiden tutkimiseen, kun taas Barthesin jälkistrukturalistinen diskurssi auttaa ymmärtämään tekstienvälisyyden osana merkityksen jatkuvaa epävakautta. Tutkielman ensimmäinen osio keskittyy analysoimaan lähiluvun keinoin romaanien On Beauty ja Howards End välistä strukturalistista suhdetta vertailemalla teosten eroja ja yhtäläisyyksiä Genetten intertekstuaalisuusteorian valossa. Vertailussa kiinnetetään erityisesti huomiota teosten juoneen, rakenteeseen, aikaan ja paikkaan, sekä uudelleenkirjoitusten yleiseen tendenssiin päivittää alkuperäistä tarinaa kohdeyleisölle paremmin sopivaksi. Toisessa osiossa tutkimusta esille nousee jälkistrukturalistinen näkemys intertekstuaalisuudesta osana lukijan tuottaman merkityksen tulkinnanvaraisuutta. Osiossa käsitellään Rembrandtin taideteosten roolia Smithin romaanissa ja analysoidaan hahmojen tulkintoja sekä suhtautumista Rembrandtin tuotantoon Barthesin teoreettisten käsitteiden kautta. Keskeiseksi analyysin kohteeksi nousee lukija sekä lukijan tuottamat tulkinnat ja niiden merkitys Smithin romaanin tematiikassa. Tutkielmassa osoitetaan kuinka intertekstuaalisuus ei ole niin yksinkertainen termi kuin sen laaja käyttö niin kirjallisuustieteessä kuin mediassakin antaa ymmärtää, sekä selvitetään intertekstuaalisuuden teorian kehitystä 60-luvulta nykypäivään. Vaikka strukturalistisessa muodossa käsite soveltuu etenkin kahden toisiinsa kytkeytyneen teoksen tutkimiseen, vertaileva analyysi kuitenkin osoittaa, että On Beauty ei ole pelkkä uudelleenkirjoitus, vaan romaanin tulkintaan tarvitaan myös jälkistrukturalistisen dekonstruktion käsitteitä, jotta laajemmat tekstuaalisuuden verkostot aukeavat lukijalle. Romaanissa esiintyvä taitelijakuva myös osoittaa, että Smith itse on hyvin tietoinen kirjallisuusteoreettisesta keskustelusta.

Producing interactivity : Does media convergence promote interactivity and audience participation?

This study investigates the process of producing interactivity in a converged media environment. The study asks whether more media convergence equals more interactivity. The research object is approached through semi-structured interviews of prominent decision makers within the Finnish media. The main focus of the study are the three big ones of the traditional media, radio, television and the printing press, and their ability to adapt to the changing environment. The study develops theoretical models for the analysis of interactive features and convergence. Case-studies are formed from the interview data and they are evaluated against the models. As a result the cases arc plotted and compared on a four-fold table. The cases are Radio Rock, NRJ, Biu Brother, Television Chat, Olivia and Sanoma News. It is found out that the theoretical models can accurately forecast the results of the case studies. The models are also able to distinguish different aspects of both interactivity and convergence so that a case, which at a first glance seems not to be very interactive is in the end found out to receive second highest scores on the analysis. The highest scores are received by Big Brother and Sanoma News. Through the theory and the analysis of the research data it is found out that the concepts of interactivity and convergence arc intimately intertwined and very hard in many cases to separate from each other. Hence the answer to the main question of this study is yes, convergence does promote interactivity and audience participation. The main theoretical background for the analysis of interactivity follows the work of Came Fleeter, Spiro Kiousis and Sally McMillan. Heeler's six-dimensional definition of interactivity is used as the basis for operationalizing interactivity. The actor-network theory is used as the main theoretical framework to analyze convergence. The definition and operationalization of the actor-network theory into a model of convergence follows the work of Michel Callon. Bruno Latour and especially John Law and Felix Stalder.