Die Großstadt als Gegner? : Zur Wahrnehmung Berlins in Literatur, Film und Hörspiel der späten Weimarer Republik

Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan, miten Berliinin suurkaupunki vaikutti Weimarin tasavallan loppuaikoina yksilöön. Tutkimusaineistona on Alfred Döblinin romaani Berlin Alexanderplatz sekä Walter Ruttmannin elokuva Berlin. Die Sinfonie der Großstadt ja kuunnelma Weekend. Teoreettisena taustana hyödynnetään kulttuuri- ja mediahistorian mentaliteetti- ja sosiaalihistoriaa. Aihetta käsitellään myös historiallis-temaattisesta lähtökohdasta, eli työssä tutkitaan todellisen Berliinin asemaa kyseisenä aikana, modernin metropolin olemusta, modernin ajan murrosvaihetta sekä uusasiallisen taidesuuntauksen vaikutusta teoksiin. Weimarin tasavallan aikana Saksassa elettiin murroksen keskellä. Toisaalta yhteiskunta oli poliittisesti pirstoutunut ja taloudellisesti epävakaa, mutta toisaalta kulttuurielämä oli lyhyen aikaa rikasta. Suurkaupungin asukkailla oli enemmän vapaa-aikaa ja mahdollisuuksia toteuttaa itseään omassa ympäristössään. Toisaalta ajan ristiriitaisuus kuitenkin vaikeutti yksilöllisen elämäntavan toteutumista; ihmiset odottivat murroskauden päättymiseltä materiaalista tyydytystä, jolloin henkiselle kehitykselle jäi vähän tilaa. Tärkein kysymyksenasettelu koskee suurkaupungin roolia oman aikansa tuotteena: missä määrin kaupunki oli ihmisen todellinen vastustaja ja missä määrin sen asema oli kuviteltua? Todellisen Berliinin suhdetta reflektoidaan fiktiiviseen suurkaupunkiympäristöön. Ensin tarkastellaan Berliiniä toimijana murroskaudella ja sitten käsitellään ajan ja tilan havainnointia. Koska teokset ovat fiktiivisiä, erityisen tarkastelun kohteena on todellisuuden, fiktion ja simulaation suhde. Tässä yhteydessä tarkastellaan myös kaupungin ja maaseudun välistä problematiikkaa. Kolmannessa osassa esille nousee yksilön ja massan välinen suhde, joka sekin vaikuttaa ihmisen ja suurkaupungin väliseen vastakkainasetteluun. Ilmensikö koneiden ja liikenteen dominoiva asema futuristista asetelmaa? Lisäksi käsitellään alamaailman ja kultaisen 20-luvun välistä kuilua. Kaikkia kolmea teosta yhdistää 24 tunnin aikakäsite; ajalla on selkeästi rajattu alku ja loppu, ja myös tilan käsite on tarkastelussa tärkeä. Kaikissa teoksissa on hyödynnetty montaasitekniikkaa. Kohtaukset vaihtuvat hyvinkin nopeasti, jolloin lukija, katsoja tai kuulija vieraantuu varsinaisesta kohteestaan. Montaasi vaikuttaa ratkaisevasti myös kaupungin ja yksilön suhteen kuvaukseen. Suurkaupungista muotoutuu lähes hirviömäinen, personifioitu subjekti, joka konemaisella olemuksellaan pyrkii nujertamaan pienen ihmisen. Döblinin romaanissa kertoja toimii ikään kuin yksilöä vastaan liittämällä kerronnan väliin uutisaiheita, säätiedotuksia ja kohtalokertomuksia. Elokuvassa ja kuunnelmassa teknologisen kehityksen ihannointi on noussut etualalle: ihmiset muistuttavat sekä yksilöinä että massana koneita, jotka liikkuvat hektisen mekaanisesti eteenpäin kuin liikennevälineet. He eivät kyseenalaista ympäristöään eivätkä koe olevansa oravanpyörässä. Romaanin päähenkilö on heijastanut omat pelkonsa konkreettisesti suurkaupungin infrastruktuuriin, kerrostaloihin, jotka tuntuvat kaatuvan hänen päälleen. Yksilöllinen kehitys on vaarassa pysähtyä, sillä koneistuminen tekee yksilöistä massaa. Elokuvassa ja kuunnelmassa kamppailu suurkaupunkiorganismin ja ihmisten välillä jatkuu, mutta romaanissa kamppailu päättyy päähenkilön parantumiseen. Hänestä tulee mallikansalainen - vaiennettu ja kuuliainen. Kaikkien kolmen teoksen hahmoja kuvataan modernin ajan uhreina. Heiltä puuttuu mekanismi, jolla he voisivat käsitellä kokonaisuuksia. Modernin ajan hahmojen elämä on lopulta kuin tanssia tulivuoren päällä - epävarmaa ja riskialtista.

Mannans as film formers and emulsion stabilizers

Mannans are abundant plant polysaccharides found in the endosperm of certain leguminous seeds (guar gum galactomannan, GG; locust bean gum galactomannan, LBG), in the tuber of the konjac plant (konjac glucomannan, KGM), and in softwoods (galactoglucomannan, GGM). This study focused on the effects of the chemical structure of mannans on their film-forming and emulsion-stabilizing properties. Special focus was on spruce GGM, which is an interesting new product from forest biorefineries. A plasticizer was needed for the formation of films from mannans other than KGM and the optimal proportion was 40% (w/w of polymers) glycerol or sorbitol. Galactomannans with lower galactose content (LBG, modified GG) produced films with higher elongation at break and tensile strength. The mechanical properties of GG-based films were improved by decreasing the degree of polymerization of the polysaccharide with moderate mannanase treatments. The improvement of mechanical properties of GGM-based films was sought by blending GGM with each of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH), corn arabinoxylan (cAX), and KGM. Adding other polymers increased the elongation at break of GGM blend films. The tensile strength of films increased with increasing amounts of PVOH and KGM, but the effect of cAX was the opposite. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed two separate loss modulus peaks for blends of GGM and PVOH, but a single peak for all other films. Optical and scanning electron microscopy confirmed good miscibility of GGM with cAX and KGM. In contrast, films blended from GGM and PVOH showed phase separation. GGM and KGM were mixed with cellulose nanowhiskers (CNW) to form composite films. Addition of CNW to KGM-based films induced the formation of fiberlike structures with lengths of several millimeters. In GGM-based films, rodlike structures with lengths of tens of micrometers were formed. Interestingly, the notable differences in the film structure did not appear to be related to the mechanical and thermal properties of the films. Permeability properties of GGM-based films were compared to those of films from commercial mannans KGM, GG, and LBG. GGM-based films had the lowest water vapor permeability when compared to films from other mannans. The oxygen permeability of GGM films was of the same magnitude as that of commercial polyethylene / ethylene vinyl alcohol / polyethylene laminate film. The aroma permeability of GGM films was low. All films were transparent in the visible region, but GGM films blocked the light transmission in the ultraviolet region of the spectra. The stabilizing effect of GGM on a model beverage emulsion system was studied and compared to that of GG, LBG, KGM, and cAX. In addition, GG was enzymatically modified in order to examine the effect of the degree of polymerization and the degree of substitution of galactomannans on emulsion stability. Use of GGM increased the turbidity of emulsions both immediately after preparation and after storage of up to 14 days at room temperature. GGM emulsions had higher turbidity than the emulsions containing other mannans. Increasing the storage temperature to +45 ºC led to rapid emulsion breakdown, but a decrease in storage temperature increased emulsion stability after 14 days. A low degree of polymerization and a high degree of substitution of the modified galactomannans were associated with a decrease in emulsion turbidity.

Stor Anna, Liten Anna och tio andra personporträtt : Om innehållsliga och språkliga mönster i en mediegenres kvinnobeskrivningar

The aim of this licentiate thesis is to analyse how femininity is constructed in twelve portrait interviews of women in the dailies Dagens Nyheter (Stockholm) and Hufvudstadsbladet (Helsinki) in September 1996, and to explore the portrait interview as a media genre. The qualitative analysis has a feminist and constructionist perspective and is connected to critical text analysis. It was carried out on two levels: first, femininity is identified on the linguistic level by choice of words, and second on the level of content (topical motifs/themes). The portrait interview as a genre constitutes a third dimension in the analysis: The aim is not towards the identification of femininity, but rather towards the identification of the portrait interview a relatively unexplored media genre. References (Swedish: omtal) to the principal character (or protagonist) are traced mainly through reference chains which consist of names, pronouns and substantive phrases. The interviewees were referred to by their full names in Dagens Nyheter (with the exception of the oldest and youngest interviewees, both of whom were mainly referred to by their first names), while the style of reference varied more in Hufvudstadsbladet. The position of the principal character was also analysed through her relation in the text to minor characters from her working life and from her private life. These minor characters maintained their subordinate positions in all of the portraits except that of the youngest principal character, in which the subsidiary voices became at least as strong as the voice of the principal character. Three frequently-recurring topical motifs occurred in the portraits: The first involved explanations for the principal character s success divided into three categories, agent, affect and ambition, the second concerned using journeys or trips as symbols for turning points in life, and the third referred to the ambiguity in the contradiction between private (family/other private life) and public (work) life. This ambiguity is connected to the portrait interview as a text type (genre) which features conclusions at the end of portraits, which in turn is characteristic of reportage. However, the analysis showed that the conclusions of the portrait interviews often also included elements of ambiguity. This was evident in the contradictions be14 tween private and public life that arose in the portrait interviews that focused on these two spheres. The portraits that focused on the principal character s public life showed ambiguity on a more general level concerning questions about being a woman and having a profession, and they often ended with a description of some details of her private life. The women in the portraits were all constructed as being successful, in terms of having achieved direct success, reflective success or success in the form of life wisdom. The women of direct success were described as ambitious individuals with no sidetracks on their life paths, while those of reflective success were described as active heroines who had received help from different agents, who could use their affects as enriching ingredients in life, but who in the end had control over their own lives (life stories). The elderly women were constructed as having achieved life wisdom and their portraits were focused upon the past. The portrait interview as a genre is characterised by journalistic freedom (in relation to the more strict news genre), by a now room (Swedish nurum ) where the journalist meets the principal character (usually via spoken dialogue that she or he transforms into written text to be read by a mass-media audience) and by the relatively closed structure of the portrait. The portrait is relatively independent in relation to the news genre and in relation to the context of what has previously been written, what is being written at the time and what will be written in the future the principal character does not need to belong to the newspaper s usual gallery of actors. Furthermore, the principal character is constructed as being independent in relation to the subsidiary characters and other media actors. The conflict is within the principal character herself and within her life story, unlike the news genre in which equal actors are in conflict with each other. The portrait is also independent in relation to the news lifespan; the publishing timetable is not as strict as in the news genre, but is still dependent on the factors initiating the portrait. The enclosures consist of a raw analysis of two of twelve portrait interviews and of copies of all portraits.