Mythen und Mythenbildung in Kunst und Werbung

Aufgrund der breiten aktuellen Verwendung des Mythen-Begriffs in Kunst und Werbung, aber darüber hinaus auch in nahezu allen Bereichen gesellschaftlichen Lebens und vor allem in der Philosophie ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit, einen erweiterten Mythos-Begriff über das Historisch-Authentische hinaus zu verfolgen. Ausgehend von einer strukturalen Annäherung an den Mythos-Begriff im Sinne des von Roland Barthes vorgeschlagenen sekundären semiologischen Systems, d.h. einer semiologischen Sinnverschiebung zur Schaffung einer neuen – mythischen – Bedeutung, fordert diese neue Bedeutung eine Analyse, eine Mythenanalyse heraus. Dies ist deshalb so entscheidend, weil eben diese neue Bedeutung ihr mythisches Profil im Sinne von Hans Blumenberg durch forcierte Bedeutsamkeit für Individuen oder für bestimmte gesellschaftliche Gruppierungen unterlegt, z.B. durch bewusst intensive Wiederholung eines Themas oder durch unerwartete Koinzidenzen von Ereignissen oder durch Steigerung bzw. Depotenzierung von Fakten. Der erweiterte Mythen-Begriff verlangt nach einer Strukturierung und führt dabei zu unterschiedlichen Mythen-Ansätzen: zum Ursprungsstoff des authentischen Mythos und darauf basierender Geisteslage, zum Erkennen eines reflektierten Mythos, wenn es um das Verhältnis Mythos/Aufklärung geht, zum Zeitgeist-Mythos mit seinen umfangreichen Ausprägungen ideologischer, affirmativer und kritischer Art oder zu Alltagsmythen, die sich auf Persönlichkeitskulte und Sachverherrlichungen beziehen. Gerade der letztere Typus ist das Terrain der Werbung, die über den Gebrauchswert eines Produktes hinaus Wert steigernde Tauschwerte durch symbolische Zusatzattribute erarbeiten möchte. Hierbei können Markenmythen unterschiedlichster Prägung entstehen, denen wir täglich im Fernsehen oder im Supermarkt begegnen. Die Manifestation des Mythos in der Kunst ist einerseits eine unendliche Transformationsgeschichte mythischer Substanzen und andererseits ein überhöhender Bezug auf Zeitgeisterscheinungen, etwa bei dem Mythos des Künstlers selbst oder der durch ihn vorgenommenen „Verklärung des Gewöhnlichen“. Die Transformationsprozesse können u.a . prototypisch an zwei Beispielketten erläutert werden, die für den Kunst/Werbung-Komplex besonders interessant sind, weil ihr Charakter sich in einem Fall für die Werbung als äußerst Erfolg versprechend erwiesen hat und weil sich im zweiten Fall geradezu das Gegenteil abzeichnet: Zum einen ist es die Mythengestalt der Nymphe, jene jugendliche, erotisch-verführerische Frauengestalt, die über ihre antiken Wurzeln als Sinnbild der Lebensfreude und Fruchtbarkeit hinaus in und nach der Renaissance ihre Eignung als Verbildlichung der Wiederzulassung des Weiblichen in der Kunst beweist und schließlich der Instrumen-talisierung der Werbung dient. Im anderen Fall ist es die Geschichte der Medusa, die man idealtypisch als die andere Seite der Nympha bezeichnen kann. Hier hat Kunst Auf-klärungsarbeit geleistet, vor allem durch die Verschiebung des medusischen Schreckens von ihr weg zu einer allgemein-medusischen Realität, deren neue Träger nicht nur den Schrecken, sondern zugleich ihre Beteiligung an der Schaffung dieses Schreckens auf sich nehmen. Mythosanalyse ist erforderlich, um die Stellungnahmen der Künstler über alle Epochen hinweg und dabei vor allem diese Transformationsprozesse zu erkennen und im Sinne von Ent- oder Remythologisierung einzuordnen. Die hierarchische Zuordnung der dabei erkannten Bedeutungen kann zu einem Grundbestandteil einer praktischen Philosophie werden, wenn sie einen Diskurs durchläuft, der sich an Jürgen Habermas’ Aspekt der Richtigkeit für kommunikatives Handeln unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Toleranz orientiert. Dabei ist nicht nur zu beachten, dass eine verstärkte Mythenbildung in der Kunst zu einem erweiterten Mythen-begriff und damit zu dem erweiterten, heute dominierenden Kunstbegriff postmoderner Prägung geführt hat, sondern dass innerhalb des aktuellen Mythenpakets sich die Darstellungen von Zeitgeist- und Alltagsmythen zu Lasten des authentischen und des reflektierten Mythos entwickelt haben, wobei zusätzlich werbliche Markenmythen ihre Entstehung auf Verfahrensvorbildern der Kunst basieren. Die ökonomische Rationalität der aktuellen Gesellschaft hat die Mythenbildung keines-wegs abgebaut, sie hat sie im Gegenteil gefördert. Der neuerliche Mythenbedarf wurde stimuliert durch die Sinnentleerung der zweckrationalisierten Welt, die Ersatzbedarf anmeldete. Ihre Ordnungsprinzipien durchdringen nicht nur ihre Paradedisziplin, die Ökonomie, sondern Politik und Staat, Wissenschaft und Kunst. Das Umschlagen der Aufklärung wird nur zu vermeiden sein, wenn wir uns Schritt für Schritt durch Mythenanalyse unserer Unmündigkeit entledigen.

Composition and stability of organic matter fractions in soils under different land use regimes

Soil organic matter (SOM) vitally impacts all soil functions and plays a key role in the global carbon (C) cycle. More than 70% of the terrestric C stocks that participate in the active C cycle are stored in the soil. Therefore, quantitative knowledge of the rates of C incorporation into SOM fractions of different residence time is crucial to understand and predict the sequestration and stabilization of soil organic carbon (SOC). Consequently, there is a need of fractionation procedures that are capable of isolating functionally SOM fractions, i.e. fractions that are defined by their stability. The literature generally refers to three main mechanisms of SOM stabilization: protection of SOM from decomposition by (i) its structural composition, i.e. recalcitrance, (ii) spatial inaccessibility and/or (iii) interaction with soil minerals and metal ions. One of the difficulties in developing fractionation procedures for the isolation of functional SOM fractions is the marked heterogeneity of the soil environment with its various stabilization mechanisms – often several mechanisms operating simultaneously – in soils and soil horizons of different texture and mineralogy. The overall objective of the present thesis was to evaluate present fractionation techniques and to get a better understanding of the factors of SOM sequestration and stabilization. The first part of this study is attended to the structural composition of SOM. Using 13C cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CPMAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, (i) the effect of land use on SOM composition was investigated and (ii) examined whether SOM composition contributes to the different stability of SOM in density and aggregate fractions. The second part of the present work deals with the mineral-associated SOM fraction. The aim was (iii) to evaluate the suitability of chemical fractionation procedures used in the literature for the isolation of stable SOM pools (stepwise hydrolysis, treatments using oxidizing agents like Na2S2O8, H2O2, and NaOCl as well as demineralization of the residue obtained by the NaOCl treatment using HF (NaOCl+HF)) by pool sizes, 13C and 14C data. Further, (iv) the isolated SOM fractions were compared to the inert organic matter (IOM) pool obtained for the investigated soils using the Rothamsted Carbon Model and isotope data in order to see whether the tested chemical fractionation methods produce SOM fractions capable to represent this pool. Besides chemical fractionation, (v) the suitability of thermal oxidation at different temperatures for obtaining stable SOC pools was evaluated. Finally, (vi) the short-term aggregate dynamics and the factors that impact macroaggregate formation and C stabilization were investigated by means of an incubation study using treatments with and without application of 15N labeled maize straw of different degradability (leaves and coarse roots). All treatments were conducted with and without the addition of fungicide. Two study sites with different soil properties and land managements were chosen for these investigations. The first one, located at Rotthalmünster, is a Stagnic Luvisol (silty loam) under different land use regimes. The Ah horizons of a spruce forest and continuous grassland and the Ap and E horizons of two plots with arable crops (continuous maize and wheat cropping) were examined. The soil of the second study site, located at Halle, is a Haplic Phaeozem (loamy sand) where the Ap horizons of two plots with arable crops (continuous maize and rye cropping) were investigated. Both study sites had a C3-/C4-vegetational change on the maize plot for the purpose of tracing the incorporation of the younger, maize-derived C into different SOM fractions and the calculation of apparent C turnover times of these. The Halle site is located near a train station and industrial areas, which caused a contamination with high amounts of fossil C. The investigation of aggregate and density fractions by 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy revealed that density fractionation isolated SOM fractions of different composition. The consumption of a considerable part (10–20%) of the easily available O-alkyl-C and the selective preservation of the more recalcitrant alkyl-C when passing from litter to the different particulate organic matter (POM) fractions suggest that density fractionation was able to isolate SOM fractions with different degrees of decomposition. The spectra of the aggregate fractions resembled those of the mineral-associated SOM fraction obtained by density fractionation and no considerable differences were observed between aggregate size classes. Comparison of plant litter, density and aggregate size fractions from soil under different land use showed that the type of land use markedly influenced the composition of SOM. While SOM of the acid forest soil was characterized by a large content (> 50%) of POM, which contained high amounts of spruce-litter derived alkyl-C, the organic matter in the biologically more active grassland and arable soils was dominated by mineral-associated SOM (> 95%). This SOM fraction comprised greater proportions of aryl- and carbonyl-C and is considered to contain a higher amount of microbially-derived organic substances. Land use can alter both, structure and stability of SOM fractions. All applied chemical treatments induced considerable SOC losses (> 70–95% of mineral-associated SOM) in the investigated soils. The proportion of residual C after chemical fractionation was largest in the arable Ap and E horizons and increased with decreasing C content in the initial SOC after stepwise hydrolysis as well as after the oxidative treatments with H2O2 and Na2S2O8. This can be expected for a functional stable pool of SOM, because it is assumed that the more easily available part of SOC is consumed first if C inputs decrease. All chemical treatments led to a preferential loss of the younger, maize-derived SOC, but this was most pronounced after the treatments with Na2S2O8 and H2O2. After all chemical fractionations, the mean 14C ages of SOC were higher than in the mineral-associated SOM fraction for both study sites and increased in the order: NaOCl < NaOCl+HF ≤ stepwise hydrolysis << H2O2 ≈ Na2S2O8. The results suggest that all treatments were capable of isolating a more stable SOM fraction, but the treatments with H2O2 and Na2S2O8 were the most efficient ones. However, none of the chemical fractionation methods was able to fit the IOM pool calculated using the Rothamsted Carbon Model and isotope data. In the evaluation of thermal oxidation for obtaining stable C fractions, SOC losses increased with temperature from 24–48% (200°C) to 100% (500°C). In the Halle maize Ap horizon, losses of the young, maize-derived C were considerably higher than losses of the older C3-derived C, leading to an increase in the apparent C turnover time from 220 years in mineral-associated SOC to 1158 years after thermal oxidation at 300°C. Most likely, the preferential loss of maize-derived C in the Halle soil was caused by the presence of the high amounts of fossil C mentioned above, which make up a relatively large thermally stable C3-C pool in this soil. This agrees with lower overall SOC losses for the Halle Ap horizon compared to the Rotthalmünster Ap horizon. In the Rotthalmünster soil only slightly more maize-derived than C3-derived SOC was removed by thermal oxidation. Apparent C turnover times increased slightly from 58 years in mineral-associated SOC to 77 years after thermal oxidation at 300°C in the Rotthalmünster Ap and from 151 to 247 years in the Rotthalmünster E horizon. This led to the conclusion that thermal oxidation of SOM was not capable of isolating SOM fractions of considerably higher stability. The incubation experiment showed that macroaggregates develop rapidly after the addition of easily available plant residues. Within the first four weeks of incubation, the maximum aggregation was reached in all treatments without addition of fungicide. The formation of water-stable macroaggregates was related to the size of the microbial biomass pool and its activity. Furthermore, fungi were found to be crucial for the development of soil macroaggregates as the formation of water-stable macroaggregates was significantly delayed in the fungicide treated soils. The C concentration in the obtained aggregate fractions decreased with decreasing aggregate size class, which is in line with the aggregate hierarchy postulated by several authors for soils with SOM as the major binding agent. Macroaggregation involved incorporation of large amounts maize-derived organic matter, but macroaggregates did not play the most important role in the stabilization of maize-derived SOM, because of their relatively low amount (less than 10% of the soil mass). Furthermore, the maize-derived organic matter was quickly incorporated into all aggregate size classes. The microaggregate fraction stored the largest quantities of maize-derived C and N – up to 70% of the residual maize-C and -N were stored in this fraction.

Effect of rural transportation system on agricultural productivity in Oyo State, Nigeria

Food farming in Oyo North, Nigeria is characterised by an increasing use of Intermediary Mode of Transportation (IMT) to ease inputs and outputs mobility and farm access. To assess the influence on food farmer’s productivity, a random sample of 230 respondents was selected and data collected on their socio-economic and farm specific characteristics. Descriptive statistics, Herfindhal Index and Technical Efficiency Approach were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that majority of food farmers were in their middle age with mean age of 50 years and most of them used one plot at a location between 5 and 10km to their village of residence. They acquired land by inheritance and practiced intensive crop diversification as risk management strategy. The transportation modes used in addition to walking include bicycle, motorcycle, and car with increasing trend in the use of motorcycle. The mean Technical Efficiency (TE) of food farmers was 0.82 with significant inefficiency effects. The inefficiency analysis indicates positive effect of distance, crop diversification and un-tarred type of road on farmer’s productivity, while poor level of education among farmers, use of bicycle; trekking and weekly working time negatively affect farmer’s efficiency. The negative effect of trekking and use of bicycle and the excess working time suggest the adoption of more IMT of motorized type to optimize farming time and increase farmer’s productivity.