Understanding Foreign Masters : the examples of Rabindranath Tagore and Fyodor Dostoyevskiy

The Indian author Rabindranath Tagore was received like royalty during his visits to the West after winning the Nobel Prize in 1913. Dreams of foreign cultures offered a retreat from a complicated age. In a time when the West appeared to be living under threat of disintegration and when industrialism seemed like a cul-de-sac, he appeared to offer the promise of a return to a lost paradise, a spiritual abode that is superior to the restless Western culture. However, Tagore’s popularity faded rapidly, most notably in England, the main target of his criticism. Soon after Tagore had won the Nobel Prize, the English became indignant at Tagore’s anti-colonial attitude.Tagore visited Sweden in 1921 and 1926 and was given a warm reception. His visits to Sweden can be seen as an episode in a longer chain of events. It brought to life old conceptions of India as the abode of spirituality on earth. Nevertheless, interest in him was a relatively short-lived phenomenon in Sweden. Only a few of his admirers in Sweden appreciated the complexity of Tagore’s achievements. His “anathema of mammonism”, as a Swedish newspaper called it, was not properly received. After a steady stream of translations his popularity flagged towards the end of the 1920s and then almost disappeared entirely. Tagores visits in Sweden gave an indication that India was on the way to liberate itself from its colonial legacy, which consequently contributed to the waning of his popularity in the West. In the long run, his criticism of the drawbacks in the western world became too obvious to maintain permanent interest. The Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevskiy’s Crime and Punishment (1866) has enticed numerous interpretations such as the purely biographical approach. In the nervous main character of the novel, the young student Raskolnikov, one easily recognizes Dostoyevskiy himself. The novel can also be seen as a masterpiece of realistic fiction. It gives a broad picture of Saint Petersburg, a metropolis in decay. Crime and Punishment can also be seen as one of the first examples of a modern psychological novel, since it is focused on the inner drama of its main character, the young student Raskolnikov. His actions seem to be governed by mere coincidences, dreams and the spur of the moment. it seems fruitful to study the novel from a psychoanalytical approach. In his book Raskolnikov: the way of the divided towards unity in Crime and Punishment (1982), a Swedish scholar, Owe Wikström, has followed this line of interpretation all the way to Freud’s disciple C G Jung. In addition to this, the novel functions as an exciting crime story. To a large extent it is Viktor Sjklovskij and other Russian formalists from the 1920s and onwards who have taught the western audience to understand the specific nature of the crime story. The novel could be seen as a story about religious conversion. Like Lasarus in the Bible (whose story attracts a lot of attention in the novel) Raskolnikov is awakened from the dead, and together with Sonja he starts a completely new life. The theme of conversion has a special meaning for Dostoyevskiy. For him the conversion meant an acknowledgement of the specific nature of Russia itself. Crime and punishment mirrors the conflict between traditional Russian values and western influences that has been obvious in Russia throughout the history of the country. The novel reflects a dialogue that still continues in Russian society. The Russian literary historian Mikhail Bakhtin, who is probably the most famous interpreter of the works of Dostoyevskiy, has become famous precisely by emphasizing the importance of dialogues in novels like Crime and Punishment. According to Bakhtin, this novel is characterized by its multitude of voices. Various ideas are confronted with each other, and each one of them is personified by one of the characters in the novel. The author has resigned from his position as the superior monitor of the text, and he leaves it to the reader to decide what interpretation is the correct one..The aim of the present study is thus to analyze the complex reactions in the west to Tagore’s visits in Sweden and to Fyodor Dostoyevskiys novel Crime and Punishment.. This leads to more general conclusions on communication between cultures.

Glädje i vårdandets värld

Föreliggande vårdvetenskapliga studie har som syfte att avtäcka och synliggöra glädjesom idé i vårdandets värld. Glädje sammanbinds med vårdandet genom kärleken somden tongivande kraften hos glädje. Vårdandets sak har genom historien alltid varit attlindra lidande och att tjäna liv och hälsa i en anda av kärlek och barmhärtighet. Dennastudie om glädje i vårdandet har en övergripande idéhistorisk inriktning och resultatetsammanställs i form av ett idémönster. Tolkningen sker genom en hermeneutisk ansatsmed fokus på förståelse av själva vårdandet. För att djupare förstå glädje, dessursprungsidé, väsen och uttrycksformer granskas begreppet ’glädje’ och de näraliggandebegreppen ’glad’ och ’ljus’ i etymologiska ordböcker samt i svenska, engelska ochlatinska ordböcker. Som stöd för tolkningen används klassiska texter innehållandefilosofers tankar om glädje. Glädje som idé glimtar fram i form av ett sjufaldigtmönster. Detta mönster innehåller särdrag hos glädje och det hjärtas natur somrespektive särdrag förverkligas i. I andlig mening utgör hjärtat livets medelpunkt ochkänslornas hemvist. Mönstret bildar bakgrund och blir vägledande vid den hermeneutiska läsningen omglädje, så som den framträder i berättelser om vårdande under åren 1900–1933. Dehistoriska källorna utgörs av facktidskriften Svensk sjukskötersketidning, böcker medberättelser om vårdande, arkivmaterial samt läroböcker om vårdarbete. Resultatetmynnar ut i ett idémönster, där idéer om det som gör glädje verksamt som vårdandeframträder. Dessa är det sanna hjärtats rena glädje – kärlek, glädje är ett kärleksbevis.Det brinnande hjärtats djupa glädje – livsglädje, glädje inspirerar och genererar kraft.Det bärande hjärtats glansfulla glädje – generositet, glädje är en gåva till den andra medlöfte om hjälp. Det inbjudande hjärtats glittrande glädje – gemenskap, glädje inbjudertill gemenskap. Det upprymda hjärtats uppsluppna glädje – integration, glädje gör attmänniskan kan glömma sitt lidande och närma sig den hon önskar vara. Detstämningsfulla hjärtats högtidliga glädje – bevärdigande, glädje skapar en anda ochatmosfär där människan upplever sig hedrad. Det fridfulla hjärtats stora glädje –räddning, en glädje visar sig när människan har erhållit det som kan begäras av gott ochundsluppet ont och är förnöjd med sin levnads lott. Förhoppningen är att dennagrundforskning ska öppna för ett nytt seende som kan leda till att glädjeuppmärksammas i vårdandets värld och artikuleras där.

Coherence dynamics of two-mode condensates in asymmetric potentials

Detection of weak forces with an accuracy beyond the standard quantum limit holds promise both for fundamental research and for technological applications. Schemes involving ultracold atoms for such measurements are now considered to be prime candidates for increased sensitivity. In this paper we use a combination of analytical and numerical techniques to investigate the possible subshot-noise estimation of applied force fields through detection of coherence dynamics of Bose-condensed atoms in asymmetric double-well traps. Following a semiclassical description of the system dynamics and fringe visibility, we present numerical simulations of the full quantum dynamics that demonstrate the dynamical production of phase squeezing beyond the standard quantum limit. Nonlinear interactions are found to limit the achievable amount to a finite value determined by the external weak force.

Single-mode acceleration of matter waves in circular waveguides

Ultracold gases in ring geometries hold promise for significant improvements of gyroscopic sensitivity. Recent experiments have realized atomic and molecular storage rings with radii in the centimeter range, sizes whose practical use in inertial sensors requires velocities significantly in excess of typical recoil velocities. We use a combination of analytical and numerical techniques to study the coherent acceleration of matter waves in circular waveguides, with particular emphasis on its impact on single-mode propagation. In the simplest case we find that single-mode propagation is best maintained by the application of time-dependent acceleration force with the temporal profile of a Blackmann pulse. We also assess the impact of classical noise on the acceleration process.

Road network and GPS tracking with data processing and quality assessment

GPS technology has been embedded into portable, low-cost electronic devices nowadays to track the movements of mobile objects. This implication has greatly impacted the transportation field by creating a novel and rich source of traffic data on the road network. Although the promise offered by GPS devices to overcome problems like underreporting, respondent fatigue, inaccuracies and other human errors in data collection is significant; the technology is still relatively new that it raises many issues for potential users. These issues tend to revolve around the following areas: reliability, data processing and the related application. This thesis aims to study the GPS tracking form the methodological, technical and practical aspects. It first evaluates the reliability of GPS based traffic data based on data from an experiment containing three different traffic modes (car, bike and bus) traveling along the road network. It then outline the general procedure for processing GPS tracking data and discuss related issues that are uncovered by using real-world GPS tracking data of 316 cars. Thirdly, it investigates the influence of road network density in finding optimal location for enhancing travel efficiency and decreasing travel cost. The results show that the geographical positioning is reliable. Velocity is slightly underestimated, whereas altitude measurements are unreliable.Post processing techniques with auxiliary information is found necessary and important when solving the inaccuracy of GPS data. The densities of the road network influence the finding of optimal locations. The influence will stabilize at a certain level and do not deteriorate when the node density is higher.

Materialising bodies : there is nothing more material than a socially constructed body.

Over the last one of two decades, researchers within the physical education (PE) and sport pedagogy research frequently use the concept ‘the material body’. An initial purpose of this article is to explore what a concept of a ‘material body’ might mean. What other bodies are there? Who would dispute the materiality of bodies? I suggest that the use of a concept as ‘the material body’ suggests a hesitation before the radicalism of the linguistic turn in the sense that the concept ‘discourse’ does not include a material dimension. In this way ‘the material body’ relates to an interpretation of ‘the socially (or discursively) constructed body’ as void of matter. A further purpose with the article is to re-inscribe matter in the concept of ‘discourse’. This is done by way of discussing what theorists like Michel Foucault and, in particular, Judith Butler, has to say about the materiality of the body. In their writings, discourse should not be limited to spoken and/or written language. Rather, discourse is understood in terms of actions and events that create meanings—that matters. One conclusion of the article is that it is important to problematise the mundane view of discourse as ‘verbal interchange’ because it reinforces the promise of an objective knowledge that will eventually shed light on the ‘real’ body and the mysteries of sexual difference, what its origins are, what causes it. Another conclusion is that the PE and sport pedagogy research should pay less attention to the body as an object (what it ‘is’), and pay more attention to how the body matters, and e.g. how movements make bodies matter.

Sociologin, hybriderna och den sociala verkligheten : exemplet kärnavfall

Sociology, hybrids and social reality: the case of nuclear waste The continuing technological transformation of nature means that sociology’s traditional vision of a sharp divide between nature and society is becoming ever harder to defend. Starting from Bruno Latour’s critique of modernity, and Nikolas Rose’s explorations of political power beyond the state, this article presents a framework for analysing the expanding wealth of hybrids of nature and society surrounding us today, and the problems of government they pose. These hybrids confront us with the need to rethink sociology’s conception of ‘the social’. With Latour’s help, the interplay of nature and society can be understood as subject to technical mediation, opening the way for studies of the varying arrangements through which different configurations of nature and society are produced. Rather than alternative social constructions of nature, what sociologists should be at pains to analyse and question are different programmes and strategies for bringing together natural and social forces in durable combinations. In the article, the geological disposal of nuclear waste serves as a useful example for exploring the fruitfulness of the analytical framework put forward. This complex undertaking constitutes just one component in a larger field of technoscientific endeavour that has irrevocably transformed nature while simultaneously re-making society. Addressing this case, we seek to reveal the promise of a sociology that does not bound ‘the social’ in advance, but rather makes the co-production of technology and society one of its most important objects of study.

Upplevelser av palliativ vård i hemmet under livets slutskede – ur ett anhörigperspektiv : En litteraturöversikt

Bakgrund: Palliativ vård handlar om att ge stöd till patienten och anhöriga under och efter vårdtiden. De ”6 s:n” är en arbetsmodell inom palliativ vård där patienten har rätt till självbestämmande och att upprätthålla sina sociala relationer, även stöd till anhöriga ingår. Anhöriga har en betydelsefull roll i den palliativa vården, deras närvaro skapar möjlighet för den döende att vara hemma i livets slutskede. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva anhörigas upplevelse av palliativ vård i hemmet under livets slutskede. Metod: Litteraturöversikt baserad på 15 vetenskapliga artiklar från fem olika länder med kvalitativ ansats. Resultat: Fem kategorier identifierades kopplade till anhörigas upplevelser: Palliativa teamets inträde i hemmet, anhörigas vårdansvar, den medicintekniska utrusningens inverkan på vardagslivet, känslor och konsekvenser för anhöriga samt förbättringsmöjligheter och anhörigas uppfattning om palliativ vård. Slutsats: Anledningen till anhörigas vårdansvar var löftet att få dö hemma, uppgiften upplevdes krävande och gav konsekvenser på sömnen och deras fysiska och psykiska mående. Detta var genomgående i hela litteraturöversikten. Vården i hemmet sågs som den rätta platsen att dö på för alla parter, endast en anhörig uttryckte avsky för situationen. Enligt anhöriga var stödet bra dock fanns det ett ökat behov av mer resurser för fullständig trygghet.