Traduzione del primo canto dell'inferno dantesco in arabo

In this thesis, I have chosen to translate from Italian into Arabic Canto I of the Inferno, from Dante Alighieri’s epic poem the Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia) because it’s a masterpiece in both Italian and world literature. Also I have selected it for its artistic value and the universal themes that it depicts. In fact, my purpose in translating this great work into Arabic is to extol the cultural and universal aspects that can be common to human beings everywhere. My paper is written in Arabic and has six sections: A brief introduction on Dante’s life, an introduction to the Divine Comedy, a summary of Canto 1 of the Inferno and its analysis, Canto I of the Inferno in Italian, its translation into Arabic and finally a comment on the translation. The first part -a summary of Dante’s life was presented. The second part of my paper is an introduction to the Divine Comedy, the allegorical epic poem, consisting of three parts: The Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise). The third part is a summary and analysis of Canto 1 of the Inferno, Dante’s most renowned verses. The analysis of Canto highlights the everlasting conflict of man– sinning and giving in to temptation but then trying to repent and search for his soul’s salvation. He reflects on sin, existence, truth, God, love and salvation in his struggle through the dark and gloomy forest which symbolizes conflict and temptations man may succumb to. The influence of Christianity and the Middle ages here shows his commitment to religion and faith. Moreover, his meeting of Virgil, who guides him to the mountain during his journey to salvation, reflects the positive impact of Virgil’s philosophy on Dante. The fourth part presents the Italian version of Canto 1 of the Inferno. The fifth section of my paper is the translation of Canto 1 of the Inferno from Italian to Arabic. Translating an excerpt of Dante’s masterpiece was not an easy task: I had to consult several critique texts besides the Italian source text with explanations, and also some English versions to overcome any translation difficulties. As a student of translation, my goal was to be faithful in relaying to the Arabic audience the authenticity of Dante’s work, his themes, passions and aesthetic style. Finally, I present a conclusion including a comment on the translation and the bibliography of the sources I have consulted.

Simulating event related potentials in tasks involving conflict resolution: a neural network

In this thesis, the main Executive Control theories are exposed. Methods typical of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience are introduced and the role of behavioural tasks involving conflict resolution in the response elaboration, after the presentation of a stimulus to the subject, are highlighted. In particular, the Eriksen Flanker Task and its variants are discussed. Behavioural data, from scientific literature, are illustrated in terms of response times and error rates. During experimental behavioural tasks, EEG is registered simultaneously. Thanks to this, event related potential, related with the current task, can be studied. Different theories regarding relevant event related potential in this field - such as N2, fERN (feedback Error Related Negativity) and ERN (Error Related Negativity) – are introduced. The aim of this thesis is to understand and simulate processes regarding Executive Control, including performance improvement, error detection mechanisms, post error adjustments and the role of selective attention, with the help of an original neural network model. The network described here has been built with the purpose to simulate behavioural results of a four choice Eriksen Flanker Task. Model results show that the neural network can simulate response times, error rates and event related potentials quite well. Finally, results are compared with behavioural data and discussed in light of the mentioned Executive Control theories. Future perspective for this new model are outlined.