It's a matter of culture: analyzing worldbuilding in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

This dissertation is going to analyze culture in media and the role it plays in worldbuilding, taking into account one of the most-loved franchises in western animation, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Moreover, it wants to provide a different perspective on culture, posing the focus on the products consumed by many on a daily basis. First of all, this dissertation will start by trying to give “culture” itself a definition, focusing on two works of literature from which it will draw its analysis related to worldbuilding: Agar’s cultures in comparison and Hofstede’s model of culture. Then, it will move on to the concept of worldbuilding – what we define as worldbuilding, and how it mixes with culture. We will comment on how worldbuilding has gotten more attention with growing online communities and how it could make or break a franchise, with the example of the Divergent saga. Finally, it will move on to the main case study, Avatar: The Last Airbender, which will be analyzed from a cultural standpoint, underlining the role worldbuilding plays in it, and there will be a focus on nonverbal communication in animated media.

"Pásli ovce valasi": Proposta di adattamento in italiano di una serie televisiva slovacca per l'infanzia fra doppiaggio e sottotitolaggio

The main purpose of this thesis is to promote the Slovak culture in Italy through the adaptation of Pásli ovce valasi (The shepherd grazed the sheep), a TV series for children by director Ladislav Čapek. The series, which was released in Czechoslovakia in 1973, is divided into thirteen episodes and tells the story of Matko and Kubko, two shepherds who live in the mountains in central Slovakia. Pásli ovce valasi represented an interesting choice from the adaptation point of view, due to its deep cultural value and the peculiarities of the language used by the characters. The constraints of audiovisual translation were combined to the difficulty of rendering Slovak cultural-specific elements into Italian, together with the limits imposed by having children as a primary recipient. The importance of their role as a target has constrained not only our translation choices, but also the adaptation mode. For this reason, it was decided to realise subtitles in order to make the audiovisual product immediately available, together with an adaptation for dubbing, more suitable for a young audience. The opportunity to present two different forms of adaptation is closely linked to the specific characteristics of the cartoon language. The present study consists of four chapters. The first one provides a brief introduction to the series, its language and setting. The second chapter outlines the main characteristics of audiovisual translation, focusing on dubbing and subtitling in particular. It also presents an analysis of the role of children as a target and the consequent decision to realise an adaptation for dubbing. The two adaptation modes, together with the transcription of the original dialogues, are provided in the third chapter. The fourth and last chapter consists of a description and analysis of the translation process, focusing on morphosyntactic, lexical, rethorical, historical and cultural aspects. The last part of the chapter analyses the differences between the subtitles and the adaptation for dubbing.

Bilinguismo precoce: scelta o necessità di imparare una L2 in età prescolare

Il presente elaborato si pone l’obiettivo di far luce su un fenomeno ancora oggetto di pregiudizi e stereotipi: il bilinguismo. Nel primo capitolo si delineano i contorni del bilinguismo e le varie classificazioni per definire il soggetto bilingue, partendo dai vari gradi di competenza, passando poi all'acquisizione del linguaggio nel bilingue precoce e giungendo ad elencare i vantaggi e presentare i luoghi comuni che ancora demonizzano tale fenomeno. Nel secondo capitolo dell’elaborato ci si concentra invece sulla scelta consapevole dei genitori nell’iniziare i figli a un’educazione bilingue sin dalla nascita, indicando i fattori che influenzano il percorso bilingue e portando esempi concreti grazie alla collaborazione di una famiglia italo-francese che ha accettato di sottoporsi a intervista. Nel terzo capitolo viene preso in esame il bilinguismo precoce all'interno di famiglie immigrate, analizzando i fattori che spesso ostacolano lo sviluppo della L2 nel bambino a contatto con due culture. In particolare, attraverso il film Le Gone du Chaâba, si riflette sulla figura del bambino come ponte tra due culture e strumento d’integrazione per la famiglia. Infine, nel quarto ed ultimo capitolo, si mette in luce la percezione sociale del bilinguismo in una società apparentemente governata dal monolinguismo. Si osservano dunque alcune politiche volte ad educare al plurilinguismo e viene presentato un metodo didattico di apprendimento linguistico precoce in un nido d’infanzia locale.

Analisi dei discorsi di ringraziamento di attori e attrici alle cerimonie dei premi oscar

Il presente elaborato ha come obiettivo l’analisi dei discorsi di ringraziamento pronunciati nelle cerimonie dei premi Oscar dal 1990 al 2015 da attori e attrici, protagonisti e non protagonisti, premiati con la statuetta dorata per le loro performance recitative. L’elaborato si articola in tre capitoli: nel primo, si delinea la storia dei premi Oscar, considerati la cerimonia di premiazione cinematografica per antonomasia, con particolare attenzione ai metodi di selezione di premiati e vincitori da parte dell’Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Ci si concentra anche sul significato, letterale e simbolico, dei discorsi di ringraziamento, e sulla rilevanza che essi hanno all’interno della cerimonia. Nel secondo capitolo, si analizzano i discorsi di ringraziamento dei vincitori da un punto di vista linguistico, con particolare attenzione a prosodia, prossemica, retorica e deissi. Nel terzo e ultimo capitolo, infine, l’analisi assume toni più prettamente culturali, focalizzando l’attenzione sugli aspetti pragmatici e contenutistici dei discorsi, nonché nel tentativo di confrontare gli atteggiamenti delle due categorie nazionali più premiate agli Oscar: gli americani e i britannici.

Interpretare per i rifugiati in Germania: quali persone e strumenti per consentire la comunicazione

Il presente lavoro prende in analisi le modalità di gestione del servizio di interpretazione e assistenza linguistica in Germania per i rifugiati, a seguito dei numerosi arrivi registrati a partire da gennaio 2015 e fino al primo trimestre del 2016. In primo luogo ci si sofferma su quali persone siano le più adatte a consentire la comunicazione, quali caratteristiche umane e competenze professionali sia necessario sviluppare per essere “ponte” tra due lingue, ma soprattutto tra due culture. In secondo luogo ci si sofferma su quali strumenti siano stati ideati e diffusi per facilitare la comunicazione in casi di necessità e per sopperire alla mancanza di professionisti che possano svolgere il servizio di interpretazione per le lingue minoritarie, meno conosciute ma più richieste al momento. Infine si espongono alcune osservazioni in merito a quali possano essere le soluzioni più efficaci e utili sul campo per risolvere la problematica linguistica, che rappresenta il primo passo verso una piena integrazione dei rifugiati nella società.

Analysis of the impact of stationary energy storage systems in trolleybus grids using Simulink-based modelling

The voltage profile of the catenary between traction substations (TSSs) is affected by the trolleybus current intake and by its position with respect to the TSSs: the higher the current requested by the bus and the further the bus from the TSSs, the deeper the voltage drop. When the voltage drops below 500V, the trolleybus is forced to decrease its consumption by reducing its input current. This thesis deals with the analysis of the improvements that the installation of an BESS produces in the operation of a particularly loaded FS of the DC trolleybus network of the city of Bologna. The stationary BESS is charged by the TSSs during off-peak times and delivers the stored energy when the catenary is overloaded alleviating the load on the TSSs and reducing the voltage drops. Only IMC buses are considered in the prospect of a future disposal of all internal combustion engine vehicles. These trolleybuses cause deeper voltage drops because they absorb enough current to power their traction motor and recharge the on board battery. The control of the BESS aims to keep the catenary voltage within the admissible voltage range and makes sure that all physical limitations are met. A model of FS Marconi Trento Trieste is implemented in Simulink environment to simulate its daily operation and compare the behavior of the trolleybus network with and without BESS. From the simulation without BESS, the best location of the energy storage system is deduced, and the battery control is tuned. Furthermore, from the knowledge of the load curve and the battery control trans-characteristic, it is formulated a prediction of the voltage distribution at BESS connection point. The prediction is then compared with the simulation results to validate the Simulink model. The BESS allows to decrease the voltage drops along the catenary, the Joule losses and the current delivered by the TSSs, indicating that the BESS can be a solution to improve the operation of the trolleybus network.

Loading and damage modelling for an integrated SHM system of a prestressed concrete railway bridge in Naples

The thesis explores recent technology developments in the field of structural health monitoring and its application to railway bridge projects. It focuses on two main topics. First, service loads and effect of environmental actions are modelled. In particular, the train moving load and its interaction with rail track is considered with different degrees of detail. Hence, results are compared with real-time experimental measurements. Secondly, the work concerns the identification, definition and modelling process of damages for a prestressed concrete railway bridge, and their implementation inside FEM models. Along with a critical interpretation of the in-field measurements, this approach results in the development of undamaged and damaged databases for the AI-aided detection of anomalies and the definition of threshold levels to prompt automatic alert interventions. In conclusion, an innovative solution for the development of the railway weight-in-motion system is proposed.