Cartographic Strategies of Postmodernity : the Figure of the Map in Contemporary Theory and Fiction

The last fifty years have witnessed the growing pervasiveness of the figure of the map in critical, theoretical, and fictional discourse. References to mapping and cartography are endemic in poststructuralist theory, and, similarly, geographically and culturally diverse authors of twentieth-century fiction seem fixated upon mapping. While the map metaphor has been employed for centuries to highlight issues of textual representation and epistemology, the map metaphor itself has undergone a transformation in the postmodern era. This metamorphosis draws together poststructuralist conceptualizations of epistemology, textuality, cartography, and metaphor, and signals a shift away from modernist preoccupations with temporality and objectivity to a postmodern pragmatics of spatiality and subjectivity. Cartographic Strategies of Postmodernity charts this metamorphosis of cartographic metaphor, and argues that the ongoing reworking of the map metaphor renders it a formative and performative metaphor of postmodernity.

Figure and ground

Critically responding to Heimo Zobernig's painted green carpet, a semi-permanent architectural intervention realised in the immediate aftermath of my survey show, I painted the windows of the predominantly glazed space red to effectively create a two-colour painting that envelops the viewer and adds a new dimension to the painterly tradition of hinterglasmalerei. The work created an immersive environment for viewers that aimed to promote an affectual experience through the intense saturation of the complimentary contrasts red and green.

Etuoikeutettu sukupuoli? : Käsitys auktoriteetista Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenzan feministisessä teologiassa

A Priviledged Gender? The Question of Authority in the Feminist Theology of Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. Elisbeth Schüssler Fiorenza (b. 1938) is one of the pioneers of Christian feminist theology. The aim of this study is to analyze what she understands by the authority of women as (re)interpreters of the Bible and the Christian tradition. The research method is conceptual analysis, and the sources consist of Schüssler Fiorenza s key writings from 1975 to 2006. The starting point of the study is Schüssler Fiorenza s definition of the task of feminist theology as claiming women s intellectual-religious authority. It is assumed that the issue of authority offers an angle from which Schüssler Fiorenza s feminist theology can be understood as a whole. It is also supposed that the notion of authority opens up a perspective on the way Schüssler Fiorenza dialogues with non-theological feminist theory in her writings. The analysis is first directed to five key concepts of Schüssler Fiorenza s work: authority, patriarchy, androcentrism, gender and women-church, i.e. the ekklesia of wo/men. Special attention is given to her gender-theoretical considerations and her neologism wo/men, by which she refers to women and marginalized men. The aim of this conceptual analysis is to clarify her thought on the subjects of feminist theology. In addition, Schüssler Fiorenza s dialogue with other feminist scholars is evaluated. It is argued that eclecticism characterizes her way of treating non-theological feminist theory. Rewriting early Christian history from a feminist perspective is at the core of Schüssler Fiorenza s scholarship. From her early writings on, she argues for women s authority to define the Christian religion, past and present. In the 1990s Schüssler Fiorenza s theoretical background is feminist standpoint epistemology, and she represents feminist women as an epistemologically priviledged group. Later she claims to defend the epistemic authority of all those wo/men women and men who want to produce emancipatory knowledge. The analysis of Schüssler Fiorenza s work on feminist biblical interpretation shows that her stated aim to regard both women and men as subjects of feminist theology is not realized in the actual descriptions of her hermeneutical model. In fact, Schüssler Fiorenza argues for the authority of feminist women to interpret the Bible in their own interests . Thus in her work, women seem to figure as representatives of the priviledged gender in the field of biblical and theological knowledge.

Visual completion in an illusory figure

The visual systems of humans and animals represent physical reality in a modified way, depending on the specific demands that the species in question has for survival. The ability to perceive visual illusions is found in independently evolved visual systems, from honeybees to humans. In humans, the ability emerges early, at the age of four months. Thus the perception of illusion is likely to reflect visual processes of fundamental importance for object perception in natural vision. The experiments reported in this thesis employed various modifications of the Kanizsa triangle, a drawn configuration composed of three black disks with missing sectors on a white background. The sectors appear to form the tips of a triangle. The visual system completes the physically empty area between the disks, generally called inducers, with giving the perception of an illusory triangle. The illusory triangle consists of an illusory surface bounded by illusory contours; the triangle appears brighter than and to lie above the background. If the sectors are coloured, the colour fills the illusory area, a phenomenon known as neon colour spreading . We investigated spatial limitations on the perception of Kanizsa-type illusions and how other stimuli and viewing parameters affected these limitations. We also studied complex configurations thick, bent, mobile and chromatic inducers - to determine whether illusions combining several attributes can be perceived. The results suggest that the visual system is highly effective in completing a percept. The perception of an illusory figure is spatially scale invariant when perceived at threshold. The processing time and the number of fixations modify the percept, making the perception of the illusion more probable in various viewing conditions. Furthermore, the fact that the illusion can be perceived when only one inducer is physically present at any given moment indicates the potential of single inducers. Apparently, modelling illusory figure perception will require a combination of low-level, local processes and higher-level integrative processes. Our studies with stimuli combining several attributes relevant to object perception demonstrate that the perception of an illusory figure is flexible and is maintained also when it contains colour and volume and when shown in movement. All in all, the results confirm the assumed importance of the visual processes related with the perception of illusory figures in everyday viewing. This is indicated by the variety of inducer modifications that can be made without destroying the percept. Furthermore, the illusion can acquire additional attributes from such modifications. Due to individual differences in the perception of illusory figures, universal values for absolute performance are not always meaningful, but stable trends and general relations do exist.

Theological Exegesis in the Canonical Context : Brevard S. Childs' Methodology of Biblical Theology

Modern Christian theology has been at pain with the schism between the Bible and theology, and between biblical studies and systematic theology. Brevard Springs Childs is one of biblical scholars who attempt to dismiss this “iron curtain” separating the two disciplines. The present thesis aims at analyzing Childs’ concept of theological exegesis in the canonical context. In the present study I employ the method of systematic analysis. The thesis consists of seven chapters. Introduction is the first chapter. The second chapter attempts to find out the most important elements which exercise influence on Childs’ methodology of biblical theology by sketching his academic development during his career. The third chapter attempts to deal with the crucial question why and how the concept of the canon is so important for Childs’ methodology of biblical theology. In chapter four I analyze why and how Childs is dissatisfied with historical-critical scholarship and I point out the differences and similarities between his canonical approach and historical criticism. The fifth chapter attempts at discussing Childs’ central concepts of theological exegesis by investigating whether a Christocentric approach is an appropriate way of creating a unified biblical theology. In the sixth chapter I present a critical evaluation and methodological reflection of Childs’ theological exegesis in the canonical context. The final chapter sums up the key points of Childs’ methodology of biblical theology. The basic results of this thesis are as follows: First, the fundamental elements of Childs’ theological thinking are rooted in Reformed theological tradition and in modern theological neo-orthodoxy and in its most prominent theologian, Karl Barth. The American Biblical Theological Movement and the controversy between Protestant liberalism and conservatism in the modern American context cultivate his theological sensitivity and position. Second, Childs attempts to dismiss negative influences of the historical-critical method by establishing canon-based theological exegesis leading into confessional biblical theology. Childs employs terminology such as canonical intentionality, the wholeness of the canon, the canon as the most appropriate context for doing a biblical theology, and the continuity of the two Testaments, in order to put into effect his canonical program. Childs demonstrates forcefully the inadequacies of the historical-critical method in creating biblical theology in biblical hermeneutics, doctrinal theology, and pastoral practice. His canonical approach endeavors to establish and create post-critical Christian biblical theology, and works within the traditional framework of faith seeking understanding. Third, Childs’ biblical theology has a double task: descriptive and constructive, the former connects biblical theology with exegesis, the later with dogmatic theology. He attempts to use a comprehensive model, which combines a thematic investigation of the essential theological contents of the Bible with a systematic analysis of the contents of the Christian faith. Childs also attempts to unite Old Testament theology and New Testament theology into one unified biblical theology. Fourth, some problematic points of Childs’ thinking need to be mentioned. For instance, his emphasis on the final form of the text of the biblical canon is highly controversial, yet Childs firmly believes in it, he even regards it as the corner stone of his biblical theology. The relationship between the canon and the doctrine of biblical inspiration is weak. He does not clearly define whether Scripture is God’s word or whether it only “witnesses” to it. Childs’ concepts of “the word of God” and “divine revelation” remain unclear, and their ontological status is ambiguous. Childs’ theological exegesis in the canonical context is a new attempt in the modern history of Christian theology. It expresses his sincere effort to create a path for doing biblical theology. Certainly, it was just a modest beginning of a long process.

Evil Gods and Reckless Saviours : Adaptation and Appropriation in Late Twentieth Century Jesus-Novels

Late twentieth century Jesus-novels search after a completely new picture of Jesus. Novels written for instance by Norman Mailer, José Saramago, Michèle Roberts, Marianne Fredriksson, and Ki Longfellow provide an inversive revision of the canonic Gospels. They read the New Testament in terms of the present age. In their adaptation the story turns often into a critique of the whole Christian history. The investigated contrast-novels end up with an appropriation that is based on prototypical rewriting. They aim at the rehabilitation of Judas, and some of them make Mary Magdalane the key figure of Christianity. Saramago describes God as a blood thirsty tyrant, and Mailer makes God combat with the Devil in a manichean sense as with an equal. Such ideas are familiar both from poststructuralist philosophy and post-metaphysical death-of-God theology. The main result of the intertextual analysis is that these scholars have adopted Nietzschean ideas in their writing. Quite unlike earlier Jesus-novels, these more recent novels present a revision that produces discontinuity with the original source text, the New Testament. The intertextual strategy is based on contradiction. The reader wittnesses contesting and challenging, the authors attack Biblical beliefs and attempt to dissolve Christian doctrines. An attack on Biblical slave morality and violent concept of God deprives Jesus of his Jewish Messianic identity, makes Old Testament law a contradiction of life, calls sacrificial soteriology a violent pattern supporting oppression, and presents God as a cruel monster who enslaves people under his commandments and wishes their death. The new Jesus-figure contests Mosaic Law, despises orthodox Judaism, abandons Jewish customs and even questions Old Testament monotheism. In result, the novels intentionally transfer Jesus out of Judaism. Furthermore, Jewish faith appears in a negative light. Such an intertextual move is not open anti-Semitism but it cannot avoid attacking Jewish worship. Why? One reason that explains these attitudes is that Western culture still carries anti-Judaic attitudes beneath the surface covered with sentiments of equality and tolerance. Despite the evident post-holocaust consciousness present in the novels, they actually adopt an arrogant and ironical refutation of Jewish beliefs and Old Testament faith. In these novels, Jesus is made a complete opposite and antithesis to Judaism. Key words: Jesus-novel, intertextuality, adaptation, slave morality, Nietzsche, theodicy, patriarchy.

Changing Paradigms in Biblical Criticism : 2 Kings 22:1 23:30 in the Flux of Discourses

The subject and methodology of biblical scholarship has expanded immense-ly during the last few decades. The traditional text-, literary-, source- and form-critical approaches, labeled historical-critical scholarship , have faced the challenge of social sciences. Various new literary, synchronic readings, sometimes characterized with the vague term postmodernism, have in turn challenged historicalcritical, and social-scientific approaches. Widened limits and diverging methodologies have caused a sense of crisis in biblical criticism. This metatheoretical thesis attempts to bridge the gap between philosophical discussion about the basis of biblical criticism and practical academic biblical scholarship. The study attempts to trace those epistemological changes that have produced the wealth of methods and results within biblical criticism. The account of the cult reform of King Josiah of Judah as reported in 2 Kings 22:1 23:30 serves as the case study because of its importance for critical study of the Hebrew Bible. Various scholarly approaches embracing 2 Kings 22:1 23:30 are experimentally arranged around four methodological positions: text, author, reader, and context. The heuristic model is a tentative application of Oliver Jahraus s model of four paradigms in literary theory. The study argues for six theses: 1) Our knowledge of the world is con-structed, fallible and theory-laden. 2) Methodological plurality is the neces-sary result of changes in epistemology and culture in general. 3) Oliver Jahraus s four methodological positions in regard to literature are also an applicable model within biblical criticism to comprehend the methodological plurality embracing the study of the Hebrew Bible. 4) Underlying the methodological discourse embracing biblical criticism is the epistemological ten-sion between the natural sciences and the humanities. 5) Biblical scholars should reconsider and analyze in detail concepts such as author and editor to overcome the dichotomy between the Göttingen and Cross schools. 6) To say something about the historicity of 2 Kings 22:1 23:30 one must bring together disparate elements from various disciplines and, finally, admit that though it may be possible to draw some permanent results, our conclusions often remain provisional.

Effect of Heat Pipe Figure of Merit on an Evaporating Thin Film

The performance of a two-phase heat transport device such as the loop heat pipe is influenced by the evaporative heat transfer coefficient in the evaporator. From previous experiments with loop heat pipes, it has been observed that fluids with a high heat pipe figure of merit have a high heat transfer coefficient. Considering an evaporating extended thin film, this paper theoretically corroborates this experimental observation by deriving a direct link between the evaporative heat flux at the interface and the fluid figures of merit (namely interline heat flow parameter and heat pipe figure of merit) in the thin film. Numerical experiments with different working fluids clearly show that a fluid with high figure of merit also has a high cumulative heat transfer in the microregion encompassing the evaporating thin film. Thus, a loop heat pipe or heat pipe that uses a working fluid with a high interline heat flow parameter and heat pipe figure of merit will lead to a high evaporative heat transfer coefficient.

Escritura y tradición : Karl Rahner en el “primer conflicto doctrinal” del Vaticano II

Resumen: En 2012 se cumplen 50 años del inicio del Concilio Vaticano II, inaugurado por el Papa Juan XXIII el 11 de octubre de 1962. Es un dato reconocido el importante papel que desarrollaron muchos teólogos a lo largo de los diversos debates conciliares. Entre ellos destaca la figura de K. Rahner. Su principal contribución se dirigió a los asuntos eclesiológicos. Menos conocido es su aporte a los debates que, iniciados en octubre de 1962, conducirían, recién en 1965, a la aprobación de la Constitución Dei Verbum. Luego de una breve introducción, me detengo, en primer lugar, en el informe que Rahner preparó en noviembre de 1962 en contra del Esquema preparatorio, De fontibus revelationis. En un segundo momento, describo otro texto, el llamado “Esquema Rahner – Ratzinger”, elaborado en la misma época, pensado como un texto alternativo al oficial. En tercer lugar, destaco algunas ideas centrales de una conferencia de Rahner de 1963, titulada “Escritura y Tradición”. Finalmente, analizo el número noveno de Dei Verbum que, como se advertirá, muestra que las posiciones bíblico-sistemáticas de Rahner se direccionaban en el sentido de la llamada mayoría conciliar.

Biblical evidence from Obadiah and Psalm 137 for an Edomite treaty betrayal of Judah in the sixth century B.C.E.

Abstract: Focusing on Obadiah and Psalm 137, this article provides biblical evidence for an Edomite treaty betrayal of Judah during the Babylonian crisis ca. 588–586 B.C.E. After setting a context that includes the use of treaties in the ancient Near East to establish expectations for political relationships and the likelihood that Edom could operate as a political entity in the Judahite Negev during the Babylonian assault, this article demonstrates that Obadiah’s poetics include a density of inverted form and content (a reversal motif) pointing to treaty betrayal. Obadiah’s modifications of Jeremiah 49, a text with close thematic and terminological parallels, evidence an Edomite treaty betrayal of Judah. Moreover, the study shows that Obadiah is replete with treaty allusions. A study of Psalm 137 in comparison with Aramaic treaty texts from Sefire reveals that this difficult psalm also evidences a treaty betrayal by Edom and includes elements appropriate for treaty curses. The article closes with a discussion of piecemeal data from a few other biblical texts, a criticism of the view that Edom was innocent during the Babylonian crisis, and a suggestion that this treaty betrayal may have contributed to the production of some anti-Edom biblical material.

Influence Of Micro-Impurity On Protein Crystal Growth Studied By The Etch Figure Method

The investigation of the effect of micro impurity on crystal growth by optical microscopy has been validated. The results showed that the growth rate of a lysozyme crystal was affected even if the concentration of impurity of fluorescent-labeled lysozyme (abbreviation, F-lysozyme) was very small. Different concentrations of F-lysozyme had different effects on crystal growth rate. The growth rate decreased much more as F-lysozyme concentration increased. The density of incorporated F-lysozyme on different grown layers of a lysozyme crystal during crystal growth was obtained from the results of flat-bottomed etch pits density. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The dynamics of the fecundity of fishes, for example the roach, Rutilus rutilus (L.). [conclusions and figure/table captions only] [Translation from: Voprosy Ikhtiologii 3(1) 67-83, 1963]

The dynamics of the fecundity of roach, with emphasis on Rutilus rutilus (L.), were studied in waters in the European parts of the USSR. This translation provides conclusions, and figures and table captions only.

Gain and noise figure of a double-pass waveguide amplifier based on Er/Yb-doped phosphate glass

A waveguide amplifier is fabricated by Ag+-Na+ two-step ion exchange on Er/Yb-doped phosphate glass. The spectroscopic performance of glass and the properties of channel waveguide are characterized. A double-pass configuration is adopted to measure the gain and noise figure (NF) of the waveguide amplifier, and the comparison of gain and NF for the single and double-pass configuration of the waveguide amplifier is presented. The results show that the double-pass configuration can make the gain increase from 8.8dB (net gain 2.2dB/cm) of the single-pass one to 14.6 dB (net gain 3.65 dB/cm) for small input power at 1534 nm, and the NF are all lower than 5.5dB for both the configurations.

A cicatriz do Tatarana: o sagrado feminino em Grande sertão: veredas

O trabalho analisa, na obra Grande Sertão: Veredas de João Guimarães Rosa (1956), elementos discursivos indicadores de um modo de narrar que ficcionaliza, tanto na forma quanto no teor de sua mensagem, manifestações do sagrado originárias da Antiguidade grega e da tradição judaico-cristã. A partir da analogia entre a obra de Guimarães Rosa e a Odisseia de Homero, tornam-se evidentes vestígios do épico e de modelos clássicos de narrativa que, revestidos do peculiar trabalho da linguagem rosiana, adensam a complexidade do romance. O paralelismo com as Sagradas Escrituras, mais difuso, projeta as ações num patamar dramático, em que se decidem o destino das personagens e a solenidade do discurso memorável. A fundamentação teórica articula o pensamento de Erich Auerbach, André Jolles, Rudolf Otto e também de estudiosos que se dedicaram à obra do autor mineiro, como Kathrin Rosenfield. Esse recorte mostrou a presença do sagrado em microcélulas entretecidas ao emaranhado de histórias e causos que costuram a obra prima de Rosa. A cicatriz da Tatarana alude à cicatriz de Ulisses, sinal revelador da identidade do herói grego e que, no caso do jagunço Riobaldo, desoculta um amor negado por meio da purgação do passado, elaborada numa conversa "unilateral com um suposto interlocutor. Em linguagem mítica e mágica, a figura nebulosa de Diadorim funciona como índice de ambiguidade e, ao mesmo tempo, da revelação alcançada através da morte. A pesquisa, por seu turno, segue as veredas abertas pelo estudo de Tereza Virgínia Ribeiro Barbosa a respeito das mulheres vestidas de sol, metáfora relacionada a Medeia, mas que se projeta na Virgem Maria e numa linhagem de figuras femininas da América Latina ligadas ao sagrado. Verificamos, na perspectiva das transferências culturais do tipo passado místico-mistérico/posteridade fabular, que o discurso de Riobaldo é atravessado por micronarrativas de longa tradição que sincretizam diferentes símbolos exotéricos. O trabalho encerra sua investigação desvendando a dualidade do sertão rosiano, onde impera o embate entre fé e ceticismo, a dúvida e a razão, o amor e o ódio, o masculino e o feminino, que resulta no inacabado, na travessia, a vida como metáfora, no campo das infinitas possibilidades do homem humano