The representation of motherhood in contemporary Catalan fiction

This dissertation analyzes four twenty-first-century Catalan novels which present the complex positions occupied by mothers in the last seven decades. Its conceptual framework posits motherhood as both a changing social construction and a political institution in a constant state of flux. In Inma Monsó´s Todo un carácter (2001), Eva Piquer´s Una victoria diferente (2002), Carme Riera´s La mitad del alma (2004), and Najat El Hachmi´s El último patriarca (2008) motherhood is explored as a metaphorical act, a gender-constructing experience, as well as the locus of expression with regard to gender and power relations. During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939–1975), the majority of women were excluded from public spaces, and forced to stay home to care for their husbands and children. Furthermore, the state criminalized abortion, made contraception and divorce illegal, and promoted an ideal of femininity based on silence, sacrifice, and self-denial. The political changes of the late 1970s allowed women greater personal autonomy, and many women writers began to challenge stereotypical views of women’s social roles. Yet in the 70s and 80s, the narratives of Esther Tusquets, Ana María Moix, and Montserrat Roig represent the mother as a repressive figure whom the daughter must reject in order to liberate herself and regain her voice. It is not until the 90s when the novelists Mercedes Abad, Maruja Torres, Carme Riera, Imma Monsó, Eva Piquer, and María Barbal rehumanize the mother figure, recovering their matrilineal heritage. However, far from suggesting a unified trend in representations of motherhood in Catalan fiction, the diverse points of view of the novels under discussion here reveal that differences in attitudes among women authors about mother-daughter conflict are far from resolved. The theoretical background for this dissertation draws mainly on the work of Adrienne Rich, Nancy Chodorow, and Julia Kristeva. It includes psychoanalytic studies as well as sociologically based essays by Anna López Puig, Amparo Acereda, Jacqueline Cruz, Barbara Zecchi, Ángeles de la Concha, and Raquel Osborne, among others.

Anthroponyms in health care interventions

Anthroponyms in Health Care Interventions. This research aims to examine the personal names used by health care professionals to refer to and speak with patients in medical consultations. To this end, a large corpus was created with anthroponyms used in this type of settings and extracted from a variety of sources. The data obtained were then analyzed, classified, described and explained. Our hypothesis is that personal names are relevant elements in the relationship between the health care provider and the patient; however, their use is decidedly complex. In the following pages we will discuss this designative complexity by way of an introduction, an analysis of anthroponymic studies and a conclusion.

Dynamique holocène d'une tourbière à palses de la région du lac à l'Eau-Claire (Nunavik)

Cette recherche porte sur l’étude paléoécologique d’une tourbière à palses, située à l’intérieur des terres, au-delà de la limite marine de la mer de Tyrrell, sur la rive nord du lac à l’Eau-Claire (Wiyâshâkimî en langue crie). L’objectif principal est de retracer l’impact des changements climatiques sur l’évolution temporelle de cet écosystème. L’analyse de macrorestes végétaux extraits de la tourbe accumulée depuis la déglaciation nous a permis de reconstituer l’évolution des conditions trophiques de la tourbière depuis sa formation. L’accumulation de la matière organique a débuté vers 6290 ans BP (années étalonnées). Par la suite l’évolution de la tourbière a suivi trois étapes successives: une étape d’étang (de 6290 à 5790 ans étal. BP), une étape de tourbière minérotrophe (de 5790 à 4350 ans étal. BP) et une étape de tourbière ombrotrophe (à partir de 4350 ans étal. BP). L’installation du pergélisol menant à la formation de la palse est survenue vers 160 ans étal. BP. La dégradation des palses et la formation subséquente d’une mare de thermokarst auraient été engendrées par le réchauffement climatique qui a commencé au début du siècle. Ainsi, l’étude de l’évolution de la mare de thermokarst située en marge de la tourbière à palse indique la succession de trois phases distinctes, subaquatique, minérotrophe et ombrotrophe. La comparaison de nos résultats avec ceux portant sur les tourbières à palses situées près de la baie d’Hudson et de la baie de James suggère que la continentalité n’a pas influencé d’une façon significative l’évolution de la tourbière du Lac à l’Eau-Claire.