"Mi bèl pawòl, mi!" Rappresentazione delle lingue e della parola nella narrativa di Patrick Chamoiseau e Raphael Confiant (1986-1994)

From 1986 to 1994, Patrick Chamoiseau and Raphaël Confiant published a series of fictional and non-fictional writings focusing on language issues. Interest in these themes can certainly in part be explained by the "surconscience linguistique" that Lise Gauvin attributes to Francophone authors: a linguistic over-awareness which, in the case of these two Martiniquais writers, may be attributed to their Creole-French diglossia. Although we might believe that the idea of Gauvin is right, it doesn't seem enough to explain why the linguistic theme plays such a central role in Chamoiseau's and Confiant's works. Deeply influenced by Glissant's theories on Creole popular culture and Antillean literature (Le discours antillais), they conceived a "Créolité" poetics based on a primarly identity-based and geopolitical discourse. Declaring the need to build an authentically Creole literary discourse, one that finally expresses the Martiniquais reality, Chamoiseau and Confiant (as well as Bernabé, third and last author of Éloge de la créolité) found the «foundations of [their] being» in orality and its poetics in the Creole language. This belief was maily translated into their works in two ways: by representing the (diglossic) relationships occurring between their first languages (Creole and French) and by representing the Creole parole (orality) and its function. An analysis of our authors' literary and theoretical writings will enable us to show how two works that develop around the same themes and thesis have in fact produced very divergent results, which were perhaps already perceivable in the main ambiguities of their common manifestos.

Metamorfosi temporali e spaziali: dal “Revisore” di Nikolaj Gogol’ alla “Morte accidentale di un anarchico” di Dario Fo.

La tesi si propone di tracciare un confronto tra due autori molto distanti tra loro sia nel tempo che nello spazio: Nikolaj Gogol’ e Dario Fo; in particolare si analizzano le commedie Il Revisore di Gogol’ (1836) e Morte accidentale di un anarchico di Fo (1970). Il nesso tra le due opere è stato individuato dalla critica italiana (Franco Quadri, Ferdinando Taviani, Paolo Puppa). Tuttavia gli spunti interpretativi e comparativi non sono mai stati sviluppati appieno della critica. Nonostante le grandi distanze temporali e spaziali, l’analisi si propone dunque di evidenziare i numerosi motivi di consonanza tra le due opere e i due autori, che peraltro testimoniano anche della grande fortuna arrisa all’estero all’autore ucraino, attraverso la mediazione del teatro russo-sovietico del XX secolo. L’approccio metodologico adottato si fonda sui testi dei formalisti russi, di Lotman, sulla Stilkritik di Aurbach, sugli studi di Frye sulla Bibbia intesa come “grande canone” della letteratura occidentale, e soprattutto sull’analisi della cultura carnevalesca e popolare condotta da Bachtin. Lo studio è indirizzato su alcuni elementi precisi: la trama, lo scambio della personalità, l’impostura, la paura e il riso. Per ciascun di questi elementi è stata svolta l’analisi comparativa delle due opere, situandole in un contesto letterario e culturale che va all’antichità e al Medio Evo, dal quale entrambi gli autori mutuano molte suggestioni.

La canzone sociale in Italia e in Francia tra protesta, nazione e rivoluzione (1830-1870)

La tesi di ricerca si propone di esaminare due tipologie della canzone sociale nel XIX secolo, ed in particolare attorno al 1848. Lo studio del canto nei contesti presi in esame (l’Italia e la Francia) viene analizzato attraverso due piste di ricerca parallele tra loro. Da una parte si è utilizzato il concetto di sociabilité per conoscere i luoghi di produzione e di diffusione del canto (l’importanza della strada, dell’osteria, delle goguette parigine, degli chansonniers des rues e dei cantastorie) e le circostanze di utilizzazione della canzone (la canzone in quanto forma d’espressione orale ma anche come scrittura murale, foglio volante e volantino). Dall’altra l’analisi si è focalizzata sui contenuti dei testi musicali per mette in luce le differenti tematiche, le immagini linguistiche e le figure retoriche cantate dall’artigiano-operaio per far emergere le differenze dell’idea di nazione tra i due contesti presi in esame. L’attenzione posta alla comparazione condurrà all’evidenziazione di punti di contatto tra le due nazioni. Il canto, infatti, costituisce un terreno privilegiato per comprendere l’immagine dell’“altro”: quale immagine possedevano i lavoratori francesi dell’Italia risorgimentale? E gli artigiani italiani come percepivano la nazione francese? Il canto viene analizzato non solamente come un “testo” ma anche come una “pratica sociale”. Queste operazioni permetteranno di sondare più in profondità la funzione sociale svolta dalla canzone all’interno della cultura popolare e la sua importanza in quanto forma d’espressione e vettore di politicizzazione. La duplice utilizzazione del canto, in quanto “testo” e “pratica”, consente di inserire la ricerca all’interno di un filone storiografico che dalla storia sociale si muove a quella culturale. La canzone sociale rappresenta un fertile terreno di ricerca, non solamente all’interno di un singolo territorio nazionale, ma possiede un prezioso valore euristico in funzione comparativa.

Representations of the Human/ Nonhuman Primate Divide: the Influence of Science, Fiction, and Science-Fiction on the Concept of 'Being Human'

For as far back as human history can be traced, mankind has questioned what it means to be human. One of the most common approaches throughout Western culture's intellectual tradition in attempts to answering this question has been to compare humans with or against other animals. I argue that it was not until Charles Darwin's publication of The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) that Western culture was forced to seriously consider human identity in relation to the human/ nonhuman primate line. Since no thinker prior to Charles Darwin had caused such an identity crisis in Western thought, this interdisciplinary analysis of the history of how the human/ nonhuman primate line has been understood focuses on the reciprocal relationship of popular culture and scientific representations from 1871 to the Human Genome Consortium in 2000. Focusing on the concept coined as the "Darwin-Müller debate," representations of the human/ nonhuman primate line are traced through themes of language, intelligence, and claims of variation throughout the popular texts: Descent of Man, The Jungle Books (1894), Tarzan of the Apes (1914), and Planet of the Apes (1963). Additional themes such as the nature versus nurture debate and other comparative phenotypic attributes commonly used for comparison between man and apes are also analyzed. Such popular culture representations are compared with related or influential scientific research during the respective time period of each text to shed light on the reciprocal nature of Western intellectual tradition, popular notions of the human/ nonhuman primate line, and the development of the field of primatology. Ultimately this thesis shows that the Darwin-Müller debate is indeterminable, and such a lack of resolution makes man uncomfortable. Man's unsettled response and desire for self-knowledge further facilitates a continued search for answers to human identity. As the Human Genome Project has led to the rise of new debates, and primate research has become less anthropocentric over time, the mysteries of man's future have become more concerning than the questions of our past. The human/ nonhuman primate line is reduced to a 1% difference, and new debates have begun to overshadow the Darwin-Müller debate. In conclusion, I argue that human identity is best represented through the metaphor of evolution: both have an unknown beginning, both have an indeterminable future with no definite end, and like a species under the influence of evolution, what it means to be human is a constant, indeterminable process of change.

Must We Forgive?: Exploring the Limits and Possibilities of Forgiveness and Resentment

Conflict has marked civilization from Biblical times to the present day. Each of us, with our different and competing interests, and our desires to pursue those interests, have over time wronged another person. Not surprisingly then, forgiveness is a concern of individuals and groups¿communities, countries, religious groups, races¿yet it is a complex idea that philosophers, theologians, political scientists, and psychologists have grappled with. Some have argued that forgiveness is a therapeutic means for overcoming guilt, pain, and anger. Forgiveness is often portrayed as a coping mechanism¿how often we hear the phrase, ¿forgive and forget,¿ as an arrangement to help two parties surmount the complications of disagreement. But forgiveness is not simply a modus vivendi; the ability to forgive and conversely to ask for forgiveness, is counted as an admirable trait and virtue. This essay will explore the nature of forgiveness, which in Christian dogma is often posited as an unqualified virtue. The secular world has appropriated the Christian notion of forgiveness as such a virtue¿but are there instances wherein offering forgiveness is morally inappropriate or dangerous? I will consider the situations in which forgiveness, understood in this essay as the overcoming of resentment, may not be a virtue¿when perhaps maintaining resentment is as virtuous, if not more virtuous, than forgiving. I will explain the various ethical frameworks involved in understanding forgiveness as a virtue, and the relationship between them. I will argue that within Divine Command Theory forgiveness is a virtue¿and thus morally right¿because God commands it. This ethical system has established forgiveness as unconditional, an idea which has been adopted into popular culture. With virtue ethics in mind, which holds virtues to be those traits which benefit the person who possesses them, contributing to the good life, I will argue unqualified forgiveness is not always a virtue, as it will not always benefit the victim. Because there is no way to avoid wrongdoing, humans are confronted with the question of forgiveness with every indiscretion. Its limits, its possibilities, its relationship to one¿s character¿forgiveness is a concern of all people at some time if for no other reason than the plain fact that the past cannot be undone. I will be evaluating the idea of forgiveness as a virtue, in contrast to its counterpart, resentment. How can forgiveness be a response to evil, a way to renounce resentment, and a means of creating a positive self-narrative? And what happens when a sense of moral responsibility is impossible to reconcile with the Christian (and now, secularized imperative of) forgiveness? Is it ever not virtuous to forgive? In an attempt to answer that question I will argue that there are indeed times when forgiveness is not a virtue, specifically: when forgiveness compromises one¿s own self-respect; when it is not compatible with respect for the moral community; and when the offender is unapologetic. The kind of offense I have in mind is a dehumanizing one, one that intends to diminish another person¿s worth or humanity. These are moral injuries, to which I will argue resentment is a better response than forgiveness when the three qualifications cannot be met.

Public Drinking in the Early Modern World: Voices from the Tavern, 1500-1800

Until recently the role of the public drinking house has been approached from elitist, folkloric and anecdotal perspectives. The work of a new generation of social historians, however, has raised the tavern’s profile in the academic consciousness and confirmed its position within the mainstream of social and cultural history. It is now recognized that an understanding of the centrality of public drinking to the development of both elite and popular culture is vital to studies of social behaviour. The study of taverns has also been at the forefront of emerging interest in the history of consumption and material culture, and has contributed to a richer understanding of economic history. Constructions of gender and identity are also visible through research into the patterns of behaviour and discourse in and around the public house. This four-volume reset edition presents a wide-ranging collection of primary sources which uncover the language and behaviour of local and state authorities, of peasants and town-dwellers, and of drinking companions and irate wives. The documents are translated and set in their social and historical context, providing a multidisciplinary collection that will be of great importance to scholars of all areas of social and cultural history of the early modern period. The vast majority of this material is published here for the first time, ensuring that the collection will open up new avenues of research. Volume 1 draws heavily from the Parisian police archives and includes inspectors’ reports, complaints by the general public and details of court cases to build a picture of drinking in early modern France. Volumes 2 and 3 address public drinking in the Holy Roman Empire through a variety of chronicles, civic ordinances, court records, travel reports and surveys of public houses. Volume 4 locates taverns within a broader analysis of America’s public houses, drawing on visual material as well as journal entries, business reports and newspaper articles. Each volume is accompanied by editorial introductions and is annotated to provide readers with a high-quality resource of scholarly material.

Host cell responses of Salmonella typhimurium infected human dendritic cells

Live attenuated Salmonella are attractive vaccine candidates for mucosal application because they induce both mucosal immune responses and systematic immune responses. After breaking the epithelium barrier, Salmonella typhimurium is found within dendritic cells (DC) in the Peyer's patches. Although there are abundant data on the interaction of S. typhimurium with murine epithelial cells, macrophages and DC, little is known about its interaction with human DC. Live attenuated S. typhimurium have recently been shown to efficiently infect human DC in vitro and induce production of cytokines. In this study, we have analysed the morphological consequences of infection of human DC by the attenuated S. typhimurium mutant strains designated PhoPc, AroA and SipB and the wild-type strains of the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA, USA), ATCC 14028 and ATCC C53, by electron microscopy at 30 min, 3 h and 24 h after exposure. Our results show that genetic background of the strains profoundly influence DC morphology following infection. The changes included (i) membrane ruffling; (ii) formation of tight or spacious phagosomes; (iii) apoptosis; and (iv) spherical, pedunculated membrane-bound microvesicles that project from the plasma membrane. Despite the fact that membrane ruffling was much more pronounced with the two virulent strains, all mutants were taken up by the DC. The microvesicles were induced by all the attenuated strains, including SipB, which did not induce apoptosis in the host cell. These results suggest that Salmonella is internalized by human DC, inducing morphological changes in the DC that could explain immunogenicity of the attenuated strains.