Una bella roba. ‘Novellare’ als Erzählkonzept in Boccaccios ›Decameron‹

Der narrative Entwurf von Boccaccios ›Decameron‹ und Boccaccios theoretische Reflexionen über das Erzählen stehen klar im Fluchtpunkt der horazischen Lehre des prodesse et delectare. Vor diesem Horizont entwickelt Boccaccio sein Konzept des novellare, das einerseits ein ‚Wiedererzählen’ (analog zu mhd. erniuwen) beinhaltet und andererseits zu einer neuen Autonomie des Erzählens vorstößt. Beobachten lässt sich dieser Vorgang des Erneuerns weniger in Boccaccios theoretischen Ausführungen (etwa im Schlusswort des ›Decameron‹ oder in den ›Genealogie deorum gentilium‹) als in seiner dichterischen Praxis. Als Schlüsseltext wird im Vortrag die Novelle von der duldsamen Griselda herangezogen, die das ›Decameron‹ beschließt und die mit den Worten una bella roba endet. Das ‚schöne Kleid’ ist einerseits traditionelle Dichtungsmetapher (im Horizont des investire bzw. integumentum), andererseits intradiegetischer Bestandteil des Erzähl-‚Stoffs’ der Novelle. Bei Boccaccio dürfte das Gewand der Griselda, zusammen mit deren wiederholt thematisierter Nacktheit, dazu dienen, eine in die Novelle verpackte stoische Lehre zu vergegenwärtigen, diese in eine Erzählung ‚einzukleiden’. Das Kleid der Griselda wird so zur ‚Pathosformel’ (in der Begrifflichkeit A. Warburgs) bzw. zum ‚Faltenwurf’ (in der Begrifflichkeit G. Didi-Hubermans), mithin zur Verkörperung eines ‚neuen Erzählens’, das sich (im Gegensatz etwa zu Dante) von metaphysischen Entwürfen emanzipiert und in der Autonomie sprachlicher Kunstfertigkeit, bis an die Grenzen des Erzählbaren gehend und didaktische Ansprüche überwindend, die Möglichkeiten literarischer Darstellung ausreizt. Von den Zeitgenossen wurde dieses Experiment zwar wahrgenommen, in seinen Dimensionen aber nur ansatzweise erkannt. Symptomatisch für diese Form der Rezeption ist Petrarcas lateinische Übersetzung der ›Griselda‹-Novelle (›Seniles‹, XVII,3), wobei der Verfasser – seinerseits die Kleidermetaphorik bemühend – das Übersetzen als ein stilo alio retexere auffasst und seine Version den (wohl vorwiegend männlich intendierten Lesern) als auf Gott hin orientierte Lehre anempfiehlt: ut legentes ad imitandam saltem femine constantiam excitarem, ut [...] hoc prestare Deo nostro audeant. Diese Rückführung von Boccaccios erzählerischem Wagnis ins Didaktische zeigt sich auch in der Rezeption von Petrarcas Übersetzung, durch welche die Novelle im Europa des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts weite Verbreitung fand: In einer der Haupthandschriften von Chaucers ›Canterbury Tales‹, dem Hengwrt Manuscript (Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales), wird die auf der ›Griselda‹-Novelle aufbauende Erzählung des Scholaren (›The Clerk’s Tale‹) mit Bestandteilen aus Petrarcas Übersetzung glossiert; in einer Handschrift aus dem Besitz des Nürnberger Humanisten Hartmann Schedel (München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 504) wird Petrarcas Konzept des stilo alio retexere erläutert als: claram facere, nudare [...], aperire, wobei hier die in Boccaccios Novelle intradiegetisch enthaltene Spannung von ‚Einkleidung’ und ‚Nacktheit’ auf einer lehrhaften Ebene fortwirkt.

Breastfeeding-Associated Hypernatremia: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

There are increasing reports on hypernatremia, a potentially devastating condition, in exclusively breastfed newborn infants. Our purposes were to describe the clinical features of the condition and identify the risk factors for it. We performed a review of the existing literature in the National Library of Medicine database and in the search engine Google Scholar. A total of 115 reports were included in the final analysis. Breastfeeding-associated neonatal hypernatremia was recognized in infants who were ≤ 21 days of age and had ≥ 10% weight loss of birth weight. Cesarean delivery, primiparity, breast anomalies or breastfeeding problems, excessive prepregnancy maternal weight, delayed first breastfeeding, lack of previous breastfeeding experience, and low maternal education level were significantly associated with breastfeeding-associated hypernatremia. In addition to excessive weight loss (≥ 10%), the following clinical findings were observed: poor feeding, poor hydration state, jaundice, excessive body temperature, irritability or lethargy, decreased urine output, and epileptic seizures. In conclusion, the present survey of the literature identifies the following risk factors for breastfeeding-associated neonatal hypernatremia: cesarean delivery, primiparity, breastfeeding problems, excessive maternal body weight, delayed breastfeeding, lack of previous breastfeeding experience, and low maternal education level.

Political Education and First-Time Voting in Switzerland

The proposed paper investigates the effect of political education on first-time voting in Switzerland. Theoretically, the paper takes up assumptions of recent research that political education is positively related to political interest, and hence to political participation. Thereby, the paper adds to the literature in two aspects: First, in Switzerland, education is a cantonal matter presenting a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of political education on voting on individual as well as cantonal level. Second, political education is not only measured by political knowledge, but also by civic skills and attitudes acquired in school. Conceptually, the study adopts a multilevel approach permitting a simultaneous testing of the influence of individual and contextual determinants on electoral participation. This paper corresponds closely to the panel topic by examining the important question of how political education affects the voting behaviour of first-time voters not only on individual, but also on contextual level.

Finite volume effects in chiral perturbation theory with twisted boundary conditions

We study the effects of a finite cubic volume with twisted boundary conditions on pseudoscalar mesons. We apply Chiral Perturbation Theory in the p-regime and introduce the twist by means of a constant vector field. The corrections of masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants and form factors are calculated at next-to-leading order. We detail the derivations and compare with results available in the literature. In some case there is disagreement due to a different treatment of new extra terms generated from the breaking of the cubic invariance. We advocate to treat such terms as renormalization terms of the twisting angles and reabsorb them in the on-shell conditions. We confirm that the corrections of masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants are related by means of chiral Ward identities. Furthermore, we show that the matrix elements of the scalar (resp. vector) form factor satisfies the Feynman–Hellman Theorem (resp. the Ward–Takahashi identity). To show the Ward–Takahashi identity we construct an effective field theory for charged pions which is invariant under electromagnetic gauge transformations and which reproduces the results obtained with Chiral Perturbation Theory at a vanishing momentum transfer. This generalizes considerations previously published for periodic boundary conditions to twisted boundary conditions. Another method to estimate the corrections in finite volume are asymptotic formulae. Asymptotic formulae were introduced by Lüscher and relate the corrections of a given physical quantity to an integral of a specific amplitude, evaluated in infinite volume. Here, we revise the original derivation of Lüscher and generalize it to finite volume with twisted boundary conditions. In some cases, the derivation involves complications due to extra terms generated from the breaking of the cubic invariance. We isolate such terms and treat them as renormalization terms just as done before. In that way, we derive asymptotic formulae for masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants and scalar form factors. At the same time, we derive also asymptotic formulae for renormalization terms. We apply all these formulae in combination with Chiral Perturbation Theory and estimate the corrections beyond next-to-leading order. We show that asymptotic formulae for masses, decay constants, pseudoscalar coupling constants are related by means of chiral Ward identities. A similar relation connects in an independent way asymptotic formulae for renormalization terms. We check these relations for charged pions through a direct calculation. To conclude, a numerical analysis quantifies the importance of finite volume corrections at next-to-leading order and beyond. We perform a generic Analysis and illustrate two possible applications to real simulations.

Influence of catchment quality and altitude on the water and sediment composition of 68 small lakes in Central Europe

68 lakes (63 Swiss, 2 French and 3 Italian) located in an altitudinal range between 334 and 2339m spanning a wide range of land-use have been investigated. The aim of the study was to discuss influences of geographic location, vegetation and land-use in the catchment area on the water and sediment chemistry of small lakes. Detailed quantitative description of land-use, vegetation, and climate in the watershed of all lakes was established. Surface and bottom water samples collected from each lake were analyzed for major ions and nutrients. Correlations were interpreted using linear regression analysis. Chemical parameters of water and sediment reflect the characteristics of the catchment areas. All lakes were alkaline since they were situated on calcareous bedrock. Concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus strongly increase with increasing agricultural land-use. Na and K, however, are positively correlated with the amount of urbanization within the catchment area. These elements as well as dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Mg, Ca, and alkalinity, increase when the catchment is urbanized or used for agriculture. Total nitrogen and organic carbon in the sediments decrease distinctly if large parts of the catchment consist of bare land. No correlations between sediment composition and maximum water depth or altitude of the lakes were found.¶Striking differences in the water compositions of lakes above and below approximately 700 m of altitude were observed. Concentrations of total nitrogen and nitrate, total phosphorus, DOC, Na, K, Mg, Ca, and alkalinity are distinctly higher in most lakes below 700 m than above, and the pH of the bottom waters of these lakes is generally lower. Estimates of total nitrogen concentrations, even in remote areas, indicate that precipitation is responsible for increased background concentrations. At lower altitudes nitrogen concentrations in lakes is explained by the nitrogen loaded rain from urban areas deposited on the catchment, and with high percentages of agricultural land-use in the watershed.

Hole in the Head: a Play, Accompanied by a Conspectus of Knowledge, Both Repressed and Researched, that Directly Influenced the Playwright in Her Development of a New Work

"Hole in the Head" is a play about a woman who wakes up. Maude wakes up in the first act, and in every subsequent scene she undergoes some form of physical or emotional awakening as characters walk in and out of her front door."Hole in the Head" is accompanied by an introduction that attempts to understand the interplay between creativity and academia through an analysis of theatre, feminist and queer theory, and science.

Shakespeare's Richard II and Henry V and Political Rebellions in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I

The purpose of this thesis will be to examine how two acts of rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I influenced Shakespeare's writing of Richard II and Henry V, as well as the performance and publication of these plays. The treasonous plots and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots in the 1580s, as well as the failed Essex Rebellion of 1601, resulted in a sensitivity towards any writings that seemed to support a coup d'état. Shakespeare, being a well-informed and fairly well-connected playwright, wrote passages in the afore mentioned plays that clearly reflect the political turmoil of the times. Thus, his plays were censored both on stage and in print until after the death of Elizabeth in 1603.