El maestro: un artesano del lenguaje. Escritura y experiencia estética de la palabra

 La identidad de una obra expresada a través de la escritura se teje en las voces y esfuerzos que se encarnan en memoria y dejan huella en el relato. El maestro es acción de este lenguaje movido por el his­torial social y cultural que permite hacer de la escritura un oficio ético y estético donde la mano construye y nombra las emociones que atraviesan al cuerpo. La escritura es el testimonio vital del maestro como artesa­no; es el arte del lenguaje que sale de su silencio con la lectura del relato, pero es, además, la potencia del pensamiento pues­to en pretexto estético donde se pregunta y se reflexiona por el tiempo y por el espacio de la palabra, es decir, las cronologías, kairologías, territorialidades y escenarios de las esferas educativas.Sobre estos presupuestos se propone una discusión pedagógica en torno a la necesidad de pensar la escritura artesanal como intención estética y política donde se plasma el testimonio del compromiso ético del maestro, pero también la perspectiva de los nuevos retos que la educación debe asu­mir para reencontrar el lenguaje con la vida y con las herencias socioculturales que dan cuenta del sujeto y de las subjetividades que confluyen en los procesos de formación, y que tienen despliegue y búsqueda en el escenario creativo y productivo de la escri­tura. Se intentará, entonces, reivindicar una pedagogía de la posibilidad en el lenguaje, una narratividad donde la memoria traza un puente para el encuentro de épocas, de rostros, de acontecimientos, de silencios y de saberes, donde el maestro está llamado a tejer, tallar, dibujar, componer y comu­nicar las artesanías que la educación ha olvidado, es decir, recuperar la memoria estética, lo cual también implica un olvido de las formas hegemónicas del arte.

Análisis comparativo del tratamiento de la noticia, entre los diarios "El Universo" y "El Telégrafo" durante y después de los sucesos del 30 de septiembre de 2010

Esta investigación se centra en un análisis comparativo de dos medios de circulación nacional, Diario El Telégrafo y Diario El Universo, con el fin de determinar el tratamiento de la noticia que cada rotativo le dio a un tema de interés general: el 30 de Septiembre de 2010. En el capítulo I realizamos un acercamiento a la relación entre la Prensa y el Gobierno. Se pudo evidenciar quehistóricamente en nuestro país, Ecuador, han existido roces entre ambos;por lo que creímos pertinente consultar autores y diarios de distintas épocas, que expongan esta situación y contextualicen nuestro trabajo. En el capítulo II, parasustentar la investigación, se revisaron varios teóricos; entre ellos, JürgenHabermas, con sus teorías de la Acción Comunicativa y de la de Opinión Pública, así como Elizabeth Noelle Neumann con la Espiral del Silencio. Nuestra tesis se apoya también en las teorías de la Aguja Hipodérmica y de la Semiótica. En el capítulo III, se inicia el análisis comparativo del tratamiento de la noticia entre Diario “El Universo” y Diario “El Telégrafo”, tomando como herramienta metodológica principal elanálisis de contenido, que sirve de base para el estudio de cada una de las ediciones de los periódicos revisados. En el capítulo IV se realizó el análisis de contenido desde lo cuantitativo en base a tablas estadísticas.Durante el tiempo investigado (30 de septiembre al 31 de octubre de 2010) se tomaron en cuenta todas las notas relacionadas a los acontecimientos que nos atañen. Finalmente, las conclusiones nos remiten a los siguientes conceptos después de la investigación: Diario El Universo y Diario El Telégrafo, son medios ideológicamente opuestos, aunque su agenda mediática ante una situación de tal magnitud se parece mucho. En el tratamiento que le da cada rotativo a las noticias, se evidenció en general mayor contundencia y análisis de los hechos en Diario El Universo, por la cantidad de información presentada, así como por el contraste de fuentes; sin que esto signifique el desmerecimiento al trabajo periodístico llevado a cabo por Diario El Telégrafo.

Maan korvessa kulkevi – Evakkolasten kasvukokemusten tunnemuistot ja hyvinvointi

Tutkimus tarkastelee luovutetusta Karjalasta lähtöisin olevien evakkolasten tunnemuistoja ja niiden yhteyttä myöhempään hyvinvointiin. Keskiössä ovat koti- ja koulukasvatusta muistelevien ikäihmisten kokemukset. Tutkimus on kasvatushistoriallinen ja tieteidenvälinen. Se liikkuu historian sekä yhteiskunta- ja käyttäytymistieteiden rajapinnoilla. Aineiston 631 kyselyvastausta ja 11 haastattelua on analysoitu monimetodisesti tilastollisen ja sisällön analyysin avulla. Tulosten mukaan ikääntyvät evakkolapset voivat pääsääntöisesti hyvin. He ovat kotikasvatuksessaan omaksuneet vahvat selviytymis- ja sopeutumistaidot sekä sisukkuuden. Kodin kasvatusilmapiiri on menetyksistä huolimatta koettu turvalliseksi. Kasvatuksessa omaksutuissa sananlaskuissa korostuu vahvimmin tulevaisuuden toivosta kiinni pitäminen. Kasvatusmetodit myötäilevät suomalaista kasvatustraditiota, jossa lapsia on enimmäkseen palkittu hyvästä työstä sanallisesti ja rangaistu tottelemattomuudesta ruumiillisesti. Surua ja menetyksiä on käsitelty vaikenemalla. Yhdeksi elämää kannattelevaksi voimaksi ovat osoittautuneet laulut, joista suosituin oli Maan korvessa kulkevi lapsosen tie. Kasvatusperintönä evakkolapset haluavat jättää mallin työteliäästä, rehellisestä, toiset huomioivasta ja juuristaan tietoisesta kansalaisesta. Koulukokemusten osalta tutkimus osoittaa kantaväestöstä poikkeavan uskonnollisen ja kielellisen taustan olleen merkittävin syrjityksi tulemisen syy. Ortodoksitaustaisilla lapsilla oli muita evakkolapsia enemmän kiusaamiskokemuksia. Metaforien avulla kuvatuista tunnemuistoista löytyi kuusi erilaista selviytyjätyyppiä: selviytyjäsankarit, identiteetin etsijät, optimistiset toimijat, trauman työstäjät, kohtalonsa hyväksyjät ja menetysten kantajat. Valtaosa evakkolapsista kuuluu positiivista tunnemuistoa kantavien ryhmään. Kielteisillä tunnemuistoilla on tilastollisesti merkitsevä negatiivinen yhteys ikääntyvän hyvinvointiin. Tutkimus lisää ymmärrystä evakkolasten kasvukokemuksista ja tarjoaa uutta tietoa heidän selviytymisestään ja hyvinvoinnistaan. Tutkimus osoittaa evakkolasten tasapainoisen kotikasvatuksen, vastavuoroisten vertaissuhteiden ja suositun oppilaan aseman vahvistavan yhteisöön kuulumista ja sosiaalista pystyvyyttä sekä olevan hyvinvoinnin positiivisia tekijöitä. Kodin melankolisuudella, eristyneisyydellä ja koulukiusaamisella on negatiivinen yhteys hyvinvointiin. Tuloksia voidaan soveltaa nykypäivän pakolaislasten kotouttamiseen, jossa ensiarvoisen tärkeää on perheiden osallisuuden ja integroitumisen tukeminen uudessa ympäristössä. Tämän onnistumiseksi on tärkeää huomioida lasten yksilölliset selviytymisstrategiat ja käsitellä kodin menetystraumaa.

Obligation des États de coopérer en droit international des cours d’eau transfrontaliers : état du droit et étude du cas Chinois

Le principe de coopération est considéré depuis longtemps comme l’une des pierres angulaires du droit international, toutefois, l’existence d’une obligation de coopérer en droit international reste encore controversée. Les ressources en eau, à cause de leur fluidité et de leurs multiples usages, démontrent toujours l’interdépendance humaine. En matière de cours d’eau transfrontaliers, la Convention de New York inclut explicitement dans son texte l’obligation générale de coopérer comme l’un de ses trois principes fondamentaux. Il nous incombe alors de voir quelle obligation de coopérer les États souverains s’imposent dans leurs pratiques ? Pour répondre à cette question, nous procédons tout d’abord à une étude positiviste du contenu normatif de l’obligation de coopérer. Nous constatons que l’incorporation de la notion de l’obligation de coopérer dans le principe de la souveraineté est une tendance manifeste du droit international qui a évolué du droit de coexistence composé principalement des règles d’abstention, au droit de coopération qui comporte essentiellement des obligations positives de facere, dont la plus représentative est l’obligation de coopérer. Néanmoins, il n’existe pas de modèle unique d’application pour tous les États, chaque bassin disposant de son propre régime coopératif. Pour mesurer l’ampleur des régimes coopératifs, nous étudions cinq paramètres : le champ d’application, les règles substantielles, les règles procédurales, les arrangements institutionnels et le règlement des différends. Quatres modèles de coopération ressortent : le mécanisme consultatif (l’Indus), le mécanisme communicateur (le Mékong), le mécanisme de coordination (le Rhin) et le mécanisme d’action conjointe (le fleuve Sénégal). Pour ce qui est de la Chine, il s’agit de l’État d’amont en voie de développement le plus important dans le monde qui a longtemps été critiqué pour son approche unilatérale dans le développement des eaux transfrontières. Nous ne pouvons pas cependant passer sous silence les pratiques de coopération qu’elle a développées avec ses voisins. Quelle est son interprétation de cette obligation générale de coopérer ? Notre étude des pratiques de la Chine nous aide, en prenant du recul, à mieux comprendre tous les aspects de cette obligation de coopérer en droit international. Afin d’expliquer les raisons qui se cachent derrière son choix de mode de coopération, nous introduisons une analyse constructiviste qui est plus explicative que descriptive. Nous soutenons que ce sont les identités de la Chine qui ont déterminé son choix de coopération en matière de cours d’eau transfrontaliers. Notre étude en vient à la conclusion que même s’il y a des règles généralement reconnues, l’obligation de coopérer reste une règle émergente en droit international coutumier. Ses modes d’application sont en réalité une construction sociale qui évolue et qui peut varier énormément selon les facteurs culturels, historiques ou économiques des États riverains, en d’autres mots, selon les identités de ces États. La Chine est un État d’amont en voie de développement qui continue à insister sur le principe de la souveraineté. Par conséquent, elle opte pour son propre mécanisme consultatif de coopération pour l’utilisation des ressources en eau transfrontalières. Néanmoins, avec l’évolution de ses identités en tant que superpuissance émergente, nous pouvons probablement espérer qu’au lieu de rechercher un pouvoir hégémonique et d’appliquer une stratégie unilatérale sur l’utilisation des ressources en eau transfrontalières, la Chine adoptera une stratégie plus coopérative et plus participative dans l’avenir.

O fim sob o olhar da inocência : Representações da morte na infância

A morte suscita-nos grande inquietação (e.g., Oliveira, 2008). Especialmente entre as crianças, perdidas na incompreensão, silêncio e repressão psicológica por parte dos adultos. Nesta investigação averiguamos as representações sociais, da morte e da vida, entre crianças dos 8 aos 11 anos, escolarizadas de ambos os sexos. As meninas representam a morte pelo medo que suscita, e pela sua dimensão ritualista, enquanto que os meninos a percecionam sobretudo por sentimento de mal-estar e impotência. Sobre a vida, os meninos evidenciam uma visão mais hedonista do que elas, que salientam a interação com o outro e as questões afetivo-emocionais. As representações das raparigas aproximam-se mais das dos sujeitos de 10-11 anos, enquanto que as dos rapazes se aproximam das dos participantes de 8-9 anos. Esperamos contribuir para o modo como as crianças representam a morte e, para uma educação para a morte e para a vida. ABSTRACT; Death rouses great uneasiness (e.g., Oliveira, 2008). Especially among children who are lost amid the incomprehension, silence and psychological repression of adults. This research examines social representations of life and death among school attending children of both sexes, between the ages of 8 and 11 years old. Girls represent death for both the fear it rouses and its ritualistic dimension, while boys mostly perceive it as a feeling of uneasiness and impotence. Regarding life, boys show a more hedonistic vision than girls, who give relevance to interacting with. others, and to affective and emotional issues. The representations of girls are closer to those of the 10-11-year-old subjects, while the representations of boys are closer to those of the 8-9-year-old participants. We hope to contribute to the way children represent death, and to an education on death and life.

Le créateur littéraire et la fantaisie

Le créateur littéraire et la fantaisie est le texte d’une conférence prononcée par Freud à Vienne le 6 décembre 1906 et qui a eu un certain retentissement à l’époque. Son accueil par le public ce jour-là et, le lendemain, par le grand journal viennois Die Zeit, contraste avec celui que L’Interprétation des Rêves avait reçu sept ans plus tôt1 . Après le silence, la réticence, c’est désormais la reconnaissance, le début même d’une certaine renommée. Le texte de cette conférence s’insère dans le cadre des études que Freud a lancées depuis quelques années et qu’il appelle ‘psychologie appliquée’ (angewandte Seelenkunde), auxquelles participent des gens comme Abraham, Jung, Jones, Rank et Pfister. Lui-même va bientôt publier sa Gradiva dans cette collection.

The outset of mental torture. Through the lens of the Ticking Time Bomb Scenario

No doubt shall be placed when qualifying torture as one of the cruellest crime offences against human beings. It is widely known that the first torture practices go back to the Middle Ages, where torture mechanisms and devices were used as a legitimate means of punishment, extraction of confessions or executions. Brutal techniques such as ‘Judas Cradle’, ‘The Rack’ or the ‘Rat Torture’ were indeed, the ones commonly used. Moreover, some centuries onwards, torture warrants were permitted and authorised by Privy Councils in legislations such as the English one. However, examples like that were the only ones which public accountability was given to, whereas off-the-book practices remained in silence in other countries for long lasting years. Nowadays, in the 21st century, there are innumerable enforced laws and provisions that prohibit the act of torture, to be precise, physical and psychological torture. Nonetheless, not only are these legislations necessary for fighting torture, but also ad hoc courts and specialised committees continuously report the existence of this crime offence.

A Feminist Affective Turn for Public Relations: Mothers, Passionate Publics, and the Childhood Vaccine Debate

This project proposes a feminist intervention in how affect and publics are theorized in public relations research. Drawing from extant literature, I argue that public relations theories of affect and publics have been apolitical and lack depth and context (Leitch & Motion, 2010a). Using the context of the online childhood vaccine debate, I illustrate several theories and concepts of the new feminist affective turn, as well as postmodern theories of affect, relevant to public relations research: (a) Public Feelings, “ugly” feelings, agency, and community (Cvetkovich, 2012; Ngai, 2007); (b) passionate politics (Mouffe, 2014); (c) postmodern assemblages, biopower, and body politics (Deleuze & Guattari, 1988; Foucault, 1984); (d) affective facts and logics of future threats (Massumi, 2010); and (e) affective ethics (Bertleson & Murphie, 2010). Scholarship in the areas of public relations, risk, feminist and postmodern affect theory, and the vaccine debate provided theoretical grounding for this project. My research questions asked: How is feminist affect theory embodied by mothers in the vaccine debate? How do mothers understand risks as affective facts in the vaccine debate (if at all)? What affective logics are used by mothers in the vaccine debate (if any)? And, What are sources of knowledge for mothers in the vaccine debate? Multi-sited online ethnographic methods were used to explore how feminist affect theory contributes to public relations research, including 29 one-on-one in-depth interviews with mothers of young children and participant observation of 15 online discussions about vaccines on parenting websites BabyCenter.com, TheBump.com, and WhatToExpect.com. I used snowball sampling to recruit interview participants and grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to analyze interview and online data. Results show that feminist affect theory contributes to theoretical and practical knowledge in public relations by politicizing and contextualizing understandings of publics and elucidating how affective facts and logics inform publics’ knowledge and choices, specifically in the context of risk. I also found evidence of suppression of dissent (Martin, 2015) and academic bias in vaccine debate research, which resulted in cultures of silence. Further areas of study included how specific contexts such as motherhood and issues of privilege and access affect publics’ experiences, knowledges, and choices.

The Issue with Issues Management: An Engagement Approach to Integrate Gender and Emotion into Issues Management

Using sexual assault on college campuses as a context for interrogating issues management, this study offers a normative model for inclusive issues management through an engagement approach that can better account for the gendered and emotional dimensions of issues. Because public relations literature and research have offered little theoretical or practical guidance for how issues managers can most effectively deal with issues such as sexual assault, this study represents a promising step forward. Results for this study were obtained through 32 in-depth interviews with university issues managers, six focus groups with student populations, and approximately 92 hours of participant observation. By focusing on inclusion, this revised model works to have utility for an array of issues that have previously fallen outside of the dominant masculine and rationale spheres that have worked to silence marginalized publics’ experiences. Through adapting previous issues management models to focus on inclusion at the heart of a strategic process, and engagement as the strategy for achieving this, this study offers a framework for ensuring more voices are heard—which enables organizations to more effectively communicate with their publics. Additionally, findings from this research may also help practitioners at different types of organizations develop better, and proactive, communication strategies for handling emotional and gendered issues as to avoid negative media attention and work to change organizational culture.

Dramaturgia do aqui e agora: presença, recepção e sentido no corpo do ator

The actor is an actor during all the phases of creation and development of his character. (S) He goes beyond the moment of interpreting. In this sense, in her (his) daily life, the actor may use her (his) potential to extract from reality the necessary elements for the work of creation. This is a theoretical research which focus on the concept of presence in the actor s work, stretching the concept beyond the scene, encompassing different components such as the body, the word, the silence, the technique and the acting as the actor s stance in regards to his own reality. The objective of such stance is to integrate him (her) self in the environment, balancing his (hers) inner life with the outside life flow. To reach this objective, the research drew theoretical resources from the concept of presence in the actor s work according to BROOK, BARBA, GROTOWSKI and MNOUCHKINE and the studies on reception theory in ISER, 1996; GUMBRECHT, 2010. Thus, the dialogue between reader and actor high lights both as receivers in this work. A practical description of a street theater Kamchàtka show, featured by the Kamchàtka Company is used as an example of the research on the presence. The elements localized in this show are: play, listening, word, silence, meaning, relationship with here and now and the effects of the said presence

WOMEN, CYCLING, AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE: HOW DISCURSIVE AND COMMUNITY PRACTICES AFFECT ENGAGEMENT

This thesis considers the impact that discursive and community practices have on women’s access to the public sphere by examining female cyclists and a cycling community in Miami, Florida via interviews and observation. In the interviews, female cyclists frequently reported fears for their safety, including concern over harassment, when riding in public space. I interviewed participants of the cycling community and observed Emerge Miami’s meetings and events, where publicly organized cycling excursions were a major component. Using the theoretical and methodological lenses of Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis and Communities of Practice, I examined the interviews to understand how participants discursively framed and contextualized gender-based harassment. I found two meta-discourse frames in operation: a normative frame (that essentially accepted the status quo) and a feminist frame (that challenged the “naturalness” of women’s harassment as just what one had to live with). The feminist frame offered a pathway for women to exert control over their experiences and alter the cultural understanding of harassment’s meaning and effect. The local community practices of Emerge Miami also challenged the normative frames that often silence women, employing explicitly invitational practices, which demonstrates how local discursive and social activity can impact and increase women’s involvement by creating a more accessible space for women to engage with their local cycling community.

Testimonios de un Pasado Imperfecto : Vida Cotidiana de Mujeres bajo Dictadura en Valparaíso y Viña del Mar, Chile 1980-1987

Este proyecto de investigación se caracteriza como estudio histórico-etnográfica basado en estudios de casos de la vida cotidiana de nueve mujeres en Valparaíso y Viña del Mar durante la dictadura chilena, analizando el testimonio de los efectos del régimen autoritario en la vida cotidiana de estas mujeres chilenas entre 1980 y 1987. La metodología se radica firmemente en el método etnográfico con entrevistas semi-abiertas y el análisis del discurso de los relatos. En la metáfora de la arpillera (un tapiz anónimo cosido en lona ensamblado a partir de piezas de tela que muestra escenas de la vida cotidiana o protesta la dictadura de Pinochet), trozos y pedazos de experiencia se juntan en el encima de la lona de la historia para dar forma al testimonio de vida la vida cotidiana. Este proyecto se centra en tres aspectos diferentes de la relación entre el Estado autoritario y la vida cotidiana: las técnicas de gobernabilidad (macro), narraciones de silencio y miedo (micro) y trayectorias narrados (espacial), el último inspirado por el ensayo Halbwachs en caminar por la ciudad. Para cerrar, la relevancia del estudio se destaca por el intento de comprender el efecto de un estado autoritario en el sujeto femenino y las respuestas y adaptaciones que las mujeres chilenas adoptaron en la vida privada y pública mediada por la violencia y el miedo bajo dictadura. La dialéctica del acontecimiento y la rutina de la vida cotidiana bajo la dictadura se unen en las memorias narradas, mediada por el presente vivido, lo cual permite una reflexión sobre la cuestión de la alteridad en la sociedad chilena.Este proyecto de investigación se caracteriza como estudio histórico-etnográfica basado en estudios de casos de la vida cotidiana de nueve mujeres en Valparaíso y Viña del Mar durante la dictadura chilena, analizando el testimonio de los efectos del régimen autoritario en la vida cotidiana de estas mujeres chilenas entre 1980 y 1987. La metodología se radica firmemente en el método etnográfico con entrevistas semi-abiertas y el análisis del discurso de los relatos. En la metáfora de la arpillera (un tapiz anónimo cosido en lona ensamblado a partir de piezas de tela que muestra escenas de la vida cotidiana o protesta la dictadura de Pinochet), trozos y pedazos de experiencia se juntan en el encima de la lona de la historia para dar forma al testimonio de vida la vida cotidiana. Este proyecto se centra en tres aspectos diferentes de la relación entre el Estado autoritario y la vida cotidiana: las técnicas de gobernabilidad (macro), narraciones de silencio y miedo (micro) y trayectorias narrados (espacial), el último inspirado por el ensayo Halbwachs en caminar por la ciudad. Para cerrar, la relevancia del estudio se destaca por el intento de comprender el efecto de un estado autoritario en el sujeto femenino y las respuestas y adaptaciones que las mujeres chilenas adoptaron en la vida privada y pública mediada por la violencia y el miedo bajo dictadura. La dialéctica del acontecimiento y la rutina de la vida cotidiana bajo la dictadura se unen en las memorias narradas, mediada por el presente vivido, lo cual permite una reflexión sobre la cuestión de la alteridad en la sociedad chilena.

The Ultimate Secrecy: Feminist Readings of Masculine Trauma in Vietnam War Literature

It is a widely acknowledged and often unquestioned fact that patriarchy and its modes of behaviour and social organization favour the appearance of trauma on the weakest (and defenceless) members of society: women. In the last decades, trauma seems to have taken the baton of typically female maladies such as 19th c. hysteria or 20th c. madness. Feminists in the 20th c. have long worked to prove the connection between the latter affections (and their reflection in literary texts) and patriarchal oppression or expectations of feminine behaviour and accordance to roles and rules. With Trauma Studies on the rise, the approach to the idea of the untold as related to femininity is manifold: on the one hand, is not trauma, which precludes telling about one’s own experience and keeps it locked not only from the others, but also from ourselves, the ultimate secrecy? On the other hand, when analyzing works that reflect trauma, one is astounded by the high number of them with a female protagonist and an almost all-female cast: in this sense, a ‘feminist’ reading is almost compulsory, in the sense that it is usually the author’s assumption that patriarchal systems of exploitation and expectations favour traumatic events and their outcome (silence and secrets) on the powerless, usually women. Often, traumatic texts combine feminism with other analytical discourses (one of the topics proposed for this panel): Toni Morrison’s study of traumatic responses in The Bluest Eye and Beloved cannot be untangled from her critique of slavery; just as much of Chicana feminism and its representations of rape and abuse (two main agents of trauma) analyze the nexus of patriarchy, new forms of post-colonialism, and the dynamics of power and powerlessness in ethnic contexts. Within this tradition that establishes the secrecies of trauma as an almost exclusively feminine characteristic, one is however faced with texts which have traumatized males as protagonists: curiously enough, most of these characters have suffered trauma through a typically masculine experience: that of war and its aftermath. By analyzing novels dealing with war veterans from Vietnam or the Second World War, the astounding findings are the frequent mixture of masculine or even ‘macho’ values and the denial of any kind of ‘feminine’ characteristics, combined with a very strict set of rules of power and hierarchy that clearly establish who is empowered and who is powerless. It is our argument that this replication of patriarchal modes of domination, which place the lowest ranks of the army in a ‘feminine’ situation, blended with the compulsory ‘macho’ stance soldiers are forced to adopt as army men (as seen, for example, in Philip Caputo’s Indian Country, Larry Heinemann’s Paco’s Story or Ed Dodge’s DAU: A Novel of Vietnam) furthers the onset and seriousness of ulterior trauma. In this sense, we can also analyze this kind of writing from a ‘feminist’ point of view, since the dynamics of über-patriarchal power established at the front at war-time deny any display of elements traditionally viewed as ‘feminine’ (such as grief, guilt or emotions) in soldiers. If trauma is the result of a game of patriarchal empowerment, how can feminist works, not only theoretical, but also fictional, overthrow it? Are ‘feminine’ characteristics necessary to escape trauma, even in male victims? How can feminist readings of trauma enhance our understanding of its dynamics and help produce new modes of interaction that transcend power and gender division as the basis for the organization of society?

Malséance : la mort et l'image dans le (méta)théâtre de Samuel Beckett et de Jean Genet

Both ludic and macabre, the theatrical works of Samuel Beckett and Jean Genet are a paradox to behold. Indeed, as this thesis seeks to illustrate, despite their vastly differing aesthetics, at the core of each playwright’s stage productions is a tension between the characters’ yearning for silence and invisibility, and the continual creation of an often humorous, chaotic, exaggerated or theatrical image that depicts this very longing. Seeking an impossible intersection between their image and their death, they are trapped in a double bind that guarantees aesthetic failure. In order to grasp the close, yet delicate, relationship between the image of death and the death of the image, as presented in the plays of Beckett and Genet, we will explore how the characters’ creative processes deflate the very images — both visual and auditory — that they create. More specifically, we will examine how mimesis both liberates and confines the characters; while the symbolic realm provides the only means of self-representation, it is also a source of profound alienation and powerlessness, for it never adequately conveys meaning. Thus, body, gesture, language and voice are each the site of simultaneous and ceaseless reappearance and disappearance, for which death remains the only (aporetic) cure. Struggling against theatrical form, which demands the actors’ and the audience’s physical presence, both playwrights make shrewd use of metatheatre to slowly empty the stage and thereby suggest the impending, yet impossible, erasure of their characters.

Cold acclimation of chill coma mechanisms in the locust CNS

Temperature has profound effects on the neural function and behaviour of insects. When exposed to low temperature, migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria) enter chill coma (neuromuscular paralysis) and can resume normal body functions after returning to normal temperature. Our laboratory has studied phenomena underlying environmental stress-induced comas in locusts and found that they are associated with a sudden loss of K+ homeostasis and also a temporary electrical silence in the central nervous system (CNS). However, the mechanisms underlying chill coma entry and recovery are not well understood, particularly the role of the CNS has not been determined. Here, I investigated neural function during chill coma in the locust by measuring electrical activity in the CNS. As pre-exposure to moderately low temperatures, either chronically (cold acclimation) or acutely (rapid cold hardening; RCH), has been found to improve the insect’s cold tolerance, I also determined cold acclimation and RCH protocols that will improve the locust's cold tolerance and whether these protocols affect neural shutdown during chill coma in the locust. With an implanted thermocouple in the thorax, I determined the temperature associated with a loss of responsiveness (CTmin) in intact male adult locusts. In parallel experiments, I recorded field potential (FP) in the metathoracic ganglion (MTG) in semi-intact preparations to determine the temperature that would induce neural shutdown. I found that acclimation at 10 ˚C and RCH at 4 ˚C reduced chill coma recovery time (CCRT) in intact animal preparations and RCH at 4 ˚C for 4 hours reduced the temperature at neural shutdown in semi-intact preparations. These results suggest that pre-exposure to cold can improve the locust's resistance to chill coma and support the notion that the CNS has a role in determining entry into and exit from chill coma in locusts.