The Project Hagiotheca Preslavica

Hagiotheca Preslavica (Reconstruction of the Preslav hagiographical collections: Publication and Research of the Stanislav’s menaion-chetii1 manuscript) is a project, developed by a team of young Bulgarian medievalists2. Its principal task is the preparation and publication (both digital and traditional) and research of the Stanislav’s menaion-cheti (better known as 1039 manuscript from the “St. St. Cyril and Methodius“ National Library. Although it is a 14th century copy, the manuscript preserves a number of authentic texts that allow us to reconstruct faithfully the initial contents of menaia-chetii, compiled and translated during the Golden Age of the medieval Bulgarian literature and culture. The realization of the project will be completed by web-based, easily navigable digitalization of the Stanislav’s menaion-cheti, creation of a matrix for the description of the texts, enabling searching and grouping. This will provide the conditions necessary for the work of the team as well as of the wider academic community.

Revolution in Translation- The Plays of Augusto Boal in a Post 9-11 World Pt.1

Dr. Robert Moser, Associate Professor of Portuguese, Brazilian and Lusophone African Literature and Culture at the University of Georgia, lectures on the late Brazilian playwright Augusto Boal, who was known for developing the Theater of the Oppressed. Lecture held at Green Library, Modesto Maidique Campus, Florida International University.

Revolution in Translation- The Plays of Augusto Boal in a Post 9-11 World Pt.2

Dr. Robert Moser, Associate Professor of Portuguese, Brazilian and Lusophone African Literature and Culture at the University of Georgia, lectures on the late Brazilian playwright Augusto Boal, who was known for developing the Theater of the Oppressed. Lecture held at Green Library, Modesto Maidique Campus, Florida International University.

Ficción de Racionalidad: La memoria como operador mítico en las estéticas polares de Jorge Luis Borges y José Lezama Lima

The aesthetic placement and period designation of Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) and José Lezama Lima (1910-1976) are complicated issues among critics. Borges is obviously considered a predecessor of the Latin American literary “boom,” but despite that taxonomy his work transcends that definition and provides a foundation for new trends and styles, such as the “neobarroco” cultivated by Severo Sarduy. Lezama is considered part of the second wave of the “boom,” but his work feeds, stylistically, from the Spanish baroque. At the same time, Lezama’s daring treatment of homoeroticism and his revolutionary system of images place him after the “boom” in a narrative style that is postmodern. This study undertakes a thorough revision of external and internal issues, revealing the key linguistic and fictive elements that characterize both writers. Through discourse analysis and close reading, a poetic system is formulated, which incorporate features of the “neobarroco,” “boom” and postmodern narrative styles. This dissertation uses a polar structure to analyze both poetic visions and concludes that they are compatible and symmetrical. From this perspective, Borges and Lezama belong to the “core” of literature that centers its emphasis in the creation of a system versus other modes of writing in which mimetic function prevails. By doing this and by recycling world culture, they create postmodern myth: the new building material for Hispanic American literature. There are only a few studies that explore the works of Borges and Lezama within the context of Baroque aesthetics. For the first time, this dissertation offers a comprehensive analysis that considers their poetic visions at large. Besides the difference in perspective, defined as macro-spatial in Borges and micro-spatial in Lezama, there are many similarities in content and form. Both writers question the cause and effect relationship and the modern use of metaphor. They also share a redefinition of genre as well as a hedonistic approach to literature and culture. This kinship in poetic vision is revealed through the polar method used for this study, which proposes a new form of aesthetic placement and period designation.

Choreographies of Irish Modernity

Although movement is often viewed as forming the ‘kinetic basis’ of the modern age, the analysis of movement practices such as dance is often neglected in theories of modernity. Dance theorists such as André Lepecki (2006) and Randy Martin (1998) have argued for an awareness of how the kinaesthetic politics of modernity perform a colonization of space and bodies in their constant drive toward movement and mobility. This chapter examines how an analysis of two dance works by Irish artists, one from the early twentieth century and one from the early twenty-first century, can contribute to these discussions of modernity and dance, and how the works might illuminate connections between dance and politics in Ireland in their alternative approaches to these modernist kinaesthetic politics. Taking a brief, contextualizing look at an early dance play by William Butler Yeats, the chapter then focuses on what echoes, or afterlives, can be found from this early modernist work in a piece by contemporary dance theatre choreographer Fearghus Ó’Conchúir. In both works we see the ability of dance to create an alternative space within the pervading discourses (or movements) of a sociopolitical and cultural landscape that allows the spectator – through a visceral connection with a dancer – to experience a different perspective on the ‘idea of a nation’.

Identidade nacional e memória colectiva em Portugal e na Alemanha: Um estudo comparativo de manuais de terceira classe

Este estudo propõe-se fazer uma análise comparativa de dois manuais de leitura do ensino primário, um em Língua Portuguesa e o outro em Língua Alemã. A pesquisa aponta afinidades e temas comuns na forma como em ambos os livros são abordados elementos representativos da identidade nacional e da memória colectiva. O nosso trabalho procura evidenciar, através dos manuais analisados e de uma fundamentação teórica, a manipulação destes conceitos durante o período do Estado Novo e do Terceiro Reich, época a que se reportam os manuais escolares. A nossa dissertação de mestrado insere-se no âmbito da Literatura Comparada, apoiando-se no que diz respeito à sua fundamentação teórica em estudos e autores trabalhados no contexto das disciplinas de Literatura e Cultura de Massas e de Literatura Infanta-Juvenil, investigações essenciais para estabelecer uma análise comparativa entre os dois manuais de leitura do ensino básico. ABSTRACT: This study aims at a comparative analysis of two primary textbooks, one in Portuguese and the other in German language. The research points out common topics, affinities as well as a similar approach to representative elements of the National Identity and the Collective Memory in Portugal and in Germany. Based on the analysis of the schoolbooks mentioned and supported by a theoretical ground basis, our work tries to show the manipulation of these concepts during the years of the Estado Novo and the Third Reich, the period of time in which both schoolbooks were published and taught. Our dissertation applies to the study field of Compared Literature, having its theoretical ground basis on studies and authors referred to in the scope of the disciplines of Literature and Culture of the Masses as well as Children’s and Youth Literature which provided us essential knowledge for a comparative analysis of these two primary schoolbooks.

FICTION OF THE SELF: A GLANCE AT NANCY HUSTON’S MARCAS DE NASCENÇA

This paper analyzes two works of the canadian writer Nancy Huston: Marcas de nascença and A espécie fabuladora. The main idea is to support the reading of the former work based on the reflections raised by the latter, especially regarding the aspect concerning issues such as the Meaning and the (re) invention of the self. The relevance of these concepts will be effective in an immersion in the universe of the four main characters of the novel Marcas de nascença: Sun, Randall, Sadie and Kristina. The paper focuses on seeking the essence of Meaning in the life of each one of these characters, always considering two vital and non-discernible ​​aspects: time and space in each of them. Therefore, literature and culture concepts will be considered such as the concept of Americanness as well as the Americanization, Identity, Fiction and Recognition. Thus, this assay is divided into two parts. The first one envisions the idea matter expressed by Huston in A espécie fabuladora - the ceaseless quest for Meaning culminating in identity shaping – in order to seek understanding from this point of view the occurrence of certain cultural phenomena of which some characters from Marcas de nascença are an expression. The second part observes each of the four main characters and strengthens the suggested initial idea (that the book's characters are constituent parts of a behavioral matrix vital to human existence), then filling the gaps of the two themes developed: the birthmarks transmitted throughout four generations and how these marks are recorded over fifty-six years of history. 

Close encounters: international exhibitions and the material culture of the British Empire, c.1880-1940

Apparitions of empire and imperial ideologies were deeply embedded in the International Exhibition, a distinct exhibitionary paradigm that came to prominence in the mid-nineteenth century. Exhibitions were platforms for the display of objects, the movement of people, and the dissemination of ideas across and between regions of the British Empire, thereby facilitating contact between its different cultures and societies. This thesis aims to disrupt a dominant understanding of International Exhibitions, which forwards the notion that all exhibitions, irrespective of when or where they were staged, upheld a singular imperial discourse (i.e. Greenhalgh 1988, Rydell 1984). Rather, this thesis suggests International Exhibitions responded to and reflected the unique social, political and economic circumstances in which they took place, functioning as cultural environments in which pressing concerns of the day were worked through. Understood thus, the International Exhibition becomes a space for self-presentation, serving as a stage from which a multitude of interests and identities were constructed, performed and projected. This thesis looks to the visual and material culture of the International Exhibition in order to uncover this more nuanced history, and foregrounds an analysis of the intersections between practices of exhibition-making and identity-making. The primary focus is a set of exhibitions held in Glasgow in the late-1880s and early-1900s, which extends the geographic and temporal boundaries of the existing scholarship. What is more, it looks at representations of Canada at these events, another party whose involvement in the International Exhibition tradition has gone largely unnoticed. Consequently, this thesis is a thematic investigation of the links between a municipality routinely deemed the ‘Second City of the Empire’ and a Dominion settler colony, two types of geographic setting rarely brought into dialogue. It analyses three key elements of the exhibition-making process, exploring how iconographies of ‘quasi-nationhood’ were expressed through an exhibition’s planning and negotiation, its architecture and its displays. This original research framework deliberately cuts across strata that continue to define conceptions of the British Empire, and pushes beyond a conceptual model defined by metropole and colony. Through examining International Exhibitions held in Glasgow in the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods, and visions of Canada in evidence at these events, the goal is to offer a novel intervention into the existing literature concerning the cultural history of empire, one that emphasises fluidity rather than fixity and which muddles the boundaries between centre and periphery.

Women and writing c1340-c1650; the domestication of print culture

The transition from medieval manuscript to early printed book is currently a mmajor topic of academic interest, but has received little attention in relation to women's involvement. The essays in this volume both add female names to the list of those authors who created English Literature, and examine women's responses to older texts. Taking its cue from the advances made by recent work on manuscript culture and book history, this volume also includes studies of material evidence. These reveal women's participation in the making of books, and also the traces they left behind when handling individual volumes. Finally, studies of women's roles in relation to apparently ephemeral texts, such as letters, pamphlets and almanacs, challenge traditional divisions between public and private spheres and between manuscript and print.

Quinine, mosquitoes and empire: reassembling malaria in British India, 1890-1910

The drug quinine figured as an object of enforced consumption in British India between the late 1890s and the 1910s, when the corresponding diagnostic category malaria itself was redefined as a mosquito-borne fever disease. This article details an overlapping milieu in which quinine, mosquitoes and malaria emerged as intrinsic components of shared and symbiotic histories. It combines insights from new imperial histories, constructivism in the histories of medicine and literature about non-humans in science studies to examine the ways in which histories of insects, drugs, disease and empire interacted and shaped one another. Firstly, it locates the production of historical intimacies between quinine, malaria and mosquitoes within the exigencies and apparatuses of imperial rule. In so doing, it explores the intersections between the worlds of colonial governance, medical knowledge, vernacular markets and pharmaceutical business. Secondly, it outlines ways to narrate characteristics and enabling properties of non-humans (such as quinines and mosquitoes) while retaining a constructivist critique of scientism and empire. Thirdly, it shows how empire itself was reshaped and reinforced while occasioning the proliferation of categories and entities like malaria, quinine and mosquitoes.

Utilizing ICT to prevent loneliness and social isolation of the elderly. A literature review

Ageing of the population is a worldwide phenomenon. Numerous ICT-based solutions have been developed for elderly care but mainly connected to the physiological and nursing aspects in services for the elderly. Social work is a profession that should pay attention to the comprehensive wellbeing and social needs of the elderly. Many people experience loneliness and depression in their old age, either as a result of living alone or due to a lack of close family ties and reduced connections with their culture of origin, which results in an inability to participate actively in community activities (Singh & Misra, 2009). Participation in society would enhance the quality of life. With the development of information technology, the use of technology in social work practice has risen dramatically. The aim of this literature review is to map out the state of the art of knowledge about the usage of ICT in elderly care and to figure out research-based knowledge about the usability of ICT for the prevention of loneliness and social isolation of elderly people. The data for the current research comes from the core collection of the Web of Science and the data searching was performed using Boolean? The searching resulted in 216 published English articles. After going through the topics and abstracts, 34 articles were selected for the data analysis that is based on a multi approach framework. The analysis of the research approach is categorized according to some aspects of using ICT by older adults from the adoption of ICT to the impact of usage, and the social services for them. This literature review focused on the function of communication by excluding the applications that mainly relate to physical nursing. The results show that the so-called ‘digital divide’ still exists, but the older adults have the willingness to learn and utilise ICT in daily life, especially for communication. The data shows that the usage of ICT can prevent the loneliness and social isolation of older adults, and they are eager for technical support in using ICT. The results of data analysis on theoretical frames and concepts show that this research field applies different theoretical frames from various scientific fields, while a social work approach is lacking. However, a synergic frame of applied theories will be suggested from the perspective of social work.

Adapting to a team of host culture domination: Experiences of Finnish and British expatriates

International teams are permanent features of the global market, and multinational companies cannot ignore them. This thesis discusses an individual’s adaptation to a team of host culture domination by looking at the experiences of Finnish and British expatriates. The research question is: How does a foreigner adapt to a Finnish-British team where all the other members are from the local culture? The theoretical framework of this thesis consists of theories on multicultural teamwork and Finnish and British cultures. Based on theories, the impact of diversity on teamwork and whether it improves or deteriorates a team’s performance is unclear but the idea of multicultural teams is not just to live with cultural differences but to use and benefit of them. The main differences between Finnish and British cultures are in management styles and level of hierarchy. Still, these two cultures seem to be very similar. This is a qualitative study and expert interviews were used as a method for data collection. The results of the empirical research showed that Finns and Brits have differences in decision-making, level of hierarchy and communication. None of the informants saw the challenges that they have faced to result from being the only representative of a foreign culture – they only perceived them resulting from the characteristics of the host culture. In addition, all the informants had to change their habits and behaviour in the host culture in order to fit into the new culture and to become a part of the team. However, all the informants saw advantages in cross-cultural teams. Based on this thesis, team members from the host culture do not value cultural differences and they seem to be an issue only for the team member from the minority culture. It seems that a Finn or a Brit adapts to a Finnish-British team where the host culture dominates by changing their own behaviour in order to become a part of the team – even though people often see their own culture’s methods and habits as the right ones. Finnish and British cultures seem to be similar in fundamental issues like views and attitudes, which could mean that it is fairly easy for a Finn to get used to working in a British team and vice versa. Even though there are many challenges in cross-cultural and bi-cultural teams, there are even more advantages.