Andre Langevin's novels, Evade de la nuit (1951), Poussiere sur la ville (1953), Le temps des hommes (1956), L'elan d'Amerique (1972) and Une chaine daps le parc (1974) show numerous lonely characters. Abandoned, secluded or uncivilized, they remain unable to communicate with others: "C'est ce rapport difficile et jamais termine de l'individu avec "autrui" qui constitue la trame essentielle et la continuite de l'oeuvre romanesque d'Andre Langevin", wrote Jean-Louis Major in 1977, in an article about the author. / The purpose of this study is to look at the representation of the "Other" when it refers specifically to a woman. The feminine characters in Langevin's novels are shown as strangers: obviously different from men, women are struck by passions that are unknown and incomprehensible to the male heros or to any other man of her environment. In the first part, this study will demonstrate that the majority of heroines lived a painful chidhood with an absent father and an unkind mother. The second part will look at the love relationships of the female protagonists, unions that remain disappointing and are doomed to failure. Finally, the conclusion will examine the tragic death of several heroines (suicide, death in child-birth...). / This study of Andre Langevin's feminine characters relies on the feminist critic, using, among others, the work of Barbara Godard and Lori Saint-Martin. This model will offer an innovative perspective of a literary work that has been greatly studied, but for which one important aspect appears to have been neglected: women who inhabit it.

Members of Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) are mostly parasitoids of other holometabolous insects. It is a large family with a little over 18,000 described species and many more to be described. Subfamily classification in this group has been unstable and resolution of phylogenetic history at the subfamily level has been problematic. Since 1993, no new keys to the subfamilies of Braconidae have been produced. Many taxonomic and phylogenetic changes have taken place since then, including a recent phylogeny proposing 47 subfamilies and representing the most robust and resolved analysis to date. A pressing need for new keys to the world subfamilies of Braconidae is evident. Using the free programs, DELTA and INTKEY, easy to use keys to the subfamilies of Braconidae, both dichotomous and interactive were produced that will be published and freely available on the Internet. These are constructed for use by professionals and amateurs alike.

No description available.

The major works of Nathaniel Hawthorne include a number of recurring references which appear to be linked with one another. There is mention of electric rings, glavanism, sympathies between people, somnambulism, gold chains and amulets, mesmerism, and much more. Some of the characters Hawthorne created have a strange power or control over others. There are numerous references to mediums and trances. In addition one finds a recurring theme in Hawthorne's major works--man's search for universal order and harmony. A close examination of these related elements shows them to have a common denominator in mesmerism.A review of American culture and thought prevelant during the first half of the nineteenth century reveals a people nearly obsessed with the idea of mesmerism. That obsession is'-reflected in four little-know tales written by one of Hawthorne's contemporaries, Edgar Allan Poe. In these tales--"A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, "Mesmeric Revelation," "Some Words with a Mummy," and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"-- Poe's focus is directly on the various aspects and variations of mesmerism. These four tales by Poe provide ample evidence that mesmerism and the various ideas and concepts associated with it were well known to Americans of the mid 1800's. It is reasonable to assume, then, that Nathaniel Hawthorne also had some knowledge of mesmerism. An examination of his works, in fact, clearly supports that assumption. Hawthorne, however, unlike Poe, did not deal directly with the subject of mesmerism. In his writings Hawthorne made practical use of the trappings and tenets of mesmerism. In the artistry of at least four of his works--The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Rommance, and The Marble Faun--Hawthorne appears to have utilized mesmeric ideas and concepts in a supportive role.In this paper the previously mentioned literary works by Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne will be closely examined. The critical analysis of these works presented here is different from other analyses of the same works by Poe and Hawthorne in that it concentrates on the element of mesmerism. Poe, a popular writer of his day, dealt directly with the subject of mesmerism, and his works provide evidence of the knowledge the American people had of mesmerism by the 1840's. The central focus of the paper will be to prove that Hawthorne, unlike Poe, made use of the various tenets and trappings of mesmerism to delineate character and to develop plot.Though an extremely complex philosophy, in brief, mesmerism deals with the relationship between man and his universe as well as between man and his fellow man. A detailed discussion of the origin and development of mesmerism is presented in chapters two, three and four. As a philosophy, mesmerism is based on the idea presented by Franz Anton Mesmer in his doctoral dissertation: the entire universe is connected by a force consisting of tiny particles or an electrically charged fluid which emanates from the planets. Mesmer named this force gravitas universalis. The ebb and flow of this universal force is what relates all elements in the universe, including man, to one another. When one is in harmony with this universal fluid, peace and health prevail. If one is not in harmony with the forces of the universe, however, physical or mental illness follows.This basic philosophy of mesmerism is in many ways identical to Nathaniel Hawthorne's conception of sin as it relates to the good and virtuous life. Hawthorne believed that to be at peace, man must establish a true and meaningful relationship with some other person. Such a relationship was prevented by sin, and the worst sin was to seek the lack of love in others or to disallow love to enter one's own heart. Sin for Hawthorne, then, indicated that man was out of tune with the forces of the universe. Hawthorne combined his concept of sin with the philosophy of mesmerism to form the basis for a writing device. The analysis of Hawthorne's works reveals elements of mesmerism intricately woven into the fabric of his writing, leaving little doubt that Hawthorne made deliberate use of mesmerism to delineate character and to develop plot.

This thesis investigates the complexity of cultural translation of visual language, considering writing systems both a profound shaping force and microcosmic reflection of the central elements of its culture. It focuses on the case of Chinese pictogram in Western everyday fashion; fashion is treated here as a site where the conceptual, aesthetic and cultural dynamics vividly interact with one another. This work probes what tensions are lost and added to the pictograms' cultural meaning in the process of translation, bearing in mind the two different aesthetic philosophies underlining Western and Chinese calligraphies. Seeing the complexity in the change of tensions, the thesis argues that nothing remains "authentic" in cultural translation, but the value of the encounter lies in the possibilities for each culture to reconsider itself in the corrective mirror of the Other.

The present study explores the role and social status of children in the plays and in the sonnets by Shakespeare. I have attempted to trace the tension between accepted societal attitudes of the time and the underlying sympathy and compassion for children made manifest in the text through dramatic situation and language. / In the Histories and in the Tragedies, children are seen as pawns in adult power plays, while a disregard for a child's natural developmental progress is made apparent in both the Histories and the Comedies. Nevertheless at times, and particularly in the Tragedies and in the Romances, the actual children in the plays become agents of reconciliation and regeneration; in Macbeth, the victimized children acquire the status of a powerful symbol. The Sonnets, which deal with childhood as an abstract idea, foreshadow this synthesis of actuality and metaphoric tenor.

No description available.

Why do people tell stories? Whether it be the oft repeated, endlessly varied fairy tales passed from one generation to the next, the carefully patterned and strictly worded epics of the ancients or tall-tales told around the kitchen table, people have been telling stories to themselves or others since the day someone uttered the first words ever heard on this planet. In the following essay story-telling is called narrativity and is discussed as a function of the desire to impose meaning on experience. The six stories of Drawing the Reader In are about story-telling and how people fail or succeed as story-tellers. Neither can be said to fully answer the question above, rather they elaborate on the possibilities of there being an answer.

The image of the child has always been used for ideological purposes in national cinemas around the world. For instance, in Iranian cinema representations of children are often utilized to minimise the political risk involved in making radical statements, while in Brazilian and Italian cinemas children’s portrayal has disputed the idealized concept of childhood’s innocence. In Indonesian cinema, internationally acclaimed director Garin Nugroho is the only filmmaker who has presented children as the main focus of narratives that are oppositional to mainstream and state-sponsored ideologies. Yet, even though his films have been critically identified as key, breakthrough works in Indonesian cinema, no research so far has specifically focused on the representation of children in his films. / Consequently, because Garin Nugroho has consistently placed child characters in central roles in his films, the discussion in this thesis focuses on the ideological and discursive implications of his cinematic depiction of children. With the central question regarding the construction of children’s identities in Garin’s films, the thesis analyzes in detail four of these films, dedicating an entire chapter to each one of them, and with the last one being specifically addressed in cinematic essay form. The films discussed are Surat untuk Bidadari (Letter to an Angel, 1993), Aku Ingin Menciummu Sekali Saja (2000), Rindu Kami Padamu (Of Love and Eggs,2004) and Daun di Atas Bantal (Leaf on a Pillow,1997). / The textual analysis of films that is carried out is framed by two key ideas: firstly, Garin’s position as an auteur and, secondly, the specific ways in which he deploys representations of children against mainstream discursive constructions in Indonesia. Following the argument that Garin has used a form of ‘strategic intervention’ to explore particular political issues in Indonesia (Hanan 2004), the thesis identifies ways in which Garin deconstructs children’s images and provides alternatives to dominant discourses on childhood in Indonesia. Through the analysis of selected films, the thesis reveals that while the identities of children are constructed in his films against the idealized image of Indonesian children, they are also utilized by him to convey more broadly his political views about Indonesia.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 2008. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of English Literature, University of Glasgow, 2008. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.