This essay analyzes the theme of the pursuit of beauty in The Secret History. It analyzes the main characters’ concept of beauty, their manner of seeking beauty, as well as the result of this search. For this analysis, I use Friedrich Nietzsche’s theories of the Apollonian and the Dionysian as outlined in The Birth of Tragedy and in scholarly texts that analyze TBT— which describe the Apollonian/Dionysian dichotomy as the opposed worlds of order and madness— to define the main characters’ concept of beauty. The narrator of the novel once says that “beauty is terror” (Tartt 45), a statement which paints beauty as harsh and shocking, and potentially destructive. Likewise, in this essay I argue that for these characters beauty is created through the interplay between the Apollonian and the Dionysian, and that its pursuit leads to destruction. I analyze this through the characters of Richard Papen, Henry Winter, and Bunny Corcoran. Richard and Henry pursue beauty in that the actions they take are aimed at embodying an aesthetic ideal. In Richard’s case, it is his longing for beauty which leads him to imitate and join the classicists— particularly by mimicking their socio-economic class— and which eventually places him in a disordered Dionysian world of madness and murder. Henry, on the other hand, is the embodiment of Apollonian order, and it is his search for beauty through a bacchanal which leads him to commit murder twice and, eventually, to take his own life. Lastly, Bunny is different in that he is neither beautiful nor interested in beauty as his peers define it. It is because of this that he is excluded from the others’ pursuit of beauty, that he is murdered, and that his murder is justifiable in the eyes of his murderers. This study finds that, in The Secret History, where beauty is defined as the dance between Apollonian order and Dionysian madness, the Dionysian ends up as the victorious half of the dichotomy, causing the loss of reason and the triumph of destruction and disaster. This portrayal of beauty as destruction and vice versa, rather than serving as the vehicle for a moral indictment, is instead the very purpose of the novel.

This study analyzes the discursive content of four history textbooks in order to demonstrate how national identities are formed and how they differ from each other. This was done through discourse analysis guided by social constructivism and John M. Hobson’s dichotomy of East and West. The study shows that textbooks mainly construct national identities in three ways; first by making a clear distinction between “The Self” and “The Other”, second by preserving a world order based on the notions of the invariant hegemony of the nation-state, and third by utilizing stereotype based dissimilarities in order to accentuate existing differences between nationalities.Implicit ideals and values in the historical discourse play an important part in the construction of identities; however sends a contradictory and ambiguous message. It allows the Swede to error and commit morally questionable acts, yet sustain the title as the most democratic, equal people in the world, always in stark contrast to its surroundings. This can be understood with the help of the applied theories, which identifies an inherent power relationship in producing and maintaining a discourse. It is important to expose and deconstruct the established discourse in order to avoid legitimised policies standing in the way for an inclusive and representative way of conveying history.

Studiens syfte har varit att öka kunskapen om förskollärares olika synsätt på genus, i relation till barns estetiska uttrycksformer i dans och musik. Detta är en kvalitativ studie som genomfördes med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju förskollärare. Datainsamlingen skedde i flera kommuner i Sverige och därefter transkriberades och analyserades materialen gemensamt. Resultaten som framkom ur förskollärarintervjuerna tematiserades i fem teman/kategorier som är (1) Genus reproduceras i musik och dans, (2) Genusmedvetenheten kopplas till ålder, (3) Motsägelsefulla genusperspektiv förekommer- undermedvetna handlingar, (4) Förskollärarnas förhållningssätt har betydelse för genusarbetet -genusmedveten förskollärare deltar, bemöter och utmanar och (5) Hinder i genusarbetet inom musik och dans. Utifrån genussystemteorin har vi fokuserat på dikotomi och analyserat resultaten utifrån dikotomins synsätt om isärhållanden mellan kön.  Studien visar att förskollärare ser skillnader i hur pojkar och flickor deltar i musik och dans samt vilken musik och dans de dras till. Förskolläraren har en viktig roll i genusarbetet för att kunna motarbeta könsnormer. Resultatet visar även att förskollärare och tidigare forskning ser ett samband mellan barns dikotoma val och barnens ålder och att detta kan bero på att barns genusmedvetenhet ökar med åldern. Detta leder till slutsatsen att det råder medvetenhet kring uppdraget om en jämställd utbildning hos förskollärarna men att det fortfarande råder dikotomi mellan könen i dagens förskolor.

My dissertation examines gender representation in both bureaucratic agencies and standing legislative committees focusing on Corrections and Human or Social Services in eleven southern states. By examining individual public officials in both regulatory and redistributive agencies and committees, I am able to determine if active representation of women’s issues is occurring and how this impacts the policy development and implementation of domestic violence programs. Theoretical models used in examining the linkage between passive and active representation often incorporate the values and actions of public officials. The ethic of care is a theoretical approach that argues that gender differences may arise in terms of moral evaluations, perceptions of responsibilities, and the development of relationships. Therefore, care is used as a value and action in this study for two reasons. First, women’s issues, such as domestic violence, require an ethic of care to be used in assisting vulnerable populations, as victims’ needs should be addressed with care and concern. Secondly, contemporary scholarship in governance argues that emotional labor is prevalent among public officials, which suggests that care can instrumentally improve governance. This study uses a mixed method approach. Quantitative analysis explains the linkage of passive and active representation in legislative bodies. Survey instruments completed by legislators provided information on policy preferences, emotional labor, legislative responsibilities and political environment. Qualitative methods are used to develop a case study examining the link in representation in three southern state bureaucratic agencies. Administrators from these agencies were interviewed to explore their responsibilities, their ability to use care or exert emotional labor and represent women’s issues. Due to the lack of passive representation, in terms of female representation in southern governments, active representation is not reached in many units studied. However, regulatory agencies exhibit signs of active representation and the use of care and emotions in serving vulnerable populations. This study contributes to our understanding of female representation in the south as well as the impact politics have on the policy process.

In this dissertation, I propose that there are multiple factors, such as the education process and the consumption environment, which work to simultaneously create an opposition framework. People are constantly exposed to rival products, which are positioned to be opposites even when they are often extremely similar in chemical content and physical appearance. Thus, the implications of the recency-frequency model of activation (Higgins, Bargh and Lombardi 1985) would be that these proximal factors could, in some sense, prime dichotomous thinking. Dichotomous or oppositional thinking, as it is defined in this dissertation, pertains to the flattening of dimensions present in a choice set such that the items can be graphically depicted at two ends of one dimension (see Figure 2 and Figure 3). I will first explore the impact of a dichotomous mindset on making a decision and then expand to the realm of opposition in choice set structures. / Ph. D.

"L'image que l'on donne/ N'est pas toujours la bonne" Les Cowboys Fringants, “Les Hirondelles” Malgré les changements dans le traitement des femmes au fil des décennies, les vraies policières continuent de souffrir des injustices de la part de leurs supérieurs masculins, ainsi que de la communauté qu'ils ont juré de protéger. Tant que la fiction reflète la réalité, on peut s'attendre que le genre de la polar du type policier démontrera non seulement les injustices entre les sexes, mais aussi les façons différentes que les victimes féminin y répondre. Comme des vrais policières, les détectives féminins fictifs sont trop souvent des victimes, même quand elles sont les protagonistes, même si leurs auteurs sont des femmes. Preuve de la discrimination contre les femmes policières réelles et fictives seront explorées dans cette thèse en regardant l'histoire des romans policiers, à travers des études de cas réels impliquant des policiers féminins réelles, ainsi que l'analyse de certains personnages clés dans les textes de discussion par Chrystine Brouillet, Vicki Delany et Louise Penny. En conséquence, il sera démontré que les images projetées par les agents de polices féminins réels et fictifs, quelles ne sont pas toujours bonnes, sont de plus en plus varié à la suite du mouvement féministe et en raison de la résistance littéral et imaginaire aux stéréotypes sexistes. Même si elles sont maintenant les protagonistes, les femmes détectives fictionaux faire face aux un réduction du l'agence et sont soumisent aux attentes différentes de genre que leurs homologues masculins. Aspects de l'inégalité des sexes présents dans les sociétés occidentales d'aujourd'hui se glissent dans la fiction et agir dans une manière pas toujours possible dans la monde réalité. Parfois, les situations sexistes sont résolu dans fiction, malgré le fait qu'ils existent toujours dans les vies quotidien de certaines femmes policiers. Les stéréotypes autour qu'est-ce que ça veut dire d'être policier causent des injustices du genre et existent souvent simultanément avec des images de femmes qui nient ces mêmes stéréotypes. La représentation de la femme policière est donc multiples, les stéréotypes reproduit, mélangé, ou effacé complètement. Masculinity is still regarded as the embodiment of strength and heroism and the female body, weakness and victimization. Philippa Gates, Detecting Women, 282 Despite changes in the treatment of women over the decades, policewomen continue to suffer gender injustices at the hands of their male superiors, as well as from the community they are sworn to protect. The injustices they face are publicized by such media as the CBC, though often in an exaggerated fashion. As fiction often reflects reality, one can expect that the genre of the police procedural will demonstrate not only such gender injustices but also various ways victims respond to them. Like real policewomen, fictional female detectives are too often victims even when they are the protagonists, and even when their author is a woman. Evidence of the victimization of real and fictional policewomen will be explored in this thesis by looking at the history of detective fiction, and through real case studies involving real female police officers, as well as the analysis of certain key characters in focus texts by Chrystine Brouillet, Vicki Delany, and Louise Penny. As a result, it will be shown that the images projected by actual and fictional female police officers, while not always positive ones, are becoming more varied as a result of the feminist movement and as a result of literal and imaginary resistance to sexist stereotypes. Despite having moved into a protagonist position, fictional female detectives all too often have reduced agency and different gendered expectations than their male counterparts. Aspects of gender inequity present in Western societies today creep into fiction and are played out in ways not always possible in reality. Sometimes, sexist problems present in the fictional texts are resolved despite the fact that they still exist in certain policewomen's everyday lives. Stereotypes of what a police officer should be function in ways that reflect and reproduce gender injustices and often exist simultaneously with images of women that resist and oppose these same stereotypes. The representation of policewoman is thus multiple, reproducing stereotypes, blurring them, or erasing them altogether.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the Swedish municipal welfare system, in their capacity as discourse makers, construct Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in the relationships of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people. A discourse analysis of their official plans of action regarding IPV and the information directed towards their citizens through their webpages showed that the discourse surrounding IPV revealed a gender dichotomy, where the victim was mainly constructed as being female and the perpetrator as male. As a consequence of this, gay and bisexual men were rendered invisible from the discourse surrounding victims of IPV, although they could be included in the construction of perpetrators of it. Lesbian and bisexual women were often included in the understanding of victims of IPV, but in the discourse surrounding perpetrators of it they were made invisible. The discourse about IPV also excluded the experiences and vulnerability of people who identify as being transgendered. Additionally, the discourse surrounding IPV was characterized by heteronormative assumptions regarding the relationships in which violence is possible. The help defined in the documents included in this study also showed a gender dichotomy in the construction of help directed towards victims and perpetrators of IPV. The relationship between them was also once more understood through heteronormative assumptions. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida våld inom hbt-personers nära relationer, samt vem som är utsatt och förövare, synliggörs i kommuners diskurser om partnervåld. En diskursanalys har gjorts av kommuners handlingsplaner mot våld i nära relationer samt av information riktad till utsatta och förövare via deras hemsidor. Resultaten visar på att kommunernas diskurser kring våld i nära relationer karaktäriseras av en dikotom syn på kön hos utsatt och förövare, där våldsutsatt ofta förstods som att vara kvinna och förövare som man. Det gör att det våld som drabbar homo- och bisexuella män till stor del osynliggörs i diskursen. Dessa män kunde dock inkluderas i förståelsen av förövare. Homo- och bisexuella kvinnor kunde ibland inkluderas i förståelsen av våldsutsatt, men dessa kvinnor inkluderades sällan i diskursen kring förövare. Transpersoners utsatthet och upplevelser av våld i nära relationer framkom nästan aldrig i diskursen. Diskursen kring våld i nära relationer dominerandes också av heteronormativa antaganden om vilken slags relation som våld kan förekomma i. Den hjälp som definierades i kommunernas dokument utgick även från en dikotomisk förståelse av genus hos utsatt och förövare, samt heteronormativa antaganden om relationen dem emellan.

Uppsatsen undersöker hur flick- respektive pojkspelare och deras idrottsutövande inom ungdomsfotbollen konstrueras i förhållande till varandra och till den stereotypa bild av kvinnligt och manligt idrottande som media upprättar. Vidare ämnar den besvara om fotbollsklubbarnas framställning av fotbollslagen genomsyras av Riksidrottsförbundets jämställdhetsmål om jämställt idrottande.   Tolv texter från sex fotbollsklubbar i Stockholms län har genomgått en textuell innehållsanalys med både kvantitativ och kvalitativ ansats. Analyserna har utförts med Hirdmans genussystem, Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys och Halls synsätt på stereotypisering som teoretisk utgångspunkt.   Resultatet visar på ett upprätthållande av det manliga könet som norm inom fotbollen och en reproduktion av de idrottsstereotypa bilder av manligt och kvinnligt idrottande som media tenderar att visa upp. Flickorna får inte bara mindre textuellt utrymme utan frånkopplas ofta en seriös fotbollssatsning i jämförelse med pojkarna. En del arbete tycks således finnas kvar innan jämställdhetsmålet är uppnått inom ungdomsfotbollens verksamheter.

Dichotomy in change – a study of how the relationship in terms of power between politicians and civil servants in local government is affected by the transition to a system without branch committees

The thesis claims that an experiential approach to design really does promise the possibility of scientific design of everyday life. The purpose of this thesis is to show the promise. René Descartes conceptualized the classical formulation of a mind-body dichotomy. Various resulting and unbalanced dichotomies, such as subjective-objective, internal-external, experiential-practical and so on, raise serious concerns surrounding the concept of design. The thesis raises a crucial issue about the imbalance between technological and human concerns in the context of human-computer interaction, an imbalance that has been caused partly by the mechanistic aspect of informatics and its impact on designing human computer interaction. The thesis first explores the origin of design as a distinct activity during the industrial revolution, and reviews the tide of design history from then until today. The brief review of design history indicates that design is not merely the skill of making things or presentations. This gives direction to how design can be positioned in our modern information society. Second, the author starts a critical discussion about ordinary design approaches that, it is suggested, may have hindered true human-centred design, and then introduces an alternative approach to design and research, which the author calls Human-Experiential Design. Third, the notion of Tangible Presence in Blended Reality Space is introduced. The conceptual grounding that illustrates the experiential approach to interaction design is discussed. Fourth, the thesis presents use cases and provides examples of Human-Experiential Design in specific practical contexts. The concrete examples suggest that the emphasis on ‘balance’ or appropriate blending is very important in the development of better interactive systems for health, capitalizing on seamless combinations of the virtual and the physical in Blended Reality Space. As exemplified in the thesis, the human-experiential approach, striving for optimal combinations of tangibility and evoked presence, offers a promising tool in designing for special needs groups such as elderly people with some cognitive weaknesses, and children undertaking physical rehabilitation programmes. It is suggested that such virtual-physical blends will release human beings from the strain that existing perceived dichotomies bring. Finally, the author concludes by offering a way forward, a way that is neither subjective nor objective but rather a meaningfully integrated blend of the dichotomies, which responds to the question of what it means to be human.