日期符號事件近年來頻繁出現在台灣媒體文本中：大眾媒體以日期命名，讓數字符號在眾多論述中標誌相關事件。其中，「520」就是帶有濃厚政治意涵的媒體事件。這一日期符號在每四年一次報章的相關論述中，觸發了集體記憶、認同、與媒體儀式機制，以再現並形塑正副總統就職儀禮，也帶領閱聽眾一同參與和詮釋符號事件。 本文首先藉由520的時間結構分析，劃分出日常生活時刻與關鍵契機(kairos)的差異，彰顯特定時空情境閱聽眾的行動能力——及催生他們自成一個共同體的想像。其次，再藉由520儀式的象徵符號論述，探討在變遷時空背景下的國族想像轉變。 在現今開放性的文化中，520不僅是「言說的符號」也是「行動的身體」。閱聽眾運用520象徵符號連結相關的事件，也在儀式行動中確認符號的意義。所以，520兼備了此二特質，把空間情境、行為轉變隱藏在時間符號開展的過程裡。 綜上所述，本文以論述分析及儀式展演說明520符號的變遷，正是顯現520以人為命名方式，將行動的意圖包裝成讓閱聽眾記憶與見證的歷史，並引領閱聽眾以新時代的價值為名義，建構一個關於美好未來的國族想像。

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<p>Vad händer vid en medling och hur upplevs detta möte av de parter som ingår i medlingsprocessen? Denna fråga är utgångspunkten i föreliggande uppsats vilken belyser gärningspersoners och brottsoffers upplevelser samt den förändrade syn på sig själva och den andra parten vilken medlingen bidragit till. Medling vid brott innebär att gärningsperson och brottsoffer möts och samtalar om sina upplevelser av brottet. Denna uppsats har med intervjuer som bas studerat parternas egna upplevelser av medlingssituationen. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna för uppsatsen är George Herbert Meads ”Den Generaliserade andre”, Thomas Scheff och Susanne Retzingers skambegrepp, Erving Goffmans samspelsteori samt ”Det intersubjektiva tredje” vilket beskrivs av Samuel Gerson. Med hjälp av dessa teorier har gärningspersonerna och brottsoffrens upplevelser av medling analyserats, analysen visar att medling av båda parter beskrivs som ett möte där en motpart gett dem insikt om den andres upplevelse av brottet. Denna insikt resulterade i en för gärningspersonerna förändrad livssyn samt för brottsoffren en känsla av att få brottet utrett. Slutsatsen som dras i denna uppsats är att medling vid brott bidrar till att ge gärningsperson och brottsoffer en ny bild av händelsen och att denna nya bild leder till eftertanke kring det egna beteendet samt en förståelse för hur det egna agerandet påverkar andra.</p> / <p>What happens at a victim-offender mediation and how is this process perceived by the parties involved? That is the starting point in this paper illustrating perpetrators and victims’ experiences and their changing views of themselves and of the other party given by the mediation process. Criminal mediation means that the perpetrator and the victim meet to discuss their view of the crime. This paper, based on interviews, studies both parties own experiences of the mediation. The theoretical starting points of the paper are George Herbert Mead´s "the Generalized Other”, Thomas Scheff´s and Susanne Retzinger´s shame and reintegrative shame concept, Erving Goffman´s interaction ritual theory and "the concept of the third” described by Samuel Gerson. Perpetrators and victims experiences of the mediation have been analyzed by means of these theories, the analysis shows that mediation is described by both parties as a meeting giving them insight into the other parties’ experience of the crime. This insight resulted in a changed view on life for the perpetrators and a feeling of having the crime investigated for the victims. The conclusion in this paper is that victim-offender mediation gives the perpetrator and the victim a new view of the incident, resulting in reflection about their own behaviour and an understanding of how their acting affects others.</p>

<p>This is a story about Lao Pako. Lao Pako is located on a small hill on the southern bank of the river Nam Ngum in central Laos. Four seasons of archaeological fieldwork have yielded considerable amounts of pottery, metallurgical remains, glass beads, stone artefacts, spindle whorls as well as other material and structural information that have created a foundation for interpretation. The archaeological interpretation presents Lao Pako as a place where people came to perform rituals c. 1500 years ago. In these rituals, sophisticated combinations of pottery depositions, infant burials and iron production produced a narrative about what it means to be in the world. Things in and on the ground created, and continue to create, non-verbal sentences about life and death, fertility, decay and worldly reproduction. </p><p>The archaeological interpretation is, however, not the only valid story about Lao Pako. This is a place where spirits are; it is also a tourist resort and a national treasure. These other stories all work to create Lao Pako as a place of interest and are used in this thesis to define the archaeological story, and to visualize the aims and agendas inherent in the production of archaeological knowledge. </p><p>Using the conceptual apparatus of postcolonial and other critical theory, the thesis aims to critically deconstruct the archaeology performed by the author and others. It entails an explicit critique of the deterministic temporal unilinearity that is inherent in the archaeological narrative of the evolution of humankind, as well as against essentialist notions of culture and the dissociation of the past as exotic otherness. Thus, the stories about Lao Pako demonstrate the need to critically revise the role of archaeology in a postcolonial world, and create archaeological stories by which we are touched, moved and disturbed, without resorting to imperialist notions of time and progress.</p>

This is a story about Lao Pako. Lao Pako is located on a small hill on the southern bank of the river Nam Ngum in central Laos. Four seasons of archaeological fieldwork have yielded considerable amounts of pottery, metallurgical remains, glass beads, stone artefacts, spindle whorls as well as other material and structural information that have created a foundation for interpretation. The archaeological interpretation presents Lao Pako as a place where people came to perform rituals c. 1500 years ago. In these rituals, sophisticated combinations of pottery depositions, infant burials and iron production produced a narrative about what it means to be in the world. Things in and on the ground created, and continue to create, non-verbal sentences about life and death, fertility, decay and worldly reproduction. The archaeological interpretation is, however, not the only valid story about Lao Pako. This is a place where spirits are; it is also a tourist resort and a national treasure. These other stories all work to create Lao Pako as a place of interest and are used in this thesis to define the archaeological story, and to visualize the aims and agendas inherent in the production of archaeological knowledge. Using the conceptual apparatus of postcolonial and other critical theory, the thesis aims to critically deconstruct the archaeology performed by the author and others. It entails an explicit critique of the deterministic temporal unilinearity that is inherent in the archaeological narrative of the evolution of humankind, as well as against essentialist notions of culture and the dissociation of the past as exotic otherness. Thus, the stories about Lao Pako demonstrate the need to critically revise the role of archaeology in a postcolonial world, and create archaeological stories by which we are touched, moved and disturbed, without resorting to imperialist notions of time and progress.

Vad händer vid en medling och hur upplevs detta möte av de parter som ingår i medlingsprocessen? Denna fråga är utgångspunkten i föreliggande uppsats vilken belyser gärningspersoners och brottsoffers upplevelser samt den förändrade syn på sig själva och den andra parten vilken medlingen bidragit till. Medling vid brott innebär att gärningsperson och brottsoffer möts och samtalar om sina upplevelser av brottet. Denna uppsats har med intervjuer som bas studerat parternas egna upplevelser av medlingssituationen. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna för uppsatsen är George Herbert Meads ”Den Generaliserade andre”, Thomas Scheff och Susanne Retzingers skambegrepp, Erving Goffmans samspelsteori samt ”Det intersubjektiva tredje” vilket beskrivs av Samuel Gerson. Med hjälp av dessa teorier har gärningspersonerna och brottsoffrens upplevelser av medling analyserats, analysen visar att medling av båda parter beskrivs som ett möte där en motpart gett dem insikt om den andres upplevelse av brottet. Denna insikt resulterade i en för gärningspersonerna förändrad livssyn samt för brottsoffren en känsla av att få brottet utrett. Slutsatsen som dras i denna uppsats är att medling vid brott bidrar till att ge gärningsperson och brottsoffer en ny bild av händelsen och att denna nya bild leder till eftertanke kring det egna beteendet samt en förståelse för hur det egna agerandet påverkar andra. / What happens at a victim-offender mediation and how is this process perceived by the parties involved? That is the starting point in this paper illustrating perpetrators and victims’ experiences and their changing views of themselves and of the other party given by the mediation process. Criminal mediation means that the perpetrator and the victim meet to discuss their view of the crime. This paper, based on interviews, studies both parties own experiences of the mediation. The theoretical starting points of the paper are George Herbert Mead´s "the Generalized Other”, Thomas Scheff´s and Susanne Retzinger´s shame and reintegrative shame concept, Erving Goffman´s interaction ritual theory and "the concept of the third” described by Samuel Gerson. Perpetrators and victims experiences of the mediation have been analyzed by means of these theories, the analysis shows that mediation is described by both parties as a meeting giving them insight into the other parties’ experience of the crime. This insight resulted in a changed view on life for the perpetrators and a feeling of having the crime investigated for the victims. The conclusion in this paper is that victim-offender mediation gives the perpetrator and the victim a new view of the incident, resulting in reflection about their own behaviour and an understanding of how their acting affects others.

No description available.

The objective of this research is to analyze the ways in which the conservative,American church has been ideologically and ritualistically shaped by an imperial culture enamored with war, the military, and violence; and how those positions and practices, in effect, legitimate war and the military. While many authors have surveyed historical Christian positions regarding war and the current nationalistic tendencies of conservative Christians, little research has been conducted to assess the effects of violence, nationalism, patriotism, and military enchantment on Christian rituals, practices, and ethos. Within this research, I argue that contemporary, conservative Christians have surpassed previously held nuanced positions of pacifism, just-war, and Christian Realism into a confluence of conservative Christian theology and American nationalism because of the American culture in which it is embedded. I refer to this typology as “church militant.” In addition, ritual practices which indirectly legitimate war and violence, influenced by an adopted position of church militant, are investigated. In order to accomplish this task, I have provided a brief survey of historical Christian typologies as they pertain to attitudes toward war and violence, while paying particular attention to the social context for each of these positions. Second, a typology of Christian hyper-religious patriotism, referred to as “church militant,” will be introduced by locating my argument within personal fieldnotes recorded during multiple visits to three Christian megachurches and current literature pertaining to Christian attitudes and participation in military and war efforts. After establishing the Christian typology toward war and violence, the subsequent sections of the paper detail specific practices of the contemporary, conservative church which serve to justify American military endeavors. Although much more could be stated regarding the militaristic cultural influence on ritual practices of conservative, American Christians, I focus on ritual songs and symbols of protection, a liturgy for religious warriors, and a practice of elevating soldiers as the Christian ideal which all legitimate United States war efforts. My objective is not to defend or attack the religious institutions which were studied; but, rather to augment the growing literature regarding conservative, American Christians vis-à-vis nationalism, patriotism, and militarism by identifying and interpreting the various ways that these ideas have shaped the conservative Christian culture.

The return to body awareness, or embodiment, is necessary for individual and communal harmony. A reflection on the use of dance in tribal societies suggests their importance in creating community and identifies how they were prohibited during colonization and thereafter. Subsequently, an investigation into current American culture in the 21st century finds a disembodied culture, as defined by the lack of awareness to the body as a living entity. Embodiment practices are suggested for a return to individual harmony and communal dancing as the solution for community harmony. Lastly, a personal exploration into the making and creating of danced rituals suggests the power of dance to heal, transform, and unite humanity.

This thesis explores the cult and mythos of the goddess Kali both in her Eastern and Western contexts, comparing and contrasting them in order to gain a better understanding of the Western appropriations of Kali within feminist goddess spirituality. Utilizing a variety of methods, including ethnographic research conducted at Kali temples in California, this research is aimed at providing an entry into the lived contemporary tradition of the Western Kali within goddess spirituality circles, focusing on embodied experience, devotion, ritual, and syncretic practices. Kali, a fierce Indian goddess, is often seen in the Hindu context as a central manifestation of the all encompassing Mother Goddess (Mahadevi, Devi, Shakti, etc), and therefore is a particularly engaging example of contemporary Western appropriation of religious and cultural symbols and narratives. This thesis contributes to understanding Kali in her new North American domain, as well as serving as a case study of the shifting religious landscape in the West.