Advances in technologies of voice profiling shed new light on questions of listening and its entanglement with antiblackness as a structuring paradigm of modernity. To contest current conceptions of listening with regards to the question of race and antiblackness while also shining light on the potentials offered by blackness, this dissertation engages listening at three distinct sites that are entangled with this modern question of voice profiling AI. In the process, this dissertation elaborates on the ethical stakes involved in listening itself. Chapter 1 excavates the way in which the ears of enslaved Black lives were ritualized. It centers an analysis of the role of the punishment of ear cropping and how this performed both a claim over slaves’ belonging and an inhibition on their freedom. Scholarship from Hebrew law aids in uncovering the meaning of the specific form of punishment. The chapter concludes by comparing the conception of slaves’ ears to Black artistic expressions such as Harriet Jacobs’s various methods of narration in Incidents of a Slave Girl and Blind Tom Wiggins’ unique use of clusters and graphic notation in Battle of Manassas, so as to demonstrate their methods of resistance and refusal to a claimed all-encompassing regime of listening. Chapter 2 engages modern notions of sound and listening. The way in which sound is theorized and engaged in modern digital technologies is entangled with the conception of what listening is and what it entails. Hermann von Helmholtz provides an axis after which sound and listening, as well as the relation between an inner world of perceptions and an outer world of sensations, has to be engaged as a question of listening as entangled in societal questions. The chapter critically elaborates alongside questions of categorical distinction in sound, such as the use of skull shapes as referents for AI listening, instrument classification systems, and the general question of the form of sound, or sound as object. The concluding Chapter 3 discusses, alongside Sylvia Wynter’s work and Roscoe Mitchell’s piece S II Examples (date) the kinds of questions we must pose in the development of modern AI listening technologies to move past antiblackness. Immanuel Kant’s theorizing of race and his influence on Johann Friedrich Blumenbach’s classification of skulls relate tomodern voice profiling AI technology directly through the question of using cranial shapes. Wynter’s work challenges both a turn to varieties that do not allow the addressing of structural antiblackness, and a continuation of claims to proper knowledge on the basis of antiblackness. Ultimately, Wynter aids us in hearing Mitchell’s continual shapeshifting practice on the saxophone as a proposal towards a refiguring of our conception of sound, listening, and us.

Tout comme les récits de déportation politique et raciale, les récits de captivité des prisonniers de guerre français de la Seconde Guerre mondiale présentent un intérêt non négligeable, du point de vue historique, documentaire, idéologique, mais aussi littéraire.<br />Entre 1940 et 1953, pas moins de 188 récits — témoignages, journaux, romans — furent publiés, qui constituent un corpus riche qui n'a pas été étudié jusqu'à présent. Cette thèse de doctorat entreprend de démêler, à travers l'étude du contexte littéraire et politique de l'époque, les différents enjeux qui gravitent autour de ces récits.

Cette dissertation aborde certains aspects de la construction de l’identitée noire à Porto Alegre à travers l’étude du carnaval durant les décades de 1930 et de 1940. Durant cette période, le carnaval de rue a été fortement lié aux descendants d’africains et aux territoires établis par eux mêmes à l’intérieur de la ville comme, Areal da Baronesa, Ilhota, Cabo Rocha et Colônia Africana. L’étude de la fête carnavalesque à partir de ces territoires a permis, d’une part, de mettre en évidence certaines relations sociales et conflits établis entre les segments noirs de la population et, d’autre part, leurs relations à l’intérieur de la société locale. La recherche a démontré que la fête organisée dans ces espaces par les blocs, “cordões”, et sociétés carnavalesques noires ont une signification spéciale pour les “carnavalescos” et ce, jusqu’à présent, car elle reste associée à une histoire de résistance, de manutention et de création de frontières ethniques des descendants d’africains dans le passé, mais qui sont encore évoquées continuellement aujourd’hui et qui extrapolent les limites de la régionalité ou de la nationalité. Ces références ethniques constituées dans le passé, sont encore de forts symboles de l’identification collective pour ces segments de la population, le carnaval étant une référence de consolidation de l’identité noire de Porto Alegre. / Esta dissertação aborda alguns aspectos da construção da identidade negra em Porto Alegre através do estudo do carnaval nas décadas de 1930 e 40. Nesse período, o carnaval de rua esteve fortemente relacionado aos descendentes de africanos e aos territórios por eles estabelecidos no interior da cidade, tais como Areal da Baronesa, Ilhota, Cabo Rocha e Colônia Africana. O estudo da festa carnavalesca a partir desses territórios permitiu recuperar algumas das sociabilidades e conflitos estabelecidos entre os segmentos negros da população, bem como suas relações no interior da sociedade local. A pesquisa demonstrou que a festa organizada nesses espaços pelos blocos, cordões e sociedades carnavalescas negras tem um significado especial para os carnavalescos até a atualidade, pois está associada a uma história de resistência, manutenção e criação de fronteiras étnicas pelos descendentes de africanos no passado, mas que são continuamente evocadas no presente e que extrapolam os limites da regionalidade ou da nacionalidade. Esses referenciais étnicos constituídos outrora ainda são fortes símbolos de identificação coletiva para estes segmentos da população, sendo o carnaval um importante referencial de consolidação da identidade negra em Porto Alegre.

Cette dissertation aborde certains aspects de la construction de l’identitée noire à Porto Alegre à travers l’étude du carnaval durant les décades de 1930 et de 1940. Durant cette période, le carnaval de rue a été fortement lié aux descendants d’africains et aux territoires établis par eux mêmes à l’intérieur de la ville comme, Areal da Baronesa, Ilhota, Cabo Rocha et Colônia Africana. L’étude de la fête carnavalesque à partir de ces territoires a permis, d’une part, de mettre en évidence certaines relations sociales et conflits établis entre les segments noirs de la population et, d’autre part, leurs relations à l’intérieur de la société locale. La recherche a démontré que la fête organisée dans ces espaces par les blocs, “cordões”, et sociétés carnavalesques noires ont une signification spéciale pour les “carnavalescos” et ce, jusqu’à présent, car elle reste associée à une histoire de résistance, de manutention et de création de frontières ethniques des descendants d’africains dans le passé, mais qui sont encore évoquées continuellement aujourd’hui et qui extrapolent les limites de la régionalité ou de la nationalité. Ces références ethniques constituées dans le passé, sont encore de forts symboles de l’identification collective pour ces segments de la population, le carnaval étant une référence de consolidation de l’identité noire de Porto Alegre. / Esta dissertação aborda alguns aspectos da construção da identidade negra em Porto Alegre através do estudo do carnaval nas décadas de 1930 e 40. Nesse período, o carnaval de rua esteve fortemente relacionado aos descendentes de africanos e aos territórios por eles estabelecidos no interior da cidade, tais como Areal da Baronesa, Ilhota, Cabo Rocha e Colônia Africana. O estudo da festa carnavalesca a partir desses territórios permitiu recuperar algumas das sociabilidades e conflitos estabelecidos entre os segmentos negros da população, bem como suas relações no interior da sociedade local. A pesquisa demonstrou que a festa organizada nesses espaços pelos blocos, cordões e sociedades carnavalescas negras tem um significado especial para os carnavalescos até a atualidade, pois está associada a uma história de resistência, manutenção e criação de fronteiras étnicas pelos descendentes de africanos no passado, mas que são continuamente evocadas no presente e que extrapolam os limites da regionalidade ou da nacionalidade. Esses referenciais étnicos constituídos outrora ainda são fortes símbolos de identificação coletiva para estes segmentos da população, sendo o carnaval um importante referencial de consolidação da identidade negra em Porto Alegre.

Cette dissertation aborde certains aspects de la construction de l’identitée noire à Porto Alegre à travers l’étude du carnaval durant les décades de 1930 et de 1940. Durant cette période, le carnaval de rue a été fortement lié aux descendants d’africains et aux territoires établis par eux mêmes à l’intérieur de la ville comme, Areal da Baronesa, Ilhota, Cabo Rocha et Colônia Africana. L’étude de la fête carnavalesque à partir de ces territoires a permis, d’une part, de mettre en évidence certaines relations sociales et conflits établis entre les segments noirs de la population et, d’autre part, leurs relations à l’intérieur de la société locale. La recherche a démontré que la fête organisée dans ces espaces par les blocs, “cordões”, et sociétés carnavalesques noires ont une signification spéciale pour les “carnavalescos” et ce, jusqu’à présent, car elle reste associée à une histoire de résistance, de manutention et de création de frontières ethniques des descendants d’africains dans le passé, mais qui sont encore évoquées continuellement aujourd’hui et qui extrapolent les limites de la régionalité ou de la nationalité. Ces références ethniques constituées dans le passé, sont encore de forts symboles de l’identification collective pour ces segments de la population, le carnaval étant une référence de consolidation de l’identité noire de Porto Alegre. / Esta dissertação aborda alguns aspectos da construção da identidade negra em Porto Alegre através do estudo do carnaval nas décadas de 1930 e 40. Nesse período, o carnaval de rua esteve fortemente relacionado aos descendentes de africanos e aos territórios por eles estabelecidos no interior da cidade, tais como Areal da Baronesa, Ilhota, Cabo Rocha e Colônia Africana. O estudo da festa carnavalesca a partir desses territórios permitiu recuperar algumas das sociabilidades e conflitos estabelecidos entre os segmentos negros da população, bem como suas relações no interior da sociedade local. A pesquisa demonstrou que a festa organizada nesses espaços pelos blocos, cordões e sociedades carnavalescas negras tem um significado especial para os carnavalescos até a atualidade, pois está associada a uma história de resistência, manutenção e criação de fronteiras étnicas pelos descendentes de africanos no passado, mas que são continuamente evocadas no presente e que extrapolam os limites da regionalidade ou da nacionalidade. Esses referenciais étnicos constituídos outrora ainda são fortes símbolos de identificação coletiva para estes segmentos da população, sendo o carnaval um importante referencial de consolidação da identidade negra em Porto Alegre.

The study commenced by identifying a theological problem relating to the lack of understanding regarding grass-roots African Pentecostal healing praxis. The empirical-theological approach of Van der Ven was utilised, therefore, to study the healing praxis of an African Pentecostal body, called: The Group‘ Assemblies of God, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Van der Ven‘s original framework was developed by drawing on the hermeneutic and methodological work of Cartledge. A case study was undertaken on a Group‘ Assembly in rural KwaZulu-Natal. The use of social scientific techniques produced a wide range of results that point to the church‘s ministry of healing as a process, rooted in the Trinity, that can occur through varied channels. These pathways ended in a broad understanding of healing. A dialogue between the qualitative results and the healing literature was used to develop a more precise theological question. Case study categories were conceptualised and then operationalised as a questionnaire. A survey was performed on all Assemblies affiliated to The Group‘ Assemblies of God in KwaZulu-Natal. A significant number of people participated in the survey which produced a wide range of data. It is found that worldview and charismatic experience form an important hermeneutic axis that influences attitudes towards the healing ministry. Conservative biblical belief, ethnicity, education and gender influence attitudes towards healing. A distinct divide exists between positive attitudes towards physical, spiritual, inner healing and deliverance and more negative attitudes towards social and environmental healing. The reflection on these results focuses on the perceived influence of American dispensational fundamentalism. The eschatology formed from these beliefs has a narrowing effect on holistic healing ministry. Moltmann‘s transformational eschatology is suggested, therefore, as a suitable alternative. The methodological evaluation finds that several problems exist with regard to research in a rural African location. The cycle concludes by offering a range of suggestions for further study. / Practical Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

The study commenced by identifying a theological problem relating to the lack of understanding regarding grass-roots African Pentecostal healing praxis. The empirical-theological approach of Van der Ven was utilised, therefore, to study the healing praxis of an African Pentecostal body, called: The Group‘ Assemblies of God, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Van der Ven‘s original framework was developed by drawing on the hermeneutic and methodological work of Cartledge. A case study was undertaken on a Group‘ Assembly in rural KwaZulu-Natal. The use of social scientific techniques produced a wide range of results that point to the church‘s ministry of healing as a process, rooted in the Trinity, that can occur through varied channels. These pathways ended in a broad understanding of healing. A dialogue between the qualitative results and the healing literature was used to develop a more precise theological question. Case study categories were conceptualised and then operationalised as a questionnaire. A survey was performed on all Assemblies affiliated to The Group‘ Assemblies of God in KwaZulu-Natal. A significant number of people participated in the survey which produced a wide range of data. It is found that worldview and charismatic experience form an important hermeneutic axis that influences attitudes towards the healing ministry. Conservative biblical belief, ethnicity, education and gender influence attitudes towards healing. A distinct divide exists between positive attitudes towards physical, spiritual, inner healing and deliverance and more negative attitudes towards social and environmental healing. The reflection on these results focuses on the perceived influence of American dispensational fundamentalism. The eschatology formed from these beliefs has a narrowing effect on holistic healing ministry. Moltmann‘s transformational eschatology is suggested, therefore, as a suitable alternative. The methodological evaluation finds that several problems exist with regard to research in a rural African location. The cycle concludes by offering a range of suggestions for further study. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)