The Mountain Meadows Massacre occurred in 1857 on a now infamous 11 September when Mormons and Paiute Indians massacred an emigrant train from Arkansas. The central topic of this thesis is not the massacre itself, but rather the creation of a discourse that sought to describe the massacre as an incursion on expanding American civilization. Though Mormon polygamy received the lion’s share of attention, the scrutiny that Americans placed on Mountain Meadows in the second half of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century demonstrated that polygamy was not Mormonism’s only offence. The massacre lurked on the edges of the “Mormon Problem.” This thesis examines the American quest for punishment through official legal channels and in the popular press from the 1850s to the 1920s. It also explores the relationship between efforts to convict individual perpetrators and punitive endeavours aimed at a minority religion. As the legal investigation and prosecution of the massacre proceeded in the decades following the massacre, reports in the popular press spread across the United States becoming more specific and more elaborate as time went on. The story of the massacre catalogued a multitude of Mormon sins focusing on race, savagery, manhood, and theocracy— specific junctures where Mormons breached widely held American sensibilities about civilization. Tailor-made for the explosion of sensational literature, the story of the meadows became a tool to encourage government action against the Mormons or to warn against the “Mormon Menace” and played a notable role as Mormons battled for complete enfranchisement in the American citizenship conflicts of the latter half of the nineteenth century. Closely examining the relationship between the prosecution for the massacre and the popular story of the massacre, this thesis illuminates both a notorious moment in Mormon History and the Americans who told its story.

This thesis works with the discourse historical approach (DHA) as the primary framework for the diachronic analysis of a corpus of commemorative speeches by United States presidents at the annual Memorial Day event. The study integrates micro-text and narrative analysis with study of parallel co-texts (especially the Gettysburg address), and seeks to align these with the context provided by social, cultural and historical rituals. I have sought to demonstrate the means by which speakers seek to use Memorial Day in their politolinguistic repertoire to secure a self-serving, legitimizing 'common ground' that elevates the normative value of war in preference to alternative peace-oriented discourses. In addition to analysis of legitimizing strategies, I focus on aesthetic or poetic rhetorical devices typical in the Memorial Day text," and demonstrate their important function in reinforcing and maintaining collective attitudes to memory and history. American Memorial Day thus serves as a case study for the exploration of discourses that perpetuate and legitimize war as activity that is necessary and integral to historical 'progress'.

Les pastilles supraconductrices peuvent produire des forts champs magnétiques très supérieurs aux aimants permanents. Plusieurs méthodes d’aimantation de ces pastilles existent néanmoins une seule est principalement utilisée pour les applications en génie électrique, l’aimantation par champ magnétique impulsionnel (Pulsed Field Magnetization). Afin de maîtriser l’aimantation de ces pastilles supraconductrices par PFM, nous avons étudié l’influence de la forme de l’inducteur sur le champ magnétique piégé où nous trouvons une influence significative de la forme de l’inducteur sur le champ piégé dans la pastille supraconductrice. Afin de prévoir la mise en oeuvre des pastilles supraconductrices dans des applications en génie électrique, nous avons étudié l’aimantation de ces pastilles dans un circuit magnétique et l’influence de ce circuit sur le champ piégé. Nous remarquons une nette amélioration du champ piégé dans la pastille en utilisant le circuit magnétique. Nous avons étudié, également, l’influence d’un champ démagnétisant impulsionnel et alternatif sur le champ piégé dans une pastille supraconductrice aimantée. Les dégradations observées ne montrent pas de contre-indication à l’utilisation des pastilles supraconductrices aimantées dans les applications en génie électrique. / The superconducting bulks can produce very strong magnetic fields greater than those of permanent magnets can. Several methods of magnetization of the superconducting bulks exist, however one is mainly used for the electrical applications, the Pulsed Field Magnetization. In order to control the magnetization of the superconducting bulks by PFM, we studied the influence of the shape of the inductor on the trapped magnetic field where we find a significant influence of the shape of the inductor on the trapped magnetic field in the anticipate superconducting bulk. In order to the implementation of the superconducting bulk in the electrical applications, we studied the magnetization of these bulks in a magnetic core and the influence of this magnetic core on the trapped magnetic field. We notice an important improvement of the trapped magnetic field in the superconducting bulk by using the magnetic core. We studied also the influence of a pulsed and an alternating demagnetizing field on the trapped magnetic field in a superconducting bulk. The observed degradation does not show any contraindication to use the superconducting magnetic bulks in the electrical engineering applications.

Neoconservatism reached its zenith as a school of thought when it became associated with the Iraq War. Although the war was largely considered a failure, it raised the profile of neoconservatism as a school of thought. Many studies were completed which pointed to the influence of prominent members of the George W. Bush administration who were considered to be ideologically neoconservative. When Obama won the presidency in 2008, it was assumed that the influence of neoconservatives, or neoconservatism more broadly, would be over. However, given neoconservatism’s historical foundations and the tenacity of its adherents it seemed important to consider whether this has been the case. Therefore, this thesis set out to answer the question: To what extent have neoconservatives, and neoconservatism more broadly, influenced foreign policy debates during the Obama administration? I argue that neoconservatism has remained not only salient within foreign policy debates, but prominent in these debates, during Obama’s two terms in office. An examination of US foreign policy towards the nuclear crisis in Iran and the Syrian civil war indicates that neoconservatism had a substantive influence on the policy debates and the options considered within them, particularly in Congress. In some instances, neoconservative policy entrepreneurs contributed to legislation. Furthermore, this thesis finds that neoconservatism has been the predominant approach to foreign policy within the Republican Party on the issues of Iran and Syria during the period under review.

Diese Dissertation analysiert den Zusammenhang von neokonservativer Logik und der Idee des „American Decline“ in der außenpolitischen Debatte der USA von den 1960er-Jahren bis 2021 mit einem Fokus auf der Obama-Präsidentschaft (2009-17). Unter Anwendung der Imperiumstheorie untersucht sie Texte führender neokonservativer Plattformen und Denker_innen, die sich mit dem Wesen, den Aufgaben, den Kosten, dem Nutzen und der Zukunft amerikanischer Weltmacht befassen. Die Studie enthüllt die Niedergangsidee als einen integralen Bestandteil der neokonservativen Logik, der US-Superiorität legitimiert und stabilisiert. Sie vermittelt den Amerikaner_innen einen höheren Zweck und Orientierung, unterdrückt aber alternative Pfade für die Vereinigten Staaten durch die Gleichsetzung von US-Superiorität mit Weltordnung. / This dissertation examines the relationship between neoconservative logic and the idea of „American Decline” in the U.S. foreign policy debate from the 1960s until 2021 with a focus on the Obama presidency (2009-17). Building on imperial theory, the project analyses texts from leading neoconservative platforms and thinkers, dealing with the nature, tasks, costs, benefits and future of American world power. The study reveals the idea of decline as integral to neoconservative logic, as an element that legitimizes and stabilizes U.S. superiority. It provides Americans with a sense of mission and orientation and suppresses alternative paths for the United States due to its equation of U.S. superiority with world order.

Submitted by Erika Demachki (erikademachki@gmail.com) on 2014-10-30T16:51:52Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcelo Cazarotto Brombilla - 2013.pdf: 17510196 bytes, checksum: 4af51346be135db0fd653afe831b30a0 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2014-10-31T09:51:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcelo Cazarotto Brombilla - 2013.pdf: 17510196 bytes, checksum: 4af51346be135db0fd653afe831b30a0 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-31T09:51:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcelo Cazarotto Brombilla - 2013.pdf: 17510196 bytes, checksum: 4af51346be135db0fd653afe831b30a0 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This research deals with the realization of a transcription for solo guitar of the RV 199 concerto by Antonio Vivaldi, according to the procedures used by J. S. Bach in his transcription of RV 299, which resulted in the harpsichord concerto BWV 973. We carried out a comparative analysis of Vivaldi’s original RV 299 with the transcription of Bach’s BWV 973; these procedures were applied to a transcription for solo guitar of RV 199, and presented in two ways, a version in two staves and a final version for performance. / A presente pesquisa trata da realização de uma transcrição para violão solo do concerto RV 199 de Antonio Vivaldi, segundo os procedimentos utilizados por J. S. Bach na transcrição do concerto RV 299, que resultou no concerto para cravo BWV 973. Procedeu-se uma análise comparativa do original de Vivaldi RV 299 com a transcrição de Bach BWV 973; estes procedimentos foram aplicados na transcrição para violão solo do concerto RV 199 que foi apresentada em duas maneiras, a saber, uma versão em duas pautas e uma versão final de performance em uma pauta.

The U.S. War on Drugs has been underway for several decades. Since it was declared by the Nixon Administration narcotics have been understood as a growing security threat to the American public, their health, economy and society. Illicit drugs have gradually become a securitised issue. From the Nixon Administration onward, the law enforcement and eventually military assets of the United States government were increasingly deployed in an effort to counter this drug threat. While initially regarded as a minor issue, as the potency and addictive qualities of illicit drugs increased during the 20th Century, so too did the concerns of influential actors from the political and public spheres. Nixon's actions did not represent the high-water mark of U.S. counter-narcotics. There was growing violence on American streets linked to the drug trafficking cartels out of Colombia, especially in Southern Florida where traffickers battled each other for lucrative drug markets. In response to this national security threat, the Reagan Administration – followed by the successor Bush and Clinton Administrations – gradually increased the involvement of the U.S. military in counter-narcotics policy. This occurred both at home in the form of greater militarisation of police forces, and abroad in support of several Latin American countries’ security forces. In 2000, drug-related instability in Colombia resulted in the launch of the Plan Colombia initiative, a dedicated package of American financial and security assistance, with counter-narcotics the primary purpose. In 2008, as drug-related violence in Mexico reached epidemic proportions and threatened to spillover across the American border, the U.S. launched the Merida Initiative in an attempt to aid Mexican counter-narcotics efforts. This thesis uses qualitative research methods to examine the militarisation of U.S. foreign counter-narcotics policy by analysing the case studies of Colombia and Mexico and their American-backed efforts. It also examines domestic policy, by considering the historical development of U.S. counter-narcotics, the progressive militarisation of law enforcement as a consequence of the drug war, and the security situation on the southern border with Mexico. This empirical research is facilitated by the development of a militarisation analytical framework, which builds upon the securitisation framework. Based on the findings of the case studies, the processes that drive militarisation are explored, and the framework itself is further developed and refined. The research possibilities for counter-narcotics policy and future direction for militarisation research are also explored in the Conclusion. Ultimately, this thesis offers a detailed analysis of militarisation in U.S. foreign and domestic counter-narcotics policy, the processes behind this, and develops a militarisation framework applicable to any security situation, contributing to the overall securitisation debate.

Cette thèse porte sur l’émergence de Harlem comme métropole noire dans les années 20, sur son déclin progressif dans les années 30 et sur les répercussions sur la communauté qui y réside, qui le transforme et le pratique à travers des actions et des discours. Durant ces deux décennies, le quartier subit des mutations importantes dans sa structure et par conséquent dans ses représentations. Harlem se transforme en quartier noir à population éclectique, et en métropole culturelle, artistique et intellectuelle qui génère aussi bien succès et fierté identitaire que débats et dissensions. Harlem devient aussi un ghetto aux conditions de vie fortement dégradées mais qui déclenchent la mobilisation politique des Harlémites qui s’expriment et affirment leur volonté de peser sur la scène nationale malgré leurs divisons. Lieu de paradoxes, lieu hétérogène aux multiples facettes, en proie aux tensions intracommunautaires et intercommunautaires, Harlem garde malgré tout une certaine unité et se construit autour de ses contradictions comme un lieu emblématique de la communauté afro-américaine.A travers une approche pluridisciplinaire et à travers un examen approfondi de sources primaires comme la presse, noire et blanche, locale et nationale, ainsi qu’un travail sur les productions artistiques, notamment celles de la Harlem Renaissance, et des ouvrages sociologiques et historiques de l’époque, cette thèse cherche à rendre compte des transformations de Harlem, espace géographique et espace-imagé, et à analyser la naissance, la renaissance et les représentations de cet espace urbain si particulier. / This Ph.D. dissertation deals with the rising of Harlem as a Black Metropolis in the 1920s, its progressive decline in the 1930s and the consequences regarding the inhabitants practicing this urban space through their actions and discourses. During these two decades, the neighborhood underwent profound changes in its structure as well as in its representations. Harlem became a black neighborhood with a heterogeneous population, and a cultural, artistic and intellectual metropolis which fostered success and identity pride as well as debates and dissent. Harlem turned also into a ghetto where living conditions deteriorated drastically; nevertheless Harlemites continued to express themselves and asserted their will to gain as a group on the national scene despite strong divisions. A heterogeneous neighborhood with multiple facets, rife with intra- and interracial tensions, Harlem nevertheless kept some unity and built itself around its contradictions.This Ph.D. dissertation adopts a multidisciplinary approach privileging a thorough examination of primary sources, in particular the Black and White press, both local and national. It also engages in a detailed study of artistic productions of the time, among them those of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as historical and sociological studies of that period. This study attempts to analyze the transformations of Harlem, the geographical and the imaginary space, and to follow the birth, the renaissance and the representations of this unique urban space.

Michael Moore est une icône culturelle aux États-Unis. Son nom évoque la polémique, la contestation politique mais aussi le film documentaire à succès (Bowling For Columbine, primé aux Oscars, Fahrenheit 9/11, Palme d’Or à Cannes). Les six films du corpus, —Roger & Me (1989), The Big One (1998), Bowling For Columbine (2002), Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Sicko (2007) et Captain Mike Across America (Slacker Uprising) (2008) —, posent une triple problématique : la tension entre documentaire classique et documentaire hybride, la présence/absence du documentariste dans son film, et la réception du spectateur organisée par le divertissement et/ou la politique. Trois axes majeurs émergent, autour desquels l’articulation de la thèse peut s’effectuer : le divertissement, la politique et l’autosuffisance. La méthodologie pour rendre compte de cette triple problématique résulte d’un montage quali-quanti. Il s’agit de faire appel à l’analyse de discours mais aussi à l’analyse de contenu (pour mesurer la présence de manière quantitative). L’histoire américaine et l’histoire du documentaire sont également nécessaires pour situer Moore à la fois dans la lignée de certains de ses ainés, mais aussi pour mesurer sa propre influence sur le genre avec ses propres héritiers. Au bout du processus, il est possible de constater que Moore a insufflé un nouvel élan dans le genre du film documentaire en rejetant le modèle classique de type info-argument, rendant ses productions aussi populaires que des blockbusters hollywoodiens. Cette transformation vient de la combinaison inédite des finalités de divertissement et de politique pour créer un documentaire à la Michael Moore du type info-tainment. Avec l’ajout d’une troisième finalité d’autosuffisance, le documentaire moorien se signale aussi par une augmentation considérable de la présence du documentariste à l’écran et une densification de ses interventions au montage. En modifiant le documentaire classique, Moore a mis en place plusieurs stratégies de regard et de récit/storytelling afin de favoriser une assimilation efficace de ces trois finalités dans l’esprit du spectateur. / Michael Moore is a cultural icon in the United States. The mere mention of his name evokes polemics, political protest but also blockbuster documentary films (The Academy award winning Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes). The six films of this corpus—Roger & Me (1989), The Big One (1998), Bowling For Columbine (2002), Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Sicko (2007) and Captain Mike Across America (Slacker Uprising) (2008)—, are problematic in three ways: the discordant relationship between classic and hybrid documentary, the presence/absence of the documentary filmmaker in his own film, and the spectator’s reception of the film along the lines of entertainment and/or politics. Three main areas, thus, emerge around which the thesis can be constructed: entertainment, politics and self-sufficiency. The methodology used to attend to these three matters of discussion comes directly from quali-quanti research. This implies calling on discourse analysis but also content analysis (to measure Moore’s presence quantitatively).The history of the United States as well as that of the documentary film are also necessary to situate Moore not only in the footsteps of some of his predecessors but also to measure his own influence on the genre as evidenced by his very own successors. Ultimately, it can be noted that Moore has breathed new life into the documentary film genre by rejecting the traditional info-argument model, thereby making his films as successful as Hollywood blockbusters.This transformation arises from the unique combination of entertainment and politics to make a Michael Moore info-tainment style documentary. With the added third documentary finality of self-sufficiency, the Michael Moore documentary film is marked by a considerable increase of the filmmakers on-screen presence as well as density of the documentarian’s interventions in the editing room. By modifying the traditional documentary film form, Moore has established several strategies of gaze and narrative/storytelling in order to stimulate the effective absorption of his three main documentary finalities into the mind of the spectator.

Approche esthétique de l’œuvre cinématographique de Brian De Palma. La problématique s’articule entre esthétique du montage et violence de l’image. En premier lieu, le texte interroge le mode de découpage privilégié par Brian De Palma en soulignant l'importance du plan-séquence et du split screen. L'usage du plan-séquence est, notamment, rapporté à la question du défaut de vision, phénomène considéré comme central. Un second moment de cette thèse est consacré à l'étude des personnages. Des personnages anti-héros, marginaux. L'accent est particulièrement mis sur le corps féminin. Regard et voyeurisme revient à la question du découpage privilégié par Brian De Palma. Comment Brian De Palma utilise-t-il le regard pour accéder à la violence ? Qu’est-ce que regarder chez Brian De Palma ? Comment les éléments voyeuristes depalmiens se construisent-ils à partir du langage cinématographique ? Le cinéma de Brian De Palma s’annonce aussi savant et complexe, entre classicisme et modernisme. Comment Brian De Palma travaille-t-il l’œuvre hitchcockienne pour offrir une conception nouvelle ? Comment violenter l’image pour extraire son invisible ? / An esthetically pleasing approach to Brian De Palma's cinematographic work. The issue revolves around editing aesthetics and image violence. First, the text questions the cutting mode favored by Brian De Palme, stressing the importance of sequence-shot and split screen. The use of sequence-shot is in particular brought by the issue of lack of vision, a phenomenon considered as central. A second point of this thesis is devoted to the study of the characters. Anti-hero characters, drop outs. Emphasis is particularly placed on the female body. And voyeuristic gaze returns to the issue of cutting by Brian De Palma. How does Brian De Palma use eyes to see violence ? What is the meaning of « looking » to Brian De Palm a? How are De Palma's voyeuristic elements constructed from film language ? Brian De Palma's film also promises to be clever and complex, between classicism and modernism. How does Brian De Palma use Hitchcock's work in order to offer a new design? How assaulting the image to get its unseen part ?