À une époque qui se concentre sur l’avenir de l’humanité, Maupassant s’intéresse aux origines. Pour lui, l’homme est un « animal humain » en qui coexistent le moderne et l’archaïque. C’est à ce regard original que nous invite son œuvre, qui travaille à montrer le primitif dans et non contre le civilisé. En quoi le primitif est-il une figure dérangeante ? En quoi le rapport à la nature et au corps est-il primitif ? Ici, le rapport à la nature, le corps, la sexualité, l’animalité, la bêtise sont traités comme des composantes irréductibles de l’humain. Mais la nature et le corps sont fondamentalement ambivalents. La figure du primitif, par son inscription dans la matière, est donc un miroir troublant tendu à l’homme du XIXe siècle. Ainsi définie, la notion de primitif fonctionne, si l’on peut dire, comme un pavé dans la mare, qui éclabousse la notion de civilisation et ses valeurs. Dénonçant la société comme dénaturée, Maupassant en vient à mettre en question la définition même de la civilisation et à mettre en cause l’opposition traditionnelle entre sauvage et civilisé. L’acception anthropologique de la notion de primitif, et plus particulièrement le principe de « participation », jettent a posteriori un éclairage singulier sur l’œuvre. C’est l’angle d’attaque de la dernière partie. Parce qu’elle échappe au normatif, la figure du primitif met à mal ce qui, dans la société, a valeur de cadre, de loi. Aussi assiste-t-on chez Maupassant au brouillage des différenciations sexuelle, sociale et morale, ainsi qu’au brouillage des frontières entre folie et raison, et entre fantastique et réaliste. De cet ébranlement des repères participe, enfin, une écriture elle-même primitive. / At a time when the future of humanity was all that mattered, Maupassant focused on the origins. For him man is a “human animal” combining elements of both modern and archaic behaviour. This original approach is the one Maupassant wants us to adopt with regard to his work, in which he endeavours to reveal the primitive aspect of man within his civilized refinement and not in opposition to it. In what way is the primitive an element which is disturbing? How does Maupassant portray the relationship between nature and the human body as primitive? He describes nature, the body, sexuality, animality and stupidity as irreducible components of man. However, nature and the human body are fundamentally ambivalent. The primitive element holds up a disturbing mirror image to the 19th century man. As such, it is tantamount to setting the cat among the pigeons, thereby tarnishing the notion of civilized man and his values. By condemning society as unnatural, Maupassant challenges the actual definition of civilized behaviour, and questions the traditional opposition between the civilized and the uncivilized. The anthropological acceptance of the concept of primitive, and in particular the principle of “participation”, in hindsight throws a different light on Maupassant’s works. This is the angle adopted in the last section. Because it defies norms, the notion of primitive refutes what constitutes the framework and laws of society. Hence Maupassant’s works blur the distinctions between social, sexual and moral behaviour, as well as those between madness and reason, between fantasy and realism. Lastly Maupassant contributes to this breakdown of bearings with his primitive style of writing

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Priaulx Rainier (1903-1986) was a South-African born composer whose highly original compositional style attracted great attention during her lifetime. She spent most of her life in England, but was inspired by the images and recollections of her youth in Africa. Despite the critical acclaim she received, little research has been done about her, both in South Africa and abroad. Additionally, the nature of existing sources is mostly not analytical, but rather provides an overview of her life or general aspects of her style. Although some conclusions have been drawn about her compositional style, they are not thoroughly substantiated by concrete analytical evidence. Also, the focus is mostly on her prominent rhythmic use (often linked by authors to the “African” element of her idiom), with an evident disregard of the other aspects of style, most notably with regard to pitch coherence. This research attempts to correct this unbalanced discourse by analysing one of her few solo piano works, the Barbaric Dance Suite (composed in 1949), and pointing out significant pitch relations, similarities and contrasts. The rationale for selecting this specific work originated from Rainier’s own pronouncement that “The Suite is a key to all my later music, for in the three DANCES, their structural embryo is, on a small scale, the basis for most of the later works.” Although the scope of the research did not allow for a comparative analysis, it is strongly believed that the conclusions reached in this study could also be applicable to many of Rainier’s other works, especially of the early period. The study consists of an introduction in which the Barbaric Dance Suite is contextualised, followed by the main body of the thesis that consists of a detailed analysis of each of the three movements. The foremost method of analysis used is set theory analysis, which could be briefly described as a method whereby (particularly atonal) music is segmented and categorised in pitch class sets. As set theory focuses exclusively on the dimension of pitch, traditional methods of analysis are employed to examine the other musical parameters. In the conclusion, the analytical results are contextualised with regard to existing pronouncements on Rainier’s oeuvre. The study also comments on the applicability of set theory as analytical system in Rainier’s music. The many complex pitch relations that were discovered by the intensive analysis of pitch content has given enough evidence to conclude that Rainier’s use of sonorities has been unjustly neglected in the discourse of this work and perhaps also in her musical style as a whole. It is hoped that further detailed analysis of her use of sonorities in other works could lead authorities to revise the insistent pronouncements on her rhythmic use in favour of a more balanced assessment of all aspects of her compositional style.

Selon le Code de droit canonique de 1983, actuellement en vigueur dans l’Église catholique latine (cc. 285-286 et 289.2), les clercs ne peuvent exercer des charges publiques comportant une participation à l’exercice du pouvoir civil. Pas davantage, ils ne peuvent remplir des charges séculières impliquant l’obligation de rendre des comptes, ni s’adonner à des opérations commerciales. Pour saisir le processus historique de l’élaboration de ces normes, il faut opérer un retour vers le droit ancien de l’Antiquité tardive puis du haut Moyen-Âge, non pour établir une continuité historique, d’ailleurs illusoire, entre cette lointaine époque et la nôtre, mais pour tenter de comprendre comment l’histoire est sous-jacente dans le droit canonique actuel. Dès 313, Constantin mit en place une politique religieuse où l’Église catholique fut l’objet d’une bienveillance particulière. Le trait le plus remarquable de la façon dont l’empereur intégra l’Église aux structures de l’État, fut la concession d’un statut juridique civil particulier fait de dispenses, de privilèges et particulièrement d’immunités personnelles, notamment des charges publiques (munera publica), qu’il consentit aux clercs catholiques. Après la chute de l’Empire romain, en Occident, ces immunités cléricales furent généralement maintenues par les rois romano-barbares. L’Église accueillit avec reconnaissance cette législation de la part du pouvoir temporel car ce statut juridique accordé aux clercs répondait à ses propres exigences pour le clergé. Concernant l’exercice des activités séculières autorisées aux clercs, comment, dès le début du IVe siècle, les législations canoniques et séculières se sont-elles développées, confrontées, affrontées parfois et relativement harmonisées finalement, pour former une doctrine largement répandue, semble-t-il, chez les clercs et les princes à la fin du IXe siècle ? / According to the 1983 canon law, in force at present in the Latin Catholic Church, clerics can’t exercise a public charge consisting of participation to the civil power. What’s more, neither can they carry out a secular function comprising the obligation to account for it, nor can they devote themselves to any commercial operation. In order to grasp the historical process of elaboration of such norms, one has to go back to the ancient law of the late Antiquity, then of the early Middle Ages. Not so much as to establish a historical continuity, rather illusory, between that distant period of time and our time, but to try understanding how history is underlying the current canon law. As early as 313, Constantin put in place a religious policy where the Catholic Church was treated with a particular benevolence, the most remarquable feature of the way the Emperor integrated the Church into the state organization, was to concede a unique legal civil status made of exemption, privilege and particularly of personal immunities, notably public charges (numera publica) granted to Catholics clerics. After the fall of the Roman Empire, in the west, these clerical immunities were generally maintained by the roman-barbaric kings. This legislation was received with gratitude by the Church because the legal status given to clerics corresponded its own requirements for the Clergy. Regarding the exercising of the secular activities granted to the clerics, how, from the beginning of the fourth century, the secular and canonical laws did develop, confronted, sometimes forced and more or less harmonized in the end, to form a widespread doctrine; it seems, among clerics and princes at the end of the ninth century?

This study addressed the question: “Does Western media framing of different actors in ethnic conflict influence the likelihood of intervention being advocated in the media?” In order to answer this question, this study used a content analysis of USA, UK and Australian print media, and explored the media framing of conflicts in Rwanda, Kosovo, and East Timor. The study examined newspaper articles prior to intervention and, using Piers Robinson’s media framing model (2000), measured the quantity of “empathetic” and “distancing” coverage in relation to suggestions for intervention. The results of this study show that simplified representations of these complex conflicts often lead to a dangerous polarisation in Western media. Ethnic conflicts are discussed either within a “barbaric” frame, where readers are presented with well-defined heroes, victims and villains and are encouraged to support intervention; or with a “native” narrative, where the situation is reported as a distant problem between “squabbling tribes”, and the media consumer is encouraged to support non-intervention.