Chez les Kabyè du Togo, le cycle de l'initiation masculine occupe une place centrale dans la construction du rapport au territoire. Échelonnée sur dix années et composée de quatre grades, l'initiation est la voie d'accès au statut d'homme adulte. Les rites d'entrée dans les différents grades procèdent conjointement à l'inscription de tous dans le territoire villageois, et à l'identification progressive des jeunes hommes à des créatures de brousse. Le dispositif rituel construit des jeunes gens aptes à pénétrer en brousse ― chaque grade le faisant selon ses propres modalités ― pour pouvoir finalement faire face aux menaces qu'elle recèle. L'articulation de l'initiation au cycle annuel des rites agraires et cynégétiques, et au cycle quinquennal des rites de régénération du territoire est étudiée. Elle permet de mettre en évidence que le lien des initiants à la brousse est réinvesti par le système rituel, de telle sorte que les initiants sont d'importants intervenants dans les rites permettant le maintien des conditions d'existence au village. Leurs actes complètent ceux des responsables du culte aux divinités du territoire : des grands prêtres aux accents de rois sacrés. La façon dont les initiants prennent part aux rites liés à la pluie, au vent et à la terre, et les interdits auxquels ils sont soumis, appuient l'hypothèse qu'ils partagent avec les grands prêtres un pouvoir immédiat sur les éléments naturels. L'initiation masculine peut être comprise comme une initiation à la royauté sacrée qui, pour la majorité des jeunes hommes, n'ira pas jusqu'à son terme. Dans la phase ultime de l'initiation, certains pourront être intronisés grands prêtres. / Among the Kabye of Togo, the male initiation cycle is central to building the relationship to the territory. Completed over a period of ten years and divided into four grades, the initiation cycle is the route to the adult male status. The rites of access to the different grades jointly proceed to the inclusion of all in the village territory, and to the progressive identification of young men to bush creatures. The ritual system makes sure young people are able to penetrate the bush — each grade according to its own terms — and cope with the threats it holds. The link between the initiation and the annual cycle of the agricultural and hunting rites, as well as the quinquennial cycle of regeneration of the territory, is studied hereafter. This highlights that the link between the initiates and the bush is reinvested by the ritual system, in such a way that the initiates are important contributors to the rites, allowing the conditions of existence in the village to be maintained. Their actions complete those of the people in charge of worshipping the territory divinities: great priests resembling sacred kings. The way the initiates take part in rituals linked to rain, wind and earth, in addition to the taboos they face, support the hypothesis that they share with the great priests an immediate power on natural elements. The male initiation cycle can be understood as an initiation to sacred kingship which, for the majority of young men, will not be fully completed. In the ultimate phase of the initiation cycle, some will be enthroned as great priests.

The master thesis titled "Self-immolation of Jan Palach - from reality, newspaper/TV news to film cover and film reviews of Burning Bush" concerns of film cover of real events in three parts drama called Burning Bush, which is the main topic of the movie. The thesis aims to ascertain to what extent it is the movie with a documentary elements, where authors would have to represent only real events and to what extent it is artistic movie where authors have more space in creativity and could change reality to impress spectators with theatricality and emocionality, with the risk they will change the meaning of real events, therefore they would manipulate with the spectator. The thesis also essays the media content before the 1989 and after the 1989, while it aims to find out not only what is the difference in the newspaper and TV news, but also what difference is in the quantity of the content regarding to Jan Palach in the times of totality and democracy.

Pendant huit ans [de 2000 à 2008], on nous a dit et répété que tout ce que l’administration Bush a prétendu et fait [de la lutte contre « l’axe du mal » à la campagne anti-terroriste internationale, et de la guerre préemptive ou préventive à la « démocratisation » du Moyen-Orient par tous les moyens…etc.,] trouve sa source dans l’idéologie morale des néoconservateurs qui cherchent à « rendre le monde meilleur », et à « moraliser » la vie politique nationale et internationale, notamment par une rénovation des valeurs [conservatrices] américaines et par un engagement plus actif vis-à-vis des problèmes internationaux.Mais à la lumière des constats que nous avons été amenés à faire lors de notre investigation, il devient clair que : contrairement à ce qui est largement répandu, ce n’est ni l’idéologie morale des néoconservateurs ni le bloc religieux et messianique allié du Président Bush qui guident son action au Moyen-Orient et ailleurs, mais l’économie. En effet, les clés de la politique Bush au Moyen-Orient ne sont idéologiques qu’en apparence. En réalité, elles sont à découvrir dans les intérêts économiques et financiers que cette administration a cherché à défendre, à protéger, et à acquérir. Ces clés sont à trouver dans l’argent des contributions qui financent les campagnes électorales. Elles sont également celles du grand Capital, de l’Amérique des corporations industrielles et financières, des multinationales, des lobbies et autres groupes de pression qui dominent la vie politique aux Etats-Unis et influencent sa politique au Moyen-Orient jusqu’à la colorer de leurs propres couleurs. / For eight years [from 2000 through 2008], we were told repeatedly that what the Bush administration did and claimed [from the fight against the “axis of evil” to the campaign against international terrorism, and from the pre-emptive or preventive war to the “democratization” of the Middle East by any means, etc.], has its roots in the Neoconservative moral ideology seeking to “make the world better”, and “moralize” national and international politics, including a renewal of [conservative] American values and more an active commitment towards international issues. But in the light of the findings that we have been led to from our investigation, it becomes clear that contrary to what is widespread, it is neither moral ideology of the Neoconservatives nor the religious and messianic bloc allied to President Bush that guided his actions in the Middle East and elsewhere, but the economy. Indeed, the keys to the Bush policy in the ! Middle East are ideological only in appearance. In fact, they are to be discovered in the economic and financial interests that the administration has sought to defend, protect and acquire. These keys are to be found in money contributions that finance political campaigns. They are also those of big business, the American industrial and financial corporations, multinationals, lobbies and other pressure groups that dominate political life in the United States and the influence they exert on the Middle East policy.

Esta tese estuda a presença das histórias ilustradas de Wilhelm Busch (1832- 1908) no sistema literário brasileiro. Para tanto, ela analisa como o sistema literário alemão, registra a produção de Busch e como esta se constrói a partir de dois pólos de influência: a tendência humorística do periódico Fliegende Blätter (1845-1944), de que as histórias ilustradas buschianas parecem herdar uma porção, e a postura crítica em relação ao contexto sócio-histórico da comunidade de expressão alemã na segunda metade do século XIX, com o qual as histórias ilustradas buschianas mantêm uma relação dialógica. O estudo que aqui se desenvolve parte da prática da reflexão sobre o texto literário, de sua leitura e análise, a partir das quais foi possível encarar as histórias ilustradas buschianas não como fenômeno isolado de seu contexto nem como puro reflexo dele, mas como um dos elementos que influenciam e são influenciados no conglomerado sistêmico que é o ambiente cultural e literário de uma nação. Com essa concepção, este trabalho revela que, em que pese a permanência de sua obra no horizonte da literatura brasileira desde sua primeira tradução, em 1901, a imagem de Busch no cânone literário brasileiro, ou da literatura alemã instituído a partir do Brasil, apresenta uma assimetria com a que ele têm no sistema cultural alemão. Tal assimetria decorre da redução do potencial de significação que as histórias ilustradas buschianas apresentam nas suas versões traduzidas para o português, resultante da atuação de alguns dos agentes literários envolvidos nesse processo de transposição intercultural. / The present thesis points out the presence of Wilhelm Buschs picture stories (1832-1908) in the Brazilian literary system. For that matter, it analyses how the German literary system registers Buschs production and how it is constructed from two influence poles: the humorous tendency of the weekly German humor magazine Fliegende Blätter (1845-1944), from which it seems to have inherited a portion, and the critical posture related to the socio-historic context of the expressive German community in the second half of the XIX century, with which Buschs picture stories has a dialogic relationship. The study that here develops comes from the reflection about the literary text, its reading and analysis, from which it is possible to face Buschs picture stories, not as a phenomenon isolated from its context or as its reflex, but as one of the elements that both influence and are influenced within the systemic conglomerate, which is a nations cultural and literary atmosphere. With that conception in mind, this paper reveals that, despite the perpetuation of this work on the Brazilian literature horizon starting with its first translation, in 1901, Buschs image in the Brazilian literary canon, or the German literature established from Brazil, presents an asymmetry in relation to the one he has in the German cultural system. Such asymmetry comes from the reduction of the potential of meaning that Buschs picture stories bear in their versions translated into Portuguese, as a result of some of the literary agents involved in this intercultural transposition process.

Conceptions of masculinity on film shifted after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from representations of male heroism as invulnerable, powerful, and safe to representations of male heroism as resilient, vengeful, and vulnerable. At the same time, the antagonists of these films shifted towards representations as shadowy, unknowable, and disembodied. These changing representations, I argue, are windows into the anxieties Americans faced in the aftermath of the attacks. The continuing presentation of power as linked to violence, however, illustrates the ways in which conceptions of masculinity have stayed the same.

北韓問題是二十世紀延續至今卻始終未能解決的複雜議題，這是因為牽涉的因素眾多：南北韓、周邊國家以及國際的考量使「維持現狀」與「模糊」政策成為處理北韓問題可以接受的模式。但事實上，吾人必須認知到在此議題上，最重要的主角仍是北韓與美國，但顯然雙方各有盤算而不能或不願直接解決。因此本文旨在探討2001至2011年美國對北韓之政策，且嘗試在現今相關領域的多數美國立場中，盡可能尋求以相對公允、同理心的角度分析問題，而非美國觀點的一言堂。本文以法國戰略學家薄富爾(André Beaufre)之「行動戰略」(Strategy of Action) 理論作為研究途徑，輔以大量相關數據資料及專著，用意在於平衡地討論美國戰略並批判其中好壞。 本文認為，小布希與歐巴馬政府對北韓政策目標一致，但戰略有所不同。受制於北韓核報復攻擊、中東戰事、經濟與他國因素，美國難以動武直取北韓，因此必須從軍事外的選項著手。筆者從軍事、政治、經濟與外交面向，以政治診斷(political diagnosis)及戰略診斷(strategic diagnosis)探討兩屆政府對北韓之行動方案。小布希和歐巴馬政府在戰略應用上符合薄富爾的觀點，但在架構面上卻有缺失，最終由於無法促使中國相助，以及自身立場的謬誤，導致兩屆政府北韓政策之失誤。 / The North Korea issue remains unresolved, and the only acceptable options for the neighbor countries are the status quo policy and the policy of deliberate ambiguity. However, it has to be acknowledged that the most important roles are North Korea and the U.S., and it is obvious they have different plans in their minds. The main idea of this thesis is to study the U.S. Policy toward North Korea (2001-2011), and present unbiased points of view instead of only the U.S. aspect. This thesis uses the Strategy of Action of André Beaufre, a French Strategist, as the research method, to analyze data and studies to fairly find out the pros and cons of the U.S. Policy toward North Korea. This thesis shows that the George W. Bush administration and the Obama administration share the same goals but different strategies toward North Korea. The U.S. have difficulty in using military action since it tries to avoid North Korea taking nuclear retaliation, and the war in the middle east and the sinking economy also limit the ability of the U.S. government. This thesis analyzes the U.S. policy toward North Korea from the aspects of military power, politics, economy and diplomacy, and it uses political diagnosis and strategic diagnosis as the approaches to examine the action plans of both Bush and Obama administrations. The research shows that the actions plans match the point of view of André Beaufre strategically, but the flaws of the plan structure, the failure to have China take a stance against North Korea and the illogicalness of the government position finally led the U.S. policy toward North Korea to a frustrated end.

This thesis, gathering four papers, concerns the enhancement in understanding and modelling of the audible dynamic stiffness of vibration rubber isolators including experimental measurements. Paper A studies the performances of three different types of vibration isolator using an indirect measurement technique to estimate the blocked dynamic transfer stiffness of each specimen. The measurements are performed over a wide audible frequency range of 200 to 1000 Hz in a specially designed test rig enabling the investigation of arbitrary preload influences. Paper B addresses the modelling of the audible-frequency stiffness of the rubber conical mount experimentally appraised in Paper A accounting for preload effects. The model is based on a simpliflied waveguide approach approximating the nonlinearities attributed to the predeformations by adopting shape factor considerations. The carbon black filled rubber is assumed incompressible, displaying a viscoelastic behavior based on a fractional derivative Kelvin-Voigt model efficiently reducing the number of required material parameters. In Paper C the focus is on the axial dynamic stiffness modelling of an arbitrary long rubber bushing within the audible frequency range. The problems of simultaneously satisfying the locally non-mixed boundary conditions at the radial and end surfaces are solved by adopting a waveguide approach, using the dispersion relation for axially symmetric waves in thick-walled infinite plates, while fulfilling the radial boundary conditions by mode-matching. The results obtained are successfully compared with simpliflied models but display discrepancies when increasing the diameter-to-length ratios since the influence of higher order modes and dispersion augments. Paper D develops an effective waveguide model for a pre-compressed cylindrical vibration isolator within the audible frequency domain at arbitrary compressions. The original, mathematically arduous problem of simultaneously modelling the preload and frequency dependence is solved by applying a novel transformation of the pre-strained isolator into a globally equivalent homogeneous and isotropic configuration enabling the straightforward application of a waveguide model to satisfy the boundary conditions. The results obtained present good agreement with the non-linear finite element results for a wide frequency range of 20 to 2000 Hz at different preloads. / QC 20101001

The rising use of natural products creates an imperative need for an enhanced awareness of the safety of current and new products making their way into the marketplace. An important example is natural products containing lignans as the principal active component. Despite their structural similarity the lignan of creosote bush can cause hepato- and renal toxicity while the lignans of flaxseed have no reported serious toxicity. This dissertation aimed to investigate the oxidative metabolism of such lignans to determine whether reversible, competitive interactions and/or bioactivation may explain the differences in their apparent toxicity.<p> The first objective was to study the metabolism and bioactivation of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (creosote bush) and secoisolariciresinol (flaxseed). Nordihydroguaiaretic acid metabolism in rat liver microsomes led to the production of three glutathione adducts formed via ortho¬-quinone reactive intermediates. This metabolism was independent of NADPH and thus attributed to autoxidation. Secoisolariciresinol metabolism yielded lariciresinol and no glutathione adducts suggesting an absence of bioactivation to reactive quinone intermediates.<p> The second objective was to study the autoxidation of nordihydroguaiaretic acid. The major autoxidation product was a unique, stable schisandrin-like cyclolignan which was the result of nordihydroguaiaretic acid cyclization. The half-life of nordihydroguaiaretic acid in aqueous solution, pH 7.4, 37ºC is 3.14 hours suggesting the cyclolignan may be responsible for some of the biological effects of nordihydroguaiaretic acid.<p> The third objective was to study the inhibition of cytochrome P450 isoforms 1A2, 2B, 2C11 and 3A by lignans derived from creosote bush and flaxseed. None of the lignans caused irreversible inhibition. Both creosote bush and flaxseed lignans caused reversible inhibition of P450 enzyme activity that involved competitive or mixed-type inhibition, however the inhibition was present at nonphysiologically relevant concentrations. Activation of cytochrome P450 isoforms was also observed at low lignan concentrations. The results suggest that P450-mediated bioactivation or reversible inhibition cannot explain the differences in toxicity noted between the lignans of creosote bush and flaxseed.<p> This work suggests a minimal risk for drug-lignan interactions at P450 enzymes. Further studies are warranted to determine the presence and biological and toxicological role of the nordihydroguaiaretic acid cyclolignan in herbal preparations.

Depuis le 11 septembre 2001, l'administration Bush a mis en place une stratégie sécuritaire controversée dans la Corne de l'Afrique (Djibouti, Érythrée, Éthiopie, Kenya, Somalie, Soudan). La stratégie vise à augmenter les capacités militaires de ses alliés, peu importe la nature de leur régime, et, simultanément, à renforcer la présence américaine dans la région pour contrer le terrorisme. Nous avons alors analysé la réinsertion de cette région dans le discours de la menace américain en ayant recours à plusieurs concepts issus de l'approche constructiviste critique. Plus spécifiquement, nous nous sommes demandé de quelles pratiques représentationnelles cette stratégie avait émergé. Afin de fournir des éléments de réponse à cette question, nous avons étudié les représentations des États-Unis, du système international et de la Corne de l'Afrique qui sont apparues dans les discours américains après le 11 septembre. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Politique étrangère des États-Unis, Corne de l'Afrique, Guerre contre le terrorisme, Analyse constructiviste critique.

Dans l'après-11 septembre 2001, le gouvernement de George W. Bush est particulièrement préoccupé par la possibilité que de nouvelles attaques se reproduisent en territoire américain. Afin d'éviter cette éventualité, les décideurs de Washington déclarent la « guerre contre le terrorisme » qui se déroule, dans un premier temps, en Afghanistan contre le régime taliban puis, dans un second temps, en Irak contre celui de Saddam Hussein. Lors de ces interventions militaires, plusieurs combattants talibans ou membres présumés d'AI-Qaïda sont faits prisonniers, certains déportés aux centres de détention de la base navale de Guantanamo. Ces détenus représentent dès lors une source privilégiée d'informations pouvant contribuer au succès des services de renseignement américains. Constatant l'échec des interrogatoires menés auprès des détenus à Guantanamo, certains décideurs de l'administration Bush vont estimer que le recours à des techniques radicales d'interrogation est nécessaire et justifiable dans le cadre de la lutte contre le terrorisme. Ces méthodes associées à la torture étant toutefois proscrites par le droit fédéral américain et le droit international, l'élite décisionnelle fera appel aux conseillers juridiques de l'administration pour réinterpréter le droit et donner une nouvelle définition à la torture, plus pointue et ouvrant la porte à des actes auparavant interdits. Cette définition désormais légalisée, la nouvelle politique d'interrogation donnera libre cours aux militaires et aux agents de renseignement sur le terrain. L'objectif de notre mémoire sera d'expliquer comment et pourquoi les conseillers juridiques de l'administration Bush sont parvenus à convaincre le président américain du bien-fondé de la torture dans le cadre de la lutte contre le terrorisme. Pour ce faire, nous recourrons aux approches organisationnelle et perceptuelle. D'abord, nous verrons que ce groupe de conseillers a bénéficié d'un appareil bureaucratique soumis à l'influence des conseillers juridiques de l'Exécutif où se sont déroulées des luttes organisationnelles lors desquelles ils ont mis en oeuvre une stratégie de marginalisation des dissidents. Ensuite, nous montrerons que le style présidentiel de G. W. Bush a contribué à la montée en force des conseillers juridiques dans ce dossier. Enfin, nous démontrerons que l'élite-conseil a commis plusieurs erreurs perceptuelles qui seront à l'origine de la nouvelle définition de la torture. Dans un premier temps, nous présenterons les architectes de cette redéfinition de la torture: leur rôle, leur relation avec le président et leur personnalité, en ayant toujours en tête l'influence majeure de la dimension individuelle lors de la prise de décision. Nous exposerons de plus la réflexion juridique ayant mené à cette nouvelle définition. Dans un second temps, nous mettrons à contribution les facteurs bureaucratique et perceptuel qui expliqueront respectivement comment et pourquoi une décision aussi controversée a été adoptée par l'administration Bush. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : États-Unis, Torture, Politique étrangère américaine, George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Guantanamo, Abou Ghraib, Afghanistan, Irak, Terrorisme, Processus décisionnel, AI-Qaïda, Conventions de Genève.