In 1942, Algerian writer Albert Camus published a philosophical essay called The Myth of Sisyphus along with a fictional counterpart, The Stranger, wherein he presumed the human condition to be an absurd one. This, Camus claimed, was the result of the absence of a god, and consequently of any meaning beyond life itself. Without a god, without an entity greater than man, man has no higher purpose than himself and he himself is inevitably transient. As such, man, so long as he lives, is cursed with the inability to create or partake in anything lasting. The absurd is life without a tomorrow, a life of futility. As one of the main precursors of this view of life and of the human experience, Camus mentioned Herman Melville and Captain Ahab’s chase for the white whale - Moby Dick. Now, as will be indicated in the following, the most common critical position holds that the white whale of Moby-Dick, Melville’s magnum opus, is to be interpreted as a symbol of God, and thus Ahab’s chase is tragic by virtue of its impossibility for success. As such, the tragedy is entailed by the futility vis-à-vis its impermanence. However, the ambiguity of Moby-Dick allows for the possibility of several alternative interpretations as to the role of the whale: for instance that of the devil, evil incarnate or merely a "dumb brute". As such, Ahab’s quest might as well be the pursuit of a creature which understands nothing of vengeance, thus rendering his objective equally, if not more fruitless, than the pursuit of a god.

Much of the current critical literature on Moby-Dick lacks a unifying focus. This essay attempts to provide a thread of continuity for Moby-Dick by proving that paradox and Herman Melville’s anticipation of the early existential movement hold the key to a full reading of this text. By viewing the text itself, Melville’s personal correspondence, and the writings of Emerson, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, the paradoxical tension by which this text must be read comes into clearer focus. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 32-35)

The Mineral Deposit Research Unit's findings translate into more effective mining - and a new generation of science-savvy miners.

The common modern concept of the human identity – an individual, integrated ego perception – is no longer adequate to the world of today and tomorrow as it is frayed and changes in a crazy speed. The sure knowledge of the cognizable world, clear apprehension of self confines, roots and being of environment looses it‘s background. The lost of the vital apprehension of the self and the world is the base of the talk on the identity crisis which can have global subsequence as the humanity have lost the old self apprehension and still does not have a new one. This paper analyzes few problems. The first is the concept of the identity. The notice is taken to the identity treat in the psychological, sociological literature and the causes as well as the outcomes of identity crisis specified in it. The concept and the problem of the postmodern are concurrent: it is negotiable if the postmodern is the cause of identity crisis as well as the possibility of identity crisis being the premise of the postmodern. For the long time science fiction was and still is the margin of mainstream literature. The postmodern pays a serious attention to the periphery, no account if it is margins of society or culture, or the direct expression of them in the literature. The lively interest in the science fiction is growing as it is treated as the concentrated self-expression of the human. It is quite often compared with the cyber culture as they both conceal human crisis, manias and phobias under the... [to full text]

This thesis examines the wonder and the terror of the sea as it is evident in Herman Melville's novel, Moby-Dick. The examined characters stand in wonder or terror of the sea, or images of the wonderful and terrifying sea reveal characteristics of these sailors. Definitions, the views of the critics, and Ishmael's observations comprise chapter one. The common sailors (Bulkington, Fleece, Perth, the carpenter, the Manxman, and the boy Pip) make up chapter two. Chapter three consists of the four pagan harpooners (Daggoo, Tashtego, Queequeg, and Fedallah). The three mates (Flask, Stubb, and Starbuck) comprise chapter four. The thesis does not examine captain Ahab or Ishmael as each alone is material for a thesis.

Graduation date: 2002

Zugl.: Göteburg, University, Diss., 2008. / Zsfassung in engl. Sprache.

Because cities act as the primary site for the development and production of new technologies, they arguably act as crossing points into the growing digital environment. As information technologies such as computers, digital networks, and most specifically the Internet become normalized within American culture, a need arises to examine the impact these technologies have on those who use them. Science fiction texts often explore technological influence on the human body, social relationships, and developing culture, and typically utilize cities as settings for this exploration. An examination of four primary science fiction texts, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, William Gibson's Neuromancer, the Wachowskis' The Matrix, and M.T. Anderson's Feed, and the connections they draw between cities and cyberspace reveal not only an ongoing ambivalent relationship between humans and the technology they create, but also a concern for the growing power of that technology's influence. Louis Wirth's observations of the early twentieth century city serve as a guide in looking at digital cityscapes first as structural, then as social, and finally as points of direct influence on human identity within these texts, suggesting mirrored concerns not only within American culture, but the global digital culture that is forming as a result of the connectivity offered by digital information technologies.

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Sexual harassment is a global problem and it is not a new one, although it took until the 1970’s before it became an accepted concept. Sexual assault was one of the reported crimes, that had increased the most during 2016. The number of convicted sexual offences during 2015 had also increased, especially an increase in, among other things, sexual assault. There is a need of increased knowledge about what sexual harassment is about. In addition, more research about the motive behind sexual harassment, how sexual harassment is received and its effects, are needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate how sexual harassment is looked upon by a group of people via social media in comparison to how sexual harassment is defined according to Swedish case-law. Nine semi-structured interviews were performed, and analyzed with a narrative method and then problematized thru Swedish case-law in the discussion. The participants in this study regarded sexual harassment as an act against someone’s will. This could entail that someone made sexual acts (acted in a sexual way), took advantage of the others body, did not respect the others boundaries or made sexual approaches. Typically, a person did not respect the others boundaries when making a sexual approach, there was a lack of a mutual understanding. Often with the purpose to mentally break someone and by touching the intimate parts of another without their consent. According to the participants in this study the reasons for people to sexually harass depends on different things and how the victims react varies. It was considered, however, that sexual harassment could happen anywhere and by anyone. When looking at Swedish case-law it seems obvious that the judiciary does not have an all too easy task. One may spectacle whether this might be due to that the boundaries of sexual harassment is unclear as it as borders to sexual interest/attention and is a rather common phenomenon in society.