This thesis examines key examples of materially experimental writing (B.S. Johnson’s The Unfortunates, Marc Saporta’s Composition No. 1, and Julio Cortázar’s Hopscotch), hypertext fiction (Geoff Ryman’s 253, in both the online and print versions), and video games (Catherine, L.A. Noire, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Phantasmagoria), and asks what new critical understanding of these ‘interactive’ texts, and their broader significance, can be developed by considering the examples as part of a textual continuum. Chapter one focuses on materially experimental writing as part of the textual continuum that is discussed throughout this thesis. It examines the form, function, and reception of key texts, and unpicks emerging issues surrounding truth and realism, the idea of the ostensibly ‘infinite’ text in relation to multicursality and potentiality, and the significance of the presence of authorial instructions that explain to readers how to interact with the texts. The discussions of chapter two centre on hypertext fiction, and examine the significance of new technologies to the acts of reading and writing. This chapter addresses hypertext fiction as part of the continuum on which materially experimental writing and video games are placed, and explores reciprocal concerns of reader agency, multicursality, and the idea of the ‘naturalness’ of hypertext as a method of reading and writing. Chapter three examines video games as part of the continuum, exploring the relationship between print textuality and digital textuality. This chapter draws together the discussions of reciprocity that are ongoing throughout the thesis, examines the significance of open world gaming environments to player agency, and unpicks the idea of empowerment in players and readers. This chapter concludes with a discussion of possible cultural reasons behind what I argue is the reader’s/player’s desire for a high level of perceived agency. The significance of this thesis, then, lies in how it establishes the existence of several reciprocal concerns in these texts including multicursality/potentiality, realism and the accurate representation of truth and, in particular, player and reader agency, which allow the texts to be placed on a textual continuum. This enables cross-media discussions of the reciprocal concerns raised in the texts, which ultimately reveals the ways in which our experiences with these interactive texts are deeply connected to our anxieties about agency in a cultural context in which individualism is encouraged, but our actual individual agency is highly limited.

The dissertation focuses on the decoration of 16th century choral manuscripts. The first part is devoted to the person of Jan Táborský of Klokotská Hora (1499-1572) who was a scribe and an owner of a scribe manufactory, and to the most significant illuminators of the the 16th century who contributed to the decoration of songbooks in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. Attention is given not only to the illuminators to whom Jan Táborský of Klokotská Hora assigned the work and whose contribution can be inferred from the documents or stylistic analysis of their illuminations, but also to their contemporaries. Besides the frequently mentioned Fabián Puléř, we can assume that Jan Taborský also collaborated with Matouš Ornys of Lindperk, Matyáš Hutský of Křivoklát, Ambrož Ledecký and, presumably, others. In this context, one part of the thesis is focused on engravings by Martin Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer, Bernard Salomon and on the domestic prints by George Melantrich the Elder, as these engravings, mostly woodcuts, served as patterns and inspiration for almost every Bohemian illuminator. Themes found in this type of manuscript are mostly based on Biblical stories, corresponding to the feasts of the liturgical year. In addition to these themes, the graduals contain many miniatures associated with various...

Erkenntnisse über das Fahrerleben, also die subjektive Sicht von Fahrern auf Ereignisse im Fahralltag, wurden bisher vor allem retrospektiv gewonnen und sind damit anfällig für mitunter weitreichende Verfälschungen. Diese Dissertation verfolgte den Ansatz, das subjektive Fahrerleben auf alltäglichen Fahrten so situationsnah wie möglich zu erfassen. Ziel der Untersuchung war es, eine breite Datenbasis von subjektiv beanspruchenden Situationen für jüngere und ältere Fahrer zu generieren, um auch unbewusst vorhandene Unterstützungsbedürfnisse zu erfassen und damit eine bedarfsgerechte Entwicklung von Fahrerassistenzsystemen zu unterstützen. Es wurden 40 jüngere (M = 32,35 Jahre; SD = 3,58) und 40 ältere (M = 66,05 Jahre; SD = 4,13) Fahrer, je 20 Männer und Frauen, in ihrem Fahralltag über einen Zeitraum von jeweils 10 Tagen untersucht. Die Probanden hielten für sie relevante Situationen in kurzen Sprachprotokollen während der Fahrt über die Aufnahmefunktion in einem Smartphone fest. Unterstützt wurde die Situationsbetrachtung durch eine Videoaufnahme der Fahrsituation, sowie im Smartphone erfasste Geschwindigkeits-, Beschleunigungsdaten und GPS. Im Versuchszeitraum wurden insgesamt 1074 für die Auswertung relevante Sprachprotokolle während der Fahrt aufgezeichnet. Es ließen sich dabei 301 verschiedene Auslöser für die Aufnahme eines Sprachprotokolls unterscheiden. Ausgehend von den Ergebnissen und den geäußerten Unterstützungswünschen der Probanden wurden fünf verschiedene Unterstützungsbedürfnisse identifiziert, aus denen sich Anforderungen für Fahrerassistenzsysteme und Mensch-Maschine-Schnittstellen ableiten lassen. / Insights into driver experience, i.e. the driver's subjective view on events in everyday driving, have so far been gained mainly retrospectively (e.g. through interviews or online surveys). From a methodic perspective this means that reports and judgment are provided somewhat later after the event and therefore can be biased. In recent years, research in the field of driver-vehicle interaction has increasingly been enriched by natural driving studies (NDS). Since this method captures driving behavior in the natural driving context, it provides very realistic insights into events that drivers experience on a daily basis. So far, however, the focus has been on an objective view of driving behavior and environmental conditions with the aim of capturing parameters that provide an indication of future safety-critical situations. The subjective view of the driver, e.g. which situations he assesses as demanding, was hardly considered. The idea of the dissertation thesis was to capture subjective driver experience and support wishes of drivers in a NDS-like study. The aim of the study was to generate a broad database of subjectively demanding situations for younger and elder drivers, in order to detect unconsciously existing support needs and thus to support the user-centered development of driver assistance systems. Participants were 40 younger (M = 32.35 years, SD = 3.58) and 40 elder (M = 66.05 years, SD = 4.13) drivers, 20 men and 20 women each. Over the period of 10 days they documented each journey by questionnaires before and after each ride. Furthermore a smartphone with a specially programmed application was used as a recording device. Through short speech protocols the participants commented on every relevant driving situation. Considered as relevant - beyond critical events - were all special incidents or situations that were notable for the drivers or in which they wished for support in whatever form. The application also recorded GPS, speed and acceleration data as well as a video of the driving situation during relevant situations. A personal interview took place at the end of each trial period. As a result, a total of 1074 speech protocols were recorded while driving. They showed a very high range of situations that were notable for the participants. A total of 301 different triggers for recording a speech protocol could be distinguished. In addition, the consideration of the verbalized reaction of the drivers in the situations was important. The results were examined with regard to possible differences in age and gender groups. On the basis of the results and the expressed support wishes of the participants, five different support needs were identified, from which requirements for future driver assistance systems and human-machine interfaces can be derived.

Invasiva främmande arter utgör idag ett av de största hoten mot biologisk mångfald, både nationellt och globalt. Sveriges geografiska läge har medfört en relativt begränsad utbredning av invasiva främmande arter men problematiken förväntas öka med framtida klimatförändringar. SLU ArtDatabanken har därför riskklassificerat arter i Sverige utifrån deras potentiella ekologiska effekt på ekosystem samt deras invasionspotential. ArtDatabankens rapport ska ligga till grund för en framtida nationell förteckning där de invasiva främmande arterna med störst skadeverkan nationellt kommer att omfattas av svensk lagstiftning. I vår rapport undersöks vilka invasiva främmande landbaserade växter som utgör de största hoten mot ekskogar i Västra Götalands län. Resultatet kan ge ett underlag för att prioritera vilka invasiva främmande växtarter som Länsstyrelsen, i ett tidigt skede, bör rikta åtgärder mot för att bevara och skydda ekskogar i länet. Ek är särskilt skyddsvärt då släktet är ett av Europas viktigaste trädslag och utgör habitat för en stor mängd arter. Invasiva främmande växter kan utgöra ett hot mot ekskogar genom exempelvis beskuggning och konkurrens vilket kan påverka träden negativt.  Vi har i vår rapport baserat urvalet av invasiva främmande arter på ArtDatabankens risklista samt EU:s förteckning över invasiva främmande arter av unionsbetydelse. Arbetet utfördes som en GIS-analys och en fältstudie. GIS-analysen baserades på observationer i SLU Artportalen och i fältstudien inventerades 4 skyddade ekskogar i länet. De olika resultaten kan indikera på ett bristfälligt underlag i SLU Artportalen. Resultatet av GIS-analysen visade att det största hotet, både nutida och framtida, mot undersökta ekskogar var parkslide (Reynoutria japonica), medan fältstudien visade att druvfläder (Sambucus racemosa) utgjorde det största nutida hotet i inventerade ekskogar. Antalet observationer av invasiva främmande växter från vår artlista i tätortsnära ekskogar, med tillhörande buffertzoner om 2 kilometer, var fler än i ekskogar och dess buffertzoner som klassades som icke tätortsnära. Skillnaden i antal observationer var signifikant. Resultatet kan bekräfta att invasiva främmande växter är mer förekommande i och kring tätorter, varför hoten mot tätortsnära ekskogar kan vara större än mot icke tätortsnära. Detta överensstämmer med tidigare forskning som visar att spridning av invasiva främmande växter gynnas av mänskliga aktiviteter såsom trädgårdsodling samt hantering och transport av massor. / Invasive alien species pose one of the greatest threats against biodiversity, in Sweden and globally. The northern location of Sweden has limited the distribution of invasive alien species, however, issues concerning invasives are predicted to increase with future climate change. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has compiled a report containing a list of more than 1000 invasive alien species which have been classified based on their ecological effect and invasion potential. The report will be the basis of the future national list of legislated species. In our report, we examine which invasive alien land-based plant species pose the greatest threats against oak tree forests in the county of Västra Götaland. Our results can be used to prioritize which invasive alien plant species the County Administrative Board, in an early stage, could direct measures against to protect oak tree forests in conservation management. The protection of oak is crucial since it is one of the most important genera in Europe, both economically and ecologically, entailing a national responsibility. Shading and competition are major threats, affecting oak trees negatively and prohibiting rejuvenation.   The species selected for analysis in our report was based on the list of invasive alien species compiled by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in combination with the EU’s list of species of union concern. This report contains a GIS analysis and a field study. The GIS analysis was based on observational data in SLU Artportalen and in the field study, 4 protected oak tree forests were surveyed. The difference in results may indicate inadequate data in SLU Artportalen. Our GIS analysis showed that Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) posed the largest present and future threat against analyzed oak tree forests, while red-berried elder (Sambucus racemosa) posed the largest present threat against examined oak tree forest according to the survey in our field study. The number of observations of selected invasive alien plant species in oak tree forests, with associated surrounding buffer zones of 2 km, close to urban areas was higher than in oak tree forest, with associated buffer zones, not close to urban areas. The difference in number of observations was significant. Our result can confirm that invasive alien plant species are more numerous in urban areas than in non-urban areas, meaning the threat against oak tree forest close to urban areas may be greater. This corresponds with previous research showing that the dispersal of invasive alien plant species is promoted by human activities, such as gardening and the disposal and transportation of waste from excavations.

I dagens samhälle lider många äldre av ofrivillig ensamhet. Effekterna av den ofrivilliga ensamheten leder till sämre välmående och utveckling av sjukdomar, både psykiskt och fysiskt. Livslängden på människan ökar tillsammans med belastningen på samhället och vården. Trots detta minskas omkostnaderna på äldrevården.  Det ökade geografiska avståndet mellan familjemedlemmarna har gjort att barnens mor- och farföräldrar utesluts mycket mer från barnens liv än för 100 år sedan. Ändå finns det studier på att barn som har den äldre generationen i sin samvaro utvecklar färre sociala problem. Gävle kommun har ett pågående projekt där de ska kombinera skolverksamhet med äldrevård i samma byggnad. I inspiration från detta har examensarbetet utforskat hur en produkt kan öka och förenkla interaktionen mellan förskolebarn och boende på vård- och omsorgsboende. Den utforskande delen med intervjuer har ökat förståelsen för användarna och deras behov. Konceptet är byggt på att skapa ett naturligt möte hos äldre på vård och omsorgsboende och förskolebarn som har olika förutsättningar. Resultatet av arbetet blev Sällskapsspelet Kiderly som är anpassat efter målgruppernas olika behov och förutsättningar. Spelets fokus ligger på att hjälpa förskolebarn och boenden på vård och omsorgsboende till ett naturligt möte som uppmuntrar till konversation. / In today's society, many older people suffer from involuntary loneliness. The effects of involuntary loneliness lead to poorer well-being and the development of diseases, both mental and physical. The lifespan of people increases together with the burden on society and healthcare. Despite this, the costs of care for the elderly are reduced. The increased geographical distance between the family members has meant that the children's grandparents are much more excluded from the children's lives than 100 years ago. Nevertheless, there are studies that children who have the older generation in their company develop fewer social problems. Gävle Kommun has an ongoing project where they will combine school activities with elderly care in the same building. Inspired by this, the degree project has explored how a product can increase and simplify the interaction between preschool children and residents in care and nursing homes. The exploratory part with interviews has increased the understanding of the users and their needs. The concept is based on creating a natural meeting of elderly people in care and nursing homes and preschool children who have different conditions. The result of the work was the board game Kiderly, which is adapted to the target groups' different needs and conditions. The game's focus is on helping preschoolers and residents in care and nursing homes to a natural meeting that encourages conversation.

Välfärdsomsorg som i Sverige bedrivs enligt hälso- och sjukvårdslagen samt socialtjänstlagen är enligt lag skyldig att bedriva en systematisk kvalitetsutveckling. I denna kvalitetsutveckling inkluderas att arbeta med identifiering av brister samt risker för brister. Detta sker genom att personal i omsorgsverksamheter systematiskt ska rapportera avvikelser varpå ett avvikelsearbete påbörjas. Avvikelsearbetet leder till åtgärder i verksamheter och är därmed ett relativt omedelbart kvalitetsutvecklande. Samtidigt fyller avvikelsearbetet en funktion på en mer aggregerad nivå då det i statistiska sammanställningar kan ge fingervisning om hur verksamheter bedrivs samt att brister, och eventuella behov, tydliggörs. Statistiskt underlag samt tydliggjorda brister och behov kan i sin tur användas för att underbygga beslut som berör verksamheterna, både beslut inom verksamheter men också politiska beslut som sätter ramar och förutsättningar för organisationer och verksamheter. Således kan avvikelsearbete mynna ut i ett av de flera kvalitetsmått vilka i vårt samhälle idag är avgörande för att kunna utvärdera att offentligt bekostad välfärd dels är effektiv men också av god kvalité. Det finns idag en utbredd kritik av den samhälleliga styrmodell som kallas New Public Management. Kritiken riktar bland annat in sig på de stora krav av uppföljning och utvärdering som är både resurskrävande och riskfyllda i den mening att utvärdering och mätning av kvalité kan innehålla skevheter och föra med sig missvisande resultat. Kritik förs också fram mot att det administrativa arbetet tar över tid och resurser från kärnverksamheten, i den här studien äldreomsorg. Föreliggande studie syftar till att undersöka hur personal inom äldreomsorgens särskilda boende upplever deras avvikelsearbete utifrån begreppet organisationskultur. Det är av relevans att höra hur den personal som arbetar med avvikelsearbete upplever sitt arbete med kvalitetsutveckling. Avvikelsearbete som arbetsuppgift medför nämligen möjliga utmaningar: personal inom äldreomsorg är en av de personalgrupper i samhället som är mest belastad arbetsmiljömässigt, avvikelsearbete kan vara laddat med en känsla av utpekande av syndabockar, det finns incitament för organisationer att visa upp en yta av att kvalitetsarbete pågår. Studien har genomförts som en fallstudie med kvalitativ ansats där sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med vårdbiträden samt undersköterskor från en och samma arbetsgrupp har gjorts under våren 2018. Resultatet går i linje med tidigare forskning som lyfter fram olika aspekter som relevanta för ett framgångsrikt avvikelsearbete: kommunikation och dialog med kollegor och chef, uppmuntran från chef, tydlig struktur för hur avvikelsearbetet bedrivs. Resultatet visar också på aspekter som kan lyftas fram som brister i avvikelsearbetet: hur personal kompenserar för att hinna med sitt arbete, att avvikelser gällande vissa brister inte alltid rapporteras. För att tolka och analysera studiens resultat används socialpsykologen Edgar Scheins arbete om organisationskultur samt företagsekonomen Mats Alvessons arbete om mekanismer inom organisationer. / Welfare Care that in Sweden is given according to laws regulating health care and social services is obligated to secure systematic quality improvement. Risk management through deviation reports is a part of this quality improvement which can affect the welfare care rather immediate. Deviation reports can also be used in statistical overviews where both risks and needs within the given care can be accentuated. As a consequence, information about risk, needs and statistical overviews can also be used for decision-making in both care organisations and in policy decisions that sets the framework for the welfare care given. Hence, deviation reports can be used as one of several quality indicators that today is fundamental in the evaluation of the quality of publicly financed welfare care. Criticism of New Public Management as a control model in welfare address the heavy demands of evaluation, auditing and monitoring which implicates risks of skewness and misguiding results. Criticism also points out that the administrative work that follows with NPM takes time and resources from the welfare cares main focus which in this paper is care for the elderly. This paper aims to examine how staff within elderly care homes experience their work with deviation reports regarding the concept of organizational culture. It is of relevance to examine this since these staff are the ones producing the evidence on which decisions are based. Also, statistics shows that staff within elder care is highly over represented in regard to risk in the work environment. Deviation reporting is also filled with challenges like avoiding the sensation of pointing out a scapegoat or someone to blame. There are also incentives for organisations to keep a facade that their operations are fully functional. This study has been completed as a case study through a qualitative approach where seven semi-structured interviews with assistant nurses and nurses aides from a single work group has been made during spring 2018. The result is in line with earlier research that points out different aspects that are of relevance for successful work with deviation reports. The results also point out aspects that can be regarded as flaws within the work of deviation reports. To interpret and analyse the result of this study two main perspectives has been used; social psychologist Edgar Scheins work on organizational culture and professor of business administration Mats Alvessonswork on mechanisms within organizations.

Pieter Bruegel the Eider's paintings De verkeerde wereld, Het gevecht tussen Karnava/ en Vasten, Luilekker/and, Dulle Grief and Landschap, met Icarus' val are interpreted as sixteenth-century parodies using the paradoxia epidemica as a tropic means for interpreting the artist's wit, irony, parody and picaresque stance towards his source material and his milieu. Where applicable, other works relating to a particular argument are also discussed. As a result of this investigation, an original contribution has been made in the literature on both Bruegel and parody as a form of visual communication. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / M.A. (History of Art)

Pieter Bruegel the Eider's paintings De verkeerde wereld, Het gevecht tussen Karnava/ en Vasten, Luilekker/and, Dulle Grief and Landschap, met Icarus' val are interpreted as sixteenth-century parodies using the paradoxia epidemica as a tropic means for interpreting the artist's wit, irony, parody and picaresque stance towards his source material and his milieu. Where applicable, other works relating to a particular argument are also discussed. As a result of this investigation, an original contribution has been made in the literature on both Bruegel and parody as a form of visual communication. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (History of Art)

This study focuses on Bruegel's parodic legacy in the picaresque tradition. It is based, on the one hand, on visual rhetoric, visual parody, and the poetics of epideictic rhetoric; and, on the other, on the interaction between epideictic rhetoric's salient features and the Bruegelian themes of camivalisation, the satirising of human folly, and the ontic order of the World Upside Down topos as organising principles. The relationships between the above themes are chronologically traced in various disguises in pictures by representative picaresque artists from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries: i.e., in Bruegel, Steen, Hogarth, Daumier, and Grosz. Each of these picaresque artists battled with their own times, parodying the paradigmatic targets of the high mode, in both social and genre hierarchy, and in doing so revealed the complexities of the above themes at work within an ever changing context-bound rhetoricity. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / Thesis (D.Litt. et Phil.)

This study focuses on Bruegel's parodic legacy in the picaresque tradition. It is based, on the one hand, on visual rhetoric, visual parody, and the poetics of epideictic rhetoric; and, on the other, on the interaction between epideictic rhetoric's salient features and the Bruegelian themes of camivalisation, the satirising of human folly, and the ontic order of the World Upside Down topos as organising principles. The relationships between the above themes are chronologically traced in various disguises in pictures by representative picaresque artists from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries: i.e., in Bruegel, Steen, Hogarth, Daumier, and Grosz. Each of these picaresque artists battled with their own times, parodying the paradigmatic targets of the high mode, in both social and genre hierarchy, and in doing so revealed the complexities of the above themes at work within an ever changing context-bound rhetoricity. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / Thesis (D.Litt. et Phil.)