As the title of this essay suggests, Paul Auster’s 2003 novel Oracle Night is studied with regard to what is here considered to be a search for a way out of estrangement. This search, as narrated from the point of view of the protagonist, is followed by a certain recognition of the limits of human existence – which may be essentially meaningless but is nevertheless portrayed as an intentional state of being, not least through the act of writing as a means of subjectification. Thus, the novel is read with a special focus on the thematic representation of writing and human subjectivity. These overarching themes may be approached with reference to two different philosophies or theoretical positions – postmodernism and existentialism. The purpose of the essay is to study the extent to which Oracle Night may be understood in terms of an existentialist (reconstructive) critique of, or challenge to, a postmodernist (deconstructive) perspective. In order to follow this line of inquiry, the analytic method rests on narrative thematics. This kind of narratological study answers the question what Auster’s novel is about and in what ways the theoretical perspectives in question are expressed in the novel. Thematic motifs are examined within the frame of a six-step model of narrative units. These units are based on Carsten Springer’s (2001) elaboration on the theme of identity crisis in Auster’s fiction and made it possible to put different motifs into a context and convey the point of view of the text in a systematic way.

Foundational to almost any Hitchcock film is the idea of the voyeur: the (un)natural inclination to want to look upon the private, obscene, and potentially grizzly instances in other peoples’ lives. Such inclinations are typically satiated in secret and subsequently denied as something we desire. The voyeuristic act may be connected to narcissism in that we are seduced by our own fears and inner hells projected onto the watched ‘other.’ This kind of projection not only perpetuates our sense of denial of what are our own inclinations, but it also precipitates the potential for de-humanization and feelings of emptiness in that we detach from ourselves. The phenomenological paradox to such detachment is that the more we insist we are safe and self-enclosed here while the ‘other’ remains at bay there, the more we are convinced that we know ourselves and are connected to ourselves, when arguably, we couldn’t be more detached from ourselves and our humanity. And by not really knowing ourselves as well as we thought – as we might infer from a kind of ‘doppelganger’ or ‘doubles’ reading of Strangers on a Train, for example – is how fear is born, both in a Hitchcock film and in life generally. How then, might we come to truly know or face our fear if estrangement would seem an inherent quality to our very experience of it?

Foundational to almost any Hitchcock film is the idea of the voyeur: the (un)natural inclination to want to look upon the private, obscene, and potentially grizzly instances in other peoples’ lives. Such inclinations are typically satiated in secret and subsequently denied as something we desire. The voyeuristic act may be connected to narcissism in that we are seduced by our own fears and inner hells projected onto the watched ‘other.’ This kind of projection not only perpetuates our sense of denial of what are our own inclinations, but it also precipitates the potential for de-humanization and feelings of emptiness in that we detach from ourselves. The phenomenological paradox to such detachment is that the more we insist we are safe and self-enclosed here while the ‘other’ remains at bay there, the more we are convinced that we know ourselves and are connected to ourselves, when arguably, we couldn’t be more detached from ourselves and our humanity. And by not really knowing ourselves as well as we thought – as we might infer from a kind of ‘doppelganger’ or ‘doubles’ reading of Strangers on a Train, for example – is how fear is born, both in a Hitchcock film and in life generally. How then, might we come to truly know or face our fear if estrangement would seem an inherent quality to our very experience of it?

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T16:59:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 aureo.pdf: 2103711 bytes, checksum: d95d0d3298d04771a7d5e1a5724b1b0e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Known as dekassegui phenomenon , the migratory movement of Japanese-Brazilian to Japan, was initiated, from the mid-1980s. In 1989 there was a reform in the Immigration Law, which was sanctioned in the following year. Thus, the Japanese descendants (nikkeis) living in Brazil could legally migrate and, without any prerogative of professional qualification. In 2007, there were around 316.967 of Brazilians present in the Japanese society. However, one year later, with the Lehman Brothers bank of Investment bankruptcy in the United States, the economic crisis reached the Japanese economy and the migratory flow has slowed down since then. Therefore, the research aims to understand in which conditions the strangeness of the Japanese-Brazilians from Paraná occurs, who participated in the migratory flow. By means of the Oral History methodology the returnees were interviewed in order to report the experiences lived and the strangeness they found when migrating. / A partir de meados da década de 1980, iniciou-se o movimento migratório de nipo-brasileiros ao Japão, conhecido como ¿fenômeno dekassegui¿. Em 1989 houve a Reforma na Lei de Imigração japonesa, a qual foi sancionada no ano seguinte. Assim, os descendentes de japoneses (nikkeis) residentes no Brasil puderam migrar legalmente e, sem a prerrogativa de qualificação profissional. Em 2007, havia em torno de 316.967 brasileiros presentes na sociedade japonesa. No entanto, um ano depois, com a quebra do banco de investimentos Lehman Brothers nos Estados Unidos a crise se estendeu à economia japonesa, e o fluxo migratório desacelerou-se e o mesmo inverteu de sentido desde então. Nesse sentido, a pesquisa objetiva compreender de que maneira se processaram o estranhamento dos nipo-brasileiros, procedentes do Estado do Paraná, que participaram do fluxo migratório. Por meio da metodologia da História Oral os retornados foram entrevistados a fim de relatar as experiências vivenciadas e, a estranheza que encontraram ao migrar

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:25:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RanielleCMpdf.pdf: 1410498 bytes, checksum: b9f0377f66a7a4662fc7fd6a6e2cc1ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-09 / The present essay has how I aim to analyse the memories of the ex-combatants of Parelhas-RN, specially of the components of the For?a de Vigil?ncia e Seguran?a do Litoral - FVSL, protagonists of the Brazilian participation in the scenery of the Second World war. Along this we looked to understand in which surrounding geographicalpartner these men were living before the War and what were the consequences of a brusque change of space owing to the convocation for the Armed Brazilian Strength in that historical context. The defense of the Brazilian coast during the War was not a so simple task, I have in mind the precariedade logistics of the Armed Strength, the attacks of submarines of the Axle that killed hundreds of civilians and Brazilian soldiers and the net of espionage mounted by Germany in Brazil. Leaving from the notion of collective memory and estrangement in Maurice Halbwachs, we will use the oral history like principal methodology, with the end of rescue these underground memories what also will make possible us the vision realizes that the protagonists themselves have of the event, besides the use of documents, photos, maps and any sort of fountains that make possible us to rebuild the scenery of Parelhas in the beginning of the War and the trajectory of life of his veterans / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as lembran?as dos ex-combatentes de Parelhas-RN, especialmente dos componentes da For?a de Vigil?ncia e Seguran?a do Litoral - FVSL, protagonistas da participa??o brasileira no cen?rio da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Ao longo deste buscamos compreender em que ambiente s?cio-geogr?fico viviam esses homens antes da Guerra e quais foram as conseq??ncias de uma brusca mudan?a de espa?o em virtude da convoca??o para as For?as Armadas brasileiras naquele contexto hist?rico. A defesa do litoral brasileiro durante a Guerra n?o foi tarefa t?o simples, tendo em vista a precariedade log?stica das For?as Armadas, os ataques de submarinos do Eixo que mataram centenas de civis e militares brasileiros e a rede de espionagem montada pela Alemanha no Brasil. Partindo da no??o de mem?ria coletiva e estranhamento em Maurice Halbwachs, usaremos a hist?ria oral como metodologia principal, com o fim de reconstruir essas mem?rias subterr?neas que tamb?m nos possibilitar?o perceber a vis?o que os pr?prios protagonistas t?m do evento, al?m da utiliza??o de documentos, fotos, mapas e toda esp?cie de fontes que nos possibilitem reconstruir o cen?rio de Parelhas no in?cio da Guerra e a trajet?ria de vida de seus veteranos

This thesis examines the treatment of ideological matters in Andrej Platonov’s 1930 novel Kotlovan. The examination is based on Ol’ga Meerson’s theory of non-estrangement, which is applied to the depiction of ideology in Kotlovan. The specific themes examined are collectivism and materialism, which were viewed in the early Soviet period as important aspects of Marxist-Leninist ideology. The findings suggest that both collectivism and materialism are core issues in Kotlovan. Contrary to what one might suppose, however, these themes are not treated primarily in the famously dissonant and often ideologically coloured language of the surface of the text. Rather, the treatment of ideology seems to be conducted on a deeper level, where these issues are veiled by means of non-estrangement. By hiding away these core issues, the text requires the reader to accept them as given premises of the reality described in the text, in order to be able to proceed with the reading process. / Объектом исследования предлагаемой работы выступает повесть А.П. Платонова Котлован. Предметом же исследования является трактовка в тексте Котлована вопросов идеологической тематики, а более точно – коллективизма и материализма, воспринимаемых в качестве важнейших составляющих марксизма-ленинизма. В представленной работе применительно к идеологической тематике исследуемой повести использована разработанная Ольгой Меерсон теория неостранения. Результаты исследования указывают на центральную роль коллективизма и материализма в повести Котлован, которые при этом обсуждаются не столько на уровне платоновского специфического, нередко идеологически подкрашенного языка, сколько в более глубинном пласте текста, скрытые методом неостранения. Именно эта скрытость центральных тем в тексте заставляет читателя принимать их за данность изображаемой в Котловане действительности.

“Låt romanen komma in – Transformativt lärande i gymnasieskolans litteraturundervisning“ är en litteraturdidaktisk studie i forskningsämnet pedagogik som tar syftestexten för litteraturundervisningen i det gymnasiala svenskämnet som utgångspunkt. Genom en förstudie där elva svensklärare och en skolbibliotekarie samtalar i fokusgrupper riktas projektet mot sitt huvudfokus som är en läsloggsintervention där 31 elever i gymnasiekursen Svenska 3 läser John Ajvide Lindqvists “Låt den rätte komma in” (Ordfront, 2004/2015). Med hjälp av begrepp från läsforskning (Rita Felski, “Uses of Literature”, Blackwell Publishing, 2008) och erfarenheter från förstudien för eleverna logg över sin läsning. Resultatet av läsloggsinterventionen visar att elevernas metareflektion hjälps framåt av begreppsanvändningen och att eleverna därmed tar steget in i en transformativ lärandeprocess. Licentiatavhandlingen innehåller en analys av den didaktiska potentialen för transformativt lärande med fokus på fokalisation och främmandegöring i Ajvide Lindqvists roman samt en praktisk modell för hur begreppsorienterad litteraturundervisning med läslogg på gymnasiet kan utformas. / The function of reading fictional texts in Swedish secondary school education has been questioned in public debate (e.g. Melin, 2016-07-17), even though the reading of fictional texts has been shown to be important to young people’s academic achievement (Jerrim &amp; Moss, 2019). Swedish policy documents clearly state that upper secondary teaching of literature in the subject of Swedish is aimed at increasing the pupils’ self-awareness and their comprehension of experiences and perceptions of others (The Swedish National Agency of Education, 2011). However, results from a large-scale reading project show that Swedish teenagers find it difficult to reflect upon their own roles as readers of fictional texts (Nordberg, 2018). Therefore, this licentiate thesis targets upper secondary reading of fictional texts, and the possibility of using literary terminology pedagogically to visualize and develop pupils’ transformative learning processes. The overall research question posed is: - How can applied literary terminology be used in upper secondary literary studies todevelop pupils’ transformative learning processes? A pilot study was conducted based on three focus group-sessions with teachers and the librarian at an upper secondary school. The main study was based on reading journals written by pupils reading John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel Låt den rätte komma in (2004) [Let the Right One In, 2008] as part of the Swedish 3 course. The methodological framework is inspired by participatory research. Consequently, this research-project uses an inclusive approach to the participants – 11 Swedish teachers, 1 librarian and 31 pupils – which means that they are considered as subjects rather than objects of knowledge. My own role in this project is tripartite: as a colleague, a teacher, and researcher. The pilot study was conducted in order to find out which possibilities and obstacles arose when the staff participants worked on teaching literature. The main study, within which the pupils are included as participants, focuses on advancing meta-perspectives of their own reading and made use of results from the pilot study and concepts derived from Felski’s (2008) ‘modes of textual engagement’. The pilot study revealed tensions which obstruct the teaching of literature, including the teacher-experienced importance of pupils ‘stepping into’ stories, as opposed to a great many pupils’ reluctance both towards the text and the act of reading. Moreover, the tension between engaged reading and the heavy emphasis placed on assessable outcomes of teaching and learning was addressed by the teachers. The main study revealed that reluctance is an inherent part of reading fictional texts. Further, that the pedagogical application of concepts used in literary studies can support the reading process, make it move forward, encourage the adoption of meta-perspectives on reading and on the pupils themselves as readers, as well as supporting a cohesive view of the finalized text. In summary, the findings suggest that applying literary concepts in literary studies supports pupils towards advancing their transformative learning and potentially points to a new way of making the goals section of the policy documents tangible for teaching and learning practices. According to this study, transformative learning-goals can be achieved if critical perspectives are preceded by individual engagement with the reading of the text. The suggested concept of transformative potential is beneficial to an analysis of the pedagogical function of a certain fictional text used in a certain learning situation geared towards transformative learning. This finding stands in contrast to trends of using reading as a means of writing practice or imaging historical epochs. / <p>Licentiate Thesis in Education with Specialisation in Didactics.</p>

Novel communication barriers, innovative obstacles to mutual understanding that deviate from the norms of the actual world, are a recurring yet understudied presence in aesthetic worlds of all kinds. Some examples of this are Dana’s twentieth-century way of speaking that travels back in time with her in Kindred, or Americans under Japanese occupation struggling to speak through cultural and linguistic barriers in an alternate historical timeline in The Man in the High Castle, or the unique obstructions to communication in the alien encounters of Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness or Ted Chiang’s “The Story of Your Life.” In certain works, communication barriers carry such a novel character and occupy such a prominent place in the narrative that they call out for interpretation at a metadiegetic level. In previous scholarship, linguistic inventiveness has been studied primarily for the ways it speaks to science fiction genre distinctions. This essay aims to reveal how the recurrence of this foregrounded literary mechanism points to a transcultural and transhistorical tendency that goes beyond science fiction. With the aim of proving its usefulness in world literature studies, the goal is to analyze the presence of the novel barrier in seven different texts and how it projects a certain theory of the world. Using Darko Suvin’s concept of the novum and Eric Hayot’s metadiegetic structures I argue that novel communication barriers have in their nature a foregrounding effect that projects a kind of worldedness that accounts for the way communication is conceptualized and experienced. Using Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communication to substantiate this worldedness, I demonstrate how the motivation toward rational consensus on truth claims behind each act of communication has a world-creating effect which is articulated by the novel communication barrier in these texts.

The current position proposed as a possible antidote to future human conflicts is to educate our students about the horrific consequences of past atrocities. To this end, this research paper will examine the possibilities of teaching the students to recognize and reject dehumanizing attitudes in society. The concept of dehumanization and our collective capacity to prevent or resist such attitudes in society will be introduced by reading Ursula K. Le Guin’s novella The Word for World is Forest [Forest] from 1972. The close reading of the novella will be examined in adherence to Suvin’s theory of cognitive estrangement, in which the novella’s ability to act as a mediator for past and current historical events will be explored. The goal is to raise awareness of the many factors that may precede genocide and broadening the students’ capabilities of recognizing historical patterns. The main concepts for this study will primarily be adopted from the academic field of psychology in order to study the social roles each character reflects in relation to the notion of Triangle of Genocide. Secondly, different historical perspectives will be considered to correlate events from the book with historical equivalents. Lastly, from Socratic pedagogy to address complex questions and address them in an educational framework titled Peace Education. This paper aims to contribute with a unique approach to the reading of Le Guin’s novella and suggests didactic methods for implementation focusing primarily on upper secondary students in a Swedish school setting.

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