Lesbian visibility and representation has been and continues to be marked from a patriarchal perspective, governed by heteronormativity. Heterosexuality and man have and continue to be points from which lesbians are defined. The lesbian has come to form part of a heteronormative sexual sequence in society, what Annamarie Jagose refers to as sequencing. This sequence has placed the lesbian in a latter position of inferiority that depends on heterosexuality and/or man. Because of this reason, it has not been possible to reach a good representation of the lesbian. In order to obtain a better representation of the lesbian she must be defined in her own terms and in relation to other lesbian women. Jagose suggests inverting sexual norms and positioning lesbianism as the preferred sexuality to see how the lesbian is oppressed and subjugated by heteronormativity. The trilogy by Lola Van Guardia (Con pedigree, Plumas de doble filo, La mansión de las tríbadas) is able to capture a society in which every person is a lesbian or has the potential to be one. Keeping in mind the sexual sequence that Jagose presents, Van Guardias world manages to break these chains of a false lesbian representation to create a new and better representation by positioning the lesbian as the subject and normalizing her sexuality through various inversions. Van Guardia does this by presenting a plethora of lesbians, all three-dimensional characters that are relatable. The inversion of certain linguistic norms of the Spanish language and social situations established by a heteronormative and patriarchal society are also highlighted by using the generic in feminine and not the masculine as Spanish prescribes. With her trilogy, Van Guardia is able to create a discourse that is separate from the heteronormative society by focusing on the lesbian, on how she is and what matters to her. The Van Guardia trilogy is able to not only show how the lesbian is subjugated and controlled in society, but with the focus on only lesbian characters she is able to create a representation of the lesbian that is more complete and faithful.

Each body has certain cultural values attached to it regarding the way in which it should perform in public. The body is marked by dichotomous thinking (masculine/feminine, healthy/sick, sacred/degraded, artistic/pornographic, etc.) that dictates its presentation in visual culture. In Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism, Elizabeth Grosz states the importance of non-dichotomous thinking for feminist and gender studies scholars and gives guidelines to deconstruct these hegemonic dualities. The purpose of this thesis is to show how the eroticization of the body of Other, in accordance with Groszs guidelines, can be useful in upsetting taken-for-granted social roles thus leading to non-dichotomous thinking of the body. The non-ideal but erotic/eroticized body cannot faithfully or consistently adhere to either the positive or negative side of the dichotomy since the two sides are both explicitly presented and contested concurrently. A (strategic) sexualization of the body of Other troubles both cultural and natural notions of what the body should be. The body of Other refers to any body that transgresses the contemporary views of a positive body image (healthy, whole, beautiful, youthful, etc.); and the sexualized Other refers to that transgressive body that takes on a contemporary meaning of what is thought to be erotic or sexual. This thesis explores 6 photographs from contemporary Argentine photographers, Gabriela Liffschitz and María Zorzon and attempts to reveal conflicts about the dominant class thinking of the body and the injurious consequences of its implementation into popular visual culture. In this case the sexualized Others are simultaneously sacred and degraded (for various social reasons): the mothers body, the tattooed body, and the sick body. These bodies in some way all exhibit the qualities that Grosz enumerates and effectively defeat notions of nature/culture, active/passive, etc. to create distinct sexual bodies that do not depend on the pre-established norms of order and purity to be considered legitimate.

This thesis explores the influence of socio-religious factors in semantic interpretation. The principal objective of the investigation is to determine the level of that religious influence and make a call for the inclusion of socio-religious factors in all sociolinguistic semantic studies. The religious community of practice analyzed for this study was the Church of Christ. Its status as a community of practice is confirmed through the results of surveys and interviews, which fulfill the requirements promulgated by Lave & Wegner (1991). Participants inside and outside the community of practice, residing in three distinct cities were included: Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; and Caracas Venezuela. The 151 participants responded to a survey that presented them with 21 linguistic variables which had multiple possible definitions. Besides the religious constraints included, other social variables normally included in other studies of this nature were included, such as sex, age, education level, etc. Through the use of the statistical analysis program, Goldvarb, it was determined that the version of the Bible the participant prefers to read was the constraint most determinant for the most popular definition in 17 of the 21 lexical variables presented in the survey (81%). Also, eight individuals participated in interviews that revealed their religious cultural identity and cultural standing through the use of pronouns. The cultural standing most shared was that of the authority of the Bible. Additionally, it was found that the versions of the Bible reflect greater linguistic evolution than secular dictionaries of the same diachronic years. As such, this semantic evolution, together with the results of the analysis of the surveys and interviews, affirm the influence of religion in semantic interpretation and that socio-religious variables should be included in future sociolinguistic studies.

As a result of political antagonism across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan has engaged in ¡§pragmatic diplomacy¡¨ since the end of 1980s in an attempt to reenter the international community and to establish more substantial official relations with foreign countries. As developing country, Taiwan has been donors of foreign aid with strong diplomatic incentives attached. Under the guideline of Taiwan¡¦s foreign policy goals, we have consistently chosen aid recipients that meet our diplomatic needs. In the 1990s, however, under the guidance of pragmatic diplomacy, Taiwan has made a concerted effort to reenter the international community and focused instead on improving state-to state relations. Official diplomacy and NGO activities may be "different approaches to the same ends," as the old Chinese saying goes, but they are fundamentally different. By mixing NGO functions with "track one" diplomacy, Taiwan has placed itself in an even worse position given the current international situation. NGO activities, however, are exchanges between civilians, not governments. In such unfavorable political antagonism across the Taiwan Strait circumstances, enabling Taiwan's NGOs -- with the help of official diplomacy -- to give full play to their functions overseas while building long-standing partnerships with foreign nations and people, should definitely be considered one of Taiwan's mid-to long-term strategic goals.

Abstract The theme of this thesis is ¡§A study of the related service market opening of PRC due to the admission application to the WTO¡¨. The focus of this thesis is to discuss: during the process of PRC¡¦s admission to the WTO, PRC has made a great deal of commitment about opening its service trade market, and the potential market benefit for those related entrepreneurs brought by the result of PRC¡¦s admission to the WTO. In this thesis, we discover that, for the sake of wealth maximizing in the market of China, those governments of the members of WTO had fully deprived of the opportunity to bargain with PRC to scramble for the best advantages for themselves in the market of mainland China. As service trade making a more and more important proportion in the world trade as a whole, foreign investors will flock into the market of mainland China once PRC has admitted into the WTO successfully, therefore this study has tried to discuss, from the point of opening the market of service trading, the potential benefit that the foreign investors will enjoy as a result of PRC¡¦s admission to the WTO. Besides, this study also pays attention to the foreign investors who are going to benefit from the areas of telecommunication, insurance, financial services, retailing and wholesaling, and transportation, however they will be obstructed by the restrictions set up by the PRC in these areas as well.

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Abstract Thailand and China have maintained its diplomatic relationship since the monarchial period. Such exchanges between these two countries remain long standing. On October 1, 1949 the Communist Party began to rule Mainland China, which prompted the Thai government to be more doubtful towards the Chinese government, given the differences in ideology, political and economic system. In the same light, China¡¦s relationship with the rest of the world has become complicated during the Cold War period. Thailand and China have formally inked its diplomatic treaties of agreement on July 1, 1975, which paved the way for diplomatic exchanges and friendly visits. The relationship between these two nations is deeply rooted from the strong ties established during the early times. The similarities in their culture, custom and traditions have further enhanced their kinship as neighboring countries in Asia. The rise of United States, Soviet Union and China as emerging super powers and the acceleration of the Communist forces specifically in Thailand and Vietnam has lead the Thai government to expedite the development of a better diplomatic relationship with China since 1975. The end of ¡§Cultural Revolution¡¨ and Deng Xiaoping¡¦s initiative in opening China to the outside world can also be regarded as important factors for the Thai government in inking an agreement with China. Despite of the uncertainties the world was facing during the Cold War period, the pact between Thailand and China has continually flourished on a variety of fields, including exchanges through renewed friendship, strategic alliance and economic cooperation. This thesis shall present an in-depth analysis of the history behind the transitions in the diplomatic relationship between Thailand and China.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Arkansas, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-170).