The Swedish magazine Åter, which offers a forum for people with an interest in making a self-sufficient household, constitutes the material for this study. The magazine is exemined with an interest in finding outspoken and unspoken ideological values that may be considered as the motivation to actively choose an alternative lifestyle such as the one a self-sufficient household represents. The main interest for doing so is to elucidate any views on modernity from the many voices in the magazine. Previous studies of similar lifestyle choices have had a focus on them being a part of a social movement or a result of an enviromental awareness. This study increases the understanding of this lifestyle as being a reaction against a modernity that does not agree with their individual experiences of a meaningful existence. Several complementary theoretical perspectives have been regarded in order to examine the ample material, with main emphasis on Ulrich Beck and his notion of subpolitics and reflexive modernity. As a result, the study suggests that the magazine offers an intellectural fellowship for people interested in creating a self-sufficient household. Within that community spirit several issues are raised against the industrial modernity, as well as numerous suggestions for how to create a new, reflexive, modernity.

Cette thèse a pour but d’étudier les racinements et les représentations de la sociologie compréhensive. L’étude sur le fondement permet de représenter tous les éléments philosophiques, psychiques, sociologiques et historiques présents dans le monde réel et mental, et qui peuvent nous aider à mener à bien notre étude sociologique. La représentation nous pousse à établir un système de pensée sans chercher positivement la causalité et les lois générales. Le sens de la vie, la morale, l’éthique, etc. liées à l’être humain non seulement peuvent mais doivent être interprétées par la compréhension sociologique, car elles ne sont pas séparées de l’activité humaine dans les phénomènes. Sans confondre avec un aprioriste moral, l’idée vitale détermine que dans la recherche sociologique, la vie des hommes est considérée comme la finalité de toutes les activités. / This dissertation aims to study the basis and representations of interpretive sociology. The study on the basis allows representing all philosophical, psychological, sociological and historical elements present in the real world and mind, who can help us achieve our sociological study. Representation leads us to establish a system of thought without positively seeking causality and general laws. The meaning of life, morality, ethics, etc. related to humans not only can but also must be interpreted by the sociology, because they are not separated from human activity in the phenomena. Not to be confused with a moral apriorist, the vital idea determines that in sociological research, human life is regarded as the goal of all activities.

Southern right whale vocalisations recorded in Walker Bay, South Africa, between June and November 1999, were analysed to investigate the acoustic repertoire, the relationship between calling behaviour and whale presence, the proportions of vocal and silent whales, and of recorded calls from unseen whales, and the evidence for vocal individuality. This marks the first study of right whale vocalisation in South African waters. A simple matrix system with the axes acoustic contour and onset frequency described twelve call types. Analysis of call use over time indicated that some calls, as well as broadband gunshots, clustered strongly in bouts of differing lengths, and that their relative use varied over the season; the repertoire and its classification was compared with other accounts of right whale vocalisation [chapter one]. A generalised linear model explained the variation in the overall call rate in terms of the numbers of whales present, month and wind direction. The overall call rate, for each month and in all wind conditions, rose with increasing whale numbers to a plateau at between ten and fifteen whales, and then declined as whale numbers rose further, suggesting that the social motivation for vocalising was progressively reversed. An inverse linear relationship between call rate per whale and whale abundance was clearly demonstrated over the whole season, indicating that call rates were unreliable as an indicator of whale numbers [chapter two]. A dual-axis, three-element hydrophone array suspended at 5m from floating buoys was designed to assign whale vocalisations to calling whales. The array was calibrated with an overall mean error of 3°. Bearings to calling whales were calculated using correlelograms, and compared with the observed positions of whales. On average 31% of low up (upwardly inflected) calls and 11% of medium and high down (downwardly inflected) calls came from whales not sighted from the boat; up to just under half of the whales sighted from the boat were silent. This indicates the importance of integrating visual and acoustic data when estimating whale numbers [chapter three]. In characterising individuality in vocalisations, we used cluster analysis of acoustic properties of whale calls to derive the Euclidean distances (a measure of similarity) between each possible pair of calls within a continuous recording session. Calls clearly from different whales (distant call pairs) were more dissimilar than calls possibly from one whale (‘close’ call pairs), lending support to the hypothesis of vocal individuality. The similarity between ‘close’ up calls was greatest when the calls were within 0.5 minutes of each other, and declined progressively, up to a separation of 6.5 minutes, as the likelihood of both calls being from one whale declined, indicating individual bout-calling. Medium and high down (downwardly inflected) calls, associated with surface active groups (SAGs), and thought by other researchers to be produced by the focal female, were more similar within any given SAG than when compared across SAGs. This evidence strongly suggests that southern right whales produce individually distinctive vocalisations [chapter four]. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

Nous espérons montrer dans cette thèse que le développement du type de l'individu exceptionnel dans les romans du dix-huitième siècle en France est le résultat des courants philoso-phiques et artistiques de la période. Les Liaisons dangereuses de Laclos reflète mieux que tout autre roman du siècle ces deux influences, mais elles se font aussi sentir dans Manon Lescaut de Prevost, La Vie de Marianne de Marivaux, et Jacques le fataliste de Diderot. L'introduction démontre que les philosophes du siècle désiraient le bonheur personnel de l'individu, la tolérance et la raison au lieu de l'ascétisme, l'intolérance et la foi aveugle qui dominaient la pensée du dix-septième siècle. Les philosophes voyaient l'aristocratie comme un obstacle à la réalisation d'un meilleur monde car cette classe ne voulait pas un changement de l'ordre établi. Puisque la pensée d'une période influeence souvent l'art, le fait que les romanciers du dix-huitième siècle adoptaient le point de vue des philosophes en critiquant l'aristocratie n'est pas surprenant. L'individu exceptionnel devient par la suite un moyen idéal pour voiler de telles critiques aussi bien que pour satisfaire des instincts créateurs chez les romanciers. Dans le premier chapitre nous indiquons que Prévost, Marivaux et Diderot critiquaient l'aristocratie à mesure qu'ils analysaient les raisons pour lesquelles les personnages princi-paux de leurs romans étaient exceptionnels. Des influences à l'extérieur du roman comme le conflit philosophique entre la raison et la sensibilité semblent définir à première vue la nature extraordinaire de Des Grieux, Marianne et Mme de la Pommeraye; ces individus veulent nous convaincre qu'ils sont spéciaux à cause de leur sensibilité ou de leur intelligence. Cependant des influences à l'intérieur du roman, comme la forme, nous donnent les vrais clefs du caractère unique de ces personnages. Les protagonistes racontent leur propre histoire au lecteur et leur talent de duper autrui afin de se montrer dans une image flatteuse est ce qui les distingue enfin des autres. Néanmoins, les protagonistes se sentent obligés de se faire valoir car la société leur est presque toujours hostile. Le deuxième chapitre introduit les protagonistes des Liaisons dangereuses, le vicomte de Valmont et la marquise de Merteuil. Chacun d'eux se croit un libertin sans pareil et dans ce chapitre nous étudions comment ils exploitent leur sagacité pour prouver leur supériorité l'un à l'autre. Nous expliquons la tradition libertine qui est la base de la philosophic personnelle de Valmont et de Merteuil. Le roman est dans la forme épistolaire; les protagonistes échangent des lettres. La forme du roman, une influence à l'intérieur, révèle encore une fois que ce que Valmont et Merteuil croient les rendre exceptionnels est illusoire. C'est de nouveau leur capacité de tromper autrui et eux-mêmes dans leurs lettres sur leur qualité spéciale qui est vraiemnt leur qualité distinctive. Les lettres soutiennent l'illusion de l'invincibilité de Valmont et Merteuil dans le deuxième chapitre, mais elles les détruisent dans le troisième chapitre en leur révélant toutes leurs faiblesses émotionnelles. La rivalité entre les libertins s'intensifie vers la fin du roman et l'influence de la raison sur leur conduite s'affaiblit. Nous voyons que la façade intellectuelle cède rapidement à la force des émotions violentes, longuement supprimées. La forme épistolaire du livre révèle done que cette oeuvre suit l'exemple des romans précédents du siècle. L'illusion du point de vue du protagoniste et la réalité du point de vue du lecteur existent en meme temps; cette juxtaposition indique une attitude des romanciers envers la société contemporaine. Dans la conclusion nous montrons que cette attitude est une critique de l'aristocratie qui ne permet pas aux protagonistes de se réaliser complètement car chaque protagoniste symbolise le bouleversement de l'ordre établi. Des Grieux, Marianne, Mme de la Pommeraye, et surtout Valmont et Merteuil outragent la société en brisant les règles de conduite qu'ils devraient suivre. Qu'ils n'atteignent pas le bonheur personnel malgré leurs efforts reflète le sentiment de frustration que les romanciers veulent partager avec le lecteur. Prévost, Marivaux, Diderot et Laclos créent des romans dans lesquels les influences de la philosophic et de l'art romanesque de l'époque aident ces auteurs à critiquer une société décadente et à créer un personnage unique. Les Liaisons dangereuses est l'exemple le plus brillant des possibilités inhérantes à cette combinaison d'influences. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

This study utilized ethnomethodology to provide a description of the process and the effect of training counselors to incorporate the concepts and techniques of Individual Psychology into play therapy. Transcripts of the training program and of three individual interviews with the nine counselors who participated in the training were made. These transcripts and the journals in which the subjects were asked to chronicle their personal experiences and reactions to the training were qualitatively analyzed. This analysis indicated that most of the subjects reported that their attitudes toward play therapy, toward themselves as play therapists, and toward their play therapy clients had changed after their participation in the Adlerian play therapy training. The majority of subjects also reported that they perceived that their behavior in their play therapy sessions had changed, frequently in the direction of including more creative and active techniques. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts made from videotaped play therapy sessions by the researcher and an outside evaluator indicated that, while some of the counselors' behaviors seemed to have changed after the training, many of the counselors' behaviors did not appear to have been affected by their participation in the training. Possible explanations of the discrepancy between the counselors' perceptions of their behavior and the researcher's and outside evaluator's perceptions of the counselors' behaviors were discussed. Other areas considered as worthy of in-depth examination were: (a) possible influences on the changes in the counselors' attitudes toward play therapy, toward themselves as play therapists, and toward their play therapy clients; (b) several factors involved in training counselor education students; (c) elements which may have affected the counselors' receptivity to learning a new method of conducting play therapy; (d) implications for the future adaptation of the Adlerian play therapy training program; and (f) potential avenues for future research.

The project New Faces is a series of portraits dealing with the theme of identity and its loss, human individuality and the phenomenon of ideal of beauty. Each of paintings depict different views on the same face, base on personal confessions of portrayed and his friends. Thus we can observe confrontation of the "subjective" and the "objective", where this supposed "objectivity" acquire the relative value in the context of other pictures. The project points to the problem of self-perception and it explores how human perception distorts the reality, especially if more factors (than just a visual image of reality) affects the person.

« L’influence est une chose sombre et peu claire » disait Vladimir Nabokov en 1930, réfutant avoir été profondément influencé par ses prédécesseurs. Pourtant, comme il le soulignait lui-même, cet auteur russe francophone avait lu les œuvres complètes de Flaubert en français avant l’âge de 14 ans et considérait Madame Bovary comme le roman le plus « brillant de la littérature européenne ». Cette étude se propose d’examiner ce lien à travers une nouvelle définition de l’influence, s’appuyant sur les théories d’Harold Bloom et de Derek Attridge, mais centrée sur l’individualité des auteurs, considérée comme le moteur du processus d’influence, processus caractérisé à la fois par l’exploration des idées du précurseur et la déviation de celles-ci. L’analyse de la conception nabokovienne de l’œuvre de Flaubert permettra de mettre au jour le retentissement qu’a pu avoir cette lecture sur l’œuvre de Nabokov. En effet, si le style de Nabokov est unique et original, son admiration pour le rythme et la sonorité de l’écriture flaubertienne dévoilée dans le cours de Nabokov sur Madame Bovary invite à s’interroger sur la façon dont son interprétation individuelle du style flaubertien se retrouve dans certains aspects de la propre écriture de Nabokov. Également, cet examen parallèle fournira un éclairage nouveau sur les œuvres des deux auteurs, et sur leur vision de la littérature, apparemment lié dans refus de l’incidence sociale et une adhésion à un purisme esthétique complexe, liant la beauté et la vérité. Enfin, cette analyse donnera lieu à une recherche de deux définitions du « style », chez deux auteurs fascinés par l’exactitude et la quête de la précision verbale. / « Influence is a dark and unclear thing » Vladimir Nabokov said in 1930, as he denied having been deeply influenced by any past writer. However, and as he declared himself, this French-speaking Russian writer had read the complete works of Flaubert in French before the age of 14 and considered Madame Bovary to be “the most brilliant novel in world literature”. This study plans to examine this link through a new definition of influence, based on the theories of Harold Bloom and Derek Attridge, but focused on the writers’ individuality, which is seen as the core of the influence process, a process characterized both the exploration idea found in the precursor’s work and the deviation of those ideas. The analysis of the Nabokovian conception of Flaubert’s work will be used to bring to light the impact such a reading may have had on Nabokov’s work. Indeed, although Nabokov’s style is unique and original, his admiration for the rhythm and sounds of Flaubert’s writing, described at length in Nabokov’s class on Madame Bovary, suggests an inquiry on the way that his individual interpretation of Flaubert’s style may have reverberations in Nabokov’s own writing. Also, this parallel examination will provide a new study of both authors’ works, and on their vision of literature, apparently linked by a common contradiction between social impact and aesthetic purism. Finally, this analysis will give rise to a search for two definitions of “style”, in two writers fascinated by exactitude and the quest of verbal accuracy.

[pt] A presente dissertação pretende investigar os diálogos entre a pintura oitocentista e a subjetividade moderna, explorando como a modulação subjetiva do século XIX se torna visível na produção artística do período em questão ao mesmo tempo que também produz impactos no campo da arte. Partindo de Michel Foucault, que ensina a questionar o que é visto como inevitável, esta pesquisa compreende que a forma que estamos e nos relacionamos com o mundo não é natural, mas histórica, e que a experiência subjetiva do homem moderno, caracterizado pela sua interioridade psicológica, reverbera em diversas produções humanas — entre as quais a arte, sobretudo a pintura, ocupa um lugar de especial destaque. Sem estabelecer causas e consequências diretas, este trabalho tem como objetivo construir relações entre a pintura e as maneiras de perceber e experimentar o mundo que são produzidas na Modernidade, investigando como as novas possibilidades no campo artístico podem ser compreendidas tanto como produtos quanto como produtoras de uma nova experiência de ser sujeito. / [en] The present work intends to investigate the possible dialogues between 19th century painting and modern subjectivity, exploring how the subjective modulation of the 19th century became visible in the artistic production of the period, while also creating impact in the field of art. Starting with Michel Foucault, who teaches to question what is seen as inevitable, this research understands that the way we are and relate to the world is not natural, but historical, and that the subjective experience of the modern man, characterized by his psychological interiority , reverberates in several human productions — among which art, especially painting, occupies a special place. Without establishing direct causes and consequences, this work aims to build a relationship between painting and the ways of perceiving and experiencing the world that are produced in Modernity, investigating how the new possibilities in the artistic field can be understood both as products and as producers of a new experience of being a subject.

Die in dieser Arbeit vorgestellten Arbeiten zielten darauf ab, verschiedene Formen des Lernens und der Verhaltensanpassung in Tieren zu testen. Hierbei wurder der Großteil dieser Arbeit an einer natürlich vorkommenden klonalen Fischart, der Amazonas-Molly Poecilia formosa, durchgeführt. Diese gesellige, ausschließlich weibliche Art erzeugt durch ungeschlechtliche Fortpflanzung genetisch identische Nachkommen. Mit dem Aufkommen von immer detaillierteren Ansätzen zur Unterscheidung von Verhaltensunterschieden sind solche klonalen Arten in der Ethologie von entscheidender Bedeutung, da sie als perfektes natürliches Modell dienen, um individuelle Verhaltensunterschiede und deren Entwicklung zu testen. Da genetische Variationen als Störfaktor weitgehend ausgeschlossen werden können, kann die Aufmerksamkeit auf die Unterschiede zwischen Individuen aufgrund ihrer Vorerfahrungen gelenkt werden. In den ersten drei Kapiteln der hier vorgestellten Arbeit wurden die individuellen Erfahrungen durch operante Konditionierung oder durch das Aussetzen der Tiere gegenüber neuen oder bekannten Situationen verändert. Das jeweilige Verhalten wurde sowohl alleine, als auch im sozialen Kontext untersucht. Auf diese Weise wurde die Auswirkung des sozialen Kontexts sowie der physischen Umgebung auf Verhaltensaspekte wie Schwimmgeschwindigkeit und Sprungwahrscheinlichkeit ermittelt. Kleinere Verhaltensunterschiede wurden dann im folgenden Kapitel durch den Vergleich von manuellen Ansätzen und automatischen Quantifizierungsinstrumenten bewertet und evaluiert. Schließlich wurde ein methodischer Ansatz augearbeitet, bei dem die Leistungsfähigkeit künstlicher intelligenz in Form von neuronalen Netze genutzt wurde, um Individuen in komplizierten, natürlichen Szenen während Räuber-Beute-Interaktionen zu verfolgen. / The work presented in this thesis set out to test various forms of learning and behavior adaptation. The bulk of this work was done using a naturally occurring clonal fish species, the Amazon molly Poecilia formosa. This sociable, all female species produces genetically identical offspring through asexual reproduction. With the advent of increasingly detailed approaches to discriminate behavioral differences, such clonal species are vital in ethology as they serve as a perfect natural model to test for individual behavioral differences and the development of such. Since genetical variation can largely be excluded as a confounding factor, attention can be drawn towards the differences among individuals due to their prior experience. In the first three chapters of the work presented here, the individual information and experience was altered by applying operant conditioning or by exposing the animals to novel or well-known situations. This was done both individually and in a group setting. By doing so, the effect of the social context, as well as the physical surroundings on behavioral aspects such as swimming speed and jumping probability was determined. Minute behavioral differences were then evaluated in the following chapter by comparing manual approaches and automated quantification tools. Lastly, a methodological approach was taken in which the power of artifical neural networks was harnessed to track individuals in convoluted natural scenes during predator-prey interactions.

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