<p>Efter att ha gjort en del research om vampyrer, så märkte jag att de ibland kopplats ihop med varulvar, främst inom film men även i en del litteratur. Dock kunde jag inte hitta så mycket skrivet om deras myters sammankoppling, vilket gjorde att jag fick idén till den här uppsatsen. Syftet med min uppsats är att undersöka hur myter skapas i film, vilket jag gjorde genom en undersökning om hur myterna om varulvar och vampyrer gestaltas i Underworld-filmerna, med fokus på tematiken kring det djuriska och mänskliga. Även om dessa filmer bygger mycket på action, snygga effekter och läskiga monster så finns det ändå en underliggande story som går att koppla till djupare saker. Jag kom fram till att Underworld-filmerna gestaltar vampyrerna som mer mänskliga och varulvarna mer djuriska. Jag kunde även se tecken på andra saker som klasskillnaden, då varulvarna bor i kloaker och tunnlar medan vampyrerna bor i stora herrgårdar och använder avancerad teknikosv. Filmerna kommenterar samtiden genom bland annat dagens genmanipulation-debatt, som man i filmerna kan se gestaltas genom den vetenskapliga biten där de letar efter rätt DNA för att skapa en hybrid mellan varulv och vampyr. Filmerna gestaltar även en rädsla för det okända, det som står utanför samhället, vilket är precis vad varulvarna och vampyrerna gör i Underworld.</p>

Efter att ha gjort en del research om vampyrer, så märkte jag att de ibland kopplats ihop med varulvar, främst inom film men även i en del litteratur. Dock kunde jag inte hitta så mycket skrivet om deras myters sammankoppling, vilket gjorde att jag fick idén till den här uppsatsen. Syftet med min uppsats är att undersöka hur myter skapas i film, vilket jag gjorde genom en undersökning om hur myterna om varulvar och vampyrer gestaltas i Underworld-filmerna, med fokus på tematiken kring det djuriska och mänskliga. Även om dessa filmer bygger mycket på action, snygga effekter och läskiga monster så finns det ändå en underliggande story som går att koppla till djupare saker. Jag kom fram till att Underworld-filmerna gestaltar vampyrerna som mer mänskliga och varulvarna mer djuriska. Jag kunde även se tecken på andra saker som klasskillnaden, då varulvarna bor i kloaker och tunnlar medan vampyrerna bor i stora herrgårdar och använder avancerad teknikosv. Filmerna kommenterar samtiden genom bland annat dagens genmanipulation-debatt, som man i filmerna kan se gestaltas genom den vetenskapliga biten där de letar efter rätt DNA för att skapa en hybrid mellan varulv och vampyr. Filmerna gestaltar även en rädsla för det okända, det som står utanför samhället, vilket är precis vad varulvarna och vampyrerna gör i Underworld.

In 7 scenens I describe differenses between the book and the film Beowuf. I use the scene when he arrrives in the boat, the watchman at the score, Beowulf´s arrive at the hall, a fighting scene, the moster´s mother, Finn the Frisian and the dragon

Adopting historical perspectives, this thesis explores domestic, aesthetic, and cultural conflicts in modern Japan surrounding Masuji Ono, the protagonist in Kazuo Ishiguro¡¦s An Artist of the Floating World, as he looks back on his past. His memory narrative reveals his transformation from an iconoclastic young artist to a militarist propagandist in pre-war time, and finally to an old man who comes to terms with the loss of his prestige through none too reliable remembrances. Reading Ono¡¦s narrative in cross reference to historical texts, I argue that his transformation is in step with Japan¡¦s shift from a thriving nation to a militarist empire, and ultimately to a defeated nation subject to the Occupation after World War II and subsequent social changes. These changes are induced by democratization and disarmament engineered by the American army, which drastically undermine Japanese values, including the apotheosis of the Emperor, patriarchy, and social hierarchy. Forced to redefine themselves in the midst of the drastic social transformation, the Japanese harbor mixed feelings toward the emperor, regarding him as a guardian of the nation and a traitor. This ambivalence is profoundly felt by Ono, whose fall parallels the emperor¡¦s, since his authority as a father and a painting master is interrogated by the younger generation, most notably his daughter. In particular, his interaction with his grandson, who is brought up with American values, registers the Japanese attitudes toward the American, considering the occupier as both a welcomed authority and an alien monster. By examining three prominent authority figures in the novel¡Xfather, master, and monster¡Xthis thesis uncovers Ishiguro¡¦s agenda for negotiating an interface between history and personal memory.

<p>In this essay I argue that the plot in Sunrise with Sea Monster, written by Irish writer Neil Jordan, is based on the Oedipal myth, such as interpreted by Freud and psychoanalyst literary theory. By applying aspects of this theory we discover meanings buried within the novel. The Oedipus situation arises when the main character Donal falls in love with his piano teacher Rose, but so does his father, who decides to marry her. The desire both men have for the same woman creates a conflict of interest, as well as leading to a series of betrayals, of which the worst and ultimate one is of the father, Sam, by the son, Donal. The situation is not helped further by the lack of communication which exists between the two men. When the Oedipal stage is overcome, when both Rose and Sam are out of the picture, this leads to a sort of reconciliation between Sam and Donal. Betrayal and reconciliation are the two main themes and these are governed by the Oedipal framework of the novel. I also argue that the imagery, in particular that of water and what it is connected to adds depth to the novel as well as closely relating to the main themes and the Oedipal background: the diverse aspects of the Oedipal conflict are expressed symbolically, metaphorically etc. in the novel.</p>

My aim with this thesis is to use a combination of posthumanist and feminist materialist perspectives in analysing the anime film Spirited Away (2001). The analysis is organised as follows: the first chapter of the analysis deals with the notions of agency and magic. Magic is an omnipresent force in the bathhouse depicted in the film; a force that creates connections between different bodies and that also bridges the language-matter divide. By making inanimate matter come alive, magic points to a conception of life as relations rather than as possession. However, magic also reveals the hierarchies at work, as not all animate(d) beings have the capacity or the right to use it. The first chapter is followed by three chapters focused on eating, understood as a kind of intra-action between different kinds of matter. Food is, as I will show, important in the negotiations of boundaries and agency. The question of who is eating who also reveals some of the power relationships that govern the posthuman world depicted in the film. In the two last chapters of the analysis I will, so to speak, push the food plate aside in favour of other matters. The fifth chapter will focus on the physical transformations taking place in the film and how these can be interpreted from a posthumanist and materialist perspective. I will look at embodiments, using a narratologically influenced perspective that allows for corporeal ambiguities and shuns notions of bodies as fixed and clearly separate from other bodies. The discussion will continue in the final chapter where I use 'monster theory' to further examine the leakages between categories. The monstrous corresponds not necessarily to widely-spread images of monsters (known from various cultural masterplots) or to bodies that distinctly disobey the norms. The morphological diversity exhibited by the characters in the film reveals the impossibility of clearly demarcating categories and boundaries between Self and Other.

This research dissertation presents work undertaken to develop new performance techniques and mappings for the expressive control of spatial motion using Ambisonic projection. The dissertation reviews relevant research from the fields of Spatial Sound and Extended Instruments, and establishes playability as a useful set of criteria for a reflexive project methodology and evaluation. This reflexive research systematically investigates Trevor Wishart’s taxonomy of spatial motions through the development of new hardware, software, performance techniques and spatial motion analysis.

This research dissertation presents work undertaken to develop new performance techniques and mappings for the expressive control of spatial motion using Ambisonic projection. The dissertation reviews relevant research from the fields of Spatial Sound and Extended Instruments, and establishes playability as a useful set of criteria for a reflexive project methodology and evaluation. This reflexive research systematically investigates Trevor Wishart’s taxonomy of spatial motions through the development of new hardware, software, performance techniques and spatial motion analysis.

From ghost to robber: Development of fears of early school age children Bc. Martin Brummer ANNOTATION The diploma thesis is focused on the area of children's fears and monsters. It is a long-range study. The research follows up the bachelor thesis, it uses the same research design and compares the results of both. The emotion of fear is defined in the theoretical part. Moreover the current knowledge about the forms, intensities and development of fears is presented. The importance of monsters for the imagination of children and their role in the set of fears are described. The empirical part is divided into two parts. In the first part the intensity of fears of children and their relatives is surveyed by the means of questionnaires. In the part of interviews the children's conceptions of monsters and situations related to them are described. The result of the study is the clarification of the development of the fears and the conception of monsters in the minds of early and middle school aged children. KEYWORDS fear, monsters, early school age, middle school age, gender

abstract: This dissertation addresses the tendency among some disability scholars to overlook the importance of congenital deformity and disability in the pre-modern West. It argues that congenital deformity and disability deviated so greatly from able-bodied norms that they have played a pivotal role in the history of Western Civilization. In particular, it explores the evolution of two seemingly separate, but ultimately related, ideas from classical antiquity through the First World War: (1) the idea that there was some type of significance, whether supernatural or natural, to the existence of congenital deformity and (2) the idea that the existence of disabled people has resulted in a disability problem for western societies because many disabilities can hinder labor productivity to such an extent that large numbers of the disabled cannot survive without taking precious resources from their more productive, able-bodied counterparts. It also looks at how certain categories of disabled people, including, monsters, hunchbacks, cripples, the blind, the deaf and dumb, and dwarfs, which signified aesthetic and functional deviations from able-bodied norms, often reinforced able-bodied prejudices against the disabled. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. History 2013