This paper illustrates the ways in which Kezilahabi’s 1985 dissertation makes its own daring contribution to the field of aesthetic criticism through the proposition of a new critical approach to African literature. Kezilahabi’s starting point for the elaboration this new critical approach is the realization of a prevailing tendency among literary critics to read African literature against formal and aesthetic paradigms deeply rooted in the Western literary and philosophical traditions. Opposed to the adoption of interpretative frames that do not acknowledge the philosophical implications involved in literary analysis, Kezilahabi affirms the importance of approaching literary production from within the artistic and philosophical tradition it stems from. Inspired by hermeneutic philosophy, especially in its “ontological turn” embodied by the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, Kezilahabi’s focus is on literary interpretation as an ontological enterprise aimed at “situating” literature within a horizon of understanding where its proper universe of references can be disclosed.

A critical survey of early Church history, the works of the Church Fathers and several councils of the Church reveals a consistent call for unity. Heresies, politic intrigue and struggles for governance have aggravated attempts to remain in the union. The insistence on unity and the persistence of the Church to unify reveals an ontological reality. While our knowledge of the Church can be given in epistemological terms, looking at the Church to discover its essence, what it means to be church, opens a different way of encountering the Church and, eventually, understanding the nature of the Church to be one. The transformations in the early Church as it spread to new cultures, the impact on the Church at the founding of “New Rome” by the Emperor Constantine, the changes brought about when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and the resulting birth of the Renaissance in the West with the beginning of the autocephaly Church in Russia and subsequent reunions, are especially rich in manifestations of unification among dissidence. This paper will focus on these particular moments. The concept of looking at the essence of the Church exposes us to an understanding of what the Church is as a universal presence. Stating that the Church has no physical dimension, that it is a unique congregation abiding solely by an actual historic document or defined only by written doctrines does not show us its full essence. Likewise, seeing the Church as defined by how it differs from another, exists in objection to another church or how it avoids affiliation with others, reveals a body that does not have a unifying essence and is lifeless. Looking closer at its essence as it is revealed over time, shows us a living Church that has repeatedly manifested unification as its particularly unique identity. This paper is a reflective look of the Church through the ages which presents to us a look into the essence of the Church. Primary and secondary sources are critically examined with an emphasis on ontological manifestations. The moments in history that are presented in this paper are especially revealing of the unifying nature of the Church in various settings. This paper has limitations though. While the deliberate historic selections may give extraneous interpretations, it is intended to reveal previously under-estimated treasures, and this topic will require being given greater context in any expanded study. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)

This study discusses the difference between thinking with and about the island of Ai Stratis for knowledge production, advocating for situated research and embodied experience. Having conducted an ethnographic study, on the island of Ai Stratis in the North Aegean region of Greece in the summer of 2021, I look out from the island, assuming a tree-fold research field, including the physical island of Ai Stratis, a plane of reflexivity, as well as a literary plane. From there, I propose that research method assemblages perform reality,rather than solely describing it, and that foregrounding and backgrounding voices is a micro-political process with far-reaching consequences. I look at what is meant by a multiple reality, the relevance of ethics and care in more-than-human entanglements, and multiple worldings for sustainability understood as futurity. What more, I speak about how those entanglements blur species and material boundaries and how things and beings become with one another through molecular contagion whilst forming shifting assemblages. Discussing Ai Stratis as an island, I speak about some of the lure and danger of falling into geographical determinism and representational thinking. Further, I propose that dwelling in landscape whilst using all the senses (not only sight) may be a step towards practicing noticing and learning to be affected. I argue against strictly representational thinking and against a faceless mass of uniformity, and for the individual, intimate, face-to-face, situated, and embodied. Finally, I extend an invitation to have a conversation about guest-host relations, founded on particular, situated relationships of trust, care, respect, and a willingness to engage with change. I discuss this in the context of my entanglement as a stranger with the human and non-human hosts on Ai Stratis, as well as in a multispecies and a more-than-human, and metaphysical context of sustainability

Syftet med studien är att utifrån kvalitativa intervjuer undersöka hur socialarbetare på skyddadeboenden med barnperspektiv, via rutiner och arbetssätt, tar hänsyn till medföljande barnssociala uppbrott från skola, familj och vänner. Syftet är även att undersöka om rutinerna ocharbetssätten upplevs vara tillräckliga för att bidra till upprätthållning av kontinuitet i demedföljande barnens vardag. Studien baserades på en kvalitativ metod där sju semistruktureradeintervjuer genomfördes med socialarbetare på skyddade boenden. Empirin haranalyserats utifrån teorier och teoretiska begrepp som Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater, Giddens teori om modernitet, självidentitet och ontologisk trygghet samt barndomssociologi.Resultatet visar att socialarbetare försöker upprätthålla de medföljande barnens vardagsrutinergenom att skapa rutiner som inkluderar skola, aktiviteter och samtalsstöd. Det föreliggerdäremot svårigheter att upprätthålla barnens vardagliga rutiner på grund av de skyddadeboendenas säkerhetsaspekter. Socialarbetare har en medvetenhet om att deras arbetssätt medbarn bör utföras med ett barnperspektiv medan deras mål är att familjerna ska flytta till ett nyttsjälvständigt hem för att skapa en ny tillhörighet och vardag. / The aim of this study is to investigate, based on qualitative interviews, how social workers inshelters for victims of domestic violence with a child's perspective via routines and ways ofworking take into account children’s break-up from school, family and friends. The aim of thisstudy is also to investigate whether or not social workers routines and ways of working areperceived to be sufficient to contribute to maintaining continuity in everyday routines of theaccompanying children. The study was based on a qualitative method where sevensemistructured interviews were conducted with social workers in shelters for victims ofdomestic violence. The empirical data has been analyzed based on theories and theoreticalconstructs such as Lipskys theory about street level bureaucrats, Giddens theory aboutmodernity, self-identity and ontological security and also childhood studies. The resultsindicate that social workers try to maintain the children’s everyday routines by creating routinesthat include school, activities and counseling. However there are difficulties to maintain thechildren’s everyday routines because of the safety strategies in the shelters. Social workershave an awareness that their ways of working with children are supposed to be performed byhaving a child’s perspective whereas their achievement is for the families to transfer to a newindependent home to create a new belonging and everyday life.

Unpredictable situations are a common phenomena in detention centres. This is because employees work in daily contact with inmates. Correctional officers must therefore manage their own emotions as well as the emotions of their inmates. The aim of the study is to highlight the correctional officers’ experiences of insecurity in detention, when working with the inmates. Furthermore, the study examines the security measures taken by the leadership of detention centres as an authority to achieve greater security among its employees. Research shows that correctional officers are one of the most insecure professionals in the workplace. There are also various emotional rules that correctional officers must follow in their work with inmates, to maintain their legitimacy. The theoretical frame of reference of the study is based on Giddens structuration theory, his concept of ontological security and trust, and Hochschild's theory of emotional work. The present study uses qualitative interviews with individuals working on the detention centres, in close contact with the inmates. The results of the study show that strong collegial relationships as well as a strong individual self-confidence of the individual contribute to an increased sense of security at work. The feeling of security also depends on how long an individual has worked in the detention centres. There are informal emotional rules that employees need to follow in their professional role, and through emotion management this can influence prisoners' perceptions of insecurity. In terms of security measures, the detention centres have introduced alarms, meetings, and education to ensure a good working environment. The interviews indicated that the correct officers regarded the education for new staff is unsuccessful in various aspects by employees, and that the safety alarm was seen as the key element when it came to security measures. The sociological perspective, including several theories from Giddens and Hochschild, is relevant to the study as it aims to study subjective experiences and emotions in unpredictable situations that arise when working with inmates. / Oförutsägbara situationer är ett vanligt förekommande fenomen inom kriminalvården. Detta då de anställda arbetar i daglig kontakt med de intagna. Kriminalvårdare måste därför hantera både sina egna och de intagnas känslor. Syftet med studien är att belysa kriminalvårdares upplevelse av otrygghet på häktet, i arbetet med de intagna. Vidare undersöks vilka säkerhetsåtgärder som vidtas från kriminalvården som myndighet, för att uppnå en ökad trygghet hos de anställda. Forskning visar att kriminalvårdare är en av de yrkesgrupper som utsätts för mest otrygghet i arbetet. Det finns även olika känsloregler kriminalvårdare måste förhålla sig till i sitt arbete med de intagna, för att behålla sin legitimitet. Studiens teoretiska referensram utgår från Giddens teori om struktureringsteori, ontologisk trygghet samt tillit. Vidare utgår studien från Hochschilds teori om känsloarbete. I den föreliggande studien används kvalitativa intervjuer med individer som arbetar inom kriminalvården, i nära kontakt med de intagna. Studiens resultat visar att starka kollegiala relationer och självförtroende hos den enskilde individen bidrar till ökad trygghet i arbetet. Känslan av trygghet beror även på hur länge en individ arbetat på kriminalvården. På kriminalvården finns det informella känsloregler som de anställda behöver följa inom sin yrkesroll och genom känslohantering kan detta påverka kriminalvårdares uppfattning av otrygghet. Vidare till säkerhetsåtgärder har kriminalvården infört säkerhetslarm, möten samt utbildning för att säkerställa en god arbetsmiljö. Det framkommer genom intervjuerna att utbildningen för nyanställda uppfattas av de anställda som bristfällig i olika aspekter, och att säkerhetslarmet betraktas som en central del gällande säkerhetsåtgärderna på kriminalvården. Det sociologiska perspektivet, innefattande teorier från Giddens och Hochschild, är relevant för studien då den avser att studera subjektiva upplevelser och känslor i oförutsägbara situationer som uppstår i arbetet med de intagna.

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[EN] Process planning, as a link between design and manufacturing, is a key function to ensuring that the characteristics of manufactured products meet customer needs. Multiple factors converge in the tasks of manufacturing process planning. When these factors are combined with the diversity of possible strategies and approaches, they form a particularly complex scenario. Moreover, the development of an environment increasingly competitive and globalized forces an increase of flexibility and agility of production systems. This has been especially critical in small and medium enterprises. In order to survive, these enterprises have had to improve their organization creating collaborative structures. Collaborative structures that take advantage of information and communication technologies, allowing overcome the difficulties caused by their location all over the world. An extreme case occurs in the virtual OKP (One-of-a-Kind Production) companies, in which the development of new products is the key process and it is subject to heavy demands of immediacy and diversity in terms of production. These demands can only be achieved through a close cooperation/collaboration between company partners. Taking as a starting point the above, this thesis makes a contribution in the field of collaborative process planning. For this, an ontological approach is proposed. This ontology gives support and consistency to the co-planning tools used in creating process plans, especially in decision-making related to the optimal and dynamics resource allocation. The first proposed ontology, the domain PPDRC (Product and Processes Development Resource Capabilities) ontology, is a generic ontology able to support any kind of process planning to be executed by intelligent agents in a collaborative context. Its generality is validated in this work, by means of its application to the process planning of the development process of products, processes and resources and its specialization, the MIRC (Manufacturing and Inspection Resource Capabilities) ontology, for machining and inspection process planning. The PPDRC ontology presents a number of particular characteristics, such as: social and agentive character of the resources involved in the process planning; the possibility for representing nonlinear process plans; the concept of resource capability based on its skills to perform a specific activity; or the fact that it has been built using concepts of foundational ontologies, facilitating the interoperability with other ontologies. The ontology is particularly effective for the establishment and validation of process plans based on the capabilities of the resources involved, allowing to maintain the information and knowledge about the capabilities of these resources. A knowledge that is enriched by inference from the data, predicates and rules that are part of the ontology. On the other hand, the MIRC ontology is a proposal that has all the characteristics of PPDRC ontology and pays special attention to preparation activities of the resources, because they largely determine their capability to implement operation activities (machining and inspection). This is a characteristic that differentiates it from others, considering that preparation activities are critical to the correct selection and allocation of resources that should be considered during the validation of these process plans. The thesis has been written on the basis of two articles that describe the aforementioned ontologies (PPDRC and MIRC) and they present two separate case studies which demonstrate their validity and scope. To facilitate the reading, this document contains some additional chapters. These additional chapters relate the general approach and the basis of the work, and discuss the results and future works. / [ES] La planificación de procesos, como nexo de unión entre el diseño y la fabricación, es un elemento clave para asegurar que las características de los productos fabricados satisfacen las necesidades del cliente. En las tareas de planificación del proceso de fabricación confluyen múltiples factores que, al conjugarse con la diversidad de estrategias y enfoques posibles, configuran un escenario particularmente complejo. Por otra parte, la evolución de un entorno cada vez más competitivo y globalizado ha obligado a aumentar la flexibilidad y agilidad de los sistemas productivos. Esto ha sido especialmente crítico en las pequeñas y medianas empresas que para sobrevivir han tenido que organizarse creando estructuras de colaboración. Estructuras colaborativas que aprovechan las tecnologías de información y comunicación, y permiten salvar las dificultades originadas por la deslocalización. Un caso extremo se presenta en las empresas de tipo OKP (One-of-a-Kind Production) virtual, en las que el desarrollo de nuevos productos es el proceso clave y está sujeto a grandes exigencias de inmediatez y diversidad de producción, que solo pueden alcanzarse con una estrecha cooperación/colaboración entre los socios. Tomando como punto de partida lo anterior, esta tesis realiza una aportación en el ámbito de la planificación de procesos colaborativa. Para ello se propone una ontología que da soporte y consistencia a las herramientas de co-planificación empleadas en la creación de planes de proceso, especialmente en la toma de decisiones vinculadas con la asignación óptima y dinámica de los recursos. La ontología propuesta en primer lugar, ontología de dominio PPDRC (Product and Processes Development Resource Capabilities), es una ontología genérica capaz de soportar cualquier tipo de planificación de proceso que sea ejecutada por agentes inteligentes en un contexto colaborativo. Una generalidad que se valida en el trabajo, con su aplicación a la planificación del propio proceso de desarrollo de productos, procesos y recursos, y con la especialización de la misma, ontología MIRC (Manufacturing and Inspection Resource Capabilities), para la planificación de los procesos de mecanizado e inspección. La ontología PPDRC presenta toda una serie de características singulares, como: el carácter social y agentivo de los recursos implicados en la planificación; la posibilidad de representar planes de proceso no lineales; el concepto de capacidad de recurso basado en sus habilidades para la realización de actividades; o la utilización de conceptos presentes en ontologías de base, que facilitan su interoperabilidad con otras ontologías. La ontología se muestra especialmente eficaz para el establecimiento y validación de planes de proceso en base a las capacidades de los recursos, al permitir mantener la información y conocimiento sobre sus capacidades. Un conocimiento que se enriquece por inferencia a partir de los datos, predicados y reglas que forman parte de dicha ontología. Por su parte, la ontología MIRC es una propuesta que reúne todas las características de la ontología PPDRC y que presta una especial atención a las actividades de preparación realizadas sobre los recursos, pues éstas condicionan en gran medida sus capacidades para la ejecución de las actividades de tipo operación (mecanizado e inspección). Se trata de una característica que la diferencia de otras, al considerar que las actividades de preparación son claves para la correcta selección y asignación de los recursos y que deben considerarse durante la validación de estos planes de proceso. La tesis se ha redactado en base a dos artículos, en los que se describen las mencionadas ontologías (PPDRC y MIRC) y se presentan sendos casos de estudio que constatan su validez y muestran el alcance de las mismas. Para facilitar su seguimiento, contiene unos capítulos adicionales, en los que se relata el planteamiento general y / [CA] La planificació de processos, com a nexe d'unió entre el disseny i la fabricació, és un element clau per a assegurar que les característiques dels productes fabricats satisfan les necessitats del client. En les tasques de planificació del procés de fabricació conflueixen múltiples factors, que al conjugar-se amb la diversitat d'estratègies i enfocaments possibles configuren un escenari particularment complex. D'altra banda, l'evolució d'un entorn, cada vegada més competitiu i globalitzat ha obligat a augmentar la flexibilitat i agilitat dels sistemes productius. Açò ha sigut especialment crític en les xicotetes i mitjanes empreses, que per a poder sobreviure han hagut d'organitzar-se, creant estructures de col·laboració. Estructures de col·laboració que aprofiten les tecnologies d'informació i comunicació, i permeten salvar les dificultats originades per la deslocalització. Un cas extrem es presenta en les empreses de tipus OKP (One-of-a-Kind Production) virtual, en les que el desenrotllament de nous productes és el procés clau i està subjecte a grans exigències d'immediatesa i diversitat, que només poden aconseguir-se amb una estreta cooperació/col·laboració entre els socis. Prenent com a punt de partida l'anterior, esta tesi realitza una aportació en l'àmbit de la planificació de processos col·laborativa. Per a això es proposa una ontologia que dóna suport i consistència a les ferramentes de co-planificació empleades en la creació de plans de procés, especialment en la presa de decisions vinculades amb l'assignació òptima i dinàmica dels recursos. L'ontologia proposada en primer lloc, ontologia de domini PPDRC (Product and Processes Development Resource Capabilities), és una ontologia genèrica capaç de suportar qualsevol tipus de planificació de procés que siga executada per agents intel·ligents en un context col·laboratiu. Una generalitat que es valida en el treball, amb la seua aplicació a la planificació del propi procés de desenrotllament de productes, processos i recursos i amb l'especialització de la mateixa, ontologia MIRC (Manufacturing and Inspection Resource Capabilities), per a la planificació dels processos de mecanitzat i inspecció. L'ontologia PPDRC presenta tota una sèrie de característiques singulars, com: el caràcter social i agentiu dels recursos implicats en la planificació; la possibilitat de representar plans de procés no lineals; el concepte de capacitat de recurs basat en les seues habilitats per a la realització de activitats; o la utilització de conceptes presents en ontologies de base, que facilita la seua interoperabilitat amb altres ontologies. L'ontologia es mostra especialment eficaç per a l'establiment i validació de plans de procés basant-se en les capacitats dels recursos, al permetre mantenir la informació i coneixement sobre les seues capacitats. Un coneixement que s'enriqueix per inferència a partir de les dades, predicats i regles que formen part de la dita ontologia. Per la seua banda, l'ontologia MIRC és una proposta que reuneix totes les característiques de l'ontologia PPDRC i que presta una especial atenció a les activitats de preparació realitzades sobre els recursos, perquè estes condicionen en gran manera les seues capacitats per a l'execució de les activitats d'operació (mecanitzat i inspecció). Es tracta d'una característica que la diferència d'altres, al considerar que les activitats de preparació són claus per a la correcta selecció i assignació dels recursos i que han de considerar-se durant la validació d'estos plans de procés. La tesi s'ha redactat basant-se en dos articles, en les que es descriuen les mencionades ontologies (PPDRC i MIRC) i es presenten sengles casos d'estudi que constaten la seua validesa i mostren l'abast de les mateixes. Per a facilitar el seu seguiment, conté uns capítols addicionals, en els que es relata el plantejament general i les bases del treball, i es disc / Solano García, L. (2015). Definición de una ontología integrada de procesos y recursos, para el desarrollo colaborativo de planes de proceso [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/58266

This work considers what ontology might be after the deconstruction of arché in Reiner Schürmann's and Giorgio Agamben's thinking. It addresses the question by reading Schürmanns historical deduction of the categories of presencing in his book Heidegger On being Acting: From Principles to Anarchy. This deduction is at the heart of his thought in that it tries to manifest what it means to live the transition from arché to an-arché, from a life under principles and why's, to a life without why, and the principle of anarchy. This transitional thought rests on what he calls the hypothesis of closure of the metaphysical field. The deduction is therefore a question of a relation between the first beginnings end as an other beginning. He shows this by establishing categories that are both conceptual- and sensible form. This reaches its full articulation in what he calls the categories of transition; categories in which the distinction between category and intuition seems to collapse – that are its own gaze or eye, that sees both the past and the future at the same time. This is a question regarding relationality: the transition from a causal relationality to an anarchic relationality, from a substance ontology to relational ontology. What is the relational status of the transition itself and its categories? This question lead to the main one: is the transition between arché and an-arché a relation between the two? The overall purpose is to explore this question in order to open, in the end, a path between him and Agamben. The later has pointed out that the key problem to live truly anarchic is a critique of the ontological relation because language presuppositional structure manifests in it, which takes its “full” form in his work The Use of Bodies. Here, perhaps – which we only can point to – Schürmann's thought can meet Agamben's in the caesura between arché and an-arché. Can anarchy ever be in a position of principle? In the end we will have to point to the notion of oikonomia as an area of further research to understand the question of anarchy between Agamben and Schürmann.

Creative Project Abstract: The creative project of this thesis is a script prototype for Underland, a crime drama video game and digital playable story that demonstrates writing and design methods for negotiating narrative and player agency. The story is set in October 2006 and players are investigative psychologists given access to a secure police server and tasked with analysing evidence related to two linked murders that have resulted in the arrest of journalist Silvi Moore. The aim is to uncover what happened and why by analysing Silvi’s flat, calendar of events, emails, texts, photos, voicemail, call log, 999 call, a map of the city of Plymouth and a crime scene. It is a combination of story exploration game and digital epistolary fiction that is structured via an authored fabula and dynamic syuzhet and uses the Internal-Exploratory and Internal-Ontological interactive modes to negotiate narrative and player agency. Its use of this structure and these modes shows how playable stories are uniquely positioned to deliver self-directed and empathetic emotional immersion simultaneously. The story is told in a mixture of enacted, embedded, evoked, environmental and epistolary narrative, the combination of which contributes new knowledge on how writers can use mystery, suspense and dramatic irony in playable stories. The interactive script prototype is accessible at underlandgame.com and is a means to represent how the final game is intended to be experienced by players. Thesis Abstract: This thesis considers writing and design methods for playable stories that negotiate narrative and player agency. By approaching the topic through the lens of creative writing practice, it seeks to fill a gap in the literature related to the execution of interactive and narrative devices as a practitioner. Chapter 1 defines the key terms for understanding the field and surveys the academic and theoretical debate to identify the challenges and opportunities for writers and creators. In this it departs from the dominant vision of the future of digital playable stories as the ‘holodeck,’ a simulated reality players can enter and manipulate and that shapes around them as story protagonists. Building on narratological theory it contributes a new term—the dynamic syuzhet—to express an alternate negotiation of narrative and player agency within current technological realities. Three further terms—the authored fabula, fixed syuzhet and improvised fabula—are also contributed as means to compare and contrast the narrative structures and affordances available to writers of live, digital and live-digital hybrid work. Chapter 2 conducts a qualitative analysis of digital, live and live-digital playable stories, released 2010–2016, and combines this with insights gained from primary interviews with their writers and creators to identify the techniques at work and their implications for narrative and player agency. This analysis contributes new knowledge to writing and design approaches in four interactive modes—Internal-Ontological, Internal-Exploratory, External-Ontological and External-Exploratory—that impact on where players are positioned in the work and how the experiential narrative unfolds. Chapter 3 shows how the knowledge developed through academic research informed the creation of a new playable story, Underland; as well as how the creative practice informed the academic research. Underland provides a means to demonstrate how making players protagonists of the experience, rather than of the story, enables the coupling of self-directed and empathetic emotional immersion in a way uniquely available to digital playable stories. It further shows how this negotiation of narrative and player agency can use a combination of enacted, embedded, evoked, environmental and epistolary narrative to employ dramatic irony in a new way. These findings demonstrate ways playable stories can be written and designed to deliver the ‘traditional’ pleasure of narrative and the ‘newer’ pleasure of player agency without sacrificing either.

The study is a comparative analysis of conceptual metaphors in English and Shona. The objectives of this study were: to compare the metaphorical expressions of English and Shona in the same or similar domains in order to establish on the one hand whether there are similarities and/or differences cross-linguistically and cross-culturally in the metaphorical construal of reality between these two languages and on the other hand, to establish what the underlying motivation is for the similarities and the differences between these two unrelated languages. The thesis also explores the reasons for the similarities in terms of particular assumptions underlying conceptual metaphors, that is, embodiment and ecological motivations. / Linguistics / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)