This dissertation examines how the indigenous subject has been constructed in the Americas and explores the interests of individuals, power groups, and institutions behind these characterizations. Two notions are proposed: literary portrait and self-portrait, as opposing tendencies configuring the indigenous subject. The portrait starts as a Hispanic colonial creation that kidnaps indigenous memory, pillages natural resources and is the basis of stereotypes that still endure. Next, creoles and mestizos' portrait at the birth of Latin American nations shows the indigenous as barbarians or noble savages, enabling territorial and mental occupation of indigenous spaces and attempting to assimilate the indigenous to the new nations. A portrait of indianism emerges, idealizing and accepting the "indian" under the mestizo category, dissociated from a culture, assumed as dead or a relic of the past. The final representations are the portraits of indigenism, where the indigenous are social subjects without protagonism, and of neo-indigenism, where they are represented with a religious wisdom and power to fight against foreigners that destroy the sacred circle of nature. In radical contrast, the self-portrait defies all previous representations. Authors Enrique Sam Colop (Maya K'iché), José Luis Ayala (Aymara) and Elicura Chihuailaf (Mapuche) recover indigenous literary autonomy. Vito Apüshana (Wayúu), Briceida Cuevas (Maya Yucateca) and Natalia Toledo (Zapotec) consolidate the self-portrait at the end of the XXth and the beginning of the XXIst centuries. Self-portrait is built from tradition and reinvention of the culture, recovering indigenous agency, burying centuries of the seizure of indigenous memory and witnessing from a plural "I" their historical resistance to old and new colonialisms. This literary self-portrait accompanies the struggles for political, economic, cultural and ecological autonomy; recovers the indigenous languages as a tool for resistance, knowledge and aesthetic; uses the dominant foreign languages to form a multicultural reader; defends the notion that nature possesses a language that can be decoded; emphasizes the power of words; uses poetry as a tool for decolonization, fighting racism, and demanding equality; and values of the concept of Buen Vivir. These concepts proclaim a deep cultural transformation that is now underway. This dissertation is written in Spanish.

Helen Post (1907-1978) was a twentieth century American photographer, whose images of the Navajo offer sensitive insight into the lives of individuals residing on the reservation from 1938-1942. An employee at the time for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Post traveled to the West on numerous excursions, each time gaining perspective and understanding into the intricacies of Native life. Her ability to portray the Navajo in unguarded and intimate moments stands as a significant contribution to discourse on visual records of American Indians. Examining Post's work provides an opportunity to not only reexamine her work, which has largely been overlooked, but also acknowledge misrepresented facets of the Navajo. Unlike other well-known white photographers working prior to and concurrent with Post, she avoided portraying her sitters in the common tropes, instead choosing to humanize the Navajo. Theoretically this examination utilizes Post-colonial theory in order to better understand Post's position as both outsider and friend to her sitters. It also explores the social interactions and cultural differences between photographer and subject. She emphasized rather than neglected the many complexities evident among the Navajo in the late 1930s to early 1940s. Post documented the effects of crucial reform policies and by so doing comprised a poignant collection of images. In her photographs of the Navajo, one sees a celebration of character and emotion, underscored by the simplicity of Post's thoughtful compositions. As stated by John Collier, Sr., Post's employer and former commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Post was one who, "willed above all that the Indian spirit... should live on."

Embodied in my art practice is the exploration of the relationship between my subjective self as consumer and the material culture of home. As an artist this praxis suggests alternative ways of reconstructing domestic subjectivity (self-portrait) through the formal processes of drawing and cataloguing insignificant collections acquired through 'lived experience'. This analysis utilises Michel de Certeau's concept of bricolage, a 'tactic' of fragmentation that 'makes do with what is at hand' to corrupt the 'proper' space and time of a contemporary productionist society. In the course of developing an art practice, I seek to re-value marginal space and reappropriate time from a modern culture designed for efficiency.Through the introduction of key elements in process drawing, I have adopted a method to subvert modernist representations of the domestic. As Certeau writes 'mak[ing] use of techniques of re-employment in which we can recognise the procedures of everyday practice' is a political deployment, an individual 'tactic' orchestrated against social 'strategy'. A fragmentary tactical operation allows me fleeting moments of visibility to record 'lived experience' through an installation based art practice.

Thesis (M.F.A.) -- Montana State University -- Bozeman, 2006. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: N. Rick Pope.

La première partie de ce mémoire est une suite poétique intitulée Ce qui est là derrière et composée de courts poèmes en prose. Très narratif, l'ensemble retrace le parcours d'une jeune femme qui devra apprendre à se réapproprier à la fois l'espace et son identité propre. Dans un style intimiste, l'écriture s'attarde aux détails et aux instants familiers qui peuplent le quotidien. Après une rupture amoureuse, la narratrice se retrouve seule dans l'appartement, où elle s'enferme, choisissant de revivre les gestes quotidiens comme un rituel rappelant l'absent. Les objets, ceux qui restent et qu'elle décide de laisser tels quels, revêtent alors une importance primordiale dans la quête de repères à laquelle elle se livre. Ils deviennent ses compagnons les plus proches. Cependant, certains résistent et refusent de se laisser immobiliser, principalement des portraits peints la représentant. Peu à peu, elle réussira à quitter les portraits en laissant derrière elle les images de l'amoureux disparu et de celle qu'elle était à ses côtés. En convoquant des souvenirs liés à son enfance et grâce à la présence vivante de sa sœur et de son bébé, la narratrice parviendra à sortir de la fiction de l'absence qu'elle a créée et à redécouvrir un quotidien plein et lumineux. Le dossier d'accompagnement, Isabella depuis le mur, est divisé en fragments et comporte trois parties. À partir d'expériences personnelles, je développe les principaux thèmes de ma suite poétique. Dans la première partie, « La mémoire », l'expérience de la mort entraîne la transformation d'un lieu banal en lieu de mémoire où le rôle des objets est amené à être interrogé dans l'écriture. La mémoire qui se révèle dans ce lieu est mouvante et cherche à produire au lieu de reproduire; l'écriture doit demeurer attentive à ce mouvement. La deuxième partie, « Le portrait », s'attarde aux enjeux liés au portrait peint. Objet problématique parce qu'il possède un regard et un visage dans lesquels il est possible de se voir et de se reconnaître, le portrait pousse celui qui se tient devant lui à s'interroger sur son identité. Cependant, le visage du portrait n'est pas le visage humain. La troisième partie, « Le visage », aborde ce choc et ses répercussions sur la rencontre avec l'autre et sur l'écriture. Les mots, tout comme le portrait et le visage, demandent une distance, nécessaire pour éviter la reproduction à l'identique. Les souvenirs et les visages que nous côtoyons tous les jours ne sont jamais figés. Ils se promènent, dans l'attente de notre regard; c'est cette disponibilité que j'ai voulu explorer dans l'écriture. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Poème en prose, mémoire, souvenir, portrait, visage, création, quotidien.

With the growing use of digital camera and internet album, it brings a new internet visual culture called as ¡§internet self-portrait culture¡¨ in Taiwan. Internet users take digital self-portrait photos, upload self-portrait onto personal websites like blog or internet album, and communicate with people in this way. This culture is much popular especially among the adolescents (aged form 12 to 24) in Taiwan. This research refers to what kind of effects this new internet visual culture brings to the adolescents, especially focusing on the effect it brings to self-identity development and social relation. And interview is adopted in this research. According to the result, first, internet self-portrait culture could be seen as an adolescent sub-culture. In this subculture, the adolescents develop a series of communicative methods like ¡§to see¡¨ and ¡§to be seen¡¨. In this way, the adolescents chase for chances and stages for ¡§showing oneself¡¨, and the ¡§beautiful looks¡¨ is the main point of the show. ¡§Chasing for aesthetics of body¡¨ and ¡§everyone having equal and unique prettiness¡¨ are the two important values in this subculture. As for self-identity, participating in internet self-portrait culture brings the adolescents the experience of alternative role playing experience. Moreover, it helps build up self-confidence and positive self-identity on looks. As for social relation, it helps the adolescents keep in touch with the old friends and brings them new friends who help the adolescents build self-confidence on looks. Besides, participating in internet self-portrait culture could be seen as a way for the adolescents to retrieve ¡§freedom of making friends¡¨ and ¡§freedom of managing one¡¦s own body¡¨ from their parents.

Thesis (doctoral)--Justus Liebig-Universität Giessen. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-117).

Šiame magistro darbe aptariamas kitataučių vaizdinys Lietuvos masinėse informavimo priemonėse (spaudoje). Spaudos tyrimas paremtas 82 straipsnių, kuriuose kalbama apie kitataučius, analize, jie spausdinti 2004, 2005 metų sausį regioninėse Lietuvos dienraščiuose „Klaipėda“ ir „Šiaulių kraštas“. Tyrime taikyta hermeneutinė, kokybinė ir kiekybinė turinio (content) analizė, paremta pagrįstosios teorijos (grounded theory) atvirojo kodavimo procedūromis. Tiriamuoju laikotarpiu abiejuose dienraščiuose pasirodydavo po vieną ar net kelis straipsnius apie kitataučius per dieną. Tai reiškia, kad tiriamuoju laikotarpiu kitataučių tema žiniasklaidoje (regioniniuose laikraščiuose) yra nuolatinė. „Šiaulių krašte“ straipsnių apie kitataučius daugiau nei trečdaliu daugiau nei „Klaipėdoje“. Lyginant 2004 ir 2005 metų sausio mėnesio straipsnius, pastebėta jų daugėjimo tendencija vėlesniais metais. Kitataučių temoms aprašyti dažniausiai naudojami vidutinio dydžio (0,5-1 puslapio) straipsniai. Didžioji dauguma straipsnių apie kitataučius yra iliustruota 1 ir daugiau nuotraukų. Ir „Šiaulių krašto“, ir „Klaipėdos“ dienraščių 1-ajame puslapyje buvo išspausdinti 22 straipsniai apie kitataučius. Kitataučiai „Klaipėdoje“ ir „Šiaulių krašte“ daugiausiai pristatomi, kalbant apie jų gyvenamąsias vietas (nuo valstybės iki namų erdvės), žmogiškuosius faktorius (tokius kaip charakterio bruožai, išorė), jų socialinius ryšius – vyro ir moters santykius, santykius šeimoje, vestuvių ypatybes. Aptiktos ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In this master degree paper we discuss about foreigners portrait in Lithuanian mass media (newspapers). The research of the mass media discourse of foreigners was based on 82 articles about people from other countries (not Lithuanians), which were found in period 2004, 2005 January, and were taken from two daily newspapers – two big regional newspapers – „Klaipėda“ and „Šiaulių kraštas“. In this research combined approaches of hermeneutic, qualitative and quantitative content analysis, based on procedures of open and axel coding of grounded theory was used. In two Lithuanian periodic newspapers (2004, 2005 January) was published 1 article or more than 1 article about foreigners in a day, it means that foreigners theme in Lithuanian mass media is steady. Also was found, that regional daily newspaper of Šiauliai gives attention to foreigners' theme third more than regional daily newspaper of Klaipėda. Tendency of articles number increasing in period 2004, 2005 January was noticed. Size of the biggest part of articles was 0,5-1 pages, most of articles was illustrating article (had 1 or more photos), and 22 articles were on the first newspapers' page. The biggest part of articles headings and subheadings talk about foreigners' places to live (from country till home spread), their characters, how do they look like, their connections in families, connections between man and woman, wedding ceremonies. Foreigners in two Lithuanian daily newspapers mostly are presented in... [to full text]

Integrating computer vision into a robotic system can provide a closed-loop controlled platform that increases the robustness of a robot's motion. This integration is also known as visual servo control or visual servoing. Visual servoing of a robot manipulator in real-time presents complex engineering problems with respect to both control and image processing particularly when we want the robot arm to perform complicated tasks such as portrait drawing. In my research, the implementation of torque feedback control and Image-based Visual Servoing (IBVS) approaches are proposed to improve previous open-loop portrait drawing tasks performed by Betty, a humanoid robot in the Autonomous Agent Lab, University of Manitoba. The implementations and evaluations of hardware, software and kinematic models are discussed in this document. I examined the problem of estimating ideal edges joining points in a pixel reduction image for an existing point-to-point portrait drawing humanoid robot, Betty. To solve this line drawing problem, two automatic sketch generators are presented. First, a modified Theta-graph, called Furthest Neighbour Theta-graph (FNTG). Second, an extension of the Edge Drawing Lines algorithm (EDLines), called Extended Edge Drawing Lines (eEDLines). The results show that the number of edges in the resulting drawing is significantly reduced without degrading the detail of the output image. The other main objective of this research is to propose the extension of the drawing robot project to further develop a robust visual servoing system for Betty to correct any drawing deviation in real-time as a human does. This is achieved by investigating and developing robust feature (lines and shading) extraction approaches for real-time feature tracking of IBVS in combination with adequate torque feedback in the drawing task.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on September 19, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.