En prenant comme point de départ l'interprétation de l'épopée homérique par Erich Auerbach, ce mémoire se consacre à la notion d'immersion fictionnelle, non sous son versant psychologique de phénomène contingent de la conscience imageante, mais sous son versant imaginaire, en tant que mythe sociétal d'immédiateté déterminant des stratégies esthétiques et médiatiques concrètes, que j'articule autour des poétiques contemporaines de construction de mondes (world building). L'enjeu est de saisir les répercussions esthétiques de ce fantasme d'une représentation qui occulterait à la fois sa médiateté et le réel-sensible, à une époque où la transfictionnalité et la transmédiaticité s'élèvent tranquillement comme modes narratifs dominants de notre culture occidentale contemporaine. Avec cette conviction que le terme d'immersion doit être replacé dans le cadre de ses effets, le premier chapitre s'affairera à démêler quelques difficultés théoriques que pose la notion en la problématisant sous l'égide des questions ontologiques de vérité et de la position phénoménologique de Sartre sur l'imaginaire. Tout en posant les outils théoriques nécessaires aux analyses subséquentes, le deuxième chapitre approfondit cette problématisation en empruntant aux théories modales des mondes possibles un cadre conceptuel opératoire, qui amènera, notamment grâce au concept formalisé de «~monde~», à concevoir la fiction comme un mouvement de distanciation. Appuyé par la lecture du roman tolkienien, le troisième chapitre tourne le fantasme d'immersion du côté d'une pulsion encyclopédique de complétude, concrétisée par des stratégies textuelles d'accumulation informationnelle et de virtualisation de données diégétiques laissées en suspens -- effets d'actualité que je qualifie d'extra-narratifs en les présentant en contraste des principes prescriptifs du \emph{muthos} aristotélicien formant une chaîne causale téléologique fondée sur une loi d'économie narrative. Le quatrième et dernier chapitre, articulé autour de la notion encore trop peu étudiée de canonicité, observe les poétiques de construction de mondes telles qu'elles se désamorcent elles-mêmes, dans le contexte des univers partagés, en engendrant des incohérences logiques donnant lieu à la tenue d'un discours auctorial-éditorial régissant les vérités fictionnelles comme moyen de maintenir l'immersivité de la représentation. L'analyse générique des comic-books de superhéros et une enquête sur la gestion éditoriale de l'univers de Star Wars permettront d'identifier les multiples modalités de délimitation de la frontière entre canon et apocryphe. En conclusion, je reviens brièvement sur la notion d'immersion, ainsi exemplifiée, en la resémiotisant comme une médiation compétitive de mise en présence de l'être. / Starting from Erich Auerbach's interpretation of the Homeric epic, this master's dissertation studies the notion of fictional immersion, not in its psychological aspect of a contingent phenomena of human consciousness, but rather in its collective imaginary sense, as a societal myth of immediacy generating concrete aesthetic and media strategies that I investigate from the standpoint of contemporary poetics of world building. The objective is to apprehend the aesthetic repercussions of this desire for a mediation that would conceal both the real and its own mediacy, in a time where transfictionality and transmedia storytelling are becoming more and more the dominant narrative modes of our contemporary western culture. Under the conviction that immersion must be looked at as a set of cultural strategies, the first chapter unravels some theorical difficulties bounded to the term by problematizing it towards ontological questions of truth and Sartre's phenomenological stance on the imaginary. While laying a necessary theorical toolset for subsequent analyses, the second chapter examines these problems by borrowing to possible worlds modal theories a set of working concepts, which will lead to the assumption that fiction is a movement of distanciation, notably with the aide of the formal concept of ``world''. Through a reading of the tolkienian novel, the third chapter directs the desire for immersion towards an encyclopedic impulsion for completeness, embodied by textual strategies such as informational proliferation and allusion to virtual diegetic data -- strategies leaving an impression of the actual that I describe as extra-narrative in contrast to Aristote's \emph{muthos} forming a teological causal chain based on a principle of an unitary narrative. The fourth and final chapter, articulated around the still too little studied notion of canonicity, observes poetics of world building as they neutralize themselves, particularly with shared universes, by generating logical inconsistencies giving birth to authorial and editorial discourses stating fictional truths as a way of maintaining the mediation's immersivity. The analysis of the superhero comics genre and an inquiry of the editorial management of the Star Wars universe will exemplify the multiple modalities of this delimitation between the canon and the apocryphal. As a conclusion, I briefly come back to the notion of immersion itself by redescribing it as a competitive mediation of presence.

This master's thesis deals with the localization, detection and recognition of traffic signs. The possibilities of selection of areas with possible traffic signs occurrence are analysed. The properties of different kinds of features used for traffic signs recognition are described next. It focuses on the features based on histogram of oriented gradients. Some possible classifiers are discussed, in the first place the cascade of support vector machines, which are used in resulting system. A description of the system implementation and data sets for 5 types of traffic signs is part of this thesis. Many experiments were accomplished with created system. The results of the experiments are very good. New datasets were acquired from approximately 9 hours of processed video sequences. There are about 13 500 images in these datasets.

Les villes projetées dans la littérature sont des espaces idéaux pour comprendre les tensions de notre temps. En reflétant les contradictions sociales produites par l'économie, l'accès inégal au pouvoir, la coexistence entre différents groupes culturels, etc., elles nous permettent de réfléchir aux caractéristiques complexes d'un monde en mutation permanente. L’objectif principal de cette thèse est d’analyser les villes littéraires de Mario Levrero comme des dispositifs narratifs qui permettent de constater la fin de certains projets politiques, sociaux et culturels du XXe siècle face à l’émergence d’un modèle qui tend vers la mondialisation. Ce travail est basé sur une hypothèse théorique qui peut être résumée comme suit : plus la complexité de notre système politique et économique est grande, plus il est difficile d'imaginer et de représenter la réalité dont nous faisons partie. Cela est particulièrement évident dans les représentations urbaines de Levrero, qui symbolisent le sentiment de désorientation caractéristique du sujet postmoderne avant d’échouer à cartographier tout aspect de la réalité contemporaine. Cela nous permet d'analyser la portée politique de ces représentations, puisqu'elles supposent à la fois un diagnostic sans espoir du présent et une projection ratée de l’avenir. Les villes imaginaires de Levrero fonctionnent comme des scénarios de l'effondrement d'un monde connu et de l'émergence d'un monde nouveau pour lequel les personnages ne disposent d'aucun outil d'interprétation. / Projected cities in literature have been proven to be ideal spaces to understand the tensions of our time. By representing the social contradictions produced by the economy, the unequal access to power or the coexistence between different cultural groups, they allow us to reflect on the complex characteristics of a world in permanent transformation. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the literary cities of Mario Levrero as narrative devices with which to observe the coming to an end of certain political, social and cultural projects of the twentieth century in the face the emergence of a model that tends towards the dissolution of the regional in the global. This work is based on a theoretical assumption that can be summarized as follows: the greater the complexity of our political and economic system, the greater the difficulty in imagining and representing the reality we are a part of. This is particularly clear in the urban representations of Levrero, which symbolize the sense of disorientation that distinguishes the postmodern subject before the failure of every attempt to map any aspect of contemporary reality. This allows us to analyze the political significance of these representations: they entail, on the one hand, a diagnosis of hopelessness for the present and, on the other, an outlook of failure for the future. The cities of Levrero function as backgrounds for the collapse of a known world and the emergence of a brand new one with characters that lack any tools for its interpretation.

PhD Thesis Summary: Imagining the West: Marginality and Possible Lives at the Outskirts of a Mexican City Mgr. Marie Heřmanová The thesis aims to develop various results of a long-term fieldwork in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México, where rural-urban migration was pervasive since the 1960s. The research concentrated on the second generation of Tzotzil and Tzeltal migrants living at the suburbs of the city. Young indigenous people, whose parents came to the city to seek jobs, are now completely bilingual (they speak their maternal language - mostly Tzotzil as well as spanish they have learned in the school in the city). They mostly work in the same areas as the first generation migrants - as shop-keepers, souvenirs sellers or street-food vendors. They are thus in everyday interaction with both tourist and expats in the city centre. These interactions and meetings are in the context of the thesis seen as a consitutive element to imageries of mobility, modernity and Western lifestyles developed by the the young indigenous people from the suburbs. The concept if "Imaginary West" (Yurchak 2005) is central in the thesis, an unseen and yet ever-present homeland of the tourists and most importantly a place where "better lives" happen. The text explores how the search for...

Ce mémoire vise à établir les bases d’une théorie des mondes possibles vidéoludiques qui soit à même de rendre compte des particularités du jeu vidéo, soit de sa nature artéfactuelle, interactive et ludique. Le premier chapitre offrira un aperçu des théories telles qu’elles ont été développées en philosophie et en littérature et, de la même manière, sur les concepts de monde alternatif (ou historique) et de monde fictionnel. Au second chapitre, il sera question de bien définir la notion de monde vidéoludique afin de cerner les mécanismes par lesquels la joueuse pourra interagir avec celui-ci. Au troisième chapitre, nous nous concentrerons sur les différents modes d’existence des éléments qui composent ces mondes du jeu vidéo, ainsi que sur l’impact qu’auront ces « états d’être » sur la relation entre la joueuse et le système de jeu. Nous terminerons, toujours au troisième chapitre, en définissant la notion de parcours exploratoire pour désigner l’ensemble des éléments nécessaires, possibles et virtuels tels qu’ils se manifestent (et se sont manifestés) au travers de sa pratique de jeu : ils sont l’état du monde tel qu’elle l’a actualisé en tant qu’agente au sein du système. C’est en appliquant ce modèle à divers jeux vidéo, dont Undertale (Toby Fox, 2015) et FTL: Faster Than Light (SubsetGames, 2012), que nous montrerons sa pertinence afin de décrire et d’analyser l’expérience vidéoludique de la joueuse. / This master’s thesis mobilizes the possible worlds theoretical framework in order to develop the core notions of a videoludic possible worlds theory which would account for the medium’s artifactuality, interactivity and ludicity. The first chapter offers an overview of possible worlds theory both in the philosophical and literary traditions, thus defining the notions of alternative (or historical) worlds and fictional worlds. The second chapter is centered around the notion of videogame worlds: we will both define videoludic worlds and examine the mechanisms through which the player can interact with it. The third chapter is dedicated to these ontological states in which the main components of the videogame worlds exist, as well as on their impact on the relationship between the player and the system. We end this third chapter by defining the notion of a player’s “exploratory journey”, that is, all of the necessary, possible and virtual elements as they have manifested themselves throughout her gaming experience. The player’s exploratory journey, thus, represents a state of the videoludic world as it was actualized by a specific player.

This thesis deals with the topic of the conflict between the US and Iran over Iranian nuclear program and the possibility of resolving it by negotiating a mutually acceptable comprehensive agreement. The aim of this thesis is to analyze whether a zone of possible agreement between the US and Iran on the nuclear issue exists; and if it does, what range of possible agreements falls within it. In order to determine whether a ZOPA exists, the thesis utilizes the negotiation analytic approach, which establishes the elements of the analysis - the parties' underlying interests, their alternatives to a negotiated agreement, barriers to agreement and deal design. By putting the setup elements into a graphical framework representing the negotiation, the analysis finds that a zone of possible agreement between the US and Iran over Iran's nuclear program exists and therefore, a comprehensive deal is possible. However, the existence of major potential barriers to agreement, such as powerful domestic opponents to an agreement on both sides, complicates the negotiating process. The findings of the analysis indicate that to overcome these barriers and reach a mutually acceptable deal, both sides have to retreat from their fixation on maximalist bargaining positions and instead focus on their core underlying...

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[pt] Esta pesquisa tem a obra de Chantal Akerman (1950 - 2015) como o seu ponto central. A proposta foi a de descrever um filme específico de Akerman – Les Rendez-vous d Anna (1978) –, em constelação com outros de seus trabalhos. Junto ao ato de descrever Les Rendez-vous d Anna, ocorre uma reflexão acerca do próprio ato de descrever enquanto um operador, um disparador teórico e artístico. Para isso, a cineasta é colocada em interlocução constante com a poeta Anne Carson (1950) e com o filósofo Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 - 1951). Este é um estudo que traduz em sua própria composição, cujo tecido traz elementos audiovisuais e poéticos, uma crença drástica nas forças pensantes da arte. Movendo-se pela noção mais geral de descrição, debruça-se sobre os temas da experimentação artística, do possível como categoria estética, da representação, da experiência, da música, do tempo, da autobiografia e da morte. / [en] This is a research which has the oeuvre of Chantal Akerman (1950 - 2015) as its main focus. The proposal was to describe one of Akerman s specific film - Les Rendez-vous d Anna -, in constellation with other of her works. While describing Les Rendez-vous d Anna, a reflection on the act of describing as an operator, an artistic and theoretical trigger, occurs. For that, the filmmaker is put alongside with the poet Anne Carson (1950) and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 - 1951). This is a study that translates in its own composition, which has in its fabric audiovisual and poetic elements, a drastic belief in the thinking forces of art. Moving through the overview notion of description, we speak of themes such as artistic experimentation, the possible as aesthetic category, representation, experience, music, time, autobiography and death.

PhD Thesis Summary: Imagining the West: Marginality and Possible Lives at the Outskirts of a Mexican City Mgr. Marie Heřmanová The thesis aims to develop various results of a long-term fieldwork in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México, where rural-urban migration was pervasive since the 1960s. The research concentrated on the second generation of Tzotzil and Tzeltal migrants living at the suburbs of the city. Young indigenous people, whose parents came to the city to seek jobs, are now completely bilingual (they speak their maternal language - mostly Tzotzil as well as spanish they have learned in the school in the city). They mostly work in the same areas as the first generation migrants - as shop-keepers, souvenirs sellers or street-food vendors. They are thus in everyday interaction with both tourist and expats in the city centre. These interactions and meetings are in the context of the thesis seen as a consitutive element to imageries of mobility, modernity and Western lifestyles developed by the the young indigenous people from the suburbs. The concept if "Imaginary West" (Yurchak 2005) is central in the thesis, an unseen and yet ever-present homeland of the tourists and most importantly a place where "better lives" happen. The text explores how the search for...

No description available.