Detta arbete undersöker om det går att förklara varför bilder i Shaun Tans bok Ankomsten upplevs som obehagliga. Teorin i uppsatsen grundar sig till stor del på ”das unheimlich”, ett uttryck myntat av Freud och som i uppsatsen beskrivs som det kusliga. Andra teorier är kognitiv dissonans och hyperbol. För att analysera bilderna definieras frågor baserade på teorins grundpunkter. I resultatet visar det sig att nästan alla bilder är länkade till det kusliga, ibland i kombination med andra teorier. Det görs också analyser om huruvida objektens skala och proportioner kan ha en inverkan eller inte, baserat på ”grodperspektivet”. I analysen görs även några liknelser till propagandaposters från andra världskriget, vilket länkas till ”mentala triggers”. I slutsatsen konstateras det att arbetet kunde blivit utförligare om det under forskningen funnits fler anledningar till obehag som kan länkas till bilderna. Det fanns även ett problem med att förklara varför många upplever vissa saker som obehagliga och dessa fick refereras till fobier, även om detta inte helt stämmer, och upplevelserna egentligen kan beskrivas som rädslor. För vidare forskning föreslås fokusgrupper för att testa uppfattningar med en kvantitativ metod samt att analysera historien utifrån ett genusperspektiv där huvudrollen i stället hade varit en kvinna. / This paper investigates if it is possible to explain why pictures in Shaun Tans book The Arrival are experienced as unpleasant. The theory of the essay is mainly based on "das unheimlich" coined by Freud and is in the essay described as “uncanny”. Other theories are based on cognitive dissonance and hyperbole. In order to analyse the images content, questions based on the basic points of the theories are defined. As a result, it turns out nearly all pictures are linked to uncanny, sometimes in combination with other theories. Analyses regarding if scale and proportions of objects can make an impact are also made, based on the "frog perspective". Some similarities between images in “The Arrival” and propaganda posters from World War II can be observed, which can be linked to mental triggers. In the discussions, it is made clear that the research could have developed further if more reasons for discomfort were investigated while observing the images. There was also a problem with explaining why many observers are experiencing some elements as unpleasant and these elements are in the paper referred to as phobias, even though this not quite accurate and should be referred to as fears. In order to carry on further research, focus groups are suggested to test perceptions with a quantitative method. Also, to look at the story from a gender perspective, and to see what would be different if the main character was a female.

The human lumbar spine has been shown to support compressive loads of 1000 N in standing and walking, and up to many thousands of Newtons in strenuous activities such as lifting. The literature presents a number of biomechanical models that seek to replicate the load-carrying capacity of the spine while adhering to physiological constraints. While many of these models provide invaluable insights into the mechanisms governing spinal stability, there is a nearly universal disregard for the magnitude of the muscle forces required in the neutral standing posture. In compliance with constraints on metabolic cost and muscle fatigue, muscle activations in excess of 5% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) in the standing posture are physiologically infeasible. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the hypothesis that the passive structures of the lumbar spine are sufficient to produce static equilibrium under the body weight load in the neutral standing posture. A novel method of applying physiologic loads to the lumbar spine in vitro to determine its passive stability was developed. Five cadaver specimens were tested and a passive equilibrium posture was discovered for each. Further, the parameters defining the equilibrium posture correlate well with the standing posture as reported in the literature. This is an indication that the lumbar spine is inherently capable of remaining erect in the neutral posture with muscle activations below 5% MVC. It is postulated that the iliolumbar ligament and the thoracolumbar fascia, passive components that are not typically incorporated into stability models of the spine, have the potential to provide added passive stabilization to the system. It is recommended that biomechanical models of the spine incorporate this 5% MVC constraint and place greater emphasis on the contributions of passive structures to overall stability.

Post-apartheid writing has been characterized by an ardent search for a voice that truly depicts the painful apartheid past. The establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) promoted a confessional mode of writing as a means to obtaining healing, hence reconstitution. Such a paradigm shift in writing necessitated imagined characters to re-invent and re-align themselves with the new post-apartheid dispensation if they were to remain relevant to South African readership. Reinvention of characters is made possible through several means and various organs of reconstitution such as history, narration, possession of one’s landscape and a disavowal of belonging as depicted in The Native Commissioner. This study seeks to examine the process of self-constitution undergone by the co-protagonist and surrogate narrator, Sam Jameson, following his failure to function as an individual and father in post-apartheid South Africa. To this end, a close reading of the novel is done, to better understand the context of Sam’s trauma. The study traces the self-reconstitutive process of Sam from the moment he decides to re-visit his father’s past, to the moment when he finds release from the trauma. I argue that an investigation of his father’s life, as well as his, ultimately gives him agency over his own. Sam’s identity shifts from his childhood past, in which apartheid exerts primary influence, to that of an adult who lives in the post-apartheid moment, having come to terms with his past. Telling his story, to him becomes an act of re-creation and self-invention and the means by which he formulates his own identity. At the end of the story, it is a totally liberated individual that the reader witnesses. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

The Swedish armed forces doctrine does not disclose where the knowledge about the use of airpower was acquired. Earlier research supports the fact that doctrine needs to contain theory to support its legitimacy.  The purpose of this study is to examine whether the doctrine contains air power theory. The author believes that increased internationalization may have caused international air power theories to have been integrated in the doctrine.  The research was conducted as a qualitative research of the Swedish air force doctrine documents. The research intended to see if the air power theories of John Warden and Shaun Clark have influenced the doctrine.  The result of this study shows that the ideas of Shaun Clarke had a much higher presence than the ideas of John Warden. The study has shown that the Swedish air force doctrine has theoretical support. The study concludes that internationalizing has affected but not to the point where the Swedish air force blindly copied air power theories without it suiting the Swedish air force.

Since the beginning of the 20th century air power has been seen as an offensive instrument in warfare. During the Cold War, Sweden had one of the largest air forces in the world despite a clearly defensive strategy. Today's Swedish Air Force has been reformed since the Cold War and there are uncertainties about how this has changed the use of air power. The purpose of this study is to investigate what changes occurred in the Swedish Air Force related to offensive and defensive use of air power. This is illustrated by examining and comparing the use of air power in the Air Force during the Cold War and today. The study is based on the theories of air power and illustrates the use of air power from multiple perspectives in order to provide as broad picture of the Air Force as possible. The results demonstrate that a change has occurred where air forces moved more towards working together with other forces over a broader range of applications than during the Cold War.

As the impact of pictures in everyday life and literature is increasing, so is the importance of visual literacy skills. This essay combines theories of visual literacy, pictorial metaphor, image analysis and environmentalism to analyse visual literacy in relation to how Shaun Tan’s pictures create metaphorical ideas related to the environment in Tales from Outer Suburbia. Three pictures from the picture book were analysed for this purpose. The pictures are part of the short stories named “alert but not alarmed”, “no other country”, and “grandpa’s story.” Furthermore, this essay discusses how visual literacy can support students’ English language learning. The analysis found that analysing Tan’s use of symbols and icons in combination with the emotional effect of picture elements reveal several pictorial metaphors related to the environment. The pictorial metaphors reflect humankind’s relationship to nature. This essay concludes that visual literacy skills are necessary to identify pictorial metaphors and that analysing pictures supports students’ visual literacy skills and English language learning.

Framträdande luftmaktsteorier förefaller i regel vara skrivna av stormaktsföreträdare. Ett implicit antagande att dessa teorier förutsätter betydande militär kapacitet och sofistikerad teknologi gör att de uppfattas som ”stormaktsteorier” som likt en klubba slår hårt mot motståndaren, med begränsad relevans för mindre stater som saknar stormakternas omfattande resurser. Luftmakt finns dock också i länder som kan betraktas som småstater. Även småstater kan – teoretiskt – antingen enskilt eller i en småstatsallians genom välriktade nålstick också skapa strategisk effekt med befintliga resurser.   Denna studie utmanar antagandet att luftmaktsteorier kan betraktas som antingen stormakts- eller småstatsteorier. Genom att pröva Robert Papes luftmaktsteori och Shaun Clarkes SPOT-paradigm i såväl stormakts- som småstatsperspektivet på ett gemensamt fall, Georgienkriget 2008 mellan Ryssland och Georgien, skapas ny kunskap om förklaringskraften hos respektive teori. Studien visar att Papes luftmaktsteori kan förklara stormakters användning av luftmakt, men belägg saknas för att den också kan förklara småstaters luftmaktsanvändning. Vidare saknas belägg för att Clarkes SPOT-paradigm kan förklara vare sig småstaters eller stormakters användande av luftmakt i det aktuella fallet. Däremot visar analysen att SPOT-paradigmet förutsätter ett visst mått av kvantitet och kvalitet, även hos småstater, för att omsättas i en skarp operation. Då ett mått på detta inte ges, bör SPOT-paradigmet främst betraktas som ett förhållningssätt till hur strategisk effekt kan skapas med tillgängliga resurser.

There are two types of air forces; the US, and the others. Most of what is written today concerning airpower comes from the pens of large nations. This has led to small nations view of airpower is being characterized by the theories of larger nations. Shaun Clarke questions whether such writings are applicable to the airpowers of the world’s small nations. Clarke’s theory explores the potential of offensive airpower in the context of small sized defense forces. His airpower theory has often been praised with the exception that it’s not empirically substantiated. The aim of this study is to test and analyze the explanatory power of Clarke’s theory on the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Second Lebanon War in 2006 with the purpose of creating empirical evidence in support of, or against, Clarke’s theory.   The results of the study are mixed. Clarke’s theory has a relatively high explanatory power about Israel’s success during the Yom Kippur War and low explanatory power during the Second Lebanon War. Finally, this study argues that smaller nations shouldn’t be discouraged from applying offensive airpower in a strategic manner.

This paper puts forth the thesis that free will skeptics should be motivated to develop revisionisteliminativist accounts of free will. As a starting point for this argument, it discusses and expands upon Shaun Nichols (2007) modeling of our reactive attitudes in narrow and widepsychological profiles. Utilizing this descriptive and prescriptive thesis, the paper then puts forthtwo main claims: 1. that revisionism is likely to produce our best descriptive accounts of free willbeliefs, and 2. that it is plausible that eliminativist revisionist is likely to produce our best prescriptive account of free will, as it is can capture some of the value in our “narrowpsychological profile” in ways its conventional counterpart is unable to. It is then argued that these two claims, in combination with the normative influence of free will beliefs, should provide sufficient motivations to develop eliminativist revisionist accounts of free will.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is an exploratory study into the signification potential of contemporary, postmodern picturebooks, specifically focusing on the way in which a seemingly 'simplistic' medium has the potential to initiate a vastly complex play of meanings. Picturebooks are traditionally considered to be a medium which implies a child reader, and conveys a simple linear narrative for educational and entertainment purposes. Traditional picturebooks thus assume a clear division between an author and reader, whereby the author is a 'knowing' adult, who conveys a moral or message to a passive child reader. These assumptions are arguably unsettled by the appearance of postmodern picturebooks, broadly defined as a medium which, while retaining the traditional picturebook format, opens itself up to multiple interpretations, instead of presenting the reader with an encoded message or 'meaning'. A number of postmodern picturebook authors, such as Shaun Tan, intentionally subvert the traditional dynamic between the author and reader of picturebooks by creating complex texts which display a general absence of clear accessible 'meaning', thereby allowing the reader to actively participate in the meaning-making process. With aid of the theories of signification set out by poststructuralist Jacques Derrida, this study aims to illustrate how a purposeful absence of apparent 'meaning' in picturebooks has the potential to allow for unlimited interpretations of a single text, thus by extension widening the 'implied' audience of such picturebooks. The objective is to set postmodern picturebooks apart from other texts (in particular more traditional picturebooks), and to provide a new outlook on the ways picturebooks are created, and the way they are read. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is 'n ondersoekende studie na die betekenispotensiaal van kontemporêre, post-moderne prenteboeke, met spesiale verwysing na die manier waarop 'n sogenaamde “simplistiese” medium die potensiaal openbaar om 'n hoogs-komplekse verskeidenheid betekenisse te ontlok. Prenteboeke word tradisioneel gesien as 'n medium van eenvoudige, liniêre vertellings gerig op die jong leser met die doel om op te voed of te vermaak. Tradisionele prenteboeke handhaaf dus 'n duidelike afbakening tussen die leser en die outeur, die sogenaamde “alwetende” volwassene, wat 'n morele les/ boodskap aan 'n passiewe, jong leser oordra. Hierdie veronderstelling word egter omvergewerp deur die verskyning van die post-moderne prenteboek wat, alhoewel in die tradisionele formaat van die prenteboek gegiet, die leser die geleentheid bied om veelvoudige interpretasies te maak in plaas van om net die beoogde geënkodeerde betekenis of boodskap van die boek te aanvaar. 'n Aantal post-moderne prenteboekskrywers soos Shaun Tan het die tradisionele dinamiek tussen prenteboekskrywer en -leser bewustelik omver kom werp deur komplekse teks te skep wat gekenmerk word aan die afwesigheid van 'n duidelik waarneembare betekenis en wat die leser dus toelaat om aktief deel te neem aan die interpretasieproses. Die doel van hierdie studie is om met behulp van die betekenispotensiaal-teorie, soos uiteengesit deur post-strukturalis Jacques Derrida, te illustreer hoe die doelbewuste weglating van 'n duidelik waarneembare betekenis of boodskap dit moontlik maak om die teks op veelvoudige maniere te interpreteer en daarmee saam ook die lesersprofiel van prenteboeke te verbreed. Die hoofdoel van hierdie studie is dus om die post-moderne prenteboek te onderskei van die tradisionele prenteboek en ander tekste en om nuwe waarnemings en insigte te verskaf in die wyse waarop prenteboeke geskep en gelees word.