This paper explores two adaptations by rock musician Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground and Metal Machine Music fame. Reed has always been a complicated and controversial figure, but two of his albums—The Raven (2003), a collaborative theater piece; and Lulu (2011), a collaboration with heavy metal band Metallica—have inspired confusion and vitriol among both fans and critics. However, both adaptations, rich in intertextual references, at once show Reed to be what music historian Simon Reynolds calls a portal figure—offering a map of references to other texts for fans, indicating his own indebtedness to prior art—and to also be an uncompromisingly unique and original artist. This thesis analyzes both The Raven and Lulu and their adaptive connections to their source texts (the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe and the Lulu plays by German modernist Frank Wedekind) through the lens of adaptation theory. Although both albums, especially Lulu, were vilified by fans and critics alike, an exploration of both texts and their sources reveals a more complicated reading of the albums, as well as shedding light on adaptation theory. Reed's adaptations, in particular, offer compelling new insights into notions of fidelity—between an adaptation and its source, as well as between Reed and his career—and also promote alternative forms of listening pleasure, which challenge cultural and music industry boundaries regarding contemporary music. Lou Reed and his adaptive practice occupy a crucial position in the adaptive process, in both rock and heavy metal music.

Within many communities and religions, including the LDS community, there is some controversy surrounding the use of stem cells – particularly embryonic stem cells (ESC). Much of this controversy arises from confusion and misconceptions about what stem cells actually are, where they come from , and when life begins. The theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has interesting implications for the last of these considerations, and it becomes less a question of “when does life begin” and more an exploration of “when does personhood begin” or “when does the spirit enter the body.” With no official Church stance, statements from Church leaders vary on this topic, and this first section of the thesis explores the philosophical and practical meaning of personhood with a biological background intended for those not familiar with the origin or uses of stem cells.The second portion of the thesis explores possible cloning technologies. Recent events and advances address the possibility of cloning endangered and extinct species. The ethics of these types of cloning have considerations uniquely different from the type of cloning commonly practiced. Cloning of cheetahs (and other endangered or vulnerable species) may be ethically appropriate, given certain constraints. However, the ethics of cloning extinct species varies; for example, cloning mammoths and Neanderthals is more ethically problematic than conservation cloning, and requires more attention. Cloning Neanderthals in particular is likely unethical and such a project should not be undertaken. It is important to discuss and plan for the constraints necessary to mitigate the harms of conservation and extinct cloning, and it is imperative that scientific and public discourse enlighten and guide actions in the sphere of cloning.

This thesis is a translation of and critical introduction to a seventeen-month excerpt of the World War I diaries of German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945), a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. These diaries present a unique insight into Kollwitz’s life during the war and the process behind her art. The source text for this translation are entries from August 1, 1916, to December 31, 1917, as printed in the 2012 edition of the diaries prepared by the artist’s granddaughter, Jutta Bohnke-Kollwitz, and first published in full in 1989. The thesis also translates Bohnke-Kollwitz’s introduction to the published volume and her footnotes on the selected entries. The critical introduction to the translation discusses this excerpt in the historical context of World War I, addressing the relationship between the patriotic “spirit of 1914” and the cultural constraints on grieving mothers to largely mourn in silence, as Kollwitz did for her own fallen son Peter. This situates Kollwitz among intellectuals and intellectual women in Germany at the time, and follows Kollwitz’s transition from an initial pro-war stance to eventual anti-war activism as documented in the diaries. The introduction then discusses my translation strategy, which draws on functionalist theories of translation to develop an approach that foregrounds Kollwitz’s own voice as a writer and the nature of the text as a private document. This approach aligns with the intended function of this translation, which particularly values the diaries for their intimacy and for the insight they can give us onto Kollwitz’s inner experience during a tumultuous historical time.

[pt] A presente dissertação percorre o caminho proposto pela antropologia filosófica de Lima Vaz e pela sabedoria bíblica, mormente manifesta na Primeira Carta do Apóstolo Paulo aos Tessalonicences no ensejo de responder à questão: O que é o Homem? Um problema elementar, profundo e exigente, presente em todos os tempos, culturas e diversos campos do saber. Encontrou-se na reflexão vaziana e na tradição bíblico-cristã uma Antropologia Integral com a tríade Corpo, Alma e Espírito, sendo uma resposta para desafios sempre presentes ante a racionalidade humana e a busca de pensar a fé. No profícuo diálogo entre teologia e filosofia o homem encontra respostas para problemas histórico-culturais, superando reducionismos que fragmentam a unidade da razão e a verdade da fé revelada. / [en] This dissertation follows the path proposed by Lima Vaz s philosophical anthropology and by biblical wisdom, mainly manifested in the First Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, in the opportunity to answer the question: What is man? An elementary, profound and demanding problem, present in all times, cultures and diverse fields of knowledge. An Integral Anthropology with the triad Body, Soul and Spirit was found in the vazian reflection and in the biblical-christian tradition, being an answer to challenges always present before human rationality and the search to think faith. In the fruitful dialogue between theology and philosophy, the Man finds answers to historical-cultural problems, overcoming reductionisms that fragment the unity of reason and the truth of revealed faith.

[pt] Vida e obra dos objetos: uma investigação sobre as potências da materialidade a partir do Sermão do Espírito Santo, de Antônio Vieira apoia-se, funda-mentalmente, na polissemia dos termos vida e objeto para examinar certas situações interacionais em que objetos (entendidos modernamente como inanimados) são investidos de vida, isto é, de qualidades e comportamentos em geral atribuídos a sujeitos (seres que se movem, agem e possuem um ponto de vista próprio). A dissertação propõe apreender o fenômeno da vida dos objetos através de três caminhos que se entrecruzam. O primeiro consiste em observar manifestações dessa vida na circunstância mais imediatamente presente, contemporânea ao pesquisador, num registro cotidiano e doméstico dentro do qual o próprio ato de escrita da dissertação se desenrola. O segundo e principal caminho conduz aos séculos XVI e XVII: sob a intercessão privilegiada do Sermão do Espírito Santo, do padre Antônio Vieira, e tomando como pano de fundo as tensões culturais implicadas na colonização das Américas e na catequização das populações nativas, realiza-se uma comparação pontual entre concepções ameríndias e concepções eurocristãs da vida dos objetos. O terceiro caminho é uma especulação sobre a possibilidade de falar em uma vida do texto, e, para tanto, busca-se aplicar ao domínio estrito das palavras alguns pressupostos contidos em teorias recentes acerca da agência de objetos materiais. Somando estes esforços aos esforços crítico-reflexivos de outros pesquisadores, a dissertação espera apresentar uma rica diversidade de traços subjetivos encarnados pelos objetos, diversidade que espelha diferentes maneiras de viver. / [en] Life and work of objects: an investigation on the powers of materiality based on the Sermon on the Holy Spirit, by Antonio Vieira rely fundamentally on the polysemy of the terms life and object to examine some interactional situations in which objects (modernly understood as inanimate) are invested with life, that is, with qualities and behaviours attributed in general to subjects (beings which move, act and have their own point of view). The dissertation proposes to apprehend the life of objects phenomenon through three paths which are intertwined. The first one consists in observing the manifestations of this kind of life in the most immediately present circumstance, contemporary to the researcher, in a daily and domestic register inside of which the very act of writing the dissertation happens. The second and main path leads to the 16th and 17th centuries: with the privileged intercession of the Sermon on the Holy Spirit, by priest Antonio Vieira, and also by taking as a background the cultural tensions involved in the colonization of the Americas and in the catechization of native populations, a punctual comparison is made between Amerindian conceptions and Euro-Christian conceptions of the life of objects. The third path is a speculation about the possibility of speaking of a life of the text, and for this purpose some assumptions contained in recent theories about the agency of material objects are applied to the strict domain of the words. By joining this efforts to the critical-reflexive efforts of other researchers, the dissertation expects to show a rich diversity of subjective features embodied by objects, a diversity that reflects different ways of living.

My purpose with this thesis is to examine Adorno’s rethinking of the aesthetic concept of form, in his last work, Ästhetische Theorie. Artistic form has in the tradition of aesthetics been quite forgotten according to Adorno. He even calls it, “the blind spot of aesthetics”. To rework the concept of form he introduces a set of conceptual relationships that takes an indispensable part in the new multifaceted concept of form. In fact, there is a plurality of concepts that is being put to work, to arrive at a new understanding of form. My methodological approach has been to trace these conceptual relationships that revolve around the aesthetic form and to highlight their connections. My contribution with this undertaking is to accentuate the weightiness of the form concept in Ästhetische Theorie. In the concept, Adorno’s materialistic thinking also becomes discernible. This aspect is especially mirrored in the theoretical attention he pays to the aesthetic material and the artifact itself. Another purpose of this thesis is to explore how the aesthetic form can be critical and to fathom what it implies. Criticism in Ästhetische Theorie is closely related to what Adorno calls aesthetic truth, which is taking shape in the artistic form. The form is thus related to many of the essential concepts in Ästhetische Theorie, such as truth and illusion. The study further examines how the critical form can be autonomous, while at the same time being deeply enmeshed in society.

Cette étude propose d’examiner deux traits caractéristiques concernant les relations tutélaires chez les Innus et les Naskapis de l’est du Canada. Par contraste avec l’ethnographie d’autres groupes autochtones de la famille algonquienne, celle des Innus, d’un côté, est élusive quant aux relations tutélaires avec les animaux, tandis que de l’autre côté, les relations avec une entité anthropomorphe, Mishtapeu, y sont omniprésentes. Par l’analyse de récits traditionnels, des mythes, ce travail vise à évaluer si cet état singulier des relations tutélaires chez les Innus et Naskapis découlerait de transformations cosmologiques ayant opéré dans un passé plus ou moins récent, et qui auraient eu comme conséquence, premièrement, l’affaiblissement graduel des relations tutélaires avec des animaux, et deuxièmement, l’émergence et la consolidation de Mishtapeu. L’analyse d’un premier groupe de récits, à travers une approche structuraliste syntagmatique, tente d’y repérer la charpente d’un rituel d’obtention d’une entité tutélaire animale afin de démontrer la profonde influence du complexe de l’animal tutélaire chez les Innus. Ce sont les relations avec Mishtapeu que l’analyse d’un deuxième groupe de récits tente d’éclaircir. Les analyses diffusionnistes et symboliques tentent alors de déterminer un moment et un lieu d’émergence de l’entité ainsi que de proposer des pistes conceptuelles crédibles de son origine. / This study proposes to examine two characteristic features of guardian relationships among the Innu and Naskapi of eastern Canada. In contrast to the ethnography of other Aboriginal groups of the Algonquian family, the Innu ethnography, on the one hand, is elusive with respect to guardian relationships with animals, while on the other hand, relationships with an anthropomorphic entity, Mishtapeu, are omnipresent. Through the analysis of traditional narratives, also myths, this work aims to evaluate whether this singular state of guardianship relations among the Innu and Naskapi stems from cosmological transformations that took place in the more or less recent past, and that would have resulted, firstly, in the gradual weakening of guardianship relations with animals, and secondly, in the emergence and consolidation of Mishtapeu. The analysis of a first group of stories, through a syntagmatic structuralist approach, attempts to identify the framework of a ritual for obtaining an animal tutelary entity in order to demonstrate the profound influence of the complex of the tutelary animal among the Innu. It is the relationship with Mishtapeu that the analysis of a second group of stories attempts to clarify. Diffusionist and symbolic analyses then attempt to determine a time and place of emergence of the entity as well as to propose credible conceptual tracks of its origin.

Le mantra de la compassion fascine depuis très longtemps de nombreux chercheurs de tous bords et de différentes époques. Ces derniers semblent cependant s’être toujours plus intéressés à sa signification plutôt qu’à sa fonction, son usage ou son utilité. Ce mémoire, qui se base sur l’expérience d’un travail de terrain ethnologique au sein d’un centre bouddhiste affilié à l’école guélougkpa, vise autant à se rapprocher de l’authenticité de sa signification que d’un usage de la formule pouvant être utile afin de protéger l’esprit. L’une des traductions du mot mantra est « protection de l’esprit ». Nous nous intéresserons particulièrement à notre objet sous le prisme de sa performance. La question du sens de la formule sera progressivement déplacée d’une dimension statique et sémantique à une autre plus dynamique et métapragmatique. Nous profiterons notamment des outils fournis par l’ethnomusicologie afin d’observer la part prise au sein de cette protection par les composantes musicales de la récitation. Ce travail sera aussi l’occasion de rassembler différentes théories et plusieurs concepts occidentaux au sein d’un même cadre théorique. La cadre de la sémiologie de la musique proposé par Molino et Nattiez, constituera une fondation étique solide à laquelle nous tenterons d’intégrer et d’articuler deux autres pensées majeures : la pensée austinienne de la « performativité » et la conception bachelardienne des images. Une fois nos outils d’observation affinés, nous regarderons mieux comment doit être comprise la « compassion » au sein de l’épistémè bouddhiste tibétaine, comment celle-ci est évoquée au sein de notre terrain de recherche et le lien tout à fait particulier qu’elle entretient avec le mantra qui porte son nom. La performance du mantra sera considérée comme étant, et au moins partiellement, une manifestation sonore de cette compassion. / The mantra of compassion has long fascinated many scholars from all walks of life and from different eras. However, they seem to have always been more interested in its meaning than in its function, use or utility. This M.A. thesis, which is based on the experience of ethnological fieldwork in a Buddhist center affiliated with the gelugkpa school, aims to get closer to both the authenticity of its meaning and to a use of the formula that may be helpful in protecting the mind. One of the translations of the word mantra is "protection of the mind". We will be particularly interested in our object under the prism of its performance. The question of the meaning of the formula will then be progressively moved from a static and semantic dimension to a more dynamic and metapragmatic one. We will use the tools provided by ethnomusicology, to observe the part taken by the musical components of the recitation in this protection. This work will also be an opportunity to bring together different theories and several Western concepts within the same theoretical framework. The framework of the semiology of music proposed by Molino and Nattiez, will constitute a solid etic foundation to which we will try to integrate and articulate two other major thoughts: the austinian thought of the "performativity" and the bachelardian conception of images. Once we have refined our tools of observation, we will look more closely at how "compassion" is to be understood within the Tibetan Buddhist episteme, how it is evoked within our research field and the very particular link it has with the mantra that bears its name. The performance of the mantra will be considered as being, at least partially, a sound manifestation of this compassion.

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