Includes bibliographical references (leaves 384-399)

L'histoire géodynamique du Sud-Ouest Pacifique est contrôlée depuis le Mésozoïque par l'évolution des zones de subduction péri-Pacifique qui ont successivement bordé la marge Est du Gondwana. Le recul de la fosse de subduction par effondrement du panneau plongeant dans le manteau est probablement le moteur de la fragmentation continentale qui a donné naissance à des rifts avortés et des bassins arrière-arcs associés à des arcs volcaniques rémanents. Dans ce contexte géodynamique, les bassins ayant atteint un stade d'océanisation avancé ont enregistré les inversions du champ magnétique terrestre et développé des morphologies typiques de la croûte océanique. Ces caractéristiques ont permis d'identifier l'âge et la nature de la croûte de ces bassins avec un degré de confiance élevé. C'est le cas de la plupart des bassins du Sud-Ouest Pacifique formés après 45 Ma. A l'inverse, les bassins de Nouvelle-Calédonie et de Fairway, plus étroits et recouverts d'épaisses séries sédimentaires ont une origine mal renseignée qui est longtemps restée controversée. Bien que morphologiquement et structuralement remarquables à l'échelle régionale, ces bassins n'interviennent pas dans les schémas actuels de reconstruction géodynamique régionaux. L'objet du présent travail de thèse est d'approfondir la connaissance de la structure et de l'histoire de ces bassins afin d'affiner le puzzle géodynamique du Sud-Ouest Pacifique. Une synthèse géologique régionale, accompagnée d'une carte structurale (planche hors texte A0), permet de replacer ces bassins dans le contexte géologique de l'évolution post-jurassique de la marge Est-Australienne. Les nouvelles données sismiques d'imagerie profonde des campagnes ZoNéCo-11, Noucaplac-2 et TL-1, couplées aux données récentes de forages sur la marge de Taranaki en Nouvelle-Zélande, constituent une base solide de données nouvelles autorisant une interprétation chronostratigraphique rénovée des bassins de Fairway et de Nouvelle-Calédonie ainsi que des rides qui leur sont associées. Ces interprétations complétées par une nouvelle compilation des données gravimétriques et magnétiques régionales permettent de dégager trois étapes dans l'évolution géodynamique de ces bassins : Etape 1 : Formation du Bassin de Fairway - Aotea au Crétacé moyen, en position intra- ou arrière-arc continental, dans un contexte de subduction. La formation de ce bassin, relativement peu profond, reflète les prémices de la déchirure continentale de la marge Est-Gondwanienne au Cénomanien, dont la cause est à rechercher dans un changement de la dynamique de la subduction. Une « verticalisation » de la plaque plongeante aurait entraîné de l'extension dans la plaque chevauchante. L'augmentation du pendage du slab pourrait être attribuée à : (i) un processus gravitaire lié au poids du slab, l'amenant à couler dans l'asthénosphère, engendrant alors un « hinge rollback », (ii) un flux asthénosphérique rétrograde, exerçant une pression horizontale sur le slab le faisant ainsi reculer, et (iii) la cinématique des plaques lithosphériques impliquées dans la subduction pouvant jouer un rôle sur le pendage du slab et pouvant créer des zones de faiblesse dans la plaque chevauchante menant à de l'extension arrière-arc. Un phénomène de « tectonic escape », lié à un blocage de la zone de subduction par le plateau d'Hikurangi à 105 Ma, pourrait aussi être la cause du recul de la subduction menant à de l'extension arrière-arc. Etape 2 : Déformation locale affectant la partie Nord du Bassin de Nouvelle-Calédonie (au large de la Grande Terre, strictement) à l'Eocène terminal, synchrone de l'obduction ophiolotique néo-calédonienne. Cette déformation asymétrique, d'une durée de quelques millions d'années et d'amplitude verticale de l'ordre de 10 km, est marquée par la surrection de la ride de Fairway et la subsidence de la marge Est du bassin, le long de la côte Ouest de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Le Bassin de Nouvelle-Calédonie aurait subsidé sous l'effet de la surcharge engendrée par le charriage de la croûte océanique du Bassin de Sud-Loyauté sur la ride de Norfolk à 37 Ma et aurait réagi comme un bassin flexural d'avant-pays suivant un processus de sous-charriage (underthrusting), au fur et à mesure que la nappe progressait sur le bâti Calédonien. Etape 3 : Subsidence Eocène-Oligocène d'envergure régionale, affectant l'ensemble « Ride de Lord Howe, Bassin de Fairway – Aotea, Ride de Fairway, Bassin de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Ride de Norfolk », de la Nouvelle-Zélande à la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Les traits morphostructuraux associés à cette subsidence suggèrent que l'ablation d'une partie de la croûte inférieure du système est responsable de cette subsidence. Nous émettons ainsi une nouvelle hypothèse selon laquelle les bassins de Nouvelle-Calédonie et de Fairway-Aotea, initialement peu profonds pendant le Crétacé (phase de rifting Crétacé, étape 1), auraient subi une subsidence de grande ampleur à l'Eocène – Oligocène lors de la réactivation de la convergence Australie – Pacifique. La reprise de la convergence vers ~45 Ma aurait entraîné un épaississement crustal de l'ensemble de rides et bassins aboutissant à une instabilité gravitaire de sa racine, provoquant ainsi son détachement et son effondrement dans le manteau. Ces nouvelles interprétations, et en particulier l'âge Crétacé moyen des sédiments les plus anciens des bassins de Fairway et Aotea, ont des implications pour le potentiel pétrolier de la région.

<p>The digital evolution in the film industry has opened possibilities that was only to blockbusters before the digital age. I am talking about mass-scenes. Huge scenes with hordes of people often in huge battlefields. This was earlier in film history an extremly costly undertaking for the filmindustry and was a major reason why the large studio systems in Hollywood collapsed in the 60s. Now we can enjoy large scale battles created with CGI without costly extras, costumes and props. It’s all made with the computer and with ’blue screen’ technology. Is it possible to track the mass-scene back to some sort of origin or at least to who that defined the mass-scene ? If we look closer at mass-scenes used in contemporary movies then a clear pattern often emerges. These scenes can often be traced back to especially two propaganda films from the late 30s. Triumph des Willens by Leni Riefenstahl and Alexander Nevsky by Sergei M. Eisenstein. Of course there are others, but these two stands out from the others regarding mass-scenes. My opinion is that these two classic propaganda films have defined the mass-scenes as we have come to see and understand them in many comtemporary films from Star Wars to Lord Of The Rings.</p><p>In this thesis I will try to explore the usage of mass-scenes in comtemporary films and hopefully uncover the strong intertextual ties to Triumph des Willens and Alexander Nevsky.</p><p>I will also attempt to define the mass-scene and it’s usage in contemporary film.</p>

How did the Swedish towns compare to the surrounding world during the late Middle Ages concerning town organization and political culture? Previous research has claimed a strong German influence on the Swedish town life, but in this dissertation the Europeanization is being put forward as the explanatory factor for the extensive international similarities that can be identified during the Middle Ages. The towns were part of an international town culture that was highly integrated. Differences between towns are foremost analysed as a result of different local conditions such as population size, social structure and relationship to the town lord. Since preserved sources from all towns of medieval Sweden (including Finland) have been examined in a joint study and been placed in a wider context, the dissertation presents renewed and deepened knowledge about the Swedish towns. The study includes Danish, English and German towns and thus compares regions with each other that rarely have been compared before, and thereby presents new perspectives on each respective area. The aspects of the organization that are being systematically compared are the creation of councils, the number of aldermen and mayors, the rotation of offices and functions of the town lords, bailiffs, councils, mayors and chamberlains. Regarding political culture, it is investigated how the councils expressed their group cohesiveness and power in the town and how they defined the border between themselves and the town population. Furthermore, the expectations the town populations placed on the officials and their perception of their own part in the rule of the town is being examined. Finally, the political interaction between council and town population in different towns is compared and analysed.

The digital evolution in the film industry has opened possibilities that was only to blockbusters before the digital age. I am talking about mass-scenes. Huge scenes with hordes of people often in huge battlefields. This was earlier in film history an extremly costly undertaking for the filmindustry and was a major reason why the large studio systems in Hollywood collapsed in the 60s. Now we can enjoy large scale battles created with CGI without costly extras, costumes and props. It’s all made with the computer and with ’blue screen’ technology. Is it possible to track the mass-scene back to some sort of origin or at least to who that defined the mass-scene ? If we look closer at mass-scenes used in contemporary movies then a clear pattern often emerges. These scenes can often be traced back to especially two propaganda films from the late 30s. Triumph des Willens by Leni Riefenstahl and Alexander Nevsky by Sergei M. Eisenstein. Of course there are others, but these two stands out from the others regarding mass-scenes. My opinion is that these two classic propaganda films have defined the mass-scenes as we have come to see and understand them in many comtemporary films from Star Wars to Lord Of The Rings. In this thesis I will try to explore the usage of mass-scenes in comtemporary films and hopefully uncover the strong intertextual ties to Triumph des Willens and Alexander Nevsky. I will also attempt to define the mass-scene and it’s usage in contemporary film.

Das Liedschaffen Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdys war zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts nur zu knapp zwei Dritteln der tatsächlichen Produktion bekannt. Erst im Jahre 2007 erschienene, bis dahin ungedruckte oder an entlegener Stelle veröffentlichte Lieder werden in vorliegender Studie zusammen mit den übrigen, nicht mit einer Opuszahl versehenen Liedern und Duetten zu thematischen Untergruppen geordnet und knapp in textlich-musikalischer Hinsicht charakterisiert. Diese Lieder und Duette, die nach dem Wunsch des Komponisten in den allermeisten Fällen nicht in die Öffentlichkeit gelangen sollten, stellen das gewohnte Bild Mendelssohns, das des Heiter-Sorgfältigen, in ein neues Licht.

The project of this thesis has been to examine the results of the development of the reputation and concept of the historical figure of Horatio Nelson as symbol of masculinity from nearly the beginning of the myth-making and mythologizing in the nineteenth century to the present. There have been several studies recently that examine Nelson the myth, Nelson as legend, Nelson as hero: they study the process of the development of this character. As a result of the mythologizing the history of Horatio Nelson is likely lost. However the memory of Nelson a very different thing and the focus of this thesis has been reinforced through commemoration throughout the two centuries since his death coming to a logical conclusion in 2008. This was done in both the public sphere (in the form of monuments) and in the private sphere (Nelson was merchandised) with the logical result in the first part of the twenty-first century being a manifestation of Nelson in fan culture on the internet. He has now been essentialised, extrapolated, and used in a wide variety of ways to navigate masculinity by both genders.

The project of this thesis has been to examine the results of the development of the reputation and concept of the historical figure of Horatio Nelson as symbol of masculinity from nearly the beginning of the myth-making and mythologizing in the nineteenth century to the present. There have been several studies recently that examine Nelson the myth, Nelson as legend, Nelson as hero: they study the process of the development of this character. As a result of the mythologizing the history of Horatio Nelson is likely lost. However the memory of Nelson a very different thing and the focus of this thesis has been reinforced through commemoration throughout the two centuries since his death coming to a logical conclusion in 2008. This was done in both the public sphere (in the form of monuments) and in the private sphere (Nelson was merchandised) with the logical result in the first part of the twenty-first century being a manifestation of Nelson in fan culture on the internet. He has now been essentialised, extrapolated, and used in a wide variety of ways to navigate masculinity by both genders.

The following work presents a hypothesis which identifies the origins and meaning of an ancient Mesoamerican concept known as the three stones of creation. Previous interpretations have tended to apply astronomical, spatial, or geographical models, while many conclusions have been made on the basis of one Classic Maya monument, Stela C of Quirigua. This thesis builds an argument for the temporal nature of these “stones,” used to metaphorically represent a sequence of separate units of time, referred to as eras, ages, or creations. A primary goal is to demonstrate that Quirigua Stela C provides in brief, summary form a chronology which is better defined through inscriptions in the Cross Group at Palenque, and in a sequence of panels at Yaxchilan containing beliefs about the origins of the ballgame. In constructing an argument for the temporal nature of the three stones of creation, every available context from a set of hieroglyphs mentioned in the Quirigua Stela C “creation” text—including Na Ho Chan (“First 5-Sky”) and “6-Sky”—is discussed in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, these glyphs are shown to aid in the organization of the deeper past within the Palenque and Yaxchilan mythologies. When compared chronologically and thematically, these sites seem to point to the 24th century B.C.E. as the important termination of a time period (i.e., the planting of a creation stone) related to a mythic complex involving the death and underworld journey of the Maize Lord, followed by his resurrection, emergence, and/or accession to power. Key questions addressed include the antiquity of these beliefs and where the metaphors used to arrange time observed among the Classic Maya originate. In Chapter 4, earlier expressions of this time ideology are interpreted through iconographic conventions, ritual deposits, and monumental architecture at the Olmec site of La Venta. Similarly, Chapter 5 proposes that the Humboldt Celt, the earliest known example of the three stones of creation, arranges units of time into a sequence. These and other interpretations suggest the existence of an ancestral, Mesoamerican era-based time model to which later Postclassic, colonial, and contemporary beliefs, such as those expressed in the K’iche’-Mayan Popol Vuh, are fundamentally related. / text

This essay is an investigation of transnational author Joseph Conrad’s engagement with issues of cultural liminality during the years around the turn of the 20th century. Through an examination of Almayer from Almayer’s Folly, Yanko of “Amy Foster”, and Cornelius from Lord Jim, the common experience of cultural displacement is considered. Conrad placed these three culturally liminal characters in various, carefully constructed social environments. Thus far, these characters have been under investigated in the critical literature, particularly the mixed-culture Almayer and Cornelius. By investigating these three characters and their environments, this essay demonstrates how Conrad depicts cultural displacement in the age of nationalism to be increasingly multifaceted but inevitably disastrous. The essay further reveals the need for more careful critical assessments of the cultural nuances of Conrad’s characters.