It is a common observation that organizations of violence make use of moral transgression to bond new recruits to the group’s authority figures and to encourage compliance to them. The present study drew on the work of Festinger (1957), Aronson and Mills (1959) and Martens et al. (2007) and, for the first time examined this observation empirically. It was hypothesized that when participants agreed to make a moral transgression for the experimenter that they would come to view him more positively, see him as more professional and become more compliant to him, and that this would happen even more when that choice to comply was made salient. Participants were asked to place a number of bugs into a modified coffee grinder that ostensibly exterminated the bugs and then to activate the device. No bugs were killed in any condition, but participants were either led to believe that they were killing the bugs or informed that it was just a simulation. Subsequent positivity in the perception of the experimenter and how professional they considered him to be was then measured by questionnaire and compliance to him was measured in an optional data-entry task. Results yielded partial support for the research hypotheses suggesting that at least under some circumstances, agreeing to make a personal moral transgression for an authority figure leads to increases in the positivity in the perception of that figure and compliance to him and that making that choice salient enhances this effect. The implications of this finding for the understanding of the processes by which a person can become bonded to unsavory authority-figures and potential applications to community education programs are discussed; as are the limitations of this study and possibilities for future research.

Le traitement de signaux multidimensionnels reste un problème délicat lorsqu'il s'agit d'utiliser des méthodes conçues pour traiter des signaux monodimensionnels. Il faut alors étendre les méthodes monodimensionnelles à plusieurs dimensions, ce qui n'est pas toujours possible, ou bien convertir les signaux multidimensionnels en signaux 1D. Dans ce cas, l'objectif est de conserver le maximum des propriétés du signal original. Dans ce contexte, le théorème de superposition de Kolmogorov fournit un cadre théorique prometteur pour la conversion de signaux multidimensionnels. En effet, en 1957, Kolmogorov a démontré que toute fonction multivariée pouvait s'écrire comme sommes et compositions de fonctions monovariées. Notre travail s'est focalisé sur la décomposition d'images suivant le schéma proposé par le théorème de superposition, afin d''etudier les applications possibles de cette d'ecomposition au traitement d'image. Pour cela, nous avons tout d'abord 'etudi'e la construction des fonctions monovari'ees. Ce probl'eme a fait l'objet de nombreuses 'etudes, et r'ecemment, deux algorithmes ont 'et'e propos'es. Sprecher a propos'e dans [Sprecher, 1996; Sprecher, 1997] un algorithme dans lequel il d'ecrit explicitement la m'ethode pour construire exactement les fonctions monovari'ees, tout en introduisant des notions fondamentales 'a la compr'ehension du th'eor'eme. Par ailleurs, Igelnik et Parikh ont propos'e dans [Igelnik and Parikh, 2003; Igelnik, 2009] un algorithme pour approximer les fonctions monovariéees par un réseau de splines. Nous avons appliqué ces deux algorithmes à la décomposition d'images. Nous nous sommes ensuite focalisés sur l'étude de l'algorithme d'Igelnik, qui est plus facilement modifiable et offre une repréesentation analytique des fonctions, pour proposer deux applications originales répondant à des problématiques classiques de traitement de l'image : pour la compression : nous avons étudié la qualité de l'image reconstruite par un réseau de splines généré avec seulement une partie des pixels de l'image originale. Pour améliorer cette reconstruction, nous avons proposé d'effectuer cette décomposition sur des images de détails issues d'une transformée en ondelettes. Nous avons ensuite combiné cette méthode à JPEG 2000, et nous montrons que nous améliorons ainsi le schéma de compression JPEG 2000, même à bas bitrates. Pour la transmission progressive : en modifiant la génération du réseau de splines, l'image peut être décomposée en une seule fonction monovariée. Cette fonction peut être transmise progressivement, ce qui permet de reconstruire l'image en augmentant progressivement sa résolution. De plus, nous montrons qu'une telle transmission est résistante à la perte d'information.

My dissertation focuses on an analysis of postmodern narrative strategies in Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being (ULB) and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting ( BLF) . By analysing the postmodern ab/use of narrative strategies, I argue that postmodern fiction marks a decided shift from both classical realism and modernism. My dissertation has predominantly been motivated through my contention that postmodern fiction is not elitist as it has been perceived to be. Rather, I suggest that postmodern fiction ab/uses narrative strategies to deconstruct the ontological boundaries between the political and private and fiction and 'fact'. Consequently, postmodern fiction interrogates the contrived intelligibility of History. A further argument that I raise is that postmodern fiction through its (re) appropriation, subversion and use of parodic structures creates.narrative space for the Other. In order not to canonize Kundera's texts, I situate both ULB and BLF as 'nodes' within a diffuse network of intertextual discourse. My analyses of the postmodern narrative strategies in ULB and BLF, attempt to interrogate the diffuse 'nature' of postmodern fiction which resists both authorative analysis and closure. In exploring the relationship between recuperation and postmodern narrative strategies in ULB and BLF and other works and/or texts of fiction, I argue that postmodern fiction does not revel in its narrativity, it constitutes, instead, a political strategy / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Theory of Literature)

Le présent mémoire a pour objectif de procéder à une étude de Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927), roman de François Mauriac. Pour cela, il est proposé un parcours en trois parties: la première partie vise à la présentation de l’écrivain et de l’oeuvre dont s’occupe ce travail; la deuxième partie se rapporte à une analyse du roman à la lumière des catégories narratologiques; la troisième et dernière partie concerne un examen des données repérées sous un angle sociohistorique. À partir de ce parcours d’étude, il est constaté, parmi plusieurs questions, que (1) la protagoniste du roman est quelqu'un d'inadapté à son milieu familier et social parce qu’elle représente un déplacement en ce qui touche la notion d’identité féminine instituée, à travers l’histoire, dans la culture occidentale; et (2) la conception chrétienne du pardon traverse le roman. / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo proceder a um estudo sobre Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927), romance de François Mauriac. Para tanto, é proposto um percurso em três partes: a primeira parte visa à apresentação do escritor e da obra à qual se consagra este trabalho; a segunda parte é referente a uma análise do romance à luz das categorias narratológicas; a terceira e última parte concerne a um exame dos dados levantados sob um ângulo sóciohistórico. A partir deste percurso de estudo, é constatado, entre outras questões, que (1) a protagonista do romance não se adapta ao seu meio familiar e social, visto que ela representa um deslocamento no que tange à noção de identidade feminina instituída, ao longo da história, na cultura ocidental; e (2) a concepção cristã do perdão atravessa o romance.

O Bom Fim mudou muito nos últimos anos. A vida noturna, que era tida como sua característica principal nas décadas de 1980 e 1990, não está mais lá. O cinema e os bares também não fazem mais parte daquela paisagem. A intenção da presente dissertação é compreender este momento do bairro que acabou. Para isso, foram utilizados os conceitos de espaço e lugar de Michel de Certeau. Segundo este autor, o lugar é constituído a partir da ação disciplinadora que organiza cada coisa em uma localidade específica, uma separada da outra. O espaço é o lugar praticado. Nos grandes centros urbanos se impõe a disciplina, enquanto seus habitantes se apropriam dos limites impostos, criando brechas. O lugar é a ordem e busca a permanência no tempo, o espaço muda constantemente. Práticas criativas cotidianas transformaram a vida do Bom Fim desde o seu começo. Durante as duas últimas décadas do século XX, as práticas noturnas ocuparam o bairro, modificando ele e as representações dele. A porta de entrada para este novo Bom Fim foi um conjunto de bares próximo a UFRGS, conhecido como Esquina Maldita. Desde a década de 1970 tem ocorrido um intenso crescimento urbano e populacional na cidade de Porto Alegre. Durante esse processo, houve a abertura do bairro enquanto um novo terreno de ação, onde era possível praticar novas formas de comportamento, explorar novos caminhos e novas maneiras de produzir arte na cidade. A partir da Esquina ocorreu um movimento de expansão, exploração e ocupação das outras ruas, cinemas, bares, auditórios e do parque da Redenção. Muitos bares começaram a surgir na Avenida Osvaldo Aranha e nas transversais. Mais pessoas começaram a ir a esses bares e locais. A Esquina, filmes, músicas, shows, bares ajudaram a fixar o Bom Fim como um espaço aberto, jovem, de boêmia transgressora e produção artística intensas, peculiares e criativas. A partir do final da década de 1980 foi imposto um disciplinamento que acabou com estas características. / The Bom Fim has changed a lot on the last couple of years. The night live, a main characteristic trough out the 80's and 90's, it is not there anymore. The movie theaters and bars are not part of its landscape. The intention of the present study is to understand this neighborhood moment that has ended. To do that, Michel de Certeau concepts of place and space were used. According to the author, the place is constructed from the disciplinary action that organizes everything in a specific location, one apart from the other. The space is the place in practice. In large urban centers discipline is forced, while its habitants appropriates the imposed limits, creating gaps. The place is the order and seeks permanence on time, space is constantly changing. Creatively daily practices have transformed Bom Fim's life since it is beginning. During the last two decades of 20th century, night practices occupied neighborhood, modifying it and its representations. The gateway of this new Bom Fim was set of bars next to the UFRGS, in a corner known as the Esquina Maldita. Since the 1970's, the city of Porto Alegre has been experiencing an intense urban and populational growth. During this period, the neighborhood appears as a new field of action, where it was possible to practice new forms of behavior, explore new paths and new ways of producing art in the city. From the Esquina up there was a movement of expansion, exploration and occupation of the other streets, movie theaters, bars, auditoriums and Redenção Park. Many bars began to arise on Osvaldo Aranha Avenue and its cross streets. More people have started to attend to this establishments and bars. The Esquina, movies, songs, shows, bars helped to determined Bom Fim as an young, open space, of intense transgressive bohemia and intense artistic production, peculiars and creatives. A disciplinary process was imposed at the late 1980's that consummate those characteristics.

This thesis will consider the art and persona of Grayson Perry in relation to ideas of national identity. In particular, it will argue that Perry has been occupied with ideas of class and national identity throughout his career, but that these underlying concerns have often been subsumed, or obfuscated, by the foregrounding of other more obvious aspects of his work, such as his transvestism. At the centre of this thesis is the argument that Perry's vision of England, and the purportedly ambivalent way in which he presents it, functions as a way of negotiating - and repatriating - English national identity at a time of crisis. I want to further argue, however, that this has been complicated by Perry's self-positioning, and I propose that he has cultivated an air of subversion and transgression that has tempered the more affirmative aspects of his work. This half-subversive, half-affirmative stance allows him and his work to resonate with both those critical of the usual institutions of contemporary art - including many sections of the public and certain newspapers, tabloid and broadsheet alike - as well as the institutions themselves. This stance has implications not only for Perry's engagement with contemporary art but for his considerations of national identity as well, enabling an enquiry into, and ultimately a restitution of, 'Englishness' (and, to a lesser extent, 'Britishness'), by framing it within a rhetoric of ambivalence and diminishment rather than overt nationalism, the latter of which would have more problematic associations. Similarly, I want to suggest that it is this stance and its mediatory properties, coupled with his earlier self-positioning and his subtle but consistent foregrounding of domestic and demotic issues of national identity throughout his career, that has made Perry such a popular candidate to take on the task of reinvigorating this identity now.

O Bom Fim mudou muito nos últimos anos. A vida noturna, que era tida como sua característica principal nas décadas de 1980 e 1990, não está mais lá. O cinema e os bares também não fazem mais parte daquela paisagem. A intenção da presente dissertação é compreender este momento do bairro que acabou. Para isso, foram utilizados os conceitos de espaço e lugar de Michel de Certeau. Segundo este autor, o lugar é constituído a partir da ação disciplinadora que organiza cada coisa em uma localidade específica, uma separada da outra. O espaço é o lugar praticado. Nos grandes centros urbanos se impõe a disciplina, enquanto seus habitantes se apropriam dos limites impostos, criando brechas. O lugar é a ordem e busca a permanência no tempo, o espaço muda constantemente. Práticas criativas cotidianas transformaram a vida do Bom Fim desde o seu começo. Durante as duas últimas décadas do século XX, as práticas noturnas ocuparam o bairro, modificando ele e as representações dele. A porta de entrada para este novo Bom Fim foi um conjunto de bares próximo a UFRGS, conhecido como Esquina Maldita. Desde a década de 1970 tem ocorrido um intenso crescimento urbano e populacional na cidade de Porto Alegre. Durante esse processo, houve a abertura do bairro enquanto um novo terreno de ação, onde era possível praticar novas formas de comportamento, explorar novos caminhos e novas maneiras de produzir arte na cidade. A partir da Esquina ocorreu um movimento de expansão, exploração e ocupação das outras ruas, cinemas, bares, auditórios e do parque da Redenção. Muitos bares começaram a surgir na Avenida Osvaldo Aranha e nas transversais. Mais pessoas começaram a ir a esses bares e locais. A Esquina, filmes, músicas, shows, bares ajudaram a fixar o Bom Fim como um espaço aberto, jovem, de boêmia transgressora e produção artística intensas, peculiares e criativas. A partir do final da década de 1980 foi imposto um disciplinamento que acabou com estas características. / The Bom Fim has changed a lot on the last couple of years. The night live, a main characteristic trough out the 80's and 90's, it is not there anymore. The movie theaters and bars are not part of its landscape. The intention of the present study is to understand this neighborhood moment that has ended. To do that, Michel de Certeau concepts of place and space were used. According to the author, the place is constructed from the disciplinary action that organizes everything in a specific location, one apart from the other. The space is the place in practice. In large urban centers discipline is forced, while its habitants appropriates the imposed limits, creating gaps. The place is the order and seeks permanence on time, space is constantly changing. Creatively daily practices have transformed Bom Fim's life since it is beginning. During the last two decades of 20th century, night practices occupied neighborhood, modifying it and its representations. The gateway of this new Bom Fim was set of bars next to the UFRGS, in a corner known as the Esquina Maldita. Since the 1970's, the city of Porto Alegre has been experiencing an intense urban and populational growth. During this period, the neighborhood appears as a new field of action, where it was possible to practice new forms of behavior, explore new paths and new ways of producing art in the city. From the Esquina up there was a movement of expansion, exploration and occupation of the other streets, movie theaters, bars, auditoriums and Redenção Park. Many bars began to arise on Osvaldo Aranha Avenue and its cross streets. More people have started to attend to this establishments and bars. The Esquina, movies, songs, shows, bars helped to determined Bom Fim as an young, open space, of intense transgressive bohemia and intense artistic production, peculiars and creatives. A disciplinary process was imposed at the late 1980's that consummate those characteristics.

Orientador: Orlando Nunes de Amorim / Banca: Arnaldo Franco Júnior / Banca: Carlos Felipe Moisés / Resumo: Esta dissertação tem como objetivo refletir sobre os aspectos transgressores do romance A lua vem da Ásia, de Campos de Carvalho. Esses aspectos dizem respeito à desarticulação da forma romanesca tradicional e do discurso linear e lógico, e ainda aos posicionamentos ideológicos e comportamentais do protagonista. Para nortear esta análise, utilizamos a teoria da carnavalização de Mikhail Bakhtin, teórico que observa as manifestações literárias tendo em vista as transgressões verificadas durante as festividades carnavalescas, que estabelecem uma "vida às avessas", na qual inexistem as regras cotidianas e as relações hierárquicas vivenciadas no universo "extra-carnavalesco". Nesse sentido, buscamos vislumbrar a referida obra de Campos de Carvalho enquanto objeto literário transgressor e dessacralizador, na medida em que a perspectiva narrativa reflete a visão de mundo de um narrador supostamente "louco" que (re)cria uma realidade inusitada, o avesso da "normalidade", um mundo, segundo nossa hipótese, carnavalizado. / Abstract: This dissertation is an analysis of the transgressive aspects in A lua vem da Ásia, by Campos de Carvalho. These aspects are related to the disarticulation of both the traditional novel structure and the linear and logical discourse, as well as of the ideologic and behavioural positions of the main character. This analysis is based upon Mikhail Bakhtin's carnivalization theory, whose examination of literary manifestations is carried on with regard to the transgressions observed during the carnival festivities, which establish a 'wrong life' in which everyday rules and hierarchical relations experienced in the 'extracarnival' world are inexistent. Thus we consider Campos de Carvalho's book as a transgressive and desacralizing literary work, in the sense that the narrative perspective reveals the world of a supposed 'lunatic' narrator who (re)creates an unusual reality, the opposite of 'normality': in our proposal, a carnivalized world. / Mestre

Le présent mémoire a pour objectif de procéder à une étude de Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927), roman de François Mauriac. Pour cela, il est proposé un parcours en trois parties: la première partie vise à la présentation de l’écrivain et de l’oeuvre dont s’occupe ce travail; la deuxième partie se rapporte à une analyse du roman à la lumière des catégories narratologiques; la troisième et dernière partie concerne un examen des données repérées sous un angle sociohistorique. À partir de ce parcours d’étude, il est constaté, parmi plusieurs questions, que (1) la protagoniste du roman est quelqu'un d'inadapté à son milieu familier et social parce qu’elle représente un déplacement en ce qui touche la notion d’identité féminine instituée, à travers l’histoire, dans la culture occidentale; et (2) la conception chrétienne du pardon traverse le roman. / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo proceder a um estudo sobre Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927), romance de François Mauriac. Para tanto, é proposto um percurso em três partes: a primeira parte visa à apresentação do escritor e da obra à qual se consagra este trabalho; a segunda parte é referente a uma análise do romance à luz das categorias narratológicas; a terceira e última parte concerne a um exame dos dados levantados sob um ângulo sóciohistórico. A partir deste percurso de estudo, é constatado, entre outras questões, que (1) a protagonista do romance não se adapta ao seu meio familiar e social, visto que ela representa um deslocamento no que tange à noção de identidade feminina instituída, ao longo da história, na cultura ocidental; e (2) a concepção cristã do perdão atravessa o romance.

Trata-se de uma leitura do livro O trabalho da obra Maquiavel (1972), opus magnum de Claude Lefort (1924-2010). Com base na distinção lefortiana entre discurso manifesto e palavra latente da obra de pensamento, concebemos nosso texto a partir de uma divisão tripla. Inicialmente, com o objetivo de localizar o leitor ciceroneando-o pelos mesmos caminhos que levaram Lefort a Maquiavel , perguntamos: se à obra do secretário florentino dedica-se o discurso manifesto do filósofo francês, como este objeto se inseriria na problemática de seu hic et nunc, temática latente que o motivou a levar a cabo o seu mais longo estudo? Em seguida, apresentaremos nossa interpretação do Maquiavel de Lefort, na qual veremos emergir ao primeiro plano a personagem do conspirador, trazendo à cena consigo a proposição da inevitabilidade da impostura do poder e a defesa da imprescindibilidade e da legitimidade do ato ilegal empreendido contra a legalidade ilegítima. Por fim, é à crítica ao idealismo democrático que somos conduzidos ao nos depararmos com o saldo de nossa leitura e, diante dele, questionarmo-nos: de que modo o Maquiavel de Lefort conteúdo manifesto deste trabalho pode nos ajudar a pensar o nosso próprio tempo, a sustentar os nossos desejos de saber e de agir, a nos engajarmos aqui e agora no enigma de uma paixão realista, palavra latente de todo e qualquer escrito que aceite o desafio do político? / This is a reading of the book Machiavelli in the making (1972), the magnum opus of Claude Lefort (1924-2010). Based on the Lefortian distinction between the manifest discourse and the latent word in the work of thought, the text is in three parts. Initially, with the aim of locating the reader by guiding him along the same paths that led Lefort to Machiavelli we ask: if the manifest discourse of the French philosopher is dedicated to the work of the Florentine Secretary, what is the place of this object in the problematic of his hic et nunc, the latent thematic that led him to undertake his longest study? Next, we present our interpretation of Leforts Machiavelli, in which we will see the conspirator\'s character emerge to the foreground, bringing with him the proposition of the inevitability of the imposture of power and the defense of the indispensability and legitimacy of the illegal act employed against illegitimate legality. Finally, we are led to a critique of democratic idealism as we are confronted with the results of our reading and, faced with this, we ask ourselves: how can Leforts Machiavelli the manifest object of this work help us to think about our own time, to sustain our desires to know and act, to engage ourselves here and now in the enigma of a realistic passion, the latent word of each and every text that accepts the challenge of the political?