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This thesis is a study of how the American author Edith Wharton (1862-1937) in a number of novels and short stories written between 1876 and 1937 depicts cultural encounters between Americans and Europeans, mostly Frenchmen. Chiefly concerned with Fast and Loose, “The Last Asset”, Madame de Treymes, “Les Metteurs en Scène”, The Custom of the Country and The Age of Innocence, each of which articulates ideas relevant to the theme investigated, the thesis also contains a supplementary discussion of The Reef, The Glimpses of the Moon, The Mother’s Recompense and The Buccaneers. Borrowing terms and theoretical perspectives from Pierre Bourdieu and postcolonial literary criticism, particularly Homi Bhabha’s theories about inbetweenness, mimicry and otherness, the study contends through detailed analyses of single works that Wharton’s descriptions of Franco-American encounters are dynamic processes through which the parties involved are made aware of their own and “the other’s” distinguishing qualities and, in some significant cases, reach a heightened state of consciousness resembling Bhabha’s inbetweenness. Wharton’s cultural encounters often involve people with different levels of education and different economic and social positions, which justifies the use of Bourdieu’s method of analyzing the relationship between educational and social status in terms of different kinds of capital. While in her early works Wharton merely intimates the contours of the cultural encounter, in mature works such as Madame de Treymes and The Age of Innocence she views it as a highly complex process the many stages of which are intimated through the use of subtle narratological techniques. Throughout her work Wharton makes intricate use of imagery and keywords, some of them testifying to her interest in anthropology, to suggest the manifold dimensions of the cultural encounter, which is seen as both tempting and repelling. Her accounts of the Franco-American encounter are complexly related to the different phases of the American political and social situation described in her novels. The American experience of the meeting of the ‘old society’ and the ‘new’ is rendered even more complex by being seen as the background against which Europeans and Americans negotiate transactions of symbolic and economic capital. In most of her works these lead to tragic or tragic-comic misunderstandings; only in her last, unfinished novel does she describe a full-fledged Euro-American identity, a successful fusion of American and European experiences. / Den här avhandlingen är en studie i hur den amerikanska författarinnan Edith Wharton (1862-1937) i ett antal romaner och noveller skrivna mellan 1876 and 1937 skildrar kulturella möten mellan amerikaner och européer, främst fransmän. Avhandlingen behandlar huvudsakligen verken Fast and Loose, “The Last Asset”, Madame de Treymes, ”Les Metteurs en Scène”, The Custom of the Country and The Age of Innocence, som alla uttrycker idéer om kulturmöten; den innehåller även en kompletterande diskussion av verken The Reef, The Glimpses of the Moon, The Mother’s Recompense and The Buccaneers. Med termer och perspektiv hämtade från Pierre Bourdieu och postkolonial litteraturforskning, främst Homi Bhabhas teorier om in-betweenness (”mellanskap”), mimicry och otherness hävdar studien genom detaljerade analyser av enskilda verk hur Whartons beskrivningar av fransmäns och amerikaners möten är dynamiska processer där i bästa fall båda parter blir medvetna om sin egen och ”den andres” särart, och i vissa fall även når ett intensifierat medvetande som påminner om Bhabhas in-betweenness. Whartons kulturmöten sker oftast mellan personer med olika bildning samt ekonomisk och social position, vilket gör att Bourdieus perspektiv för analys av relationen mellan utbildning och social status som styrd av olika sorters kapital kommer till användning. I sina tidiga berättelser antyder Wharton konturerna av det kulturella mötet, i mogna verk som Madame de Treymes and The Age of Innocence gestaltar hon det som en mycket komplex process vars många skeden antyds via hennes användning av subtil berättarteknik. Alltigenom sina verk tillämpar Wharton ett komplext bildspråk och nyckelord, varav vissa vittnar om hennes intresse för antropologi, som antyder kulturmötets många dimensioner, framställt som samtidigt lockande och frånstötande/avskräckande. Hennes redogörelser av det fransk-amerikanska mötet är komplext relaterat till de olika faser av den amerikanska politiska och sociala situation som beskrivs i hennes berättelser. Den amerikanska erfarenheten av mötet mellan den ”gamla sociala grupperingen” och den ”nya” skildras som mer komplext genom att ses som den bakgrund mot vilken européerna och amerikanerna förhandlar transaktioner av symboliskt och ekonomiskt kapital. I merparten av hennes verk leder dessa transaktioner till tragiska eller tragikomiska missförstånd; bara i hennes sista, ofullbordade roman beskriver hon en fullt utvecklad euroamerikansk identitet, en lyckad sammansmältning av amerikanska och europeiska erfarenheter.

This thesis argues that Edith Wharton’s assessment of American ways and their meaning in her post-war fiction has been widely misread. Its title derives from French Ways and Their Meaning (1919), which she wrote to educate her countrymen about French culture and society. Making sense of America was as great a challenge to Wharton. Much of her later fiction was for a long time dismissed by critics on the grounds that she had failed to ‘make sense’ of America. Wharton was troubled by American materialism and optimism, yet she believed in a culturally significant future for her nation. She advocated – and wrote – an American fiction that looked critically at society and acknowledged the nation’s ties to Europe. Sometimes her assessment of American ways is reductive, and presented in a tone that her critics, then and since, found off- putting and snobbish. But her skepticism about American modernity was penetrating and prophetic, and has not been given its due. In criticism over the last two decades, a case for the place of Wharton’s post-war fiction in canons of feminism and modernism has been persuasively made. The thesis responds to these positions, but makes its own argument that the post-war writing reflects broader shift in American identity and ideology. The thesis is broadly historicist in its strategy, opening with a discussionofthereputationofthesetextsandthatoftheauthormoregenerally. Afterthat entry-point, it is organized thematically, with four chapters covering topics that are seen as key components of American ideology in Wharton’s post-war writing. These include modernity, gender equality, the American Dream of social mobility, and American exceptionalism. The thesis concludes with an assessment of Wharton’s prognostications in the context of twenty-first century America.

Les pathologies vasculaires représentent aujourd’hui l’une des principales causes de mortalité mondiale et leur nombre ne cesse d’augmenter. Les greffons autologues (disponibilité faible) et les prothèses synthétiques inadaptées pour des vaisseaux de diamètre inférieur à 6 mm ne répondent pas à la demande et il existe aujourd’hui, un réel besoin en substitut vasculaire pour les petits vaisseaux. Ainsi, le concept de l’ingénierie vasculaire semble très prometteur. Cette approche est fondée sur l’utilisation de matrices « scaffold » associées à une composante cellulaire pour construire, dans des conditions environnementales adaptées, un vaisseau qui réponde et réagisse aux contraintes physiologiques. Dans cet objectif, la fonctionnalisation d’une media vasculaire constituée de cellules musculaires lisses (CML) est prérequise. Aux CML matures qui ne sont pas de bons candidats (perte de leur phénotype contractile lors de la culture), nous avons identifié les cellules souches mésenchymateuses (CSM) de la gelée de Wharton (tissu conjonctif du cordon ombilical) comme source cellulaire majeure. Leur facilité de récupération, leur présence en grand nombre, leur faible immunogénicité et leur capacité de prolifération et différenciation en font d’excellents candidats en ingénierie tissulaire. Dans ce travail nous avons déterminé les conditions favorables à l’obtention d’un phénotype CML fonctionnelles et montré l’impact de différents paramètres environnementaux (apport en oxygène, facteurs de croissance, teneur en sérum…) sur le comportement des CSM de la gelée de Wharton. Nous avons pu montrer que 1) ces cellules étaient capables de se différencier en cellules au phénotype contractile comparable à celui des CML matures. 2) L’utilisation des films multicouches de polyéléctrolytes (FMP) en tant que support d’adhérence cellulaire a montré que les CSM de la gelée de Wharton avaient un comportement spécifique selon la charge de surface conduisant vers une cultures tridimensionnelle inadaptée sur (PAH-PSS)3 PAH et en monocouche sur films (PAH-PSS)4, 3) Ces cellules pouvaient être cultivées sur des hydrogels d’alginate fonctionnalisés par les FMP pour fournir un feuillet cellulaire susceptible de recréer une media vasculaire. / Vascular diseases represent today one of the leading causes of global mortality and the number is increasing. Autologous transplants (limited availability) and synthetic prostheses unsuitable for vessels with a diameter less than 6 mm are not sufficient and there is now a real need of vascular substitute for small vessels. Thus, the concept of vascular engineering seems very promising. This approach is based on the use of "scaffold" associated with a cellular component to build in suitable environmental conditions, a vessel that reacts with the physiological constraints. To this aim, the functionalization of an incorporated media vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) is a prerequisite. Insteag of using Mature CML which are not good candidates (loss of contractile phenotype in culture), we identified mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from Wharton's jelly (connective tissue of the umbilical cord) as a major cellular source. Their easiness of recovery, their presence in large numbers, their low immunogenicity, their proliferation and differentiation capacity make them excellent candidates for tissue engineering. In this work we determined the conditions for obtaining a functional CML phenotype and showed the impact of different environmental parameters (oxygen level, growth factors, serum content ...) on the behavior of CSM jelly Wharton. We have shown that: 1) these cells were able to differentiate into cells in contractile phenotype comparable to that of mature SMC. 2) The use of multilayer films of polyelectrolytes as cell adhesion support has shown that MSCs from the Wharton jelly had a specific behavior according to surface charge leading to an inappropriate three-dimensional cultures (PAHPSS)3-PAH and monolayer films on (PAH-PSS)4, 3) These cells could be grown on functionalized alginate hydrogels to provide a cellular sheet which may recreate a vascular media

Dans le domaine de l'ingénierie du cartilage, les hydrogels à base d'alginate (Alg) et de cellules souches mésenchymateuses (CSM) sont utilisés comme biomatériaux pouvant être utilisés pour combler des lésions cartilagineuses plus ou moins profondes. Cependant, pour reproduire l’organisation zonale du cartilage, des biomatériaux multiphasiques sont nécessaires. Afin de guider la différenciation des CSM dans les différentes strates du biomatériau, sans apports de facteurs de croissance, des composants naturels du cartilage (acide hyaluronique, HA) ou de la matrice osseuse (hydroxyapatite, Hap) peuvent être ajoutés à l’alginate. L’objectif de ce travail de thèse consiste à analyser l’impact de la composition de biomatériaux à base d’alginate enrichi soit en HA soit en Hap sur le comportement des CSM. La première partie de notre travail à consister à évaluer le comportement des CSM issues de la gelée de Wharton dans ces hydrogels. Nos résultats mettent en évidence que les hydrogels d’Alg/Hap possèdent non seulement de meilleures propriétés mécaniques que les hydrogels Alg/HA et favorisent la viabilité des CSM ainsi que leur différenciation par rapport aux CSM ensemencées dans un hydrogel d’Alg/HA. La méthode de stérilisation du biomatériau représente une étape incontournable, dont on doit impérativement évaluer les multiples effets, en particulier pour ce qui touche au comportement des cellules, mais aussi au maintien de l’intégrité des propriétés physicochimiques de l'hydrogel. Ainsi, dans une seconde partie du travail, nous avons montré que le traitement de stérilisation par autoclave induisait un effet négatif sur les caractéristiques initiales de l'hydrogel à base d'alginate. Il ressort également de cette investigation sur les modes de stérilisation, que la stérilisation des hydrogels avec des UV est plus efficace et permet de préserver au mieux les propriétés spécifiques de l'hydrogel, notamment de l’Alg/HA. Enfin, dans une troisième partie de notre travail, nous avons évalué l’évolution des propriétés mécaniques au cours de la différenciation et l’impact de celles-ci sur la différenciation des CSM ainsi que sur leurs propriétés immunomodulatrices. À partir de ces résultats, nous avons montré que les caractéristiques physico-chimiques des hydrogels d’Alg/ha et Alg/hap influençaient non seulement le potentiel de différenciation des CSM-GW mais également la sécrétion des facteurs solubles impliqués dans l’immunomodulation. Ces propriétés physico-chimiques étant influencées dès le procédé de stérilisation, il est alors conseillé de les prendre en compte dans toutes les étapes de l’ingénierie tissulaire / In the field of cartilage engineering, alginate (Alg)-based hydrogels and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are widely used as raw biomaterials and stem cells which can be used to fill cartilage lesions of varying depth. However, to reproduce the zonal organization of articular cartilage, a graft multilayer is necessary. In order to guide the differentiation of MSCs in different strata of the biomaterials, without input of growth factors, natural cartilage components (hyaluronic acid, HA) or bone matrix (hydroxyapatite, Hap) can be added into the alginate. The aim of this work is to analyze the impact of the composition of alginate enriched either in HA or in Hap on the behavior of MSCs. The first part of our work is to evaluate the behavior of WJ-MSCs into these hydrogels. Our results have shown that Alg/ Hap hydrogels not only possess better mechanical properties than Alg/HA hydrogels, but also promote the viability of MSCs and their differentiation from MSC seeded into the Alg/HA hydrogel. The sterilization method of biomaterial is an essential step, the multiple effects of which must be evaluated, in particular as regards the behavior of the cells, but also to maintain the integrity of the physicochemical properties of hydrogel. Thus, in a second part of this work, we showed that the autoclave sterilization treatment induced a negative effect on the initial characteristics of alginate hydrogel. It is also apparent from this investigation of the sterilization modes that the sterilization of hydrogels with UV is more efficient and makes it possible to preserve the specific properties of the hydrogel as best as possible, in particular Alg/HA. Finally, in a third part of our work, we also evaluated the evolution of the mechanical properties during the differentiation and the impact of these on the differentiation of MSCs and their immunomodulatory properties. From these results, we have shown that the physico-chemical characteristics of Alg / ha and Alg/hap hydrogels influence not only the differentiation potential of WJ-MSC but also the secretion of soluble factors involved in immunomodulation. Since these physicochemical properties are influenced by the sterilization process, it is advisable to take them into account in all stages of tissue engineering

This dissertation is a study of the effects of the abolition of slavery on the economic and political elite of six Texas counties between 1860 and 1890. It focuses on Austin, Brazoria, Colorado, Fort Bend, Matagorda, and Wharton Counties. These areas contain the overwhelming majority of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred," the original American settlers of Texas. In addition to being the oldest settled region, these counties contained many of the wealthiest slaveholders within the state. This section of the state, along with the northeast along the Louisiana border, includes the highest concentration of Texas' antebellum plantations. This study asks two central questions. First, what were the effects of abolition on the fortunes of the planter class within these six counties? Did a new elite emerge as a result of the end of slavery, or, despite the liquidation of a substantial portion of their estates, did members of the former planter class sustain their economic dominance over the counties? Second, what were abolition's effects on the counties' prewar political elite, defined as the county judge? Who were in power before the war and who were in power after it? Did abolition contribute to a new kind of politician?

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Ce mémoire examine l’exploration du paysage et de la perception dans ma pratique artistique. Mon travail concerne principalement les représentations du monde naturel, la manière dont les images sont incorporées dans le quotidien et les façons dont notre perception de ces images façonne notre relation aux paysages réels. Cette étude du paysage et de la vision se manifeste par des explorations du dessin, de l’estampe et du collage numérique; ma pratique est également centrée sur une recherché du paysage dans la culture populaire, notamment au cinéma et à la télévision. Enfin, ce mémoire retrace la structure de ma démarche artistique en logique de la décoration, une logique qui fournit à mes images une certaine organisation et une cohérence visuelle, tout en déplaçant simultanément les objets du paysage commun dans le domaine du spectaculaire et de l’extraordinaire. / This dissertation examines the exploration of landscape and vision in my artistic practice. My work is primarily concerned with representations of the natural world, how these images are incorporated into the everyday, and the ways in which our perception of these images shape our relationship to landscape. This investigation of landscape and vision is executed through explorations in drawing, printmaking, and digital collage; my practice is also centred on an investigation of landscape in popular culture, notably film and television. Finally, this dissertation outlines how my artistic process is structured by a logic of the decorative, which provides visual coherency and organization to the images I create while simultaneously displacing objects of the banal landscape into the realm of the spectacular and the extraordinary.