A project about labyrinths. Project starts with looking at different kinds of reference labyinrhts to try to understand different kinds and different uses of labyrinths. Religious labyrinths, historical examples, labyrinths in movies and art. Then working with physical models of different kinds, investigating different spaces of different labyrinths. An investigation that led to a labyrinthine structure/public space proposal at Slussen in Stockholm.

In this work I explore the geometry found both in the narrative structures and the internal shapes proposed in Jorge Luis Borges’ short stories and seek to arrive at new interpretations of those works by mapping out—in graphical form—the shapes found therein. I move from basic two-dimensional shapes (lines, triangles, quadrilaterals) to those involving the element of temporality and atemporality (circles, interruptive loops, chiasmus) to shapes dealing with repetition—both geometric and temporal—and eternity (labyrinths, fractals, and Alephs). In each case and for each short story analyzed, either an existent interpretation is favored or a new interpretation is set forth.

Magistro darbe „Mirties įvaizdis Sauliaus Tomo Kondroto romane „Ir apsiniauks žvelgiantys pro langą“ (1985) analizuojama mirties tema lietuvių prozoje. Remiantis Vakarų kultūrologijoje ir tanatologijoje susiformavusia mirties samprata, yra ginamas teiginys, kad šiame romane sukurtas literatūrinis (estetinis) mirties įvaizdis, kuris gali pristatyti skaitytojui visuminę mirties pajautą ir praplėsti bei pagilinti kultūrologinę (mitologinę, religinę ir filosofinę) mirties fenomeno interpretaciją. XX a. lietuvių prozoje mirtis yra viena svarbiausių jos tematikos krypčių. Darbo objektu pasirinktame S. T. Kondroto romane mirties įvaizdis yra kūrinio siužeto epicentras ir išeities taškas kuriant kitus literatūrinius įvaizdžius, simbolius, metaforas. Romane vartojama magiškojo realizmo poetika, kuri literatūriniam mirties įvaizdžiui romane „Ir apsiniauks žvelgiantys pro langą“ suteikia kasdieniškumo pobūdį, „paprasto stebuklo“ įspūdį. Analizė atskleidžia literatūros kūrinyje atsirandantį meninį mirties įvaizdį ir jo aspektus, kurie praplečia ir pagilina mitinę, religinę ir filosofinę mirties interpretaciją. Darbe aiškinamasi, kodėl mirties įvaizdžio šiame romane analizė leidžia pereiti prie gilesnių laisvės, valdžios, diktatūros ir kitų klausimų tyrinėjimų, be to, padeda suvokti romano meninės raiškos priemones. / The Masters Research presented is based on the impressions of death in the novel ”Ir apsiniauks žvelgiantys pro langą” (The Devouring Gaze of the Window Lookers), published 1985. The research presents an analysis of the theme of death in Lithuanian literature as written by Saulius Tomas Kondrotas. In the XX Century, the theme and analysis of death in Lithuanian literature is a main focus. Western literature, as presented in the book, with its thanatology and perception of death is often conceptionalized with an incomplete impression of thanatology focusing on saving, protecting and keeping alive in its cultural values, philosophy and theology. For the purpose of this study, analysing the novel of S.T. Kondrotas was selected as death is the epicenter of its theme. In the book Magic Realism as an art form is used as a means of expression. In the novel plain, simple, miracles of ordinary daily life are absolutely essential . In the novel, the meaning of death is expanded by the use of myths, religion, and philosophy to extend and broaden its perception. Death’s impression in the analysis of the book deepens the knowledge of government control, dictatorship, and freedom with the questions this poses. Forms of art presented as Magic Realism in the book assist the reader in understanding what the book intends to reveal. Significant language in the book include the author’s view of the death experience, the magic art of dying, and the tone in which it is written. The novel also... [to full text]

This study explores how subjectivities and emotionality of teachers are inextricably linked with their teaching praxis in the spaces of the HIV and AIDS classroom. A post-structuralist perspective and narrative approach are adopted. The landscape of HIV and AIDS education forms the backdrop or overarching rationale for this study. Despite conflicting debates around the role of teachers and schools in HIV and AIDS education, this study aimed to explore the complexities and challenges facing teachers in mitigating HIV and AIDS education. The broad question this study aimed to explore is: How do teachers’ life experiences, subjectivities and emotionality influence their teaching about HIV and AIDS education? Data was gathered from timelines, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, scenario analysis and critical lessons from five teachers. A purposeful sample of five teachers, who volunteered and were teaching HIV and AIDS education, was selected from three primary schools in a Midlands town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The contexts of the schools ranged from rural, semi-rural to urban. Foucauldian concepts of technologies of power/knowledge, technologies of the self and ethics of care were employed to analyse teachers’ subjectivities. Hargreaves theory of the emotional practice of teaching and Zembylas’s genealogies of emotions served as the analytical framework to make sense of emotionality of teachers. The co-constructed narratives of teachers were analysed using holistic content narrative analysis which uncovered seven clusters of meaning: diverse lives, multiple subjectivities; subjectivities and teaching; HIV and AIDS knowledge and teaching; spatial dynamics; relationships; emotions and feelings and cultural complexities. A key insight of this study is that teachers constituted multiple, dynamic and conflicting subjectivities. ‘Compassionate’, ‘supportive’ and ‘knowledgeable’ subjectivities were identified. Teachers enacted these multiple subjectivities drawing on their personal and professional experiences, HIV and AIDS knowledge and community and department of education support. Significantly, teachers resisted tensions and negotiated conflicting subjectivities to create critical reflective or labyrinthine spaces within their classrooms. I argue that spatial dynamics and teachers’ spatial praxis emphasise how power, HIV and AIDS knowledge, subjectivities and space are inextricably linked. Further analysis of teachers’ narratives highlighted discourses of responsibility, expertise, collaboration and sexuality. Most importantly, this study emphasises the complex and critical role of teachers in mediating HIV and AIDS education. A further insight is that teachers experience both positive and negative emotions when teaching about HIV and AIDS education, highlighting teaching as an emotional practice. Patterns of closeness in socio-cultural, moral and political emotional geographies and patterns of distance in professional and physical emotional geographies were displayed in teachers’ relationships. I argue that teachers negotiate their emotions and subjectivities when teaching about HIV and AIDS drawing on technologies of emotion. Of significance, cultural and religious myths as well as stigma and discrimination presented major challenges which teachers had to address. Key findings were categorised as: conflicting subjectivities and resistance; spatial praxis in labyrinthine spaces; technologies of emotion and demystifying cultural and religious myths.The implications of these findings are crucial for policy makers, teacher educators and teachers when implementing curricular and pedagogic changes in the complex spaces of the HIV and AIDS classroom. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.

Translation of the author's thesis written in Portuguese (doctoral)--University of São Paulo, Brazil, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [163]-177) and index.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Steven Millhauser has been recognized for his abilities as both a novelist and a writer of short fiction. Yet, he has evaded definitive categorization because his fiction does not fit into any one category. Millhauser’s fiction has defied clean categorization specifically because of his regular oscillation between the modes of realism and fantasy. Much of Millhauser’s short fiction contains images of labyrinths: wandering narratives that appear to split off or come to a dead end, massive structures of branching, winding paths and complex mysteries that are as deep and impenetrable as the labyrinth itself. This project aims to specifically explore the presence of labyrinthine elements throughout Steven Millhauser’s short fiction. Millhauser’s labyrinths are either described spatially and/or suggested in his narrative form; they are, in other words, spatial and/or discursive. Millhauser’s spatial labyrinths (which I refer to as ‘architecture’ stories) involve the lengthy description of some immense or underground structure. The structures are fantastic in their size and often seem infinite in scale. These labyrinths are quite literal. Millhauser’s discursive labyrinths demonstrate the labyrinthine primarily through a forking, branching and repetitive narrative form. Millhauser’s use of the labyrinth is at once the same and different than preceding generations of short fiction. Postmodern short fiction in the 1960’s and 70’s used labyrinthine elements to draw the reader’s attention to the story’s textuality. Millhauser, too, writes in the experimental/fantastic mode, but to different ends. The devices of metafiction and realism are employed in his short fiction as agents of investigating and expressing two competing visions of reality. Using the ‘tricks’ and techniques of postmodern metafiction in tandem with realistic detail, Steven Millhauser’s labyrinthine fiction adjusts and reapplies the experimental short story to new ends: real-world applications and thematic expression.