A literatura de design e de arquitetura sugere a necessidade de realização de estudos mais aprofundados e capilares junto a usuários de baixa renda a respeito da realidade material interior de suas residências, de como se daria a efetiva utilização de bens e objetos pessoais, além de suas aspirações e preferências quanto aos produtos de uso doméstico. Vários autores, neste sentido, ressaltam que a produção brasileira de mobiliário residencial industrializado, também denominado móvel seriado, sobretudo no segmento do consumo popular, não atenderia, integralmente, a seu público principal, concentrado nestas duas faixas socioeconômicas da população. Este alegado descompasso existiria, parcialmente, em razão de designers e fabricantes de móveis populares seriados supostamente desconhecerem as necessidades efetivas dos usuários e as maneiras de interação com seus bens domésticos. Nesta pesquisa, foram investigadas várias situações de uso do referido mobiliário popular industrializado em moradias de usuários selecionados residentes na Grande São Paulo, abordando aspectos tais como: percepções, significados, preferências, avaliações, apropriações, formas de utilização e adequação aos ambientes. Em termos metodológicos, este estudo qualitativo, de caráter essencialmente fenomenológico, mas também observacional, foi constituído pela sistematização e análise associativa de dados obtidos por meio de entrevistas em profundidade semiestruturadas conduzidas com quarenta usuários e doze vendedores. O trabalho de campo foi complementado por observações diretas, produzidas pela pesquisadora, de móveis, objetos e demais arranjos físicos e visuais encontrados nas moradias visitadas e em lojas de móveis populares, com auxílio de registros fotográficos e gravações em áudio. Na análise do conjunto de dados coletados, foram identificados elementos semióticos, estéticos, funcionais, socioculturais e psicológicos, entre outros. Os resultados obtidos permitem iluminar questões efetivas de uso do mobiliário popular, além de hábitos, costumes, preferências estéticas e condições internas das moradias dos usuários participantes. Observou-se, por exemplo, neste sentido, reduzida adequação de parcela significativa do mobiliário às habitações visitadas, bem como presença de improvisações e adaptações a que os usuários comumente recorrem, mesmo em móveis com pouco tempo de aquisição, para que voltem a desempenhar adequadamente suas funções, além de certa resignação de parte dos usuários quanto a deficiências de projeto e de produção verificadas nos móveis, por vezes justificadas, por eles, pelos baixos preços que pagaram. Tais percepções e outros achados disponibilizam, assim, um corpo de insumos para designers e indústria moveleira em geral, sobre necessidades específicas de famílias de baixa renda que encontram, neste mobiliário popular industrializado, sua principal ou única, mesmo que, em casos, precária, opção de compra para atendimento de necessidades básicas de armazenamento de objetos pessoais e de apoio a tarefas domésticas. Espera-se, com esta pesquisa, contribuir para que o projeto e a produção desta classe de produtos ofereça maior adequação ao efetivo modo de vida e necessidades de seus usuários no interior de suas moradias. / The design and architecture literature suggests the need for more in-depth studies with low-income users regarding the material in their homes and how belongings and personal objects would actually be used, as well as what their aspirations and preferences are with regard to domestic products. Several authors in this context emphasize that Brazilian industrial residential furniture production, also called furniture in series, especially in the budget furniture segment, does not entirely meet the needs of its main public, concentrated in these two socio-economic groups. This alleged misalignment would exist partially because of designers and manufacturers of low-cost furniture supposedly being unaware of users\' real needs and ways of interacting with their domestic objects. In this research, several ways of using industrial low-cost furniture in selected users\' homes in Greater São Paulo were investigated, looking at aspects such as: perceptions, meanings, preferences, evaluations, appropriations, forms of use and adequacy of the environments. In methodological terms, this essentially phenomenological, but also observational qualitative study was done by the systematization and associative analysis of data obtained through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with forty users and twelve salespeople. The field work was complemented by the researcher\'s direct observation of furniture, objects and other physical and visual arrangements in the homes visited and in budget furniture stores, and also with the aid of photographs and audio recordings. In the analysis of the collected data set, semiotic, aesthetic, functional, sociocultural and psychological elements were identified, among others. The results obtained provide information about the use of low-cost furniture, and also about habits, customs, aesthetic preferences and internal conditions of the participating users\' homes. It was observed, for example, that much of the furniture in the homes visited was of limited adequacy, and there were often user improvisations and adaptations, even in furniture purchased recently, so that it would more adequately fulfill its function. In addition, the users had a certain feeling of resignation about the furniture\'s design and manufacturing deficiencies, sometimes justified, for them, by the low price they had paid. These perceptions and other findings make available, then, input for designers and the furniture industry, in general, on specific needs of low-income families that have, in this industrialized low-cost furniture, their main or only, though sometimes precarious, purchase option to meet their basic needs for storage of their belongings and support for domestic tasks. It is hoped that this research will contribute to the design and production of this class of products becoming more suited to the lifestyles and needs of users in their homes.

This thesis aims to explore an aspect of the history of vernacular speech through analysis of some eighteenth century verse texts. These satirical anti-Jesuit pamphlets by Nicolas Jouin, known as the 'Sarcelades', were collected posthumously in 'Le Vrai Recueil des Sarcelles' of 1764. The texts purport to be in the patois of the peasants of Sarcelles and show features which may be paralleled in the vernacular speech of Paris and elsewhere, and even correspond with features of contemporary colloquial French. The study may appeal to French historical sociolinguists interested in reconstructing spoken language of the past, and particularly in the history of vernacular speech of Paris since the Middle Ages through to the eighteenth century, in the context of the development of urban dialects. In order to set the scene for a linguistic description of Jouin’s work the limited biographical information available was collated. Then a period of bibliographical research led to acquisition of copies of the texts which were to be studied in order to identify and examine their non-standard linguistic features. Firstly the process of growth of urban dialects was discussed, and then the development of the Paris vernacular in particular. Then attention was turned to direct written evidence in the form of commentary and to a number of texts from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries containing features of the Paris vernacular. These had already been analysed by certain historical linguists, although the texts in the 'Sarcelades' had hitherto only been briefly mentioned. However, here they are considered to be of sufficient interest to be examined more closely, although it had to be established whether Jouin’s texts containing a selection of non-standard features could be regarded as an accurate depiction of the Paris vernacular at the period. The non-standard phonetic, morphological, syntactic, and lexical features in the texts were therefore compared with findings in other texts by previous commentators. Following these analyses it was noted to what extent the relative frequency of the variables correlates with the salience of certain features in popular speech in Paris at the period, as already observed in other texts by previous commentators, and it was concluded that in general established characteristics of the 'patois de Paris' at the period are to be found in the 'Sarcelades', even though there do remain certain features which do not appear to be generally attested elsewhere. Nevertheless, despite reservations concerning the authenticity of some of the non-standard features employed by Jouin, by bringing attention to this little-known series of texts this study may help to claim a place for the Sarcelades amongst the corpus of texts which reflect aspects of the lower-class sociolect, the 'patois de Paris', at the period.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how politics was done at the level of the parliamentary constituencies at the time of the treaty of Amiens 1802-1803. This is achieved through two case studies of the elections in Middlesex and Nottingham, which are investigated as social practices. This thesis argues that understandings of masculinity and national identity, as well as questions about the nature of the constitution and citizen rights were central to participants in the extraparliamentary political process. Collective emotions were also highly important in the process of mobilising political support, and this thesis emphasises that participation in these elections was a collective effort; men and women from all levels of society were significant political actors. Moreover, this thesis demonstrates the importance of competences such as knowledge about the organisation of crowds and political violence in the performance of the election.

No description available.