"Somos semillas" -we are seeds is a slogan, a sentiment, and a belief that emerges and circulates in a myriad of spaces from Ferguson Black Lives Matter protests advocating for racial justice in the United States, to struggles against state violence in Ayotzinapa, Mexico, to climate justice and food sovereignty movements in Latin America. Seeds are both symbolic and material embodiments of futurity. In this dissertation, I examine the discourses around seeds, particularly genetically modified seeds (GM), and the role of biotechnology as our only purveyor of futurity. In "Seeds", I examine the dominant discourses around GM seeds produced by pro-GM actors such as agro-industries including Monsanto and Syngenta, and USDAID programs such as Feed the Future. These discourses are constructed around social and environmental looming crises that include hunger and overpopulation, loss of biodiversity and climate change. In "Seeds", thinking through the decolonial option, I challenge the single Western narrative that presents GM seeds and crops as the only path to solve these crises and for humanity to have a utopian future."Seeds" takes on 'studying up' approach that as scholar Laura Nader argues investigates those in power instead of those that are being oppressed."Seeds" then works alongside other academic, indigenous, campesin@s, and farmer intellectuals and activists to elucidate a number of ways that people around the world are engaging with such crises and are building different paths to decolonial futures.

Orientador: Vera Maria Chalmers / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-19T18:59:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vilas-Boas_Herculano_M.pdf: 27081251 bytes, checksum: 7b96887673c59205f5f8bd99f2df68fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 1994 / Resumo: Não informado / Abstract: Not informed. / Mestrado / Mestre em Teoria Literaria

As medicines continue to evolve, as well as our tendency to misuse and abuse them, viruses become more and more resilient. While the flu is largely an inconvenience which at its worst may result in a missed day of work, it bears the risk of returning to the days of old when it was a terminal disease. With the imminent risk of resistant super viruses emerging,New York Cityhas taken precautions to prepare for the worst case scenario. If deemed necessaryNew Yorkhas plans to completely quarantine and isolate the city from the world. This provides us with the perfect opportunity to ask the questionHollywoodhas become fascinated with…How would a city likeNew Yorkfunction and survive in the Apocalypse? The answer is not as simple as waiting out the storm; with limited resources, no access to the outside world and a crippled infrastructure. What this thesis also aims to experiment with is the notion of not only barely surviving, but the creation of a new way of life; a truly self – sufficient city, perhaps even creating a Utopian society. This can be analyzed with a systems based approach regarding the different scales of life; from the survival of the individual, the function of the physical shells remaining, and finally the development of a Dynamic City composed new communities

My diploma thesis follows the unfinished EGBA cycle, which started in late October 2016. The name EGBA is the result of the uncertainty, anxiety and loss of trust in man as a healthy individual. I see the EGBA project as a candy with a filling, the content of which is composed of taste that influences one another. Even though it's a great advertisement, the great packaging itself looks great, the candy itself is inedible. The first of the mixed tastes is the term postcapitalism, as a constantly persistent system of capitalism, which, despite all possible peripetions, can not and does not overcome. Despite the growing interconnection of influential entrepreneurs with the state apparatus into the incomprehensible web of ties and relationships associated with deepening financial inequality among people, high indebtedness of countries, degrading environment, etc. The second taste is the temporality in which I am the primary acceleration as an alleged tool of progress. Accelerating is a long-term process that comes with modern times as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Today's time brings us a freneticly fragmented reality in which we try to squeeze as many acts or performances as possible into shorter time intervals. Speed has become a sign of success, so it's no surprise that many of us end up on the pill of hope as it is clear that our biorhythm can not be stretched indefinitely. The current, accelerated society can be likened to a swamp. The faster it rotates its gear, the faster it sinks in the liquid period. The third taste is posthumanism, which we have achieved by constantly simplifying and reducing the problems that nature poses before us. This relief has led us to create a machine that is so effective in reducing it, that it also creates its own problems. Technology keeps coming close to us, constantly evolving new technological advances that are increasingly "more sophisticated, useful and smarter". The inconspicuous disappearance of human nature gradually transforms into the form of Thésa's ship. The fourth taste is anthropocene. The theme of anthropocene circulated most of the news channels. Yes, it is serious and undeniable, although in many conspiracy theories it is completely misunderstood, for example, the blue, not the green palette, Donald's tricks, etc. In short, a long-term game of chess, man versus nature seems to be more advantageous for blacks. The last ingredient is a binder named Internet, like saliva flowing through all of these tastes. All of these candy essences are frustrating for me, and the best solution to me was the theme of apocalypse in my previous work. Dystopic thinking, however, does not last long and I have begun to overflow the hopes of hope that it could all have some positive effect. So if I come somewhere to see a bowl of candy, I will not hesitate and taste it. Most of these are places where it is necessary to wait, to withstand, or to buy something, so I will enjoy plenty of time and quiet to enjoy the tastes of candy and wait for the rainbow.

This dissertation, entitled Utopia Refracted through Mandarin Lenses, examines the legacy of Thomas More's Utopia (1516) in three aspects: translations, paratexts, and afterlives. It explores how Utopia - as a book and as a construct - has been appropriated into the Mandarin context during the process of linguistic and cultural transfer in the acts of translation. Employing close reading, instrumental case study, and the concept of paratexts to survey fourteen standalone Mandarin translations of Utopia, this study aims to fill in the gap of a previously neglected aspect of utopian studies, especially its paratextual apparatus, which has been almost entirely overlooked (with only one exception in 2003) since its first translation in 1935. This dissertation is structured into four chapters: the first chapter contextualises Utopia in the original Renaissance context by providing its early publication history (Latin and English) and by analysing the modes of narrative - fiction and dialogue - in which More's self-fashioning is manifest and where his hypothetical heterocosm is materialised. All this substantiates how fiction, dialogue, and paratexts are integral to the shaping of Utopia, without which a holistic reading is not feasible. The second chapter examines the introduction of the concept of...

The dissertation includes a critical essay on Jorie Graham's "The Guardian Angel of the Little Utopia and a full-length collection of poetry entitled Moonlight in Quota. The essay is a critical examination which argues that Graham's poems question Western anthropocentric thought through her constant arrangement of particular images (flowers, yellow sky, leaves) and her subsequent questioning of such intellectual and linguistic arrangements. Graham grapples with ideas of perception, questions the historical concepts of truth and knowledge, and engages in linguistic play both musically and imagistically. Each section is tied together by some overriding theme or persistent image: 1.) forgetting, Mexican-American border scenes 2.) poverty and faith shown through images of marginalized characters 3.) Artistic creation as a means for the survival for the "other."

Utopias, by their very nature, verge on the impossible. Yet utopian dreams continue to inform the literary imagination. Why is that, and how? The present thesis approaches these questions through a reading of Drömfakulteten: - tillägg till sexualteorin (The Faculty of Dreams: Amendment to theTheory of Sexuality or Valerie), a novel or “literary fantasy” about the life and work of radical feminist and writer Valerie Solanas, by the Swedish writer Sara Stridsberg. The reading examines the possibility of utopian desire and imagination in a hopeless and anti-utopian world. I argue that Drömfakulteten revolves around, and tries to resolve, a seemingly impossible contradiction: to represent an unbearably closed and confined existence, and, at the same time, to break out of this closure from within. A pervading aim of the thesis, then, is to render visible the forms and flows of utopian desire in Stridsberg’s novel. The first part of the reading does this by connecting Drömfakulteten to Fredric Jameson’s and Northrop Frye’s perspectives on historical genres and modes; especially, but not exclusively, on romance. Here, I primarily examine the mechanisms that continually distort and pervert utopian desire in the text. The second part, in contrast, takes as its starting point those utopian forms and impulses that appear to escape or unsettle such distorting mechanisms. The theoretical framework at this stage is provided by Jameson’s structural readings of romance and the utopian form, as well as José Esteban Muñoz queer-utopian thinking. I contend that Drömfakulteten can be read as a narrative structure directed towards a determined closure or ending, which is opened up through various – essentially utopian – strategies.

Presented diploma thesis is based on seven-months fieldwork in the Danish commune of Christiania. It sustains a heritage of utopian ideas of a contraculture of the 60s on which it has been created. The thesis examines which aspects of utopia are presented here and asks about the character of these utopian visions. It focuses on the question how the dream, that locals wanted to implement, is still presented in their minds, and how they perceive its realization. I used examples of street art, that is plentifully presented here, as a mediator of ideological background of this community. Its symbolism allowed me to approach values, ideas and world-views of people who already have been living in this area for almost forty years. I used the principles of visual anthropology to reveal meanings contained in visual manifestations in a public space. My research is focused only on people who moved to Christiania in 70s that means those who were present here in the times of forming this community, and who were a part of revolting atmosphere of the 60s and of its ideals. Methods used during my fieldwork are a nonparticipant observation, informal, semi-structural and photographic interviews

This essay discusses Herta Müller’s 2009 novella Der Mensch ist einGroßer Fasan auf der Welt from a spatial perspective. Drawing from ideas from theSpatial Turn in the 1980s, the main characters of the novella are analysed and it isfound that while the women of the story are able to adapt to the changing of space,the male protagonist is struggling being stuck in what can be seen as a state ofconstant crisis, which renders him practically useless in the society he lives in.Three main theories are used for the analysis; Michel Foucault’s concept ofheterotopias, Henri Lefebvre’s definitions of societal space and Edward Soja’sideas of Thirdspace. Further, Müller’s own ideas of Utopia are brought in forreflection.

La thèse interroge la manière dont la notion de sublime influence la définition de l’architecture construite dans les Alpes, depuis la naissance du tourisme jusqu’à aujourd’hui.La première partie traite de la façon dont au début du XVIIIe siècle, les Alpes sont devenues le topos d'une nouvelle perception de la nature qui se cristallise dans la notion de sublime. Entre effroi et fascination, ce terme engage une expérience de la limite. C’est à la recherche de cette sensation que les voyageurs se rendaient dans les Alpes. Peu de temps après des montagnes artificielles ont été construites dans les villes, d'abord en tant que symbole de la liberté pendant la Révolution française, ensuite comme panoramas illusionnistes, jusqu'aux parcs d'attractions du XIXe siècle.Les parties qui suivent analysent de quelle façon le sublime donne corps à différents types d’architectures. Tandis que les grand-hôtels alpins mettaient en scène la vue sur le panorama des montagnes pour contempler le spectacle de la nature sauvage, les architectures cristallines sont l’expression de visions utopiques. Au cours du XIXe siècle, l'intérêt pour la nature sauvage se transfère sur des éléments singuliers de la nature, particulièrement sur le soleil qui devient en tant que thérapie un véritable mythe. Ceci se manifeste dans les divers « mouvements de réforme de vie », tout comme dans les affiches publicitaires des sanatoriums. Les Alpes étaient considérées comme un « paysage thérapeutique », et comme un territoire idéal pour l'éducation. Différentes institutions religieuses et politiques y ont construit des colonies d'enfants, provocant entre eux une véritable lutte d'appropriation idéologique.Mais les Alpes étaient aussi le territoire idéal pour jouir de l'ivresse du mouvement et du vertige depuis que l’accès en était rendu possible par un réseau de plus en plus dense de téléphériques et de refuges, où l'architecture met en scène l'expérience de la limite du sublime. Avec l’émergence du tourisme de masse, ce n'était plus la nature qui était considérée comme sublime, mais la technique qui permettait de la dominer.L’analyse de l’architecture alpine à travers le prisme du sublime amène en conclusion à un état des lieux du tourisme alpin aujourd’hui où est mise en évidence la radicalité des prises de position. À travers ces présentations, les différentes figures du sublime ouvrent ainsi à une réflexion sur les constructions futures dans la continuité d’une pensée visionnaire, où s’articule le rapport entre l’homme et la nature. / The thesis questions in which way the sublime has influenced the architecture built in the Alps, from the beginning of tourism until today.The first part shows how the Alps became in the beginning of the 18th century the topos of a new perception of nature, which crystallized in the notion of the sublime. Situated between terror and enthusiasm, this term implies an experience of the limit. Longing for this sensation, the travelers went to the Alps. A little later, mountains were constructed artificially in the cities, first as a symbol for liberty during the French Revolution, then in form of illusionist panorama-paintings, up to factice Swiss sceneries in amusement-parks in the end of the 19th century. This induced a flood of tourists, transforming the Alps into a “Dreamland”, for different kind of dreams.The main part analyses in which way the sublime became the guiding principle for various architectures: While the alpine grand-hotel framed the scenery by panoramic windows in order to contemplate the wilderness outside, crystalline architectures are conceived out of utopic visions, looking for a harmonious world. In the end of the 19th century the focus on the “wild nature” was transferred on to singular elements of nature, especially the sun, which (being considered as a remedy) became a real myth. This becomes evident in the “Live Reform”-groups, as well as in the advertisements for sanatoriums. The Alps were considered as a “therapeutic landscape”, as well as an ideal territory for education. Numerous children-colonies have been built by different religious and political institutions, leading to a fight about the appropriation of the children; the ideological differences became visible in the architectural typologies. But the Alps were also considered as an ideal territory to experiment the sensation of giddiness and speed. This became possible by the increasing net of cable-cars and sport-hotels, where cantilevers emphasized the experience of the limit (inherent to the sublime). With the upcoming mass tourism it was not anymore the wild nature which was considered as sublime, but the technic, which dominates nature.The analysis of the alpine architecture through the prism of the sublime leads to an observation of the actual alpine tourism, emphasizing the radicalism of the various phenomena throughout history. The different figures of the sublime open towards a reflection about the future constructions, in the continuity of a visionary relationship between man and nature. / Die Dissertation hinterfragt auf welche Weise das Erhabene die Architektur in den Alpen beeinflusst hat, vom Beginn des Tourismus an bis heute. Im ersten Abschnitt wird aufgezeigt, wie die Alpen zu Beginn des 18. Jahrhunderts zum Topos einer neuartigen Naturbetrachtung wurden, die sich im Begriff des Sublimen (Erhabenen) kristallisierte. Zwischen Schrecken und Faszination angesiedelt, liegt diesem Gefühlszustand eine Grenzerfahrung zugrunde. Auf der Suche nach diesem Gemütszustand, suchten Reisende sehnsuchtsvoll die Welt der Berge auf; diese wurde alsbald in künstlicher Form in den Städten rekonstruiert, vom Freiheitssymbol der Französischen Revolution angefangen, über illusionistische Panoramabilder, bis hin zum Vergnügungspark im 19.Jh. Die daraufhin einsetzende Reiseflut verwandelte die Alpen in ein Land, in dem ganz unterschiedliche Träume projiziert wurden. In den folgenden Kapiteln wird untersucht, inwiefern das Sublime bei den unterschiedlichen Architekturen als Leitmotiv erscheint: Während beim alpinen Grandhotel die Aussicht auf das Panorama inszeniert wurde, um das Spektakel der „wilden Natur“ zu betrachten, standen bei den Kristallarchitekturen utopische-visionäre Gedanken im Vordergrund. Der Fokus auf die wilde Natur verlagerte sich gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts auf einzelne Naturelemente, insbesondere auf die Sonne, die als Heilmittel zum Mythos erhoben wurde. Dies kommt sowohl in den Lebensreformgruppen zum Ausdruck, als auch auf den Werbeplakaten für Sanatorien. Die Alpen fungierten als „therapeutische Landschaft“ und wurden auch als idealer Ort der Erziehung angesehen. Verschiedene religiöse und politische Institution errichteten Kinderkolonien, wobei sich ein wahrer ideologischer „Kampf um das Kind“ entspann, der architektonisch gesehen zu sehr unterschiedlichen Resultaten führte. Die Alpen waren aber auch ein ideales Territorium, um den Rausch der Bewegung auszuleben. Dies wurde durch ein immer dichter werdendes Netz von Seilbahnen, Sporthotels und Hütten ermöglicht, wobei die Grenzerfahrung des Sublimen architektonisch bewusst inszeniert wurde. Mit dem aufkommenden Massentourismus wurde nicht mehr die wilde Natur, sondern die Technik als erhaben angesehen, die es ermöglichte, die Berge zu dominieren. Die Analyse der alpinen Architektur durch das Prisma des Sublimen führt uns zum Schluss zu einer Betrachtung des heutigen alpinen Tourismus im Spiegel des Wandels des Erhabenen-Begriffs, wobei die Radikalität der verschiedenen Phänomene hervorgehoben wird. Die unterschiedlichen Figuren des Erhabenen öffnen somit ein Nachdenken über das zukünftige Bauen in den Alpen, in der Kontinuität einer bestimmen Beziehung zwischen dem Menschen und der Natur.