scholarly journals “Why do you write what isn’t true?”: Dostoevsky and the Fantastic Paradox

2011 ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Michael Hollington
Keyword(s):  
American Fiction ◽  
Don Juan ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Fantastic ◽  
Contemporary Reality

In this paper, my starting point will be Philip Roth’s famous essay “Writing American Fiction,” in which he complains about the difficulty of writing novels in a country “where the actuality is constantly outdoing our talents.” I shall contend that this perception is not a new one, nor does it apply to American reality alone, and trace it back through a series of writers commenting on the difficulty of writing novels in the face of contemporary reality to its origins in Byron’s Don Juan: “For truth is always strange; stranger than fiction.” I shall argue that the aesthetics of “romantic realism,” as Donald Fanger labels it—the writing of Dickens, Dostoevsky, Balzac, Gogol, etc—directly addresses this paradox, and that this partly accounts for the differences between it and “classic realism.” My contention is that we mistake the nature of such writing if we judge it by the criteria of “classic realism”—and find it wanting, as is often the case.

scholarly journals Southeast Asia as One of World’s Primary Sources of Biotic Recolonization Following Anthropocene Extinctions

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Şerban Procheş ◽  
Syd Ramdhani ◽  
Alice C. Hughes ◽  
Lian Pin Koh
Keyword(s):  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
High Survival ◽  
The North ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Ancient Lineage ◽  
The Face ◽  
Lineage Diversity

The plight of Southeast Asia’s animals, plants and ecosystems in the face of unsustainable exploitation and habitat destruction has been illustrated in several recent studies, despite often falling outside the global discourse on global conservation priorities. Here, we collate biogeographic and phylogenetic information to argue that this beleaguered region is one of world’s primary macrorefugia, and possibly its best chance of regaining its natural biodiversity distribution patterns after the current Anthropocene upheaval. The region uniquely combines top diversity values in (a) ancient lineage diversity and (b) cosmopolitan lineage diversity, suggesting that it has acted in the past as a biodiversity museum and source of global colonization. This is at least partly due to the interplay between latitudinal diversity gradients and continental connectivity patterns. However, the peak values in South China/North Indochina for cosmopolitan tetrapods and their sister lineages suggest that a key feature is also the availability of diverse climatic conditions. In particular, the north-south orientation of the mountain ranges here has allowed for rapid recolonization within the region following past climatic changes, resulting in high survival values and overall exceptional relict lineage diversity. From this starting point, global colonization occurred on multiple occasions. It is hoped that, with urgent action, the region can once again fulfill this function.

Risk Analysis and Assessment for the Face Stability of Tunnel

2011 ◽  
Vol 261-263 ◽  
pp. 380-384
Author(s):  
Hai Tao Wang ◽  
Jin Qing Jia
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Monte Carlo Simulation ◽  
Probability Of Failure ◽  
Stability Factor ◽  
Critical Element ◽  
Face Stability ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Face ◽  
Design Value ◽  
Acceptable Probability

The evaluation of the correct stability factor of tunnel is a critical element in the various design and construction phases of a tunnel excavated in difficult geotechnical conditions. An innovative, and well-applied, procedure for optimize the construction phase management is described in this article. The starting point of this procedure involves the verification of the results of numerical methods obtained from referenced analytical methods. In the first step of the procedure the results obtained through the analytical method are verified by means of a numerical method in order to evaluate the practical consequences in terms of development of deformations and plastic zone. In this manner, the assumed design risk is evaluated for the different methods and the solution that gives the best correspondence with numerical simulation is selected. Finally, residual uncertainties and parametric variations are incorporated in the analysis and Monte Carlo simulation is used to calculate the statistical distribution of the face-stabilizing pressure and the design value is selected on the basis of an acceptable probability of failure.

‘A treasure of hidden vertues’: the attraction of magnetic marketing

1995 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Fara
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Instrument Maker ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Face ◽  
Magnetic Phenomena ◽  
Samuel Pepys

When customers like Samuel Pepys visited the shop of Thomas Tuttell, instrument maker to the king, they could purchase a pack of mathematical playing-cards. The seven of spades, reproduced as Figure 1, depicted the diverse connotations of magnets, or loadstones. These cards cost a shilling, and were too expensive for many of the surveyors, navigators and other practitioners shown using Tuttell's instruments. They provide an early example of the products promising both diversion and improvement which were increasingly marketed to polite audiences. Tuttell's description of loadstone as ‘a treasure of hidden vertues’ encapsulated many contemporary perceptions of these naturally occurring magnets which were to endure throughout the century. This phrase, with its hints of concealed financial and epistemological benefits, resonates with major eighteenth-century analytical themes, such as commercialization, the opposition between vice and virtue, and the fascination with the occult in the face of Enlightenment rationality. This card is emblematic of the multiple interpretations and utilizations of magnetic phenomena during the eighteenth century. It thus provides a useful starting-point for exploring some of the disputes which arose as enterprising individuals concerned with natural philosophy promoted themselves, their activities and their products.

Participation of the manager in the management of the company in the gastronomic market

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Górka-Chowaniec
Keyword(s):  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Catering Industry ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Internal Structures ◽  
Significant Area ◽  
The Face ◽  
Hospitality Managers

The purpose of this paper is to present the role of modern managers in the process of effective management of the gastronomy business. The study is a theoretical and empirical one. The starting point in the author’s reflections is to present the meaning of the manager’s character in the light of the theoretical divergence that is perceived as the manager of the organization by selecting the appropriate directions, ways and objects of the company. The challenges faced by modern managers in the catering industry in the management process, in the face of dynamic changes both in the external environment and in the internal structures of modern entities, have also been underlined. With regard to the conducted own research, a significant area of consideration by the author in this article has become the scope of participation and set requirements for the hospitality managers in the hospitality industry in efficient and effective management. Conclusions from the study may contribute to further discussion on the role of management in creating a competitive advantage for companies.

Cultural Differences in Mulan between Chinese Version and Disney Version

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1332
Author(s):  
Lei Wang ◽  
Bing Han ◽  
Guofei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Chinese Film ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
The Face ◽  
Different Cultures

This article puts Chinese Mulan and Disney Mulan's plots as the starting point, analyzes of the adaptation of the plots to show the different cultural significance given by different nationalities. The purpose of this paper is to research the cultural differences reflected in the films made by Hua Mulan in different countries. In this era of globalization, and in the face of different cultures, only by taking its essence and its dross will produce masterpieces that attract worldwide attention. There are indeed many cultural differences between the Chinese film Mulan and the American film Mulan. After analyzing the reasons for the differences, this study summarizes the enlightenment of these differences to cross-cultural research and shows some views.

A linked aggregate code for processing faces

2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Lyons ◽  
Kazunori Morikawa ◽  
Shigeru Akamatsu
Keyword(s):  
Similarity Measure ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Similarity Judgment ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Face Representation ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Face ◽  
Higher Visual Areas ◽  
Facial Images

A model of face representation, inspired by known biology of the visual system, is compared to experimental data on the perception of facial similarity. The face representation model uses aggregate primary visual cortex (V1) cell responses topographically linked to a grid covering the face, allowing comparison of shape and texture at corresponding points in two facial images. When a set of relatively similar faces was used as stimuli, this “linked aggregate code” (LAC) predicted human performance in similarity judgment experiments. When faces of different categories were used, natural facial dimensions such as sex and race emerged from the LAC model without training. The dimensional structure of the LAC similarity measure for the mixed-category task displayed some psychologically plausible features, but also highlighted shortcomings of the proposed representation. The results suggest that the LAC based similarity measure may be useful as an interesting starting point for further modeling studies of face representation in higher visual areas.

scholarly journals Documentação arquitetônica do casarão de Zé Pereira na cidade de Princesa Isabel-PB

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (40) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Idalina Bezerra Ferreira ◽  
Antonio Gonçalves de Farias Júnior
Keyword(s):  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Residential Architecture ◽  
Republican Period ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Building Information ◽  
The Face ◽  
Term Paper ◽  
Architectural Survey

Known as the house of Zé Pereira, the house n° 243, located in the town of Princesa Isabel, became a property listed by the Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage of the State of Paraíba - IPHAEP in the year 2005, the starting point for the actions to preserve material and immaterial heritage of its history. In the face of a copy of the residential architecture of the republican period of the early twentieth century, this article aims to describe the methods used in the documentation of architectural building. The first step to safeguard the records of time there was to verify which methods could be associated to the architectural survey in loco and they were the following: measuring per pathway, the triangulation and the trilateration that have low cost application, in addition to easy implementation. In order to scan the information gathered the technology Computer Aided Design - CAD and Building Information Modeling – BIM were used, to store information and 3D reconstructions of the building in separate steps. This article has emerged as an academic extension and was finalized as a final term paper of the Technical course on Constructions in the year 2016. Results showed not only possibilities for accurate documentation of architectural features, but also some limitations depending on the stage of the survey.

Transgression and Redemption in American Fiction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Ferraro
Keyword(s):  
American Fiction ◽  
Scarlet Letter ◽  
American Novel ◽  
The Scarlet Letter ◽  
The Awakening ◽  
Great Gatsby ◽  
Sexual Transgression ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Sun Also Rises ◽  
Theron Ware

This book considers modern American fiction in its own Italianate coloration: the interplay of sex (the red of passion), violence (the black of violence), and sanctity (the gold of redemption). Its purpose is to involve readers in the mythopoetics of American narrative, long-lived and well overdue, in which Marian Catholicism is seen as integral to apprehending the nexus among eros, grace, and sacrifice in U.S. self-making—especially for Protestants! It starts with Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the primary instigator, as well as with Frederic’s ingenious retelling, The Damnation of Theron Ware, a second persisting prism. Sustained revisionist accounts of five major novels and several stories follow, including Chopin’s The Awakening, James’ The Wings of the Dove, Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Cather’s The Professor’s House, and Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Each novel is recalled as a melodrama of beset sexuality and revealed as a martyr tale of forbidden love—successive, self-aware courtings of devotional Catholicism that the critical and teaching establishment has found too mysterious and dangerous to recognize, never mind sanction. In counterpoint, the book illuminates each tale in its own terms, which are often surprising yet almost always common-sensical; it identifies the special senses—beauty, courage, and wisdom—that emerge, often in the face of social terror and moral darkness, under Marian-Catholic pedagogy; and it yields an overview of the mainline of the modern American novel in which sexual transgression (including betrayal) and graced redemption (the sanctification of passion, mediated confession, martyring sacrifice) go hand in hand, syncretically.

scholarly journals How Effective Is Spatial Planning for Cropland Protection? An Assessment Based on Land-Use Scenarios

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Silvia Tobias ◽  
Bronwyn Price
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Scenario Modeling ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Land Use Scenarios ◽  
The Face

Spatial planning plays an important role in cropland protection, but its effectiveness is often questioned in the face of ongoing urban and infrastructure growth. Moreover, methods to assess the effectiveness of spatial planning are lacking. In Switzerland, the revision of the national spatial planning act in 2014 was a new starting point for stricter prescriptions on urban development. We assessed whether the new regulations would better protect dedicated prime cropland from conversion to urban areas using land-use suitability models and land-use scenarios. The findings show that with the planning according to the revised planning act, the potential consumption of prime cropland for new urban areas is six times smaller than that occurring through extrapolation of the observed trend in urban development over the past 25 years. However, scenario modeling suggests that, still, more prime cropland will be converted into urban areas than necessary, and that it may be difficult to protect prime cropland to the extent mandated by the Swiss prime cropland protection policy. We have developed an approach to a priori evaluate spatial planning measures. However, the strict implementation of these planning measures will be needed in order to maintain prime cropland to a level required for agricultural self-sufficiency and food security.

Exile, Statelessness, and Migration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyla Benhabib
Keyword(s):  
Leo Strauss ◽  
Albert Hirschman ◽  
Theodor Adorno ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Essential Questions ◽  
The Face ◽  
Hans Kelsen ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Intellectual Movements

This book explores the intertwined lives, careers, and writings of a group of prominent Jewish intellectuals during the mid-twentieth century—in particular, Theodor Adorno, Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, Isaiah Berlin, Albert Hirschman, and Judith Shklar, as well as Hans Kelsen, Emmanuel Levinas, Gershom Scholem, and Leo Strauss. Informed by their Jewish identity and experiences of being outsiders, these thinkers produced one of the most brilliant and effervescent intellectual movements of modernity. The book's starting point is that these thinkers faced migration, statelessness, and exile because of their Jewish origins, even if they did not take positions on specifically Jewish issues personally. The sense of belonging and not belonging, of being “eternally half-other,” led them to confront essential questions: What does it mean for the individual to be an equal citizen and to wish to retain one's ethnic, cultural, and religious differences, or perhaps even to rid oneself of these differences altogether in modernity? The book isolates four themes in their works: dilemmas of belonging and difference; exile, political voice, and loyalty; legality and legitimacy; and pluralism and the problem of judgment. Surveying the work of influential intellectuals, Exile, Statelessness, and Migration recovers the valuable plurality of their Jewish voices and develops their universal insights in the face of the crises of this new century.

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