From text-linguistics to literary actants—The force dynamics of (emotional) vampirism

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kimmel

AbstractThis article provides some groundwork for applying the cognitive linguistic theory of force dynamics (Talmy 1988, 2000) to narrative discourse. It proposes that Talmy's analytic apparatus is suitable for revealing character-related dynamics in literature, especially by exploiting the previously unnoticed convergence with the notion of actancy proposed by the narratologist Greimas (1966). Force imagery both in ordinary action descriptions and in metaphor opens a vista on how readers infer, stabilize, and elaborate narrative macro-representations of “who wants what” and “who does what to whom?” Hence, texts subtly encode aspects of higher-level story logic through forces, enabling readers (and scholars) to detect and scale up coherence patterns that shed light on character motives, protagonist interaction, and plot dynamics. A full-scale text linguistic analysis is proposed. My case study of about 500 text units found in Joseph Sheridan LeFanu's novella Carmilla (1872) reveals a dynamic web of driving, penetrating, manipulating, attracting, and erupting forces between the two main protagonists, a beautiful girl vampire and her 19 year-old victim.

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 61-84
Author(s):  
Slavko Stanojcic

In exploring the viewpoints and methodology of text linguistics, the paper presents the results of the author?s research into the role of syntactical units in relation to the units of semantic nature in the formation of the complete structure of a given text as a unit at the level of language pragmatics. The research was done by means of interpretation of language samples in the field of two functional styles, with a focus on defining the role of syntactical structures in the formation of bounded (situational) discourse. The object of examination is (a) the communicative language, by which term the author understands the language of the speaker?s/writer?s report in the casual practice of communication, here - in the practice of school lectures/textbooks in the field of primary curriculum in the domain of natural and social sciences. The author does this by applying the typical instruments of our text linguistics in the analysis of chosen textbook discourse samples. In addition, the author presents his interpretations of syntactical structures? role in the formation of (b) the narrative discourse/text, by applying the same instruments of text linguistic analysis, here - on the selected sample taken from the work of a typically Belgrade-style example of literary language written by Slobodan Selenic. Naturally - all these function in their respective segments of definitions or descriptions (portrayals).


PCI Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 39-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Tempest ◽  
Clarke Snell ◽  
Thomas Gentry ◽  
Maria Trejo ◽  
Keith Isherwood

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 563
Author(s):  
Alejandro Zunino ◽  
Guillermo Velázquez ◽  
Juan Pablo Celemín ◽  
Cristian Mateos ◽  
Matías Hirsch ◽  
...  

Recent Web technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript, and WebGL have enabled powerful and highly dynamic Web mapping applications executing on standard Web browsers. Despite the complexity for developing such applications has been greatly reduced by Web mapping libraries, developers face many choices to achieve optimal performance and network usage. This scenario is even more complex when considering different representations of geographical data (raster, raw data or vector) and variety of devices (tablets, smartphones, and personal computers). This paper compares the performance and network usage of three popular JavaScript Web mapping libraries for implementing a Web map using different representations for geodata, and executing on different devices. In the experiments, Mapbox GL JS achieved the best overall performance on mid and high end devices for displaying raster or vector maps, while OpenLayers was the best for raster maps on all devices. Vector-based maps are a safe bet for new Web maps, since performance is on par with raster maps on mid-end smartphones, with significant less network bandwidth requirements.


Author(s):  
Mor Hodaya Or ◽  
Izhak Berkovich

Despite the popularity of distributed leadership theory, the investigation of the micro-political aspects of such models have scarcely been explored, and insights on the cultural variety of distributed practices in schools are limited. The present study aimed to explore what micro-political aspects emerge in participative decision making in collectivist and individualist cultures. To this end, a multiple case study method was adopted, focusing on four Israeli public high schools. Schools were chosen to represent an ‘extreme’ case selection rationale: two non-religious urban schools representing individualist cases, and two communal schools in religious kibbutzim representing communal schools. The analysis shed light on three micro-political points of comparison between the prototypes of participative decision making in collectivist and individualist cultures related to control, actors, and stage crafting. The findings and implications are discussed.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Daria Uspenskaia ◽  
Karl Specht ◽  
Hendrik Kondziella ◽  
Thomas Bruckner

Without decarbonizing cities energy and climate objectives cannot be achieved as cities account for approximately two thirds of energy consumption and emissions. This goal of decarbonizing cities has to be facilitated by promoting net-zero/positive energy buildings and districts and replicating them, driving cities towards sustainability goals. Many projects in smart cities demonstrate novel and groundbreaking low-carbon solutions in demonstration and lighthouse projects. However, as the historical, geographic, political, social and economic context of urban areas vary greatly, it is not always easy to repeat the solution in another city or even district. It is therefore important to look for the opportunities to scale up or repeat successful pilots. The purpose of this paper is to explore common trends in technologies and replication strategies for positive energy buildings or districts in smart city projects, based on the practical experience from a case study in Leipzig—one of the lighthouse cities in the project SPARCS. One of the key findings the paper has proven is the necessity of a profound replication modelling to deepen the understanding of upscaling processes. Three models analyzed in this article are able to provide a multidimensional representation of the solution to be replicated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 6005
Author(s):  
Daniel Villanueva ◽  
Moisés Cordeiro-Costas ◽  
Andrés E. Feijóo-Lorenzo ◽  
Antonio Fernández-Otero ◽  
Edelmiro Miguez-García

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the question regarding whether the integration of an electric battery as a part of a domestic installation may increase its energy efficiency in comparison with a conventional case. When a battery is included in such an installation, two types of electrical conversion must be considered, i.e., AC/DC and DC/AC, and hence the corresponding losses due to these converters must not be forgotten when performing the analysis. The efficiency of the whole system can be increased if one of the mentioned converters is avoided or simply when its dimensioning is reduced. Possible ways to achieve this goal can be: to use electric vehicles as DC suppliers, the use of as many DC home devices as possible, and LED lighting or charging devices based on renewables. With all this in mind, several scenarios are proposed here in order to have a look at all possibilities concerning AC and DC powering. With the aim of checking these scenarios using real data, a case study is analyzed by operating with electricity consumption mean values.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 478
Author(s):  
Gjylije Hoti ◽  
Fabrizio Caldera ◽  
Claudio Cecone ◽  
Alberto Rubin Pedrazzo ◽  
Anastasia Anceschi ◽  
...  

The cross-linking density influences the physicochemical properties of cyclodextrin-based nanosponges (CD-NSs). Although the effect of the cross-linker type and content on the NSs performance has been investigated, a detailed study of the cross-linking density has never been performed. In this contribution, nine ester-bridged NSs based on β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and different quantities of pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), used as a cross-linking agent in stoichiometric proportions of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 moles of PMDA for each mole of CD, were synthesized and characterized in terms of swelling and rheological properties. The results, from the swelling experiments, exploiting Flory–Rehner theory, and rheology, strongly showed a cross-linker content-dependent behavior. The study of cross-linking density allowed to shed light on the efficiency of the synthesis reaction methods. Overall, our study demonstrates that by varying the amount of cross-linking agent, the cross-linked structure of the NSs matrix can be controlled effectively. As PMDA βCD-NSs have emerged over the years as a highly versatile class of materials with potential applications in various fields, this study represents the first step towards a full understanding of the correlation between their structure and properties, which is a key requirement to effectively tune their synthesis reaction in view of any specific future application or industrial scale-up.


2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-520
Author(s):  
Nicola Pozza

AbstractNumerous studies have dealt with the process of globalization and its various cultural products. Three such cultural products illustrate this process: Vikas Swarup’s novel Q and A (2005), the TV quiz show Kaun banega crorepati? (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?), and Danny Boyle’s film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The novel, the TV show and the film have so far been studied separately. Juxtaposing and comparing Q and A, Kaun banega crorepati, and Slumdog Millionaire provides an effective means to shed light on the dialogic and interactive nature of the process of globalization. It is argued through this case study that an analysis of their place of production, language and content, helps clarify the derivative concepts of “glocalization” and “grobalization” with regard to the way(s) contemporary cultural products respond to globalization.


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