The Clear Line in Comics and Cinema

The “clear line”, a term coined in 1977 by Dutch essayist and artist Joost Swarte, has become shorthand in the field of comics studies for the style originally developed by Hergé and the École de Bruxelles. It refers to certain storytelling strategies that generate a deceptively simple, lucid, and hygienic narration: in Philippe Marion’s words, it is a style “made out of light, fluidity and limpid clarity”. By cataloguing and critically analysing clear line comics from historical and theoretical perspectives, this book offers a new outlook on the development of the style in the 20th and 21st centuries, especially focused on the context of the European bande dessinée. In addition, it pioneeringly expands the concept of “clear line” to other artistic domains by introducing and defending its transmedial use, which is particularly relevant for the understanding of the oeuvres of certain filmmakers of the 20th century working in the postwar period, such as Yasujirô Ozu in Japan, Jacques Tati in France and Frank Tashlin in the United States. The Clear Line in Comics and Cinema is therefore a key theoretical work for both bande dessinée enthusiasts and comics scholars, as well as a fundamental contribution to present-day film studies and transmedial narratology.

The Struggle between Tradition and Modernity in the Early Twentieth Century of the Tibetan Buddhist World

Hamugetu’s paper discusses the relationships between tradition and modernity through an examination of the Seventh lCang-skya’s activities in China and Inner Mongolia in the late Qing period. Articulating a modern ideology of the separation of church and state, he sought to protect the interests of Tibetan Buddhist society from both the Chinese government and Inner Mongolian nationalists through accommodating both forces, while simultaneously seeking to reform Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Mongolia along modernist lines. Striving to protect the interests of the Buddhist community, the struggle of the Seventh lCang-skya between the system of jasak lamas and the separation of religion and state is typical of the issues facing the Tibetan Buddhist world in the early 20th century.

Coffee wilt disease

In the early 20th century, coffee wilt disease (CWD) caused by the vascular wilt pathogen, Fusarium xylarioides, spread across Africa destroying coffee trees, reducing yields and significantly impacting producer livelihoods. Through systematic sanitation and establishment of breeding programmes in affected countries, CWD appeared to decline. However, the disease re-emerged and increased to epidemic proportions in the 1990s affecting robusta coffee in DRC, Uganda and Tanzania and arabica coffee in Ethiopia. In 1999, 14.5 million robusta coffee trees were estimated to have been destroyed in Uganda alone. This chapter discusses the history, impact, symptoms, cause and spread of CWD. A summary of the Regional Coffee Wilt Programme (RCWP) which examined many aspects of the disease and its management is also provided. . Future research trends include host specificity, underlying resistance mechanisms and the role of alternative hosts. Investigation of pathogen ecology is needed to allow greater focus on agroecological management practices.

The “Expo” and the Post-“Expo”: The Role of Public Art in Urban Regeneration Processes in the Late 20th Century

In 1998, the Lisbon Universal Exhibition—Expo’98—led to an urban regeneration process on Lisbon’s waterfront. Following the example of other cities, this event was a pretext for rethinking and replacing a depressed area and for reconnecting it with the Tagus river through the creation of a set of new spaces for common use along the water. It was promoted as a public art program, which can be considered quite innovative in the Portuguese context. In view of this framework, this article aims to debate the relationships between public art and the dynamics of urban regeneration at the end of the 20th century. For that, it will analyse: (1) Expo’98’s public art program, comparing its initial assumptions with the final results; and (2) the impact of this program, through the identification of the placement of public art before (1974–1998) and after (1999–2009) the event. Although most of the implemented works did not (intentionally) explore aspects of space integration nor issues of public space appropriation, Expo’98’s public art program originated a monumentalisation of Lisbon’s eastern riverfront, later extended to other waterfront areas. At the same time, it played an important role in the way of understanding the city and public space that decisively influenced subsequent policies and projects. It is concluded that public art had a significant role in urban processes in the late 20th century, which is quite evident in a discourse of urban art as space qualifier and as a means of economic and social development.

THE BOOK OF O. GREK'S FATE "SPRING STEPS": GENRE AND STYLISTIC DISCOURCE (TO THE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WRITER'S BIRTH)

Книга «Весенние ступени» представлена в статье как книга, вобравшая в себя «ступени» жизни и творчества человека и писателя - Олеся Григорьевича Грека. Это Человек - эпоха - наша непростая, насыщенная и интересная эпоха от 50 - х годов 20 века и до 10-х годов века 21. Рассматриваются особенности композиции и жанрово - стилистической структуры каждой из трех частей книги. Акцентируется внимание на особенностях новаторского синтеза писателя, способного талантливо, органично воссоединить научно - выверенный документализм, возвышенный лиризм и слово о судьбах и подвигах людских. The book "Spring steps" is presented in the article as a book that includes "steps" of the life and creative work of a person and writer - Oles Grigorevich Grek. He is an epoch man, our tough, intense and interesting epoch from the 50s of the 20th century to the 10s of the 21st century. The features of the composition and genre - stylistic structure of each of the three parts of the book are considered. Attention is focused on the features of the innovative synthesis of the writer to reunite scientifically verified documentalism, sublime lyricism and words about people's destinies and feats.