Body text

Body text: Typography and the corporeality of literature In one of his fragments, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg explains that German books printed with roman type, instead of the then default gothic type, always give him a feeling that he needs to translate them – evidence, he says, of “the degree to which our concepts are dependent on these signs”. The article elaborates on this thought. It explores the relation between literature, text (abstract and material), and typography, and argues – by means of bibliographical theory, Goethe’s mother, Jean-Luc Nancy, Roman Ingarden, and a diagnostic comparison between hand writing and digital fonts – that the longstanding, idealistic view, within literary criticism and history, of texts’ ‘content’ as independent of books’ and texts’ materiality and form, obstructs scholars’ striving for understand-ing. Text is not only representation; it is also presentation. Text has form, and the form produces meaning.

The Reality of Return: Exploring the Experiences of World War One Soldiers after Their Return to New Zealand

<p>The focus of this thesis is the lives of New Zealand's returned Great War soldiers. This thesis explores the experiences of men who did not successfully repatriate as a counterpoint to the experiences of those who did, and argues that men's return to New Zealand and their post war lives were shaped by many factors including access to employment and good health. Many returned soldiers were able to resume their lives on return and led relatively happy and successful lives. For these men, their success seems to have come from the ability to find or resume employment, good health, family support, and financial support. For those who did not, one or more of these factors was often missing, and this could lead to short or long term struggle. The 1920s form the backdrop of this thesis, and were a time of uncertainty and anxiety for returned men and their families. The disillusionment of the 1920s was exacerbated by men's nostalgia for New Zealand which they built up during the war. Tens of thousands of men returned to New Zealand from war with dreams and hopes for the future. The horrors of war had given men an idealistic view of peaceful New Zealand, and dreams of home comforts and loved ones had sustained these men through their long absence. For those who returned to find life difficult, the idealistic view of New Zealand as a land of simplicity and happiness would have been hard to maintain. Chapter 1 demonstrates the idealisation of New Zealand and 'home' built up by soldiers and their families during the war. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 use the lenses of employment, illness – specifically tuberculosis – and alcoholism to argue that for many men and their families, the 1920s were an extension of the anxieties and separation of the Great War years. Sadly, for some, their lives were forever marred by the spectre of war and what their absence from home cost them.</p>

The Reality of Return: Exploring the Experiences of World War One Soldiers after Their Return to New Zealand

<p>The focus of this thesis is the lives of New Zealand's returned Great War soldiers. This thesis explores the experiences of men who did not successfully repatriate as a counterpoint to the experiences of those who did, and argues that men's return to New Zealand and their post war lives were shaped by many factors including access to employment and good health. Many returned soldiers were able to resume their lives on return and led relatively happy and successful lives. For these men, their success seems to have come from the ability to find or resume employment, good health, family support, and financial support. For those who did not, one or more of these factors was often missing, and this could lead to short or long term struggle. The 1920s form the backdrop of this thesis, and were a time of uncertainty and anxiety for returned men and their families. The disillusionment of the 1920s was exacerbated by men's nostalgia for New Zealand which they built up during the war. Tens of thousands of men returned to New Zealand from war with dreams and hopes for the future. The horrors of war had given men an idealistic view of peaceful New Zealand, and dreams of home comforts and loved ones had sustained these men through their long absence. For those who returned to find life difficult, the idealistic view of New Zealand as a land of simplicity and happiness would have been hard to maintain. Chapter 1 demonstrates the idealisation of New Zealand and 'home' built up by soldiers and their families during the war. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 use the lenses of employment, illness – specifically tuberculosis – and alcoholism to argue that for many men and their families, the 1920s were an extension of the anxieties and separation of the Great War years. Sadly, for some, their lives were forever marred by the spectre of war and what their absence from home cost them.</p>

Foundations of phenomenology/descriptive psychopathology

Descriptive psychopathology, also called phenomenology, is the core of psychiatric diagnostics and refers to the description of symptoms that can appear in the context of mental disorders. As such, it forms the basis for psychiatric diagnoses, either on the syndromal level (for example, depressive syndrome) or on the disease/disorder level (for example, Alzheimer’s dementia). The assessment of symptoms in the context of descriptive psychopathology is conceptualized as an objective procedure. However, in reality, this idealistic view faces several limitations. These have to be considered carefully, and actions need to be taken to come as close as possible to the ideal of an objective assessment. Some major factors contributing to objectivity include the application of precise definitions of symptoms, consideration of potential psychosocial distortions during the assessment process, and establishment of a good interaction between interviewer and client (empathetic, but still distant enough).

Collective Motherliness in Italy. Reception and Reformulation of Ellen Key’s feminist ideas in Sibilla Aleramo and Ada Negri (1905-1921)

This paper aims to explore how the Swedish writer Ellen Key’s ideas on collective motherliness and on the relationship between man and woman were received and reformulated in the articles, poetry and prose of Sibilla Aleramo and Ada Negri before and after the First World War. The ideas in Aleramo’s autobiographical novel Una donna (1906) were close to Key’s theories, but her autobiographical novel Il passaggio (1919) was quite different. Ada Negri’s idealistic view of motherhood, as expressed in her collection of poetry Maternità (1904), corresponded to parts of Key’s conception of motherhood, while Negri’s dream of single motherhood and the realisation of that ideal is emphasized in her autobiographical novel Stella mattutina (1921).

The Rietdijk-Putnam (Penrose) Argument.

In this paper, I discuss an argument inspired by the relativity of simultaneity (RoS). That argument purports to establish views such as four-dimensionalism, eternalism and, chiefly, determinism. I will present the most important versions of the argument and point out the differences between them — including Gödel’s version and the idealistic view of time that naturally goes with it. Gödel’s version differs from the others in that he doesn’t endorse determinism. The argument depends crucially on how one interprets Special Relativity (SR). In addition, defenders of the argument make certain semantic and epistemic claims, which lead to an alleged incompatibility between indeterminism and our best theory of time. At the end, I will describe the main reactions to the argument and I will make some general remarks on each of them.

Education for Europe? Professionalization between effectiveness and autonomy

This paper assumes that there has been a discourse shift in the understanding of internationalization from an idealistic view on overcoming national narrow-mindedness to an economic view of effectiveness and self-improvement, which also affects the discourse on Europeanization and building Europe by education. Against this background, the question of which consequences this discourse shift has for education and professionalization, is asked. In the end, two contradictions are pointed out as boundaries of professionalizing European education: the first lies in the opposed understanding of Europe and education for Europe; and the second in the replacement of politics by education (understood not only as bottom up control of political aims by education but also as a specific idea of humanity).

The Blindspot: Asian Misrepresentation In Orange Is The New Black

As our nation and society attempt to introduce the notion of post-raciality in the twenty-first century, it becomes clear that this idealistic view of race relations in the United States can only be seen as valid when whiteness is considered to be “normal” or “neutral.” This prioritization of whiteness can be easily identified throughout popular culture, especially with the tendency of mainstream film and television to whitewash casts. However, one of the most prominent shows of the current age, Orange is the New Black (OITNB), has a cast that challenges the blindly accepted hegemonic standards by bringing marginalized communities to the center of attention. While it shatters many preconceived stereotypes dealing with race, class, and gender through its diverse array of characters, the show’s handling of its Asian characters seems only to perpetuate racist tropes. This essay examines why we have developed a blindspot for Asians when dealing with race and race relations by using OITNB as a quintessential microcosm of society at large