6,170 research outputs found

    Whose story is it anyway? The ethics of narration and the narration of ethics in Summertime and Die Sneeuslaper

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    Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation analyses and compares the narrative strategies in J.M. Coetzee’s Summertime and Marlene van Niekerk’s Die sneeuslaper and considers the implications of these strategies for the authors’ exploration of the ethics of writing. Much has been written about the literary oeuvres of both Coetzee and Van Niekerk, including studies of the translations of Van Niekerk’s Afrikaans novels into English. There are few “interlingual” comparative studies of contemporary works in Afrikaans and English, however, and certainly none to my knowledge which compares the work of Coetzee and Van Niekerk. My contribution to the conversation about Coetzee’s and Van Niekerk’s work, but also to an increasingly multilingual and interconnected South African literary criticism, will be a comparison of one recent work by each of these two authors, written in English and Afrikaans respectively. I draw on the theories of Bakhtin, Barthes and Levinas to consider the ethical dimension of texts in which “double-voicedness”, a questioning not only of existence, but of the self is fore grounded in the content and narrative structure; where there is a shift in focus from the author to the reader (“the birth of the reader”) and “utterances” are made with the response of “the other” in mind

    Spatial heterogeneity of parasite co-infection: Determinants and geostatistical prediction at regional scales.

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    Multiple parasite infections are widespread in the developing world and understanding their geographical distribution is important for spatial targeting of differing intervention packages. We investigated the spatial epidemiology of mono- and co-infection with helminth parasites in East Africa and developed a geostatistical model to predict infection risk. The data used for the analysis were taken from standardised school surveys of Schistosoma mansoni and hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale/Necator americanus) carried out between 1999 and 2005 in East Africa. Prevalence of mono- and co-infection was modelled using satellite-derived environmental and demographic variables as potential predictors. A Bayesian multi-nominal geostatistical model was developed for each infection category for producing maps of predicted co-infection risk. We show that heterogeneities in co-infection with S. mansoni and hookworm are influenced primarily by the distribution of S. mansoni, rather than the distribution of hookworm, and that temperature, elevation and distance to large water bodies are reliable predictors of the spatial large-scale distribution of co-infection. On the basis of these results, we developed a validated geostatistical model of the distribution of co-infection at a scale that is relevant for planning regional disease control efforts that simultaneously target multiple parasite species

    "The day of the great writer is gone for ever": Author surrogacy in Martin Amis’s Money and J.M. Coetzee’s Summertime.

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    This study focuses on the use of author surrogacy in the novels Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis and Summertime: Scenes from Provincial Life by J.M. Coetzee. It addresses the connection between their use of author surrogacy and their comments on what scholars classify as the postmodern cultural condition. Both authors have written themselves into their novels with a different purpose but both used strikingly similar themes to incorporate this purpose, although the stress on these themes varies. Authorial power, the distinction between the real and the imagined, and the fading line between high- and lowbrow culture are examples of the topics discussed in this study with regards to author surrogacy and the postmodern cultural condition. This study concludes that, through their use of author surrogacy, J.M. Coetzee mainly aims to critique, while Martin Amis satirises postmodern culture. Keywords: Amis, author surrogacy, authorial power, Coetzee, fact-fiction distinction, high- and lowbrow culture, postmodern cultural condition

    A Companion to the Works of J.M. Coetzee

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    Studies on the author J.M. Coetze

    O doświadczeniu obcości języka w twórczości J.M. Coetzeego. Słowo wstępne

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    The present foreword refers to the address delivered by J.M. Coetzee on the occasion of conferring upon him by the University of Silesia the doctor honoris causa degree. Particular attention is paid to his thoughts on the role of English in the world of today. The author of the foreword shows that reflection on language in general and its role in moulding one’s identity in present in the Nobel laureate’s works, including his most recent novels. Further into the foreword, the author briefly discusses text reprinted in Śląskie Studia Polonistyczne: the already mentioned address by J.M. Coetzee, the conversation with the Author, and an article devoted to his works written by Robert Kusek.The present foreword refers to the address delivered by J.M. Coetzee on the occasion of conferring upon him by the University of Silesia the doctor honoris causa degree. Particular attention is paid to his thoughts on the role of English in the world of today. The author of the foreword shows that reflection on language in general and its role in moulding one’s identity in present in the Nobel laureate’s works, including his most recent novels. Further into the foreword, the author briefly discusses text reprinted in Śląskie Studia Polonistyczne: the already mentioned address by J.M. Coetzee, the conversation with the Author, and an article devoted to his works written by Robert Kusek

    O doświadczeniu obcości języka w twórczości J.M. Coetzeego : słowo wstępne

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    The present foreword refers to the address delivered by J.M. Coetzee on the occasion of conferring upon him by the University of Silesia the doctor honoris causa degree. Particular attention is paid to his thoughts on the role of English in the world of today. The author of the foreword shows that reflection on language in general and its role in moulding one’s identity in present in the Nobel laureate’s works, including his most recent novels. Further into the foreword, the author briefly discusses text reprinted in Śląskie Studia Polonistyczne: the already mentioned address by J.M. Coetzee, the conversation with the Author, and an article devoted to his works written by Robert Kusek

    Molecular effects of novel mutations in Hesx1/HESX1 associated with human pituitary disorders

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    The homeobox gene Hesx1/HESX1 has been implicated in the establishment of anterior pattern in the central nervous system (CNS) in a number of vertebrate species. Its role in pituitary development has been documented through loss-of-function studies in the mouse. A homozygous missense point mutation resulting in a single amino acid substitution, Arg160Cys (R160C), is associated with a heritable form of the human condition of septo-optic dysplasia (SOD). We have examined the phenotype of affected members in this pedigree in more detail and demonstrate for the first time a genetic basis for midline defects associated with an undescended or ectopic posterior pituitary. A similar structural pituitary abnormality was observed in a second patient heterozygous for another mutation in HESX1, Ser170Leu (S170L). Association of S170L with a pituitary phenotype may be a direct consequence of the HESX1 mutation since S170L is also associated with a dominant familial form of pituitary disease. However, a third mutation in HESX1, Asn125Ser (N125S), occurs at a high frequency in the Afro-Caribbean population and may therefore reflect a population-specific polymorphism. To investigate the molecular basis for these clinical phenotypes, we have examined the impact of these mutations on the regulatory functions of HESX1. We show that Hesx1 is a promoter-specific transcriptional repressor with a minimal 36 amino acid repression domain which can mediate promoter-specific repression by suppressing the activity of homeodomain-containing activator proteins. Mutations in HESX1 associated with pituitary disease appear to modulate the DNA-binding affinity of HESX1 rather than its transcriptional activity. Wild-type HESX1 binds a dimeric homeodomain site with high affinity (K-d 31 nM) whilst HESX1(S170L) binds with a 5-fold lower activity (K-d 150 nM) and HESX1(R160C) does not bind at all. Although HESX1(R160C) has only been shown to be associated with the SOD phenotype in children homozygous for the mutation, HESX1(R160C) can inhibit DNA binding by wild-type HESX1 both in vitro and in vivo in cell culture. This dominant negative activity of HESX1(R160C) is mediated by the Hesx1 repression domain, supporting the idea that the repression domain is implicated in interactions between homeodomain proteins. Our data suggest a possible molecular paradigm for the dominant inheritance observed in some pituitary disorders

    Skin-Friction Measurements on Mathematically Generated Roughness in a Turbulent Channel Flow

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    Engineering systems are affected by surface roughness, however, predicting frictional drag has proven to be challenging. The present work takes a systematic approach by generating and manufacturing surfaces roughness where surface statistics, such as rms, skewness and power-spectral density can be controlled. The frictional drag on these surfaces is measured in a turbulent channel flow facility
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