This dissertation focuses on the Middle Dutch text the ‘Dialogue between Eckhart and the Layman’, an enigmatic spiritual piece of writing from the mid-fourteenth century. A layman and a master... Show moreThis dissertation focuses on the Middle Dutch text the ‘Dialogue between Eckhart and the Layman’, an enigmatic spiritual piece of writing from the mid-fourteenth century. A layman and a master converse about a broad range of religious and social subjects. The student remains anonymous, as the title suggests, and the master is named after Meister Eckhart, the famous German theologian and mystic. In this book I argue that the Dialogue can be considered as a text which sits neatly atop the fault line between the world and its monasteries and convents, between a worldly and a religious experience of faith. The text may well be our most important witness to the beginnings of a process of socioreligious changes, in which ordinary laymen, too, wanted to expand the spirituality they had previously internalized. I provide a reconstruction of the original text, an analysis of the dialectical interplay between the two protagonists and between the different levels of high and low, contemplative and practical theology and a contextualization of this dialogue within the broader intellectual culture of the Low Countries. In particular, I show how the text can be connected to the ideas of Jan van Ruusbroec and Jan van Leeuwen. Show less
Cinema and society interact. This given becomes fascinating when socio-politically sensitive issues are adapted in films that confront spectators with the frames of reference they use to make sense... Show moreCinema and society interact. This given becomes fascinating when socio-politically sensitive issues are adapted in films that confront spectators with the frames of reference they use to make sense of society. This thesis studies how North-American and European films depict political torture in the context of the ‘War on Terror’. It starts from the debate that was held in the political and public domain concerning the actual torture of suspects of terrorist activities, and analyses political torture in film as a fictionalised, stylised form of such violence. In this way, it shows how public debates, politics, and art convene in cinema to engage with contemporary realities we, as societies, find difficult to witness and process. The analyses focus on War on Terror films made between 2004 and 2012. They incorporate ethical, political, and moral questions about the use of political torture, while addressing the West’s share in the geopolitics of the War on Terror. Ultimately, contributions are made to the fields of film narratology and cultural theory, as well as to current debates about the role of cinema in society: cinema as art object, as commercial artifice, and as commentary on socio- politically sensitive issues. Show less
According to different diagnoses, the advent of democracy in Chile was characterised by a fragmentation of and crisis within social movements, due to the lack of demonstrations by civilian society... Show moreAccording to different diagnoses, the advent of democracy in Chile was characterised by a fragmentation of and crisis within social movements, due to the lack of demonstrations by civilian society and even due to an absence of civilians. The aim of this study is to examine and open up debate on activation processes and the deactivation of Chilean civil society in particular, paying special attention to the period of democratic reconstruction during the four Concertación governments as a time of social demobilisation. In the same way, this study goes into more depth and broadens academic discussion on the factors that influenced this deactivation. It poses that social demobilisation between 1990 and 2010 was heavily influenced by traumatic post-dictatorial memories, by civil society’s relationship with the state and the paradigm of governability and, finally, by the market and logic of neoliberal modernity. The influence of political, psychological and economic factors as important inhibitors of eventual mobilising actions in the transition become, at the same time, components of this new socio-political mould. With this, new identities became possible and were also brought to light during the 2011 cycle of demonstrations. Show less
This study is devoted to a corpus of Old Russian letters, written on pieces of birchbark. These unique texts from Novgorod and surroundings give us an exceptional impression of everyday life in... Show moreThis study is devoted to a corpus of Old Russian letters, written on pieces of birchbark. These unique texts from Novgorod and surroundings give us an exceptional impression of everyday life in medieval Russian society. The organic material has been preserved in the soil, and every year new birchbark letters tend to be unearthed during excavations in Novgorod. In this study, the birchbark letters are addressed from a pragmatic angle. A number of linguistic parameters are identified that shed light on the degree to which literacy had gained ground in the communicative processes of the time. It is demonstrated that the birchbark letters occupy an intermediate position between orality and literacy. On the one hand, old oral habits of communication persisted, and are reflected in the way in which the birchbark letters are phrased; they are characterized by a large degree of context-dependence. On the other hand, new literate modes of expression emerged, which can be seen in the development of normative conventions and fixed formulae. The subject will be of interest not only to scholars of Russian, but also to a broader circle of linguists who work in the fields of corpus linguistics and historical pragmatics. Show less
In historical linguistics, the prevailing view is that sound change is phonetically regular: within one language variety, the same sound in the same phonetic environment always undergoes the same... Show moreIn historical linguistics, the prevailing view is that sound change is phonetically regular: within one language variety, the same sound in the same phonetic environment always undergoes the same sound changes, regardless of other factors like word meaning or part of speech. Many of the sound changes previously identified for Biblical Hebrew, however, seem to operate irregularly or only affect certain categories of words. Earlier attempts to make sense of these processes are either hindered by outdated assumptions about the nature of Hebrew, rely on implausible appeals to analogy, or offer explanations that are contradicted by other Hebrew data. This dissertation takes a fresh, holistic look at the sound changes affecting the vowels of Biblical Hebrew, starting from the reconstructed Proto-Northwest-Semitic stage. The sound changes investigated include the Canaanite Shift (*ā > *ō), the contraction of diphthongs and triphthongs, (pre-)tonic and pausal lengthening, changes of *i > *a and *a > *i, and the loss of word-final vowels. Additionally, the interaction of these sound laws with various morphological changes is examined in a concise historical morphology of Biblical Hebrew. The conclusion is that purely phonetic conditions can indeed be established for practically all sound changes affecting the Biblical Hebrew vowels. Show less
For centuries commentaries have played a fundamental role in the formation, transmission and use of knowledge in many fields of scholarship and science, especially in fields in which the starting... Show moreFor centuries commentaries have played a fundamental role in the formation, transmission and use of knowledge in many fields of scholarship and science, especially in fields in which the starting point for knowledge or information is the study of an (authoritative) text – e.g. theology, law, literature. This dissertation discusses a selection of early modern Latin commentaries on the Aeneid. The early modern Virgilian commentary can be seen as a nucleus of scholarship and learning, encompassing information from a broad range of disciplines (e.g. rhetoric, cultural history, the sciences), and is therefore crucial for the understanding of early modern learning and scholarship. Moreover, the early modern Virgilian commentary stands in the centuries-old tradition of Virgilian scholarship, which runs almost continuously from classical antiquity. In this study the Virgilian commentary is used as a lens to look at the complex developments taking place in early modern learning and scholarship (e.g. the rise of the sciences). Each of the case studies of this dissertation provides insight into an important research question in modern Renaissance studies through the perspective of the Virgilian commentary. Moreover, this study presents and translates a wealth of commentary lemmata from early modern Latin Virgilian commentaries. Show less
The dissertation examines the functional and historical context of the corpus of ostraca from the Theban necropolis - hitherto largely unpublished - that are inscribed with identity marks. The... Show moreThe dissertation examines the functional and historical context of the corpus of ostraca from the Theban necropolis - hitherto largely unpublished - that are inscribed with identity marks. The feature that sets the usage of marks in Deir el-Medina apart from other systems in ancient Egypt is their application in the creation of documentary records. Analysing the 18th Dynasty ostraca, the study provides insight into the organisation and administration of the royal necropolis workmen of that period. The ostraca from the 19th and 20th Dynasty are occasionally concerned with supplies and tools for the construction of the tomb, but more often they record the delivery and distribution of commodities, goods and rations, and attendance at the worksite. In the 20th Dynasty more than in the 19th Dynasty ostraca can be recognised that pertain not to the collective necropolis administration, but that are private accounts. The subject of such records is also exclusively of a material nature. They include what seem to be inventories of private property and records of transactions. The majority of ostraca with identity marks were created by workmen without formal scribal training, although some were evidently composed by scribes or draftsmen. Show less
This dissertation analyzes Esmāʻil Fasih’s war novel, The Winter of 1983 (Zemestān-e 62, 1985) from a narratological standpoint to illuminate how this novel differ from other Iranian wartime novels... Show moreThis dissertation analyzes Esmāʻil Fasih’s war novel, The Winter of 1983 (Zemestān-e 62, 1985) from a narratological standpoint to illuminate how this novel differ from other Iranian wartime novels, since it explores numerous themes and perspectives on the war not explored by the war novels of this period. Whereas many wartime novels describe the active role of the working class in participating in the war, The Winter of 1983 chiefly portrays the upper class’s role, and especially their outlook on the war. In addition, Fasih’s war novel exposes the war the Iranian cities end up in ruins due to the war, an oft-neglected aspect of the war. This dissertation also considers how The Winter of 1983 might be differently categorized, as a novel with a moderate or neutral outlook on the war, the central reason being that the novel features both positive and negative aspects of the war. Show less
The dissertation studies how non-central governments inserted themselves in the integration process between Argentina and Chile. As a case study, the link between the Argentinean province of San... Show moreThe dissertation studies how non-central governments inserted themselves in the integration process between Argentina and Chile. As a case study, the link between the Argentinean province of San Juan and the Chilean region of Coquimbo was addressed through an extensive literature review and more than 70 interviews with key informants. The first chapter presents the theoretical framework, developing the concepts of paradiplomacy, forms of state and centralism. The second chapter provides a historical overview of the role the border area played in the relationship between Argentina and Chile. The third chapter provides an institutional analysis of the Argentinean and Chilean political configurations, shedding light on the different prerogatives and autonomy of their non-central governments. Finally, the fourth chapter analyses the link between Coquimbo and San Juan, especially through the integration committees and the Binational Entity Tunnel Agua Negra (EBITAN), highlighting the fundamental role substate governments played in the bilateral integration process. The dissertation concludes that, through the appropriate international institutionalization and flexibility at the central level, Coquimbo and San Juan proved to be an enormous contribution to integration, something worthy of being replicated not only in Argentina and Chile, but also in other countries of Latin America and the world. Show less
The thesis deals with the way in which western European political scene impacted the Chilean exiles’ political thinking. The methodological approach consists on the interaction of the concepts... Show moreThe thesis deals with the way in which western European political scene impacted the Chilean exiles’ political thinking. The methodological approach consists on the interaction of the concepts political transfer and political learning in the context of exile, the creative processing of political failure - both of ideas and alliances - became the centre of analysis. The latter led to the development of a new political proposal, expressed through the processes known as Socialist Renovation and Socialist Convergence in exile. Despite being a dark moment in the pages of Chilean history, exile proved to be a creative time for national political thought. It was in that context that political leaders developed the intellectual capacity to process failure and give new value to the democratic institutions. This, in turn, led to a process determined by the political transfer of those contextual elements that made more sense to rebuild a political project in Chile. Such political and intellectual reconstruction, not only of ideas but also of ways of doing politics, were on to the foundation of the Coalition of Political Parties for Democracy, which won the presidency in Chile in 1990 and held power until 2010. Show less
Tussen 1609 en 1625 verschenen in Leiden vijf boeken met gedrukte, in ovaal gevatte portretten van Leidse geleerden. Icones (1609), Illustris Academia (1613), Icones, elogia ac vitae (1617) en... Show moreTussen 1609 en 1625 verschenen in Leiden vijf boeken met gedrukte, in ovaal gevatte portretten van Leidse geleerden. Icones (1609), Illustris Academia (1613), Icones, elogia ac vitae (1617) en Athenae Batavae (1625) verschenen bij de Leidse uitgever Andries Clouck; de Leidse kunstenaar Willem van Swanenburg ontwierp 34 portretprenten èn de titelpagina. In 1614 publiceerden Jacob Marcus en Joost van Colster een soortgelijke uitgave, Alma Academia, waarvan samensteller en kunstenaar niet bekend zijn. In dit onderzoek gaat het om achtergrond, context en doel van deze vijf boeken. In de renaissance werd ‘portrettencollecties van beroemde mannen’ nieuw leven ingeblazen. Gedrukte uitgaven daarvan zorgden voor een snelle verspreiding onder humanistische geleerden. In de Republiek ontstonden die aan het begin van de zeventiende eeuw tegen de achtergrond van de opkomst van stadsbeschrijvingen, waaraan Icones en vervolguitgaven nauw verwant aan zijn. In het propagandaprogramma van de Leidse universiteit was de universiteitsbibliotheek een belangrijk middel, maar de universiteit is in formele zin alleen betrokken geweest bij Alma Academia. Johannes Meursius was de samensteller van Athenae Batavae en Illustris Academia. De opmerkelijke aanwezigheid van het portret van Petrus Scriverius, zijn vriendschap met Willem van Swanenburg en zijn financiële onafhankelijkheid maken het zeer aannemelijk dat hij als auctor intellectualis èn als mecenas betrokken is geweest bij de samenstelling van Icones. De boeken waren bedoeld als souvenir en waren een belangrijk desideratum voor de verzamelaar; de portretten waren hoogstwaarschijnlijk ook los verkrijgbaar. De focus van de diverse titels verschoof van een serie losse portretten naar een historisch-chronologische reeks. Pogingen om de portrettencollectie te actualiseerden, strandden. De koperplaten kwamen in bezit van de Leidse drukker/uitgever Pieter van der Aa, die ze nog enkele malen hergebruikte. Show less
This study is presented in the form of a ‘thesis by publication’ comprising published journal articles and conference proceedings. The articles are thematically linked to the New Kingdom necropolis... Show moreThis study is presented in the form of a ‘thesis by publication’ comprising published journal articles and conference proceedings. The articles are thematically linked to the New Kingdom necropolis at Saqqara and grouped in three interrelated sections. This thesis sets as its main aim the study of the tombs, tomb owners and the use of sacred space in the New Kingdom necropolis at Saqqara by examining, as a point of departure, the sources pertaining to the early exploration of the necropolis. In the first section, unpublished archival material pertaining to the early, mid-Nineteenth Century exploration of the necropolis is studied. This includes the photographs taken by Théodule Devéria at Saqqara in 1859 capturing monuments that are today “lost”. Investigations into the collection histories of the individual objects enable a reconstruction of the history of dismantling the tombs. The second section examines the inscriptional sources that offer biographical information about the early Nineteenth Dynasty tomb owners. The officials’ titles constitute the main data of research in this section. The rationale of the tombs’ spatial distribution is analysed by combining information pertaining to groups of officials covering a longer period of time and extending over the whole necropolis. The titles are also used to study aspects of the administration of the city, Memphis, and its temples. The final section examines the actual use of the necropolis and the tombs therein. Due to the activities of the early explorers, few archaeological traces pertaining to past activities have remained for us to study in situ. The figural and textual graffiti that were left on the tombs’ stone elements offer the main data for research. Show less
Spiking neural P systems are a class of distributed and parallel computing models inspired by the neurophysiological behavior of neurons sending electrical impulses (spikes) along axons to other... Show moreSpiking neural P systems are a class of distributed and parallel computing models inspired by the neurophysiological behavior of neurons sending electrical impulses (spikes) along axons to other neurons. In this thesis, we consider that the spiking neural P systems are universal even if the systems work in limited asynchronous mode. And we also investigated different variants of spiking neural P systems with other additional features, such as the axon functioning, the growth of dendritic trees in neurons, the positive or negative weights on synapses, and the astrocytes having excitatory and inhibitory influence on synapses. Show less
This project focuses on the political manifestations that can be found in the Argentinean film productions made after the dictatorship, since 1983 until nowadays. The proposed path relates the... Show moreThis project focuses on the political manifestations that can be found in the Argentinean film productions made after the dictatorship, since 1983 until nowadays. The proposed path relates the works with their socio-political, historical and cultural context, and allows the understanding of the transformations of the links (both ethic and aesthetic) between the filmed world and its referents This tesis posits that the memory of the violence that took place in this country during the 70s imprinted a significant mark in the articulation of discursive worlds as well as in any Argentine artistic production. It also considers the memory as a practice that acts in the Argentine collective imaginary, incorporating more extended historical periods that, in terms of causes and consequences, precede the last dictatorship and extend themselves into the present. Thus, the notion of memory is the focus that links the past events with every specific present, and, simultaneously, it is the hermeneutical frame of a research based on a corpus formed by diverse expressive genres. The specific systems of representation of those political events, whose impact manifested itself in the accounted period, are analyzed. We analyze the (fictional and documentary) film figurations of the myths and narrations of the peronismo (a contradictory political movement) and the ways of social irruption revealed in a climate of popular revolt that accompanied profound economical and institutional-political crisis at the dawning of this century. Show less
Already in the 1590s the Portuguese in Asia looked upon the Dutch as a threat and most historiography has not been able to get away from the part that the Dutch played in the Indo-Portuguese drama.... Show moreAlready in the 1590s the Portuguese in Asia looked upon the Dutch as a threat and most historiography has not been able to get away from the part that the Dutch played in the Indo-Portuguese drama. The decline of the Portuguese-Asian empire was however the result of endogenous and extrageneous developments, in Asia as well as in Brazil, Africa and Europe. For an analysis of these developments a multi-linear approach has been chosen in the form of, what one could call, a revolving stage. Each scene, or rather each chapter, produces in the end a different answer to the same question. The first five chapters discuss the social and financial fundamentals of the Portuguese 'empire' overseas and the position of the Portuguese in Asia, in terms of population, trade and military power. Special emphasis has been laid on the relationship of the so called New Christian Portuguese with the Castilian crown and their particular role in the trade with India. It will be shown that, to them, satisfying the need for silver of the Habsburg monarchy became a more attractive proposition than investment in the Carreira da India. This and other developments in Asia undermined the position of the Estado da India and of the private Portuguese traders in Asia, before the Dutch became a serious threat to them. The next three chapters are concerned with the Dutch: it will be shown that their active role in the Iberian and the Luso-Atlantic trade did not exclude an aggressive mood in Asia, or vice-versa. Dutch aggression in Asia was in the first instance prompted and legalized by the States-General, but commercial considerations also caused the bewindhebbers of the VOC to adopt a bellicose way of thinking and writing. However, it will be shown that apart from some acts of piracy and privateering against Portuguese ships and attacks on the Portuguese forts on the Moluccan islands, Dutch violence was mainly directed against the Spanish in the Philippines and the Chinese trade with these islands. On the other hand, whereas the conquest of the Moluccan spice trade became a first priority, the VOC was unable to prevent the Spaniards from taking over many Portugue-se forts and even had to accept that the Portuguese spice merchants moved to Macassar, where for a long time they stayed out of reach of the Company. In the discussion of the Dutch commercial and military initiatives many of the paradigms around the rise of the Dutch empire in Asia will be punctured. In the first forty years of its existence the VOC was far from the effective business organization or war machine that many writers have made it to be. Many of the glorified feats of arms can only be described as defeats or a waste of manpower, ships and money. Finally, the ninth chapter concentrates on the Asian environment in which the Luso-Dutch confrontation took place. During the period under review, major shifts in the local political situation were caused by the southward expansion of the Moghul empire, the rise of the Nayaks of Ikkeri in Kanara, the expansion of Persia under Shah Abbas, the unification and state formation in Japan under the Tokugawas and finally, the Manchu conquest of China. As far as the Portuguese were concerned, all these developments, each in their own way, worked in the same, negative, direction. Show less
