Academic literature on the topic '1935-1957'

The twentieth-century Ibadi imamate of “inner” Oman (1913–1955) constituted one of the world's last theocracies. In a demise unique for the mid-twentieth century, it became assimilated into one of the world's last absolute monarchies. The 1955 shift from theocratic to dynastic rule met initially with the support, or at least the acquiescence, of most of the tribesmen and notables of the interior. This acquiescence at first appears surprising because the fundamentalist Islamic religious and political principles for which the imamate stood continued to be properly supported. One of these principles for Ibadis was that the imām, the spiritual and temporal leader of the Islamic community, should be the most qualified of available candidates and chosen by a consensus of the community's religious men of learning and notables, a notion markedly at contrast with the ascriptive one of dynastic rule. Conflict between these two forms of rule is basic to much of Islamic political history and to that of pre-1970 Oman in particular.

Out of the 31 species currently referred to Scleropauropus Silvestri, 1902, 17 species are removed and placed in other genera, including the new genus Juxtapauropus (of which Scleropauropus (Scleropauropus) crinitus Remy, 1950 is fixed as the type species) and Hystrichopauropus Remy, 1942, originally described as a subgenus of Scleropauropus and raised here to the status of independent genus. The following new combinations are thus proposed: Allopauropus (A.) lemurum (Remy, 1956), A. (Decapauropus) mameti (Remy, 1959), A. (D.) prunilis (Scheller, 1970), A. (D.) squameus (Remy, 1948), A. (D.) quadriramosus (Scheller, 1995), Juxtapauropus angularis (Scheller, 2002), J. beritae (Scheller, 1997), J. carmelus (Scheller, 1999), J. comatus (Remy, 1958), J. crinitus (Remy, 1950), J. dugdalei (Remy, 1956), J. fissus (Scheller, 1994), J. maurusiacus (Remy, 1960), J. rimatus (Scheller, 1997), Pauropus stephani (Remy, 1957), Stylopauropus (Donzelotauropus) christiani (Scheller, 2007), Hystrichopauropus portitor (Remy, 1935). Two new synonymies are established: Scleropauropopsis Remy, 1957 = Pauropus Lubbock, 1867 and Scleropauropoides Remy, 1957 = Decapauropus Remy, 1957.

A partir da reflexão acerca das montagens e releituras cênicas das peças de Anton Tchékhov (1860-1904) ao longo do século XX, o presente artigo busca refletir sobre as releituras dramatúrgicas das peças do autor - surgidas principalmente na época da Perestroika e final da URSS - por dramaturgos russos contemporâneos, como Alekséi Slapóvski (1957-), Liudmila Petruchévskaia (1938-), Viktor Slávkin (1935-2014) e outros.

The Euops species of India excluding the Himalaya region are revised. Seven species are recorded from the area, placed in three subgenera (Parasynaptopsis Legalov, 2003 stat. n., Flavoriedeliops Legalov, 2003 stat. n. and Riedeliops Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal, 2002) as follows: E. (Parasynaptopsis) andrewesi Voss, 1935, E. (Flavoriedeliops) tamilnadunsis Legalov (2003), E. (Riedeliops) bowringii Jekel, 1860, E. (Riedeliops) indicus (Legalov, 2004), E. (Riedeliops) keiseri Voss, 1957, E. (Riedeliops) pseudoindicus sp. n. and E. (Riedeliops) trichinopoliensis (Legalov, 2007). Diagnoses are provided for the subgenera E. (Parasynaptopsis) and E. (Flavoriedeliops) and a description for E. (Riedeliops). The genera Asynaptops Legalov, 2007, Nigroeuops Legalov, 2003, Orienteuops Legalov, 2003 and Sawadaeuops Legalov, 2003 are downgraded to subgenera and synonymised with E. (Riedeliops) (syn. n.), as are the subgenera Asynaptopsis Legalov, 2007 and Orienteuopsidius Legalov, 2008 (syn. n.), while the genera Indoeuops Legalov, 2007, Morphoeuops Legalov, 2003 are synonymised with E. (Parasynaptopsis) (syn. n.). Euops bowringii Jekel, 1860, E. indicus (Legalov, 2004) comb. n., E. keiseri Voss, 1957, E. rasuwanus (Legalov, 2003) comb. n. and E. trichinopoliensis (Legalov 2007) comb. n. are transferred to E. (Riedeliops) and E. andrewesi Voss, 1935 to E. (Parasynaptopsis) (new placements). The following new synonymies are proposed: Euops andrewesi Voss, 1935 (= E. ammattiensis (Legalov, 2007) syn. n.); Euops bowringii Jekel, 1860 (= E. armipes Voss, 1933 syn. n., E. submetallicus Voss, 1935, syn. n., Asynaptops (Asynaptopsis) colombensis Legalov, 2007, syn. n.); Euops (Riedeliops) rasuwanus (Legalov), 2003 ( = Parasynaptops bengalensis Legalov, 2007, syn. n.). Lectotypes are designated for the names E. andrewesi, E. bowringii, E. armipes and E. submetallicus. One new species, E. pseudoindicus sp. n., and one new subspecies, E. keiseri nilgiriensis ssp. n., are proposed. All species are described or redescribed in detail, primary types and relevant characters are illustrated, a key to the species is provided and the distributions of the species are mapped.

This exploration of the creation of the poème dansé, La Péri (1911–12) for which the score was composed by Paul Dukas (1865–1935) establishes the role played in its development by the première danseuse, Natalia (Natasha) Trouhanova (1885–1956) and other artists. It charts the troubled collaboration on the initial project, which Serge Diaghilev (1872–1929) abandoned in 1911 and follows the process of its presentation the following year under the guidance of Jacques Rouché (1862–1957).

Dans les années 20 et 30, de nombreux intellectuels allemands, dont Döblin, font appel au mythe contre le « désenchantement du monde ». En se l’appropriant comme pilier de son esthétique, l’écrivain aspire à faire accéder son lecteur à une réalité homérique et sacrée. Le présent travail s’intéresse à quatre romans, Babylonische Wandrung (1934), Amazonas (1937/38), November 1918 (1939 ; 1948/50) et Hamlet (1956), et deux nouvelles, Der Oberst und der Dichter (1946) et Die Pilgerin Aetheria (1978) de l’œuvre döblinienne, marqués par l’exil, la guerre et la conversion au catholicisme. De l'analyse du cheminement de Döblin ressort son évolution de la confiance en la force du mythe pour conjurer l’Histoire, à la désillusion face à l’échec de l’instrumentalisation d’un discours, confisqué par le nazisme, aboutissant à sa réhabilitation, au-delà d’une démythification radicale. C’est en ce sens que Döblin dépasse l’idée d’un fatum cyclique, pour réinterpréter le mythe comme pont vers le divin
In the Twenties and Thirties, many German intellectuals including Döblin turned to myth against the “disenchantment of the world”. By appropriating it as the pillar of his aesthetics, the writer aspires to give his reader access to a Homeric and sacred reality. The present work deals with four novels, Babylonische Wandrung (1934), Amazonas (1937/38), November 1918 (1939; 1948/50) and Hamlet (1956), and two short-stories, Der Oberst und der Dichter (1946) and Die Pilgerin Aetheria (1978) from Döblin's work, marked by exile, war and his conversion to Catholicism. What emerges from the analysis of his development is Döblin’s evolution from confidence in the force of myth to exorcise History, to disillusion with the failure of the instrumentalisation of a discourse, confiscated by Nazism, ending in its rehabilitation, beyond a radical demythification. It is in this way that Döblin goes beyond the image of a cyclical fate, to eventually reinterpret the myth as a bridge to the Divine

The goal of this MA thesis is to point out the legitimacy and specificity of voice-over narration as an expressive device in film. Although it is generally underestimated a priori, voice-over has peculiar qualities which, when put to good use, contribute to establish the intended tone of the film. I document the distinctiveness of this narrative device on analyses of films by Woody Allen, Terrence Malick, and the Coen brothers, who are well-known for incorporating voice-over in their narrative styles.

Neuf ans après 1968, l’Italie connaît une nouvelle année d’agitation. Pendant quelques mois la péninsule est parcourue par un mouvement social, politique et culturel extrêmement vigoureux et offensif qui prendra le nom de « mouvement de 77 ». Cette contestation irrévérencieuse évoluera au fil des mois : les manifestations vont se tacher de sang et le « mouvement de 77 » se radicaliser. Mais il sera vite oublié, l’Italie se précipitant, le 16 mars 1978 avec l’enlèvement d’Aldo Moro, au cœur de ce que l’on nomme les « années de plomb ». De ce fait l’historiographie italienne mentionne rarement cette année de mobilisation, et seuls quelques romanciers ont été inspirés par le mouvement insurrectionnel de 1977. Nous dégagerons les raisons littéraires qui ont poussé les écrivains à s’emparer du « mouvement de 77 », afin de comprendre l’exploration paradoxale de cette année : d’un côté volontairement refoulée de l’histoire et de la littérature, de l’autre instrumentalisée afin d’illustrer les valeurs, les échecs ou les victoires de toute une génération. Comment les écrivains ont-ils évoqué ce mouvement ? Comment se sont-ils mesurés à ses enjeux, à ses dérives et à ce qu’il représente ? Quelles solutions narratives ont-ils exploré pour en rendre compte ? Comment leurs textes répondent-ils aux « mythes », ces conceptions dominantes et réductrices que la société italienne, traumatisée par cette période de son histoire, a produit envers cette jeunesse contestatrice ? Nous suivrons la diachronie des perceptions littéraires de cet événement, de 1979 à 2007, à travers les œuvres de Bruno Arpaia, Nanni Balestrini, Ferdinando Camon, Enrico Palandri, Paolo Pozzi et Luca Rastello
Nine years after 1968, Italia is going again through one year of agitation. For a few months, the peninsula is crossed over by a social, political and cultural movement, extremely vigorous and offensive, that was named "movement of ’77". This irreverent contestation is going to change with the passing months : the demonstrations become bloody and the movement of ’77 turns to more radicalism. But it will be soon forgotten when Italia, on the 16th of March 1978, day of the kidnapping of Aldo Moro, will rush into the heart of what were called the "Years of Lead". Thus, the italian historiography rarely mentions this year of mobilisation, and only a few italian novelists were inspired by the insurrectionary movement of 1977. We will draw the literary reasons that led those novelists to take over the "movement of ’77", in order to understand the paradoxical exploration of that year which was on one side forgotten by the history of literature, and on the other side used to illustrate the values, the failures and the victory of a whole generation. How did the writers picture that movement? How did they confront its stakes, its drifts, and what it represents? What are the narrative solutions they have found to express it? How do their texts answer to the "myths", these dominating and reducing conceptions that the italian society, traumatised by this period of its history, have brought to the contestating youth? We will follow the diachrony of the literary perceptions of that event, from 1979 to 2007, through the works of Bruno Arpaia, Nanni Balestrini, Ferdinando Camon, Enrico Palandri, Paolo Pozzi and Luca Rastello

Ce travail explore les modalités de l’intégration de motifs mythologiques antiques et bibliques dans la poésie de RDA. Dans un premier temps sont explicitées les notions de mythe, de mythème et d’« héritage culturel » socialiste. Ensuite sont étudiées les théories de Marx sur le rapport à la culture des siècles passés, qui mettent en valeur une pensée dialectique d’intégration puis de dépassement de l’héritage culturel, sans en rechercher la pure abolition. En témoignant un mépris certain envers les mythes, les autorités culturelles est-allemandes procèdent donc à une surinterprétation des positions de Marx. Si la politique culturelle fait montre d’une attitude schizophrène en instrumentalisant les mythes pour consolider le pouvoir, tout en les dépréciant du fait de leur caractère non rationnel, dans les faits on observe un succès considérable de la matière mythologique dans la littérature de RDA, et en premier lieu dans la poésie. L’étude des motifs mythologiques dans les œuvres de Günter Kunert, Sarah Kirsch et Uwe Kolbe permet de souligner que le recours à cette tradition ouvre la voie, en poésie, à la modernité, puis à la postmodernité. L’emploi des mythes s’articule autour des notions de liberté et de contrainte, que nous mettons en relation avec les concepts du sémiotique et du thétique de Julia Kristeva, afin de montrer que, lorsqu’elle utilise les mythes, la poésie est-allemande développe une esthétique de résistance à la doxa sous toutes ses formes. La reprise de mythes dans la poésie de RDA situe souvent cette dernière dans l’esthétique postmoderne, mais il s’agit d’une postmodernité contrainte, négative, car elle atteste à la fois la difficulté de comprendre le monde contemporain, soumis à l’éclatement du sens, et l’absurdité autodestructrice du régime est-allemand. Finalement, la quasi-disparition des mythes dans la poésie des années quatre-vingt peut se lire comme l’échec de l’idée utopique d’un monde amendable
This work explores how antique and biblical mythological motives are integrated into GDR poetry. First, the notions of myth, mytheme and socialist “cultural heritage” are clarified. After that are studied Marx’s theories on how we relate to the culture of the past centuries. The latter focuses on how to integrate dialectically and then surpass the cultural heritage, but with no intention to abolish it. By showing outward contempt for the myths, the East German cultural authorities overinterpret Marx’s positions. If the cultural policy shows a schizophrenic attitude by manipulating the myths to consolidate the power, while depreciating them because of their non rational nature, in fact one can observe the great success of the mythological material in GDR literature, especially in poetry. The study of the mythological motives in the work of Günter Kunert, Sarah Kirsch and Uwe Kolbe highlights the fact that resorting to this tradition in poetry has paved the way for modernity, then for postmodernism. The reference to myths implies the notions of liberty and restraint, that we relate to Julia Kristeva’s concepts of semiotic and thetic. Indeed, the aim is to show that, when referring to the myths, GDR poetry develops an aesthetics of resistance to doxa in every way. The recourse to myths in GDR poetry places it in a postmodern aesthetics, but a constrained, negative one, for it attests both the difficulty to understand the contemporary world, exposed to the splitting of sense, and the self-destroying absurdity of the East German regime. Finally, the fact that myths in GDR poetry from the eighties have almost disappeared can be read as the failure of the utopian idea of an improvable world

Cette thèse propose d’analyser un phénomène littéraire contemporain et transnational : la biofiction. La recherche associe une étude historique et littéraire de la pratique de la biographie, une analyse théorique dont elle est investie par la fiction, et une réflexion critique et comparative pour les textes spécifiques contemporains.Une taxinomie des nombreuses et différentes formes du biographique littéraire s’accompagne d’une description des poétiques spécifiques de la biofiction et d’une analyse de ses enjeux littéraires comme de ses implications extra-littéraires (historiques, sociologiques, philosophiques et même politiques) afin d’évaluer sa teneur épistémologique en tant que catégorie interprétative du réel.D'un point de vue méthodologique, le travail croise l’étude de l'évolution historique du genre biographique avec celle de la naissance et du développement de formes hybrides dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, en Occident : la combinaison de ces deux recherches (biographie et fiction) vise à retracer une généalogie spécifique pour ce nouveau genre (ou sous-genre) qu’est la biofiction, et ainsi à identifier des textes pionniers, qui anticipent une certaine poétique ou tension esthétique dominante dans la production contemporaine. De plus, cette recherche met en place une analyse comparative de ces textes selon différents critères textuels, à la lumière des instruments, en devenir constant, de la narratologie. En particulier, la thèse se concentre sur le concept de narrateur afin de pouvoir reconnaitre et étudier les différentes typologies de narrateur-biographe présents dans le texte. En interrogeant sa place et ses fonctions dans le texte, il est possible d’identifier les raisons de l’usage du biographique dans les récits contemporains et de vérifier de quelle manière il tente de dire une vérité précise sur un homme particulier.Comme en témoigne le titre de cette thèse, le nœud spécifique qui lie la narration d’une vie et l’énonciation d’une vérité à propos de cette vie représente le cœur de notre chantier de recherche, la clé avec laquelle analyser les œuvres dans leur spécificité et évaluer la façon de concevoir la reconstruction d’une identité et d’une mémoire individuelle et collective, publique et privée
This thesis aims to analyse a contemporary and transnational literary phenomenon: biofiction. The dissertation combines a historical interest in the practice of biography, with a theoretical and analytical perspective for the way in which biographical accounts were invested by fiction, and a critical and comparative attention for specific contemporary texts. A taxonomy proposal of the many different forms of literary biographies is accompanied by the desire to describe the poetics of contemporary biofiction, its literary challenges and its extra-literary implications (historiographical, sociological, philosophical, political): the aim is to evaluate the epistemological and heuristic consistency of biofiction as an interpretative category of reality.From a methodological point of view, the analyses of the millennial evolution of the biographical is followed by the study of the birth and development of hybrid forms in the second half of the twentieth century, in the West, with the purpose of tracing a specific genealogy of the biofictional genre, taking into account the pioneering texts, those that anticipate a certain poetic or dominant aesthetic tension. Subsequently, the work proposes a comparative analysis of some contemporary texts, above all Italian and French, based on different textual criteria and through the tools of narratology. Firstly, the hybrid character, between document and invention, of biofiction (and therefore the coexistence of referential materials and fictional techniques) is evaluated; at the same time, special attention is given to the narrative voice: by questioning the place that it occupies within the story and analysing its function, it is possible to grasp the reasons for the use of biographical discourse in contemporary récits, and at the same time to verify how these kind of narratives try to say a precise and original truth about a particular man.As underlined by the title of the thesis, the specific connection that links the life narrative and the expression of a truth about that life is the heart of this research, the key to analysing biofictional works in their specificity and its ways of conceiving the reconstruction of a particular identity and of individual and collective, public and private memory
Questa tesi intende analizzare un fenomeno letterario contemporaneo e transnazionale: la biofiction. Il lavoro combina un interesse storico per la pratica della biografia, uno teorico e analitico per la maniera con cui essa è stata investita dalla fiction, e uno critico e comparativo per i testi specifici contemporanei. Uno sforzo di tassonomia delle molte e diverse forme del biografico letterario si accompagna alla volontà di descrivere le poetiche particolari della biofiction contemporanea, le sue sfide letterarie e le sue implicazioni extra-letterarie (storiografiche, sociologiche, filosofiche, politiche): il fine è di valutare la consistenza epistemologica ed euristica della biofiction in quanto categoria interpretativa del reale.Da un punto di vista metodologico il lavoro incrocia lo studio dell’evoluzione millenaria del genere biografico con quello sulla nascita e lo sviluppo delle forme ibride nella seconda metà del XX secolo, in Occidente, con l’obiettivo di rintracciare una genealogia specifica del genere biofinzionale e di identificarne i testi pionieri, quelli che anticipano una determinata poetica o tensione estetica oggi dominante. In seguito, il lavoro propone un’analisi comparativa di alcuni testi contemporanei, soprattutto italiani e francesi, sulla base di criteri testuali diversi e attraverso gli strumenti della narratologia. In primo luogo, si è valutato il carattere ibrido, tra documento e invenzione, della biofiction (e quindi la coesistenza di materiali referenziali e di tecniche finzionali); allo stesso tempo, particolare rilevanza ha assunto il concetto di narratore: interrogando il posto che occupa nel racconto e analizzando la sua funzione è infatti possibile cogliere le ragioni dell’uso del biografico nei récits contemporanei, e insieme verificare in quale maniera essi cercano di dire una verità precisa e originale su un uomo particolare. Come testimonia il titolo della tesi, il nodo specifico che lega la narrazione di una vita e l’enunciazione di una verità a proposito di quella vita rappresenta il cuore della ricerca, la chiave con la quale analizzare le opere nella loro specificità e valutarne il modo di concepire la ricostruzione di un’identità particolare e di una memoria individuale e collettiva, pubblica e privata

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, une femme de lettres du XIXe siècle, a bien failli perdre, complètement et à jamais, sa capacité d'écrire au terme de traitements inappropriés pour sa dépression. Elle rédige un récit autobiographique et dénonciateur qui illustre son combat contre la science et la société de son époque. À la fin du récit, la narratrice, quoique anéantie, refuse de se soumettre et continue désespérément d'aller de l'avant. C'est une fin qui suggère, même au XIXe siècle, qu'elle (la femme, la Nature) avait raison, et que le médecin (l'homme, la Culture) avait tort. Au XXe siècle, Martine Desjardins reprend cette histoire sous forme de fiction. Notre étude comparative des deux oeuvres repose sur l'hypothèse principale selon laquelle Desjardins s'est largement inspirée du récit de Gilman pour rédiger son roman. De fait, les deux oeuvres, La Chambre au papier peint (1892) et Le Cercle de Clara (1997), l'une inspirée d'une histoire réelle et l'autre présentée comme imaginaire mais fort probablement inspirée de la première, racontent sensiblement la même histoire. Pourquoi une femme du XXe siècle a-t-elle choisi de réécrire cette histoire en disant « je » à son tour? En quoi le « je » d'une femme du XIXe siècle peut-il trouver écho chez celui d'une femme moderne? Et, comment, par l'écriture, la femme peut-elle exorciser ses souffrances et reconquérir son identité? Le premier chapitre de ce travail traite de la mise sous silence des femmes au XIXe siècle. Le second dresse le portrait de Charlotte Perkins Gilman et présente son récit autobiographique, puis le troisième porte sur la parole que les femmes ont reconquise au XXe siècle et met de l'avant les ressemblances et les différences entre les textes en mettant l'accent sur la modernité et le féminisme de l'oeuvre de Desjardins. Desjardins a rédigé son roman en hommage aux femmes qui ont donné leur corps et leur âme à la société pour permettre à celles d'aujourd'hui de pouvoir publier. Le « je » individuel de Gilman est donc, aujourd 'hui plus que jamais, collectif. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Féminisme, Écriture, XIXe siècle, Hystérie.

This investigation centred on the perception and subjective interpretation of the artistic work, which is closely related to the experience of the spectator. My analysis thus focused on the spectator’s physical and perceptual interaction with specific works, which was activated by the effects of reflection. Reflection is considered in the theoretical and philosophical writings of Merleau-Ponty and Jacques Lacan as a fundamental element in the construction of the identity and ego consciousness of each individual. I therefore analyse the impact of the theories of both philosophers on the conceptual approach to artistic production in the 20th and 21st centuries. The artworks mentioned here have in common the deepening of the collective perceptual experience. In these sculptural environments or installations each spectator constructs his or her perceptual experience of space from the interaction with others. Space is understood here as real space, including both architecture and nature. Reflection is in this investigation also approached from the technical and methodological point of view of the sculpture. In this case, it results from a combination of materials that were specifically designed and prepared by the artists to create the most diverse reflecting surfaces. Finally, a selection of original studies, experiments and sculptures is presented in the final chapter. They were conceived during this master's degree and stemmed from my experiences with reflection. The final chapter highlights two sculptural works and the conceptual process that preceded their production. It also emphasises the relationship between my artistic practice and all the research and investigation developed within the scope of this project.

This chapter provides a literary and historical glimpse into the political fortunes of the great writers and novelists of the Weimar era, focusing on Kurt Tucholsky, Alfred Döblin, and the brothers Thomas and Heinrich Mann. Tucholsky (1890–1935) was foremost a polemical political journalist, a humorist, and a writer of satiric poetry for the cabarets of Berlin. No ills of the Republic escaped his witty scrutiny, but when the Republic failed he ended his life in despair. Heinrich Mann (1871–1950) was both a prolific writer of fiction and one of Germany's leading political essayists. In response to the cultural changes of the twenties, he developed a new aesthetic for fiction that helped him preserve his utopian ideal of a democratic Germany. Döblin (1878–1957) expressed his criticism of post-war German society with greatest success in Berlin Alexanderplatz. Thomas Mann (1875–1955) is a representative of those writers who had great difficulty in moving away from their aesthetic and autonomous view of literature to a more “democratic” way of writing.

The Sierra Motherlode domain is in a series of allochthonous terranes, sometimes called the “Foothill Belt,” along the western edge of the north-northwest–south-southeast trending Sierra Nevada, adjacent to the Great Valley of California. It is a discontinuous belt from the southern Sierra Nevada, in Tulare and Fresno counties, to Butte County in the northern Sierra Nevada , but a branch within the belt is practically continuous from El Dorado County about 140 km north to Plumas County at the north end of the range. Cenozoic block faulting has lifted the Sierra Nevada and tilted the mountain range toward the west; therefore the highest elevations are on the east side of the range. Uplift is more pronounced in the southern than in the northern Sierra Nevada. Altitudes range from <200 m adjacent to the Great Valley to more than 4000 m along the crest of the central to southern part of the mountain range. The highest altitudes in the Sierra Motherlode domain are 1939 m (6360 feet) on Red Mountain and 1935 m (6335 feet) on Red Hill in Plumas County, and even higher on some of the granitic plutons that are within the outer limits of the serpentine domain. These plutons were intruded into the allochthonous terranes after the terranes had been accreted onto the continent. Much of the western slope of the northern Sierra Nevada is an undulating to rolling plateau. This plateau is a remnant from the early Tertiary when its surface was deeply weathered to produce lateritic serpentine soils with silica deposited in the subsoils and in fractures in the bedrock (Rice and Cleveland 1955, Rice 1957). The ancient plateau was capped by volcanic flows that produced a practically continuous cover in the northern Sierra Nevada (Durrell 1966). Uplift along the eastern side of the northern part of the Sierra Nevada to initiate its current relief commenced 4 or 5 Ma ago (Wakabayashi and Sawyer 2001). Since the range began to rise a few million years ago, the larger streams flowing across it have cut deep canyons up to about 600 m below the plateau.