Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Dystopie'

Cette thèse explore l'influence de l'internationalisation de l'enseignement supérieur européen dans la construction d'une Université «contingente ». En partant de l'analyse de Richard Bagnall – qui identifie une «tendance des universités à mieux répondre aux exigences et aux attentes immédiates de ceux qu'elles servent, à mieux répondre aux préférences expresses de leurs marchés respectifs, à mieux répondre au désir collectif et individuel, à dépendre plus directement des contextes culturels dans lesquels elles s'insèrent», cette étude essaie de présenter une approche critique du rôle de l'internationalisation en tant que moteur et conséquence de cette situation de dépendance quelque peu nouvelle que semble vivre l'Université actuellement. Le cadre de Bagnall est élargi pour inclure l'examen de Bill Reading qui constate l'université en ruines (University in Ruins ) et la possibilité de développer une « nouvelle idée » de l'Université par le biais d'une approche «éthique » différente de l'internationalisation de l'enseignement supérieur. La recherche analyse les différentes définitions de l'internationalisation dans le contexte de l'enseignement supérieur. De plus, à travers le rapport de l'enquête menée en 2005 par l'AIU (2005 IAU Global Survey ), elle essaie de comprendre les différentes motivations (raisons d'être) présentées par les établissements d'enseignement supérieur (EES) pour développer des politiques/stratégies internationales. Ces différentes approches de l'internationalisation sont considérées dans le contexte de la mondialisation et de l'européanisation en ce qui concerne les politiques d'enseignement supérieur.

Cette étude analyse le discours totalitaire à travers le prisme du personnage du Grand Inquisiteur dans quatre romans dystopiques : "Le Zéro et l’infini" d’Arthur Koestler, "1984" de George Orwell, "La Zone du Dehors" d’Alain Damasio et "2084" de Boualem Sansal. Il s’agira non seulement de comprendre la structure du discours totalitaire mais également la façon dont il interagit dans l’univers dystopique et avec les autres personnages. La méthode de recherche aborde ces questions de façon pluridisciplinaire afin de mieux analyser les aspects linguistiques, historiques et philosophiques au sein de la littérature dystopique. La thèse se découpe en trois grandes parties, elles-mêmes divisées en trois chapitres. Il s’agit d’étudier en premier lieu la parole hérétique qui s’oppose au dogme totalitaire, pour ensuite comprendre la manière dont le discours du Grand Inquisiteur impose son joug sur chaque individu. Enfin, la recherche aborde la dimension salvatrice de chacune des œuvres du corpus. A travers elles, les auteurs ne souhaitent pas uniquement tendre un miroir désespérant du monde mais aussi ouvrir des possibilités pour faire face aux dérives totalitaires qui peuvent être engendrée
This research analyses totalitarian’s speech from the Grand Inquisitor in four dystopia’s books: "Darkness at Noon" from Arthur Koestler, "1984" from George Orwell, "La Zone du Dehors" from Alain Damasio and "2084" from Boualem Sansal. This work studies the structure of the totalitarian’s speech and how he interacts with dystopia’s universe and their characters. Questioning will be treated through dystopia’s literature and from linguistical, historical and philosophical viewpoints. Thesis is divided in three parts, each one divided in three chapters. First part analyses heretic’s speech in opposition to totalitarian’s dogma. Second part studies how the Grand Inquisitor dominates everyone in the dystopia’s society. In fine, third part tries to find the saving dimension in corpus. In fact, writers don’t want to show only a dark future. Their books are maybe a message to fight against totalitarian’s excesses

Les concepts de dystopie et de postmodernisme ont pris une dimension nouvelle depuis une vingtaine d’années environ.Ces concepts, qui ont fait l’objet d’études multiples tant sur le plan littéraire qu’historique, pour ne citer que ces deuxdomaines-là, ont révélé d’autres perspectives qui, de notre point de vue, n’ont pas encore été abordées. Il s’agit parexemple du rapport entre la dystopie et les ruines. A travers cette thèse, nous avons étudié les concepts de dystopie et deruines tel qu’ils apparaissent dans trois oeuvres (Riddley Walker, (1980) de Russel Hoban, Cloud Atlas, (2004) de DavidMitchell et The Book of Dave (2006) de Will Self) à la lumière des évènements contemporains et en rapport avec lepostmodernisme. Ce corpus a permis de souligner des liens entre dystopie et postmodernisme grâce à la valeuresthétique, éthique, poétique et politique des ruines dont l’ubiquité nous a fait considérer les oeuvres dystopiquescomme un portrait du monde où nous vivons. Cette thèse a par ailleurs permis de souligner le comportementautodestructeur de l’homme, en rapport avec la notion de progrès qui est constamment remise sur le métier, devenantplus une illusion qu’une réalité au moyen de scènes de violence dont les principales illustrations restent les deux conflitsmondiaux avec la Shoah et les bombes atomiques larguées sur Hiroshima et Nagasaki ainsi que l’utilisation des armeschimiques. En plus d’être un trait d’union entre dystopie et postmodernisme, les ruines s’érigent en témoin du passésinistre de l’homme vers lequel elles guident les contemplateurs tout en leur rappelant la vanité de leur vie etl’évanescence de toute existence. L’ubiquité des ruines ne cesse de plonger survivants et contemplateurs dans unemélancolie à laquelle s’ajoute le trauma lié à la perte et la menace de répétition du passé. Les ruines deviennent alorsune forme d’expression, un langage pour les dystopies postmodernes et, à travers elles, les disparus prennent la parole.Les traces de ce qui a été sont ainsi devenues des médias par lesquels le silence des ruines devient la parole de ceux quine sont plus, révélant de manière continue la présence du passé
The concepts of dystopia and postmodernism have taken a new dimension for the past two decades. These conceptshave been explored in multiple studies from both literary and historical viewpoints, to name but these two areas thathave revealed other perspectives, which, to our knowledge, have not yet been addressed. This is the case, for example,of the relationship between dystopia and ruins. The present work explores the concepts of dystopia and ruins as theyappear in the three books (Riddley Walker (1980) by Russell Hoban, Cloud Atlas (2004) by David Mitchell and TheBook of Dave (2006) by Will Self) in the light of contemporary events and in connection with postmodernism. Thiscorpus was used to discover the links between dystopia and postmodernism through the aesthetic, ethical, poetic andpolitical values of ruins, the ubiquity of which brought us to consider the dystopian works as a depiction of the world inwhich we live. The present study has also helped highlight the destructive behavior of Man in relation to the notion ofprogress that is constantly questioned, thus becoming more of an illusion than a reality because of scenes of violencemainly illustrated by the two World Wars with the Shoah and the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,as well as the use of chemical weapons, commonly called mass destruction weapons. Besides being a bridge betweendystopia and postmodernism, ruins stand as witnesses of Man’s sinister past toward which they direct contemplatorswhile reminding them of the vanity of their lives and the evanescence of any existence. The ubiquity of the ruinsrelentlessly plunges survivors and contemplators into a melancholy supplemented by the trauma associated to thefeeling of loss and the threat of a repetition of the past. The ruin thus becomes a form of expression, a language forpostmodern dystopias and through it, the departed speak. The traces of what has been have thus become media through

The purpose of this study is a sociological analysis of Margaret Atwood's novels, in the perspective of literary dystopias. Therefore, the key issues are the contexts that clearly and unequivocally build the image of the social world, read through the prism of the sociology of literature. In the selection of the research subject, the public reception of the analyzed novels is of particular importance; their often turbulent reception proves the extraordinary timeliness of the problems discussed. The issues presented in the analysis focus on the following questions: 1. How and to what extent are classical and contemporary theories of totalitarianism reflected in the novels of the Canadian writer? 2. What is the structure of the social world and what types of individual adaptation to the challenges of social reality do individuals choose, and what are the reasons behind it? 3. What types of social bonds dominate within social microstructures? 4. What is the social position of women in Atwood’s dystopian novels, and how is it justified? The theoretical part of the dissertation details the chosen concept of investigating literary dystopias, outlines the status of the sociology of literature as a sociological subdiscipline, and discusses the basic assumptions of the two sociological concepts that constitute the theoretical background for this study (Erving Goffman's dramaturgical perspective, and the types of individual adaptation of individuals to social structure by Robert K. Merton). It also presents the assumptions of the perspective adopted in the work – on the one hand, the most general assumptions of qualitative analysis, and on the other hand, the dissertation looks at analyses and interpretations in the sociology of literature – classical (György Lukács, Lucien Goldman), also contemporary (Krzysztof Łęcki, Paweł Ćwikła). The research interests include the issues of the anthropology of dystopia, as well as the terminological and categorization complexity of utopia/dystopia. An important element of the analysis is also a utopian project considered as a thought experiment and its significance in the dynamics of social processes. The last section of the theoretical part problematizes the totalitarian perspective. Classical concepts of totalitarianism are presented, from Plato to contemporary thought: Hannah Arendt, Zbigniew Brzeziński and Carl Friedrich, to the systemization proposed by Jacob L. Talmon. In the micro-sociological perspective, the analyses refers to the model of a total institution by Erving Goffman. The next chapter opens an empirical part. In reference to the systematization proposed by Ralf Dahrendorf, the characteristics of the utopian vision of reality are sought in Atwood's novels, in order to clarify the fundamental properties of the total prospective seen in the analysed works and, in particular, those that seem to dominate. In addition, by describing the model of social structure recognized in The Handmaid’s Tale and the MaddAddam trilogy, representative characters are selected from the novels to analyze the types of individual adaptation to changing social conditions. Another empirical section of the work discusses the role of a woman in the Atwood’s world. These reflections focus on the assumption of patriarchal impairment of women in the analyzed dystopias. At the end of the empirical part, the author presents the vision of the (new) man in the discussed dystopian narratives. The key aspect of the analysis is to distinguish the Crakers and Gardeners, who exemplify the new quality of social microstructures as well as the Handmaids illustrating the properties of (new) women. The last chapter of the dissertation compares Margaret Atwood's narrative with classic anti-utopias – George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World – which belong to the most influential dystopian novels of the 20th century. This part specifies the place of the total order described by Margaret Atwood on the axis connecting Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World.

La présente thèse se penche sur une analyse comparative de la forme littéraire de la dystopie islamique : des récits dystopiques qui abordent la crise de l’islam dans le monde réel et la projettent dans un scénario futuriste, sous le pouvoir d’un régime islamiste. Ces récits exploitent des schémas de perception de l’islam qui sont promus de manière discursive dans le monde réel, leur conférant, dans leurs récits, une nouvelle force politique explosive. Ce travail examine les aspects esthétiques, idéologiques et socio-communicatifs de la dystopie islamique qui n’ont pas encore été systématiquement appréhendés.Une attention particulière est portée à la manière dont les concepts politiques d’identité, de communauté et d’avenir, dans le contexte du débat sur l’islam souvent présenté comme un affrontement entre Islam et Occident, sont traités au sein des dystopies islamiques. La thèse identifie deux courants principaux au sein des dystopies islamiques issus de la littérature contemporaine. D’une part, les œuvres 2084 : La Fin du Monde (2015) de Boualem Sansal et Soumission (2015) de Michel Houellebecq, peuvent être considérées comme des littératures de compensation. Ces derniers abordent les défis posés par la présence croissante de l’Autre musulman.e dans un monde marqué par la migration et le multiculturalisme. Elles établissent de nouvelles frontières basées sur la supériorité supposée de l’Occident, les esthétisant sous forme d’un triomphalisme culturel.D’autre part, des œuvres comme 2028 (2016 [2006]) de Thérèse Fournier et Le dernier Été de la Raison (1999) de Tahar Djaout adoptent une approche fondamentalement différente vis-à-vis des discours établis sur l’islam. Ces œuvres affaiblissent les catégories politiques mobilisées dans les discours sur l’islam et sapent leur noyau idéologique. Au lieu de promouvoir une identification avec l’Occident, elles encouragent à réfléchir d’une manière empreinte de compassion aux relations alternatives entre l’individu, la communauté et l’avenir. Elles soutiennent que l’Occident lui-même est dystopique et incitent à repenser la relation avec l’islam et les musulmans, notamment par le biais d’une réévaluation d’un passé traumatique et partagé.Dans l’ensemble, cette thèse contribue à la saisie systématique et à l’analyse de la dystopie islamique en tant que forme littéraire. Elle met en lumière la complexité des aspects politiques, culturels et idéologiques présents dans ces récits et montre comment la dystopie islamique présente différentes perspectives sur la réalité extralittéraire et sur le rôle de la littérature dans ce débat
This thesis focuses on a comparative analysis of the literary form of Islamic dystopia – dystopian narratives that address the crisis of Islam in the real world and project it into a futuristic scenario, under the rule of an Islamist regime. These narratives exploit patterns of Islamic perception that are discursively perpetuated in the real world, imbuing them with a new explosive political force. This work examines the aesthetic, ideological, and socio-communicative aspects of Islamic dystopia that have not yet been systematically reviewed.We pay particular attention to how political concepts of identity, community, and future are treated within Islamic dystopias, especially in the context of the debate on the ‘muslim question’ often framed as a clash between Islam and the West. In that, the thesis identifies two main currents within contemporary literature's Islamic dystopias. On the one hand, works like 2084 : La Fin du Monde (2015) by Boualem Sansal and Soumission (2015) by Michel Houellebecq can be seen as compensatory literature. These works address the challenges posed by the growing presence of the Muslim Other in a world marked by migration and multiculturalism. They establish new boundaries based on the superiority of the West, which are aesthetically presented in the form of cultural triumphalism.On the other hand, works such as 2028 (2016 [2006]) by Thérèse Fournier and Le dernier Été de la Raison (1999) by Tahar Djaout take a fundamentally different approach to established discourses on Islam. These works weaken the political categories mobilized in aforementioned discourses and undermine their ideological core. Instead of promoting identification with the West, they encourage reflection, laden with compassion, upon alternative relationships between the individual, community, and future. They argue that the West itself is dystopian and prompt a re-evaluation of its relationship with Islam and Muslims, particularly by reevaluating a traumatic and shared past.Overall, this thesis contributes to the systematic understanding and analysis of Islamic dystopia as a literary form. It highlights the complexity of the political, cultural, and ideological aspects present in these narratives, showcasing how Islamic dystopia offers diverse perspectives on extraliterary reality and the role of literature in this discourse

Associant l’analyse du discours esthétique des auteurs comme Müller, Bond et Barker, à l’étude dramaturgique de leurs réécritures respectives de Shakespeare, cette thèse a pour but de s’interroger sur l’émergence d’une nouvelle forme dramatique – la dystopie théâtrale. En faisant appel à l’instrumentalisation de la catastrophe, à la fois shakespearienne et historique, les dramaturges s’empressent à écrire des pièces qui partagent presque la même vision sur l’avenir du monde et de l’homme. L’apocalypse du roi Lear et la vision cauchemardesque qu’Hamlet porte sur le monde sont greffées, par les dramaturges, sur des tissus dramatiques étayés déjà sur les traces des barbaries du XXe et XXIe siècles. En tant qu'écritures résolument catastrophistes, les « dystopies théâtrales » s’opposent, à première vue, à toute fonction utopique. Néanmoins, le ton apocalyptique (au sens derridien du terme) qui les caractérise, cache des fonctions esthétiques qui questionnent à nouveau la catharsis et la nature même du théâtre. En analysant ces fonctions, nous tentons de démontrer que ces formes dramatiques peuvent être vues aussi comme des dramaturgies censées provoquer l’éveil des consciences et ressusciter ainsi la pulsion utopique que l’Humanité semble avoir perdue. En plus d’une épuration émotionnelle (qui elle-même est remise en question), la dystopie théâtrale est aussi caractérisée par une catharsis inversée, dans le sens d’une surcharge intellective et d’une rétention émotionnelle qui touche souvent le paroxysme. Quel lien entre l’Utopie et la « dystopie théâtrale » ?
This thesis emphasizes the emergence of a new dramaturgical form – the theatrical dystopia. The study analyses the aesthetical discourse of authors such as Heiner Müller, Edward Bond and Howard Barker, as well as their contemporary rewritings of some of Shakespeare’s plays. Through their conceptualization of the Catastrophe, both Shakespearian and historical, these authors seem to have the same vision of the future of the world and the humans. King Lear’s apocalypse and the nightmarish “Hamletian” vision of the world are grafted on modern literary “tissues”, which are already imbued with the traces of the catastrophes from twentieth and the twenty-first century. Theatrical dystopias seem opposed to every utopian function. Nevertheless, le ton apocalyptique (Derrida) which characterizes them hides aesthetical functions, which cast new meanings to the catharsis notion and the nature of the theatre. By analyzing these functions by and large, this study shows that these new dramaturgical forms are to be seen as writings that highlight awareness and resuscitate the utopian impulse that the Humanity seems to have lost. Despite a strong emotional discharge (which also acquires new functions), theatrical dystopias are also characterized by inverse catharsis – a cerebral and emotional retention which often touches paroxysm. What is thus the connection between Utopia and theatrical dystopia?

Cette recherche sur deux romans d'Emile Zola et Michel Houellebecq est conduite dans une perspective comparatiste, en raison des préoccupations communes qui animent les deux écrivains. Les deux romans traitent en des termes diamétralement opposés de l'utopie et de la dystopie, mais l’intérêt pour la science constitue un point de convergence. Au XIXe siècle la science et la technologie ont fait d'énormes progrès. La Troisième République a réaffirmé les valeurs de la liberté, de l’égalité et de la fraternité qui a inspiré les idéaux de la Révolution française ; l’État et la religion ont été séparés en 1905. Mais peu après, à la suite des deux guerres mondiales, le rêve d'établir un monde utopique s’est effondré. Par la suite,le concept utopique a été déformé, et on l’a défini en termes libéraux comme un résultat de la croissance économique. Cent ans après,Houellebecq dénonce l'existence de ce monde utopique rêvé. Pour Houellebecq, le libéralisme est devenu synonyme de violence, d'inégalité et de débauche. Emile Zola et Michel Houellebecq examinent différemment le rôle de la science dans le développement social. Zola, déçu par le rôle de la religion, croit en la réalisation d'un monde meilleur fondé sur le progrès scientifique et technologique. En revanche, Houellebecq s’oppose à l'idée de progrès par la science dans laquelle il voit une forme de destruction de l'humanité. En travaillant sur Travail de Zola et La possibilité d'une île de Houellebecq, nous avons choisi une approche originale qui consiste à analyser la notion du roman utopique/dystopique ainsi que la place de l'utopie et dystopie dans la fiction chez les deux auteurs
This doctoral research on the works of Emile Zola and Michel Houellebecq is constituted in a comparative perspective because they share common concerns. While both novels deal with diagonally opposite terms of utopia and dystopia, science remains the common link. In the nineteenth century science and technology made huge progress. The rise of the Third Republic reaffirmed the values of liberty, equality, fraternity that inspired the ideals of the French Revolution; also State and religion were separated in 1905. But soon after, with two World Wars the dream of establishing utopia fell apart. Thereafter, the utopian concept was distorted per convenience and it came to be defined in liberal terms as an outcome of the rise of market economy. Hundred years after, Houellebecq denounces the existence of utopian world. For Houellebecq, liberalism has become a synonym of violence, inequality and debauch. Emile Zola and Michel Houellebecq look differently at the role of science in social development. On one hand, Zola disillusioned by the role of religion, believed in the achievement of a better world based on scientific and technological progress. In contrast, Houellebecq opposes the idea of progress through science and advocates it as a mean of destruction of the humanity. In quest to work on the novels Travail of Zola and The possibility of an island of Houellebecq, we’ve selected an original approach that will analyze the poetics of the notion of utopian/dystopian novel and the question of utopia and dystopia in the selected works of both authors

Cette étude de science politique s’inscrit dans le prolongement d’une thèse effectuée en littérature comparée, intitulée « Entre littérature et philosophie : l’Homme est-il un animal politique ? Physique de la misanthropie » (dirigée par M. F. Monneyron, soutenue en nov. 2013, publiée chez L’Harmattan). Dans cette analyse, il s’agissait de tenter une ébauche de conceptualisation philosophique de la haine de l’humanité en partant du théâtre de la misanthropie pour voir ensuite si les quelques résultats obtenus pouvaient s’appliquer à la littérature concentrationnaire et aux dystopies, deux autres genres littéraires qui forment le terreau naturel de doctrines et de pratiques misanthropes.Quelles sont les déterminations culturelles (mythologiques, religieuses, artistiques, médiatiques) de la misanthropie et de la misologie ? Comment apprécier leurs impacts dans le champ politique des paroles et des actes ? La misanthropie n’est-elle pas un composé de misogynie et de misandrie ? Peut-elle être érotique et créer des réseaux ? Comment se concrétise-t-elle dans les domaines du travail, de l’économie, de la technique, de la guerre, dans les problématiques afférentes aux minorités ? Et la démocratie peut-elle générer de la misanthropie ?
This sociological study draws on a comparative literature thesis entitled « Entre littérature et philosophie : l’Homme est-il un animal politique ? Physique de la misanthropie » (Between literature and philosophy: is Man a political animal? Physics of misanthropy) (defended in Nov. 2013, published by L’Harmattan). In this analysis, the aim was to try to sketch a philosophical draft of the hatred of humanity based on misanthropic theatre before trying to apply the results thus obtained to concentration camp literature and to dystopias, two other genres which form the breeding-ground of misanthropic doctrines and practices. This first thought process allowed giving form to some powerfully material aspects of misanthropy: its geography, its therianthropic productions, its infantile manifestations, its exanthropic phenomenology and its dietetics.In the present political science thesis, our aim is to identify the cultural determinations of misanthropy and misology (be it mythological, religious, artistic or in the media) before reflecting on the impact they might have on the political field of speech or of deeds. Isn’t misanthropy a compound of misogyny and misandry? Can misanthropy be erotic? How does it appear in the realms of work, economy, technique, war or in the issues relating to minorities? Eventually we will ask ourselves to which extent democracy creates misanthropy

La littérature contemporaine offre une variété de récits d'anticipation politique-fiction qui abordent l'islamisme de différentes manières. Dans le but de mieux appréhender la façon dont les écrivains traitent cette réalité dans une perspective anticipatoire, notre étude se concentre sur cinq romans : La Tentation de la défaite (2006) d’Antoine Vitkine, 2028 (2006) de Thérèse Fournier, Jihad (2017) de Jean-Marc Ligny, 2084 (2015) de Boualem Sansal et Soumission (2015) de Michel Houellebecq. Notre étude propose une analyse comparative de ces œuvres d'anticipation et de politique-fiction, qui sont étroitement liées à notre réalité contemporaine. Dans cette optique, nous explorons l'histoire du radicalisme islamique afin de mieux comprendre les différentes représentations de l'islamisme dans notre corpus. Notre étude met en évidence la diversité des auteurs constituant notre corpus d'analyse, ainsi que la représentation plurielle de l'islamisme. Nous examinons en premier lieu l'interaction entre la réalité et la fiction dans ces récits, ainsi que la manière dont les régimes théocratiques à tendance phallocratique y sont dépeints. Par ailleurs, nous nous penchons sur les choix narratifs spécifiques à chaque romancier afin de mieux comprendre les influences qui ont façonné leurs récits. Pour compléter notre étude, nous analysons également, à la lumière des événements actuels, dans quelle mesure les mondes décrits dans nos romans ont trouvé une concrétisation partielle. En effet, l'une des fonctions prépondérantes de la dystopie réside dans sa capacité à sensibiliser les lecteurs aux dangers potentiels. Notre objectif est donc d'évaluer dans quelle mesure ces romans ont réussi à alerter les lecteurs face à ces menaces
Contemporary literature offers a diversity of political fiction and anticipation narratives on Islamism. To better understand how writers approach this reality, our study focuses on five novels: La Tentation de la défaite (2006) by Antoine Vitkine, 2028 (2006) by T. Fournier, Jihad (2017) by J.-M. Ligny, 2084 (2015) by B. Sansal, and Soumission(2015) by M. Houellebecq. Our study presents a comparative analysis of these works of anticipation and political fiction, closely anchored in our contemporary reality. We explore the history of Islamic radicalism to gain a better understanding of the various representations of Islamism in our corpus. We examine how reality and fiction interact in these narratives, especially concerning the portrayal of theocratic and phallocratic tendencies. To complement our analysis, we also assess the extent to which the worlds described in our dystopian narratives partially reflect current events

Violence and Dystopia is a critical examination of imitative desire, scapegoating and sacrifice in selected contemporary Western dystopian narratives through the lens of René Girard’s mimetic theory. The first chapter offers an overview of the history of Western utopia/dystopia with a special emphasis on the problem of conflictive mimesis and scapegoating violence, and a critical introduction to Girard’s theory. The second chapter is devoted to J.G. Ballard’s seminal novel Crash (1973). It is argued that the car crash functions as a metaphor for conflictive mimetic desire and leads to a quasi-sacrificial crisis as defined by Girard for archaic religion. The attempt of the medieval propheta-figure to resolve the crisis through violence fails and leads to potential violence without end. The third chapter focuses on the psychogeographical writings of Iain Sinclair. Walking the streets of London he represents the excluded underside of the world of Ballardian speed. The walking subject is portrayed in terms of the expelled victim of Girardian theory. The fourth chapter considers violent crowds as portrayed by Ballard’s late fiction, the writings of Stewart Home and David Peace’s GB84 (2004). In accordance with Girard’s hypothesis, the discussed narratives reveal the failure of scapegoat expulsion to restore peace to the potentially self-destructive violent crowds. The fifth chapter examines the post-apocalyptic environments resulting from failed scapegoat expulsion and mimetic conflict out of control, as portrayed in Sinclair’s Radon Daughters (1994), Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) and Oryx and Crake (2003) and Will Self’s The Book of Dave (2006). In conclusion it will become evident that Girard’s theory forms an indispensable analytical tool uncovering the pivotal themes of imitation and scapegoating in the discussed narratives: themes largely ignored in current scholarship on dystopia and secondary literature on the focussed authors.

Une quinzaine d'oeuvres provenant de champs artistiques et culturels différents [littérature et cinéma] réunies par un dénominateur commun, seront soumises à notre questionnement : existe-t-il un idéal type de société sous surveillance ? A travers l'usage de la taxinomie et une approche comparatiste, nous dresserons une typologie des images comme éléments clés des représentations. Au système de multiplication de référents symboliques interne à chaque oeuvre s'ajoute celui d'un réseau de correspondances visuelles exogène basé sur un référentiel d'images quasi immuable. Les oeuvres se révèlent riches en sens et en symboles. Les nombreuses images convoquées par l'écrivain par le biais de métaphores ou autres tropes, rejoignent celles du réalisateur. Une étude transversale aboutit à un répertoire de codifications visuelles portant sur des univers imaginaires. On constate ainsi par ce biais un processus incessant de recyclage d'idées et d'histoires, qui se muent en standard et permettent de capturer une audience de plus en plus internationale, tout en forgeant un imaginaire social qui s'instaure par contagion. Les propos servis sont sérieux. L'ensemble dissémine une vision du monde qui obéit le plus souvent au principe de rationalisation, censé de s ' inscrire dans un ordre du contrôle et de la manipulation. Jaillissent des mondes nouveaux, comme porteurs de révélations quasi universelles. Nos auteurs [de science-fiction] s'inscrivent dans une longue tradition [l'utopie]. Mais la pression du genre, des motifs obligés et des conventions, n'entame pas leur capacité au renouveau, et la redite n'est pas un frein à l'innovation
About fifteen works from different artistic and cultural backgrounds [literature and cinema], and sharing a common denominator, will be submitted to our questioning: is there an ideal type of society under surveillance? Through the use of taxonomy and a comparatist approach, we will draw up a typology of images as key elements of our representations. The system of multiplying symbolic referents inherent in each work completes a network of visual exogenous correspondence based on a relatively steady image referential. Works prove to be rich, both in meaning and symbol. The many images used by the writer, by means of metaphors or other tropes, meet that of a fiction director. A transversal study leads to a directory of visual codifications bearing upon imaginary worlds. This is how we observe an incessant process of recycling ideas and stories, that evolve into standards, thus enabling to capture the eye of an ever more international public, while forging a social imaginary world, settling in by way of contagion. The topics dealt with are serious. As a whole, they disseminate a vision of the world that obeys, most of the time, a rationalization principle that is supposed to be in line with control and manipulation. New worlds arise, bringing out universal eye-openers. Our [science-fiction] authors fall in with a long tradition [utopia]. But the genre, via obligated topics and conventions, do not for as much pressure one to diminish their capacity for renewal, and repetition does not curb their innovation

Un tour d’horizon du panorama de la littérature pour la jeunesse des quinze dernières années, nous permet de nous rendre compte du succès que la science-fiction dystopique a connu au nouveau millénaire, dans le domaine du roman pour adolescents. A partir de considérations de nature sociologique et psychologique, cette thèse se propose d’analyser les points de contact entre l’imaginaire utopique et dystopique et l’imaginaire de l’adolescence. Une attention particulière sera consacrée à la thématique de la défuturisation – la perte de confiance dans l’avenir – qui est indiquée par nombreux psychologues comme l’un des obstacles principaux dans le procès de quête identitaire des jeunes générations. Notamment, cette thèse vise le recours narratif à l’expérience onirique, à son interdiction ou manipulation de la part des adultes, comme instrument dystopique de contrôle des jeunes consciences et de leur développent et, à la fois, comme une ressource qui incarne, dans les mains des jeunes protagonistes, l’ouverture à l’espérance.
Nell’ultima decina d’anni si è assistito ad una diffusione capillare del racconto distopico e apocalittico, un genere che ha conosciuto nel nuovo millennio un successo senza precedenti nel panorama della letteratura per adolescenti. Partendo da considerazioni di tipo sociologico e psicologico, questa tesi si propone di analizzare i punti di contatto tra l’immaginario utopico e distopico e l’immaginario dell’adolescenza. Una particolare attenzione sarà dedicata a uno dei temi forti della distopia contemporanea che, secondo molti psicologi, costituisce una delle principali problematiche sentite dalle nuove generazioni: la “defuturizzazione” intesa come la paura per la morte del futuro, l’ansia della manipolazione ed il pericolo di un’impossibile formazione. In modo particolare, l’attenzione sarà rivolta al motivo dell’esperienza onirica, alla sua proibizione o manipolazione come strumento distopico di controllo della coscienza e della crescita, ma al tempo stesso come risorsa che, nelle mani delle nuove generazioni, sembra evocare la possibilità di un cambiamento in positivo.
Over the last decade there has been a wide diffusion of dystopian and apocalyptic fictions, a genre that has experienced in the new millennium an exceptional success worldwide, especially in the Young Adult literature. By starting from sociological and psychological considerations, this thesis aims to analyse the points of contact between the utopian-dystopian and the adolescent imaginaries. Particular attention will be dedicated to a major topic of contemporary dystopia that, according to many psychologists, is one of the main problems affecting young generation: the "defuturisation", seen as the fear for the future death, the anxiety of the manipulation and the danger of an impossible coming of age process. Relevant importance will be given to the dream experience, to its prohibition or manipulation as a dystopian instrument of consciousness and growth control, and, at the same time, to its function as resource that, in the hands of the young protagonists, seems to evoke the possibility of a positive change.

Using the lens of ecocriticism combined with theories of the utopia and dystopia, this thesis focuses on the literary portrayal of nature and technology in three contemporary young adult dystopian texts: Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins, and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. This research takes a cultural studies approach and draws upon sources of environmentalist criticism and literary studies to investigate the ways in which the three primary texts represent the natural world and technology and then endeavours to uncover the relationship between the adolescent, nature and technology. This study is a part of a larger critical discussion about how the literary relationships between nature, technology and youth might influence readers’ attitudes toward the contemporary anxieties surrounding impending climate change. The study interrogates the ways that the young adult protagonist is framed in relation to the non-human world, providing insights into the young adult's indeterminate and ambiguous relationship to both nature and technology and the future of human survival.

La tradition utopique a longtemps entretenu le rêve d'une société idéale située dans un ailleurs, un u-­- topos, le "lieu qui n'est pas" dans L'Utopie de Thomas More. La représentation de ces utopies est indissociable d'un facteur déterminant pour la construction d'un monde meilleur : le progrès. Ainsi, cette tradition se caractérise par l'accent prométhéen d'une telle entreprise, c'est des mains de l'homme que sera façonnée cette nouvelle société. Cependant, le point de vue sur la possibilité d'une société idéale va progressivement s'infléchir, notamment au cours du XIXe siècle, pour s'inverser d'une manière radicale au début du XXe siècle. Nommée anti-­utopie ou contre-­utopie, cette désillusion souligne l'impuissance de l'homme et le rôle ambigu du progrès pour inventer la société parfaite. Parfois utilisée comme synonyme d'anti-­utopie, la dystopie caractérise plus précisément les textes qui décrivent une société dirigée par un système d?oppression absolu, fondé sur un État omnipotent, et presque toujours organisé scientifiquement. Ainsi, des dysfonctionnements de la cité du futur dans Le Monde tel qu'il sera d'Émile Souvestre, en 1846, à l'État Unique dans Nous autres de Evguéni Zamiatine, écrit en 1920, la dystopie évolue en prenant la forme du récit de science-­fiction, et en particulier celle de l'anticipation. Nous verrons, notamment, comment l'utopie prend place dans les oeuvres de Jules Verne et H.G. Wells. Zamiatine, très inspiré par Wells, est le premier grand écrivain du XXe siècle à se servir de la dystopie pour décrire les attributs de la société totalitaire. Ainsi, si notre démarche consiste, dans un premier temps, à désigner les auteurs et textes qui ont participé à l'émergence de la dystopie, notre analyse portera essentiellement sur Nous autres et trois autres romans fondateurs de la dystopie au XXe siècle : Le Meilleur des mondes d'Aldous Huxley, publié en 1932, 1984 de George Orwell, publié en 1948 et Fahrenheit 451 de Ray Bradbury, publié en 1953. Nous étudierons le phénomène totalitaire selon les interprétations qu'en font nos auteurs. Il sera donc question de la collectivisation de l'individu, de la propagande ou du rôle de la science dans l'organisation de la société totalitaire. Mais il s'agira aussi de montrer comment nos dystopies illustrent le combat de l'art contre l'entropie totalitaire, et l'engagement de leurs auteurs dans un véritable discours politique. Enfin, il apparaît essentiel de décrire ce qui apparaît peut-­être comme la forme la plus efficace de la représentation de la dystopie : le film de science-­fiction. Nous verrons pourquoi le roman dystopique peine de plus en plus à soutenir la comparaison face à l'immédiateté du langage de l'image animée
The utopian tradition a long time maintained the dream an ideal society located in one elsewhere, a u-­topos, the "place which is not" in the Utopia of Thomas More. The representation of these Utopias is indissociable of a determining factor for the construction of a better world: progress. Thus, this tradition is characterized by the Promethean accent of such a company, they are hands of the man who this new society will be worked. However, the point of view on the possibility of an ideal society gradually will inflect, in particular during the 19th century, to be reversed in a radical way at the beginning of the 20th century. Named anti-­Utopia or against-­Utopia, this disillusion underlines the impotence of the man and the ambiguous role of progress to invent the perfect society. Sometimes used as synonym of anti-­Utopia, the dystopia more precisely characterizes the texts which describe a society directed by an absolute system of oppression, based on an omnipotent State, and almost always scientifically organized. Thus, abnormal operations of the city of the future in The World such as it will be of Emile Souvestre, in 1846, in the State Unique in Us of Evgueni Zamiatine, written in 1920, the dystopia evolves by taking the form of the account of science fiction, and in particular that of anticipation. We will see, in particular, how the Utopia takes seat in works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Zamiatine, very inspired by Wells, is the first great writer of the 20th century to be made use of the dystopia to describe the attributes of the totalitarian society. Thus, if our step consists, initially, to appoint the authors and texts which took part in the emergence of the dystopia, our analysis will primarily carry on Us and three other Romance founders of the dystopia at the 20th century: Brave New World of Aldous Huxley, published into 1932, 1984 of George Orwell, published in 1948 and Fahrenheit 451 of Ray Bradbury, published in 1953. We will study the totalitarian phenomenon according to interpretations that make our authors of them. It will be thus a question of the collectivization of the individual, the propaganda or the role of science in the organization of the totalitarian society. But it will also be a question of showing how our dystopies illustrates the combat of art against the totalitarian entropy, and the engagement of their authors in a true political discourse. Lastly, it appears essential to describe what perhaps appears as the most effective form of the representation of the dystopia: the science fiction film. We will see why the novel dystopic sorrow more and more support the comparison face to the immediacy of the language of the moving image

Utopin har sedan århundranden tillbaka figurerat som tankemodell för det goda samhället. Tidigare som moderna sociologer har hävdat nyttan med ett utopiskt tankegods, särskilt som kritisk social teori med syfte att förändra människans sociala villkor. Senare forskning har visat på att element i science-fiction har ett praktiskt värde för flera aspekter av sociologiskt intresse, exempelvis inom organisationsutveckling, praktiskt lärande och modeller för hållbarhet. Men trots påvisad nytta har varken utopiska idéer eller modern forskning inom science-fiction fångat den sociologiska akademins intresse. I föreliggande studie utforskas anti-utopia eller dystopins potential som spekulativ sociologi, - en dystopisk social fantasi, i förhoppningen att nå nya insikter och perspektiv. Genom en tematisk analys av dystopisk litteratur påvisas att element i dystopiska narrativ kan användas inom sociologiska intressen i utvecklande syften, som avancerande analysmodeller eller som vägledning vid formulerandet av kritiska sociala teorier eller hypoteser. Vidare hävdas att analysmodeller innehållande både utopi och dystopi blir mer nyskapande, flexibla och progressiva, samt att de kan avancera den sociala fantasin genom att tillföra en alternativ form av riskbedömning.

La contre-utopie est une branche de la science-fiction qui, à l’opposé de l’utopie, s’attache à décrire non plus des mondes idéaux mais des sociétés cauchemardesques. Bien qu’ancien, le genre ne prend réellement son essor qu’à la fin du XIXème et au XXème siècle et accompagne donc les développements de la société industrielle pour lui renvoyer l’image de ses défauts.Cette thèse se propose de lire certaines des images forgées par contre-utopies à partir d’un schème scientifique, celui de la thermodynamique, soit cette discipline qui, à partir de l’étude de l’économie des machines à vapeur, a servi de tremplin à la révolution industrielle au XIXème siècle. Parce qu’elle a pour but de tracer une physique de la valeur économique, le recours à la thermodynamique va nous servir à analyser l’économie des contre-utopies et à tracer par ce biais les contours d’une théorie critique des sociétés décrites.S’intéressant à la contre-utopie dans la perspective d’une critique du monde industriel, les œuvres retenues pour le corpus, tant cinématographiques que littéraires, sont avant tout issues d’Amérique du nord (États-Unis), d’Europe (France, Grande-Bretagne) et du Japon et produites au cours du XXème siècle, siècle où les effets de l’industrialisation des sociétés dévoilent leur caractère néfaste. En examinant avec de nombreux exemples à l’appui comment la contre-utopie procède à une transposition politique de principes physiques, cette thèse a pour objectif de mettre en évidence les leçons de philosophie morale et politique que l’on peut retirer du genre tout en envisageant sous un angle nouveau les rapports entre science et science-fiction
Counter-utopia is a branch of science-fiction which, contrary to utopia, describes either ideal worlds but nightmarish societies. Although ancient, the genre really takes off at the end of the nineteenth and during the twentieth century, accompanying the developments of the industrial society to send it back the image of their main defects.This thesis suggests to read some of the images made by counter-utopias from a scientific scheme, that of the thermodynamics, a discipline which, from the study of the economy of steam engines, was one of the main springboard to the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century. Because it aims at drawing a physics of the economic value, the recourse to thermodynamics is going to serve us to analyze the economy of counter-utopias and to draw by this way the outlines of a critical theory of the described societies.Being interested in counter-utopia in the perspective of a criticism of the industrial world, the works held for the corpus, films and literature (novel and short stories), belong to works produced in North America (United-States), Europe (France, Great-Britain) and Japan during the twentieth century, a century in which the effects of the industrialization of societies show their fatal aspect. By examining with numerous examples how counter-utopia proceed to a political transposition of physical principles, this thesis has for objective to enlighten the lessons of moral and political philosophy given by the whole genre and to consider under a new angle the links between science and science fiction

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Ce travail a le but d exploiter un trait singulier des écrits de Gilles Deleuze et Félix Guattari. Notre hypothèse envisage que la philosophie politique des auteurs, surtout dans les deux tomes de Capitalisme et Schizophrénie, L Anti- dipe et Mille Plateaux, peut être considérée une philosophie politique dystopique. Et cela car nous observons que leurs considérations sur la notion d État, aussi bien que les narrations de la dystopie comme genre littéraire et cinématographique, nous montrent que l État possède, depuis toujours, le germe de ce que nous appelons, tout au long de la recherche, d État Terminal. Les dystopies, au moins celles de caractère autoritaire, élaborent la description d une formation sociale où la variété des modes de vie entrent en processus d extension, en fonction des coordonnées étatales. Le même souci de Deleuze et Guattari. Les États de supercontrôle conditionnent l existence de leurs membres et repoussent ou cooptent n importe quelle forme de résistance aux codes de contrôle qu ils inventent. Au long de la recherche nous avons essayé de tracer un parallèle entre les descriptions de quelques uvres dystopiques et la théorisation concernant l État et sa possibilité de résistance en Deleuze et Guattari. Il s agit là d une problématisation qui se trouve distante des philosophies politiques plus classiques, et qui est marquée par le ton de suspicion et préoccupation en relation à la notion d État. Nous soulignons que cette notion même est abordée de manière particulière par les deux philosophes en question, et ne se résume pas à l apparat juridique qui s établit en acte et conceptuellement avec l État moderne, mais comme une forme de production et reproduction qui agit dans les plus divers niveaux. Il y a de l État au Congrès, dans la Constitution et dans la réglementation du marché mondial, ainsi que chez l ouvrier d usine dans son ambition de remplacer le chef ou chez l étudiant universitaire qui trouve dans la vie académique une condition de confort. Pour traiter de cette problématique, nous nous sommes dédier avec plus d emphase aux deux tomes de Capitalisme et Schizophréni. Dans L Anti- dipe nous nous sommes concentrés notamment sur les notions de machines désirantes et socius, d une fois que les formations sociales, bien que les modes marginaux qui résistent à elles, sont pensées moyennant ces concepts. Dans Mille Plateaux nous nous dédions à la théorie des lignes, au problème de la segmentarité et à la vigoureuse notion de machine de guerre, qui marchent comme des amplifications et révisions des concepts déjà présentés dans le premier tome. Nous soutenons que, soit dans L Anti- dipe, soit dans Mille Plateaux, Deleuze et Guattari maintiennent la même crainte des auteurs dystopiques: la préoccupation toujours présente de que la forme État devienne quelque chose de simplement négatif, qui entre en processus de destruction de ce qui diffère de ses codes. Plus que ça, nous affirmons que les philosophes nous permettent penser que la dystopie n est pas uniquement une question de fiction, mais qu elle se trouve déjà très bien incarnée dans les corps et formations sociales. Une dystopie du réel qui peut s intensifier et se répandre dans le cas où nous cesserions de présenter des façons de résistance créative.
O objetivo deste trabalho é explorar um traço singular dos escritos de Gilles Deleuze e Félix Guattari. Nossa hipótese é a de que a filosofia política dos autores, sobretudo nos dois tomos de Capitalismo e Esquizofrenia, O Anti-Édipo e Mil Platôs, pode ser considerada uma filosofia política distópica. Isso porque percebemos que suas considerações sobre a noção de Estado, bem como as narrativas da distopia como gênero literário e cinematográfico, nos mostram como o Estado possui, desde sempre, o germe daquilo que chamamos, ao longo da pesquisa, de Estado Terminal. As distopias, ao menos as de cunho autoritário, elaboram a descrição de uma formação social na qual a variedade dos modos de vida entram em processo de extinção, em função das coordenadas estatais. O mesmo receio de Deleuze e Guattari. Os Estados de supercontrole condicionam a existência de seus membros, bem como rechaçam ou cooptam qualquer forma de resistência aos códigos de controle que inventam. Ao longo da pesquisa traçamos um paralelo entre as descrições de algumas obras distópicas e a teorização acerca do Estado e sua possibilidade de resistência em Deleuze e Guattari. Trata-se de uma problematização que se encontra distante das filosofias políticas mais clássicas, e que está marcada pelo tom de suspeita e preocupação em relação à noção de Estado. Evidenciamos que essa mesma noção é abordada de maneira peculiar pelos dois filósofos em questão e não se resume ao aparato jurídico que se estabelece em ato e conceitualmente com o Estado moderno, mas como uma forma de produção e reprodução que atua nos mais diversos níveis. Há Estado no Congresso, na Constituição e na regulamentação do mercado mundial; como há no operário de fábrica em sua ambição de substituir o chefe, ou no estudante universitário que encontra na vida acadêmica uma condição de conforto. Para tratar dessa problemática, nos dedicamos com mais ênfase aos dois tomos de Capitalismo e Esquizofrenia. Em O Anti-Édipo nos ativemos, principalmente, às noções de máquinas desejantes e socius, uma vez que as formações sociais, como também os modos marginais que resistem a elas, são pensadas por meio desses conceitos. Em Mil Platôs nos dedicamos à teoria das linhas, ao problema da segmentaridade e a vigorosa noção de máquina de guerra, que funcionam como ampliações e revisões dos conceitos já apresentados no primeiro tomo. Defendemos que, tanto em O Anti-Édipo, quanto em Mil Platôs, Deleuze e Guattari mantêm o mesmo receio dos autores distópicos: a preocupação sempre presente de que a forma Estado devenha algo puramente negativo, que entre em processo de destruição daquilo que difere de seus códigos. Mais que isso, afirmamos que os filósofos nos permitem pensar que a distopia não é puramente uma questão de ficção, mas que já se encontra muito bem encarnada nos corpos e nas formações sociais. Uma distopia do real que pode se intensificar e expandir caso cessemos de apresentar modos de resistência criativos.

Ce travail précise le rôle du cervelet dans la physiopathologie de la dystonie. Nous étudions comment le cervelet contrôle le développement et l’étendue de la plasticité sensorimotrice, celle-ci étant anormale dans la dystonie. Nous démontrons l’implication du cervelet dans la dystonie en constatant des performances anormales à une tâche d’adaptation sensorimotrice dépendant du cervelet. (Hubsch et al., 2011) Puis chez des sujets sains, en utilisant des techniques d’induction de plasticité cérébrale nous démontrons que le cervelet module la plasticité corticale reposant sur des afférences sensorielles. Ainsi, une inhibition du cortex cérébelleux amplifie la réponse du cortex à un protocole d’induction de plasticité sensorimotrice, une excitation du cortex cérébelleux bloque la réponse du cortex à ce protocole. (Popa et al., 2013) Avec les mêmes méthodes, nous étudions le rôle du cervelet dans la modulation de la plasticité du cortex sensori-moteur chez des sujets atteints de dystonie focale. Dans la crampe de l’écrivain, le cervelet n’exerce plus ce rôle modulateur de la plasticité sensorimotrice: il n’y a ni inhibition ni renforcement du phénomène de plasticité induit par une modulation des sorties cérébelleuses. (Hubsch et al., 2013)Dans la dystonie cervicale, il persiste une modulation de la plasticité sensorimotrice par le cervelet mais cette modulation a une direction opposée par rapport aux sujets sains contrôles. Par des expériences complémentaires, nous démontrons que le contrôle cérébelleux sur la plasticité corticale sensorimotrice est adaptatif aux afférences proprioceptives de la nuque possiblement en rapport avec la construction de l’espace égocentré
This study specifies the role of the cerebellum in the physiopathology of dystonia. We study how the cerebellum controls the development and the extent of sensorimotor plasticity, this one being abnormal in dystonia. We show the implication of the cerebellum in dystonia by noting abnormal performances with a task of sensorimotor adaptation depending on cerebellum. (Hubsch and al., 2011) Then with healthy subjects, by using techniques of cerebral plasticity’s induction we show that the cerebellum modulates cortical plasticity depending on sensory afferents. Thus, an inhibition of the cerebellar cortex amplifies the response of the cortex to a protocol of induction of sensorimotor plasticity, an excitation of the cerebellar cortex blocks the response of the cortex to this protocol. (Popa and al., 2013) With the same methods, we study the role of the cerebellum in the modulation of the plasticity of the sensorimotor cortex with dystonic subjects. In writer's cramp, the cerebellum does not exert any more this modulating role of sensorimotor plasticity: there is neither inhibition nor reinforcement of the phenomenon of plasticity induced by a modulation of the cerebellar outputs. (Hubsch and al., 2013) In the cervical dystonia, it persists a modulation of sensorimotor plasticity by the cerebellum but this modulation has a direction opposed compared to the healthy subjects. By complementary experiments, we show that cerebellar control on cortical sensorimotor plasticity is adaptive with the proprioceptive afferents of the neck possibly in keeping with the construction of egocentric space

This doctoral thesis examines the ways in which contemporary writers have adopted the critical dystopian mode in order to radically deconstruct the socio-political conditions that preclude equality, inclusion and collective political appearance in twenty-first century Britain. The thesis performs theoretically-informed close readings of contemporary novels from authors J.G. Ballard, Maggie Gee, Sarah Hall and Rupert Thomson in its analysis, and argues that the speculative visions of Kingdom Come (2006), The Flood (2004), The Carhullan Army (2007) and Divided Kingdom (2005) are engaged with a wave of contemporary dystopian writing in which the destructive and divisive forms of consensus that are to be found within Britain's contemporary socio-political moment are identified and challenged. The thesis proposes that, in their politically-engaged extrapolations, contemporary British writers are engaged with specifically dystopian expressions of dissensus. Reflecting key theoretical and political nuances found in Jacques Rancière's concept of 'dissensus', I argue that the novels illustrate dissensual interventions within the imagined political space of British societies in which inequalities, oppressions and exclusions are endemic - often proceeding to present modest, 'minor' utopian arguments for more equal, heterogeneous and democratic possibilities in the process. Contributing new, theoretically-inflected analysis of key speculative fictions from twenty-first century British writers, and locating their critiques within the literary, socio-political and theoretical contexts they are meaningfully engaged with, the thesis ultimately argues that in interrogating and reimagining the socio-political spaces of twenty-first century Britain, contemporary writers of dystopian fiction demonstrate literature working in its most dissensual, political and transformative mode.

Ce travail de recherche vise à étudier la représentation du changement climatique dans les presses française et brésilienne. Cette représentation passe forcément par la construction du phénomène en tant que sujet d’information. Nous constatons, au travers de l’analyse de discours des journaux quotidiens de deux pays (Le Monde, Le Figaro, O Estado de São Paulo et O Globo) que le changement climatique ne correspond pas à une valeur d’actualité, malgré sa présence constante dans la presse. Son émergence se fait au travers de différentes stratégies discursives, où le caractère intertextuel du discours des journaux joue un rôle prépondérant. Dans ce sens, le sujet entretient une relation de dépendance avec d’autres faits d’actualité pour émerger dans les pages des journaux. Les événements politiques et scientifiques tiennent une place majeure dans ce sens, non seulement du fait qu’ils constituent des nouveaux éléments factuels, mais également car ils font circuler l’information et participent à la construction d’une mémoire discursive du sujet. Le discours construit sur le changement climatique dans la presse analysée se développe parmi des idées qui semblent s’opposer entre utopies et dystopies. Les représentations utopiques apparaissent à différents moments de l’analyse tantôt du côté de l’idéal du consensus, soit politique et inachevé, soit scientifique, construit dans la presse, tantôt dans la représentation idéalisée des espaces naturels. Mais la dystopie est toujours présente dans la représentation de l’échec, de la déception, du manque d’accord politique, comme dans les allégories d’un futur sombre, représentées dans les articles qui évoquent les conséquences des changements climatiques
This research examines climate change public representation in Brazilian and French newspapers. This representation includes the construction of climate change such as news. Through the analyses of newspaper articles reported in these two countries (Le Monde, Le Figaro, O Estado de São Paulo et O Globo), we found that climate change, per se, did not represents a news story’s value. Reports on climate change in newspapers are often the byproduct of the press’ discursive strategies, where intertextuality becomes a journalistic device. In this sense, the issue of climate change is intertwined with other subject matters and, by default, it establishes a relationship of dependence with other news stories. We found that political events related to climate change, essentially COPs, or the publication of new scientific findings, become crucial to the production of news, not only for divulging new facts but for promoting the circulation of information while constructing a discursive memory about the subject matter. The discourse built around climate change in the newspapers analyzed lays between antagonistic ideas of utopia and dystopia. The utopian ideals are portrayed by the notion of consensus - which in this case has not been reached, through scientific merit and by the depiction of nature. Contrary to this, dystopia is invariably represented as failure and disappointment, by the lack of political accord and allegorized as a bleak future to come

Dystonia is a movement disorder causing abnormal movements and postures. Dystonia is the result of a network disorder, largely linked to abnormal inhibition affecting several levels of the central nervous system. The PhD thesis at issue explores different aspects of dystonia pathophysiology in prospective cohorts of patients with isolated idiopathic cervical dystonia. Indeed, the dissertation reports on the assessment of cerebellar functioning in patients affected with cervical dystonia, by applying the cerebellar classical conditioning paradigm. Results showed that cerebellar abnormalities segregated with the presence of tremor in patients with dystonia, accounting for a discrete role of cerebellum in generating dystonic tremor (Chapter 2). Along with the cerebellum, also the role of sensory system has been evaluated (Chapter 3), by means of an extensive paradigm aiming at testing markers of reduced inhibition within the somatosensory system and to assess their role in affecting temporal discrimination time in dystonia, which has been lately recognized as an endophenotypic trait of dystonia. The results showed impaired inhibition affecting several levels of the somatosensory system. However, only measurements of local (intracortical) inhibition correlated with abnormal temporal processing in dystonia. Finally, the thesis repots on the study of the pattern of muscles activity through all the night along with the objective evaluation of sleep quality by means of polysomnography in cervical dystonia (Chapter 4). The study showed the virtual disappearance of dystonia during sleep, leading to suppose that sleep might preserve a homeostatic role in these patients. However, architecture of sleep turned to be affected. Abnormal sleep structure did not correlated with motor descriptors and therefore seems to be a discrete feature of dystonia and to deserve a specific consideration. To improve the knowledge of pathogenic pathways in dystonia will hopefully lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets in this condition.

Dystopian fiction as intended in the Western literary tradition is a 20 th century phenomenon on the Arabic literary scene. This relatively new genre has been experiencing an uplift since the beginning of the 21 st century and many works that have been defined dystopias have been published and translated into English in the last 10 – 15 years. In order to find out their main features, Claeys’s categorization of literary dystopias is applied and a thematic analysis is carried out on four Arabic dystopian works of narrative, written by authors from different parts of the Arabic world. The analysis shows that 21 st century Arabic dystopias are political dystopias, with totalitarianism as their main variation. Rather than on society, their focus is on the individual, and more specifically on personal freedom. The totalitarian constraints are mainly caused by religious fundamentalism and bureaucratic procedures. Surveillance and control over population are implemented by means of religious precepts and bureaucratic constructions, together with, in some instances, control over language and technological devices. Political totalitarianism regardless of a specific political ideology is identified as main theme. The thesis suggests that a Western-based classification framework is only partially suitable for Arabic dystopian fiction of the 21 st century and that further research, including but not limited to a specific classification theory for Arabic dystopian fiction, is necessary to properly investigate this new literary trend in Arabic literature.

Dystonin is a cytoskeletal linker protein whose loss-of-function in dystonia musculorum (dt) mice results in a hereditary sensory neuropathy with profound sensory ataxia. The dystonin gene (Dst) is exceptionally large (~400 kb) producing three giant neuronal dystonin isoforms (>600 kDa) through alternative splicing, namely dystonin-a1, -a2, and -a3. Although loss of expression of dystonin-a1 and -a2 is sufficient to cause dt pathogenesis, the causal dystonin-a variant and the pathological mechanisms activated upon their individual loss remains unclear. Moreover, while the primary pathology lies in the sensory neurons of dt mice, the overt movement disorder coupled with dystonin’s expression in motor neurons, suggests the motor system may also be affected. Here we report that dt mice exhibit motor neuron defects, including, but not limited to, aberrant phosphorylation of neurofilaments, axonal swellings, reduced axon branching and immature neuromuscular junctions. Furthermore, we find that various pathologies (e.g., Ca2+ dyshomeostasis, unfolded protein response (UPR) induction, caspase activation, and apoptosis) within dt sensory neurons are attributable to the specific loss of dystonin-a2. Coupled with this, transgenic mice exogenously expressing dystonin-a2 within the nervous system of dt mice attenuated the degeneration of sensory neuron subtypes, and was sufficient to ameliorate the phenotype and increase life span. Despite these improvements, however, both dystonin-a2 and dystonin-a1 appear necessary for complete amelioration of dt pathogenesis. Finally, pertubations in autophagic activity underlie the degeneration of dt sensory neurons. Restoring dystonin-a2 expression in dt sensory neurons rescues this autophagic defect. Taken together, our work reveals that dystonin-a loss-of-function imparts defects on the neuromuscular system that likely contribute to the dt phenotype. Moreover, although loss of dystonin-a2 expression impedes key biological processes, such as autophagy, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) dynamics and intracellular trafficking, and elicits numerous pathological mechanisms, this work suggests the dt disorder to be a multi-isoform disease.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Kent State University, 2010.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 26, 2010). Advisor: Loderstedt Michael. Keywords: printmaking; screen printing; photography; installation Includes bibliographical references (p. 21).

Dystopian fiction as intended in the Western literary tradition is a 20 th century phenomenon on the Arabic literary scene. This relatively new genre has been experiencing an uplift since the beginning of the 21st century and many works that have been defined dystopias have been published and translated into English in the last 10 – 15 years. In order to find out their main features, Claeys’s categorization of literary dystopias is applied and a thematic analysis is carried out on four Arabic dystopian works of narrative, written by authors from different parts of the Arabic world. The analysis shows that 21st century Arabic dystopias are political dystopias, with totalitarianism as their main variation. Rather than on society, their focus is on the individual, and more specifically on personal freedom. The totalitarian constraints are mainly caused by religious fundamentalism and bureaucratic procedures. Surveillance and control over population are implemented by means of religious precepts and bureaucratic constructions, together with, in some instances, control over language and technological devices. Political totalitarianism regardless of a specific political ideology is identified as main theme. The thesis suggests that a Western-based classification framework is only partially suitable for Arabic dystopian fiction of the 21st century and that further research, including but not limited to a specific classification theory for Arabic dystopian fiction, is necessary to properly investigate this new literary trend in Arabic literature.

I will start my thesis project with an analyse of current innovations in technology and new materials to find out what possible potential they may offer for new design solutions. The focus will be on inventions of disruptive technologies of the past and the present and how they change our way of life. An interesting point is to draw conclusions from how the consequences of these technological milestones impact our everyday life. An example is the influence of the internet (in the bigger and the smaller scale): it changed our way to purchase goods, to find a partner and to get e-services. In an experimental way I will build up scenarios of a possible future based on this technological knowledge. The hypothetical utopias and dystopias will evoke new questions and theories. In the research phase I will among others illustrate classical and modern utopias and dystopias. I will try to capture the spirit and the trends of both, visionary scientists and designer/architects/ar-tists to describe fears and hopes of the future.
Master / InSpace 2009

Digesting Dystopia There is a discrepancy between where our food comes from and where we believe it comes from. Our understanding of the origins of our consumable food is often distorted. The relationship between consumers and the ingredients keeping us alive is characterized by an overwhelming amount of contradictory information. The decisions that we make regarding these products have a profound effect on every facet of our existence. I use the contentious climate of the food industry as the background for making surreal images that open up conversations about the politics of eating. These compositions are fabricated representations of our relationship with food and the industry that surrounds it. The images exaggerate the realities that exist within our culture and illuminate our desensitization and disconnect to the consequences of what we chose to consume. What does our food culture look like, and what will it lead to in the near future?

This study focuses on the elements of intertextuality and intermediality in the novel Die Rättin by Günter Grass. It is an attempt to place the text in a context of literary theory and contemporary society as well as in a deeply rooted tradition of storytelling that feeds the author’s inspiration and motivates a continuous dialogue between different works of fiction. It is also a reflection on the impact of different media on the development of art. The study leans on Walter Benjamin’s classic essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and its aim is to show how the postmodern reality shapes a new form of art, which uses cross-referencing between different means of artistic expression to maintain the “aura” of originality despite mass production of stereotypical stories and works of art. Grass incorporates both the underlying art theory and art production itself in his rich narrative of the dying and resurrection of mankind and art. In Die Rättin, his original concepts of intertextuality and intermediality reach mastery. This study highlights the various ways in which Grass spins his narrative around an idea of the “Gesamtkunstwerk” of human creation.

L’identification des muscles responsables des dystonies focales est un prérequis à l’instauration des traitements par toxine botulique et exercices correcteurs. A partir de deux dystonies apparemment dissemblables: la crampe de l’écrivain et la dystonie cervicale, nous avons montré que la réponse aux traitements est tributaire de la distribution des muscles impliqués. L’enregistrement des mouvements du segment tête-cou dans la dystonie cervicale , au moyen de capteurs inertiels 3-D, a montré qu’au mouvement volontaire de la tête, dans un plan, s’associent des mouvements non physiologiques dans les deux autres plans. Pour déterminer les actions musculaires en cause, nous avons réalisé une modélisation numérique du segment tête-cou permettant d’associer le muscle responsable aux déformations. Par ailleurs, sachant l’importance des phénomènes sensitifs dans le contrôle du mouvement, nous avons, au cours de tâches d’ajustement de la force musculaire, montré que ce contrôle de la force est perturbé dans chacune des deux dystonies focales étudiées.Nos résultats devraient avoir une implication dans les traitements symptomatiques de ces dystonies
The identification of the muscles responsible for focal dystonia is a prerequisite to the introduction of botulinum toxin treatment and tailored exercises. From two apparently dissimilar dystonia: writer's cramp and cervical dystonia, we showed that the response to the treatments depends on the distribution of the muscles involved. Recording the movement of the head-neck segment in cervical dystonia, using 3-D inertial sensors, showed that voluntary head movement in a plane is associated with non-physiological movement in the two other planes. To determine the muscular actions involved, we performed a digital modeling of the head-neck segment which allows us to link the responsible muscle with abnormal postures.Therefore, knowing the importance of sensory phenomena in the control of movement, we have, during tasks of muscular force adjustment, demonstrated that force control is altered in both studied dystonia.Our results should have implications in the symptomatic treatment of these dystonias

This master’s degree thesis exists in two parts: a critical introduction and an original novella entitled Side Effects. The critical introduction introduces and explains the theories on, literature surrounding, and literary uses of dystopian fiction, the novella format, and drug-based psychotherapy. Current opinion on dystopian fiction sees it characterized by a seemingly perfect societal setting that ultimately contains hidden or suppressed moral flaws. The ultimate purpose of dystopian fiction is commentary on contemporary society through a defamiliarized setting. The novella format is shown to exist in a middle-ground state between the short story and the novel, yet the format manages to maintain positive literary elements of both. Finally, a discussion on drug-based psychotherapy illustrates the use of chemical compounds to treat or cure psychological conditions, a topic of much debate amongst current psychology practitioners. The section on drug-based psychotherapy focuses largely on memoirs for purposes of first-hand experience and character creation for the original novella. The novella, entitled Side Effects, follows the character Edward, a middle-aged man who creates and tests serums that suppress by mandate the emotions that his society deems toxic to the human condition. Edward remains ignorant of any life outside the symmetry and order of the Company, the corporation responsible for the maintenance of the society. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman named Gabrielle causes Edward to explore a world outside the confines of his carefully crafted city and lifestyle. She introduces him to a community of people who reject the mandates of the Company and exist as the extreme opposition to its ideals. As Edward spends more time with this group, known as Splicers, he must confront his long-held standards and finally choose for himself what life he will live.

L'adaptation motrice permet d'ajuster la sortie motrice en réponse à des perturbations de l'environnement. Au début de l'adaptation, un processus stratégique conscient appelé recalibration a lieu. Ce processus implique le cervelet et le cortex pariétal postérieur. Il permet de réduire les erreurs motrices en se basant sur le retour sensoriel. Les patients dystoniques ont des altérations du traitement de l'information somatosensorielle. Nous avons fait l'hypothèse que cela devait entrainer des anomalies d'adaptation au cours de la phase de recalibration. En utilisant l'imagerie par résonnance magnétique (IRMf) et la magnétoencéphalographie (MEG), nous avons enregistré l'activité cérébrale chez des patients ayant une crampe de l'écrivain et chez des volontaires sains, alors qu'ils réalisaient une tâche de pointage avec ou sans perturbation visuelle associée. L'étude en IRMf a révélé l'implication d'un réseau cérébello-pariétal postérieur dans la détection des erreurs motrices. Ce réseau était hypoactif chez les patients qui compensaient en recrutant un réseau alternatif plus cognitif mettant en jeu la mémoire visuo-spatiale et la représentation cognitive de la main. La MEG nous a permis d'analyser la dynamique temporelle des activations et de montrer en particulier que la préparation du mouvement est déjà anormale chez les patients; de réaliser une analyse fréquentielle de la communication cérébello-corticale. Cette analyse a révélé un défaut de cohérence dans la bande gamma, entre le cervelet et le cortex moteur et prémoteur ainsi qu'avec le cortex pariétal postérieur. L'ensemble de nos résultats suggère un désordre constitutionnel de ce réseau dans la dystonie
Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by prolonged muscle contractions causing involuntary repetitive twisting movements and abnormal postures. Motor adaptation shapes the motor output according to the changes in the environment. At its early stage, motor adaptation involves a strategic conscious process called “recalibration” that minimizes the perturbation and reduces the motor error based on online integration of sensory feedback. Sensorimotor processing is impaired in dystonia and we hypothesized that this may lead to deficits of the “recalibration” phase during motor adaptation. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) to record brain activation in patients with writer’s cramp and healthy volunteers using a classical rotation learning task. The fMRI study revealed that the cerebello-parietal network was directly implicated in motor error detection. In writer’s cramp, this network was underactivacted and patients relied more on cognitive networks based on visuospatial memory and cognitive representations of the hand. With MEG, (1) we reconstructed the temporal dynamic of activations in the cerebello-parietal network and demonstrated abnormal movement preparation in writer’s cramp patients; (2) we realized a spectral analysis of the cerebello-parietal communication. This analysis revealed decreased gamma coherence between the cerebellum, and the premotor and motor cortices and with posterior parietal cortex. All of our data suggest an underlying disorder of this network in dystonia

Today it is common to state that we are living in an information overloaded society. But there are many different definitions of what can be said to constitute Information Overload and there is a lack of substantial research on the subject. Conclusions in the available literature on Information Overload are often drawn on anecdotal evidence and carries a dramatized picture of the causes and effects of the phenomenon. With the tools of discursive analysis this two years master’s thesis explores how the phenomenon Information Overload is portrayed in six popular science books that deals with the subject: Alvin Toffler (1970) Future Shock, Orrin Klapp (1986) Overload and Boredom, Richard Wurman (1989) Information Anixety, Andrew Keen (2007) The cult of the amateur, Maggie Jackson (2008), Distracted and Nicholas Carr (2010) The Shallows. The result of the analysis shows that there is a common discourse of how the subject of Information Overload is represented, which stretches in and between the books intertextually. In this study that discourse is called the dystopian discourse of Information Overload. It is structured by a unified use of narratives, concepts, themes, metaphors and statements and by its separation from the opposite utopian discourse of Information Overload. In the final discussion the results of the analysis are compared to postmodern theory, a problematisation of the concept of distraction and to the Swedish government’s 2012 investigation of reading habits of young people in the country. The conclusion of the study is that the two binary discourses discovered in the analysis – the dystopian and the utopian – should be avoided in the debate and research on Information Overload. Instead the discussion should be influenced by pluralism, complexity and awareness.

This creative works thesis comprises an exegesis and a novel. Both explore the ways that a postnatural perspective can shape the reading and writing of young adult dystopian fiction. Approaching literature from a postnatural perspective can highlight a connection between shifts in a novel's key terms and the development of the protagonist towards understanding their world as an interconnected ecosystem. Through its grounding in ecocriticism and children's literature criticism, this research investigates the contributions a postnatural perspective offers young adult dystopian fiction generally, and specifically, in the development of the novel When the Cloud Hit the Kellys.

In der Behandlung der zervikalen Dystonie wird die Therapie mit Botulinumtoxin (BTX) erfolgreich angewendet. Neben dieser Therapie werden von Patienten oft alternative Therapien (CAM [Complementary and Alternative Medicine]) angesprochen und ausprobiert. Diese Studie geht der Frage nach, wie häufig CAM-Therapien genutzt werden, wie deren Wirkung bewertet wird und ob es Prädiktoren für die Therapiewahl gibt. Zur Datenerhebung wurden 265 Fragebögen von zwei Patientengruppen ausgewertet. Gruppe 1 (n=101) bestand aus Patienten der Botulinumtoxinsprechstunde des Universitätsklinikums Leipzig und der Paracelsus Klinik Zwickau. Gruppe 2 (n=165) wurde aus Mitgliedern des Selbsthilfeverbandes Bundesverband-Torticollis e.V. rekrutiert. Bei 86% der Patienten wurde die Therapie mit BTX angewendet. Von den Therapiemöglichkeiten der CAM wurden am häufigsten physikalische Therapien (Massagen n=171) genannt. Am besten bewertet wurden jedoch, neben der BTX-Therapie, spezielle physiotherapeutische sowie psychotherapeutische Verfahren. Die CAM-Therapien wurden häufig in Kombination mit der BTX-Therapie angewendet und von Patienten, deren Erkrankung einen langen chronischen Verlauf vorwies (>10 Jahre). Als Prädiktoren für die Wahl einer CAM-Therapie zeigten sich eine Zugehörigkeit zur Gruppe 2, aufgetretene Nebenwirkungen im Rahmen der BTX-Therapie, männliches Geschlecht und erhöhter Stress bei den Erkrankten. Außerdem fand sich ein signifikanter Unterschied zu einem höheren Bildungsabschnitt und Arbeit in gehobeneren Berufsgruppen bei Patienten, die vermehrt CAM Therapie anwenden. Zusammenfassend wurden CAM-Therapien, neben der Behandlung mit BTX, häufig von den Befragten angewendet. Hohe Zufriedenheitswerte erzielte eine Kombination mit physiotherapeutischen Verfahren oder Psychotherapie. Die Wahl von CAM-Therapien ist von der Erkrankungsdauer, Bildungslage und finanziellen Ressourcen abhängig.

Dystopia is a direction of the artistic literature and the cinematography direction, in narrow sense, it is a description of the totalitarian state, in wide sense, it is a description of any society, in which there are prevailed negative progress trends. Dystopia is a complete opposition of utopia. Utopia is a genre of the artistic literature, which is close to science fiction and describing a model of an ideal society from the author’s point. Unlike dystopia, it is characterize by the author’s faith in the blamelessness of a model. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31122

This project is about our social denial of death, the questioning of rationality and utopian ideals, and our fears of modernity. The intimate connection once associated with death has been hidden. In this project the remains of the dead are sacred. Death is brought to the forefront. By acknowledging a finite existence and exposing our fear of death, life can be given meaning. The activities of daily life are integrally linked to the crypt.
Master of Architecture

La dystonie est une pathologie du contrôle du mouvement caractérisée par des contractions musculaires involontaires. Les causes génétiques de cette pathologie sont multiples. J’ai créé des bases de données locus spécifiques colligeant l’ensemble des diversités alléliques disponible pour 16 gènes de dystonie. L’objectif de ce travail est d’aider au diagnostic de cette pathologie et, à plus long terme et lorsque les données le permettent, d’établir des corrélations génotypes-phénotypes. Cela a été le cas pour le gène THAP1 (définissant la forme DYT6) pour lequel nous avons décrits plusieurs corrélations. J'ai recherché la mutation causale dans plusieurs familles par séquençage d'exome. Cela a permis d’identifier une famille porteuse d’une mutation prédite pathogène dans le gène ANO3 (DYT23). Une autre famille est porteuse d’une mutation dans un site d’épissage du gène ATP1A3 (DYT12) entrainant la rétention totale de l'intron 17. Pour une autres famille, un gène candidat a été identifié : ADD2 qui code l'adducine beta. Plusieurs résultats expérimentaux ont été obtenus. Tout d’abord j'ai observé des différences au niveau du cytosquelette d’actine. En effet la surexpression de la protéine sauvage provoque un comportement anormal de l’actine au niveau des fibres de stress. Par ailleurs des études de d’apprentissage par association dans un modèle C. elegans KO ADD2 ont montré un défaut de mémorisation à long-terme. Mes travaux de thèse ont permis d'approfondir les connaissances quant à la contribution de chaque gène déjà connu dans les dystonies, ainsi que d'élargir l'hétérogénéité génétique caractéristique de cette pathologie par l'identification d'un nouveau gène candidat
Dystonia is a movement control disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions. The genetic causes of this disease are multiple. I have created databases " loci-specific " collecting all allelic diversity available in the literature for 16 dystonia genes. The goal of this work is to to assist in the diagnosis of this disease and in the longer term, when there are sufficient data, to establish genotype-phenotype correlations. This was the case for the THAP1 gene (responsible for DYT6 dystonia) for which we have described several correlations.I searched for the disease gene in several families using exome sequencing. I identified a pathogenic mutation in the predicted gene ANO3 (DYT23) carried by one family. Another family carries a mutation in a splice site of ATP1A3 (DYT12) resulting in the total retention of intron 17. In another family a candidate gene was identified: ADD2 gene, coding beta adducin. Several functional results were obtained. First, overexpression of wild type and mutated ADD2 enabled to view differences in the actin cytoskeleton. Indeed the overexpression of the wild type protein causes abnormal behavior of actin at the level of stress fibers and at the plasma membrane. Besides, learning by association studies in a Caenorhabditis elegans model KO for ADD2 gene have shown a long-term default memory compared to the wild type. This confirms the involvement of the protein in neuronal plasticity. My thesis work led to further knowledge about the contribution of each gene already known in dystonia , as well as broaden the genetic heterogeneity characteristic of this disease by identifying a new candidate gene

Arbetet är den romantext/projektarbete som jag arbetat med under Kreativt skrivande IV. Projektarbetet är en ungdomsroman, en dystopi i ett framtida samhälle där nästan alla kvinnor blivit infertila efter en pandemi. Därför måste alla 14-åriga flickor genomgå en undersökning för att se om de kan bli Barnaföderskor. Till själva projektarbetet hör även en essä där jag diskuterar dystopins natur.

This thesis attempts to re-engage the practice of Sonic Fiction devised by Kodwo Eshun, within the historical context that Mark Fisher termed, boring dystopia, and produce A Sonic Fiction of Boring Dystopia. This also shows how the practice of sonic fiction might intercede to overcome an impasse between a traditional critical theory (Adorno) and Deleuzian approaches to the analysis of popular music. The thesis is in two parts; the first provides an overview of the concept of boring dystopia and the practice of sonic fiction. The second is A Sonic Fiction of Boring Dystopia, that performs an experimental exploration of the practice sonic fiction set across five concepts; Attention, Complicity, Catharsis, Home and Conjunction, three chapters that reconceptualize the works of David Foster Wallace, Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari, and Theodor Adorno as theory-fictions and sonic fictions, and 6 experiential fictionalized accounts of musical experience. This is followed by the conclusion of the thesis. By developing these tools it is argued that we can chart a ‘line of flight’ (Deleuze and Guattari 2013b: 13) to overcome the impasse that inhibits our thinking about the emancipatory potential of popular music. To help us move beyond the rigid pessimism of critical theory and the sometimes apolitical optimism of the Deleuzian approach. Thus allowing us to discover new territory, which the present paradigm may also afford.

This thesis is an exploration of reading styles and stylistic patterning in relation to dystopian fiction. Situated within an empirical cognitive poetics, the study draws upon naturalistic reader-response data, with specific reference to Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Vonnegut’s ‘Harrison Bergeron’, as case studies of dystopian texts that produce a spectrum of readings. The notions of preferred and dispreferred responses are defined in cognitive linguistic and pragmatic terms, and non-normative readings of these dystopian texts are investigated. The thesis adopts a text-world theoretical description, and provides both naturalistic reader-community data as well as focused interviews and reading protocols. It was found that some readers insist on producing dispreferred readings even in the face of lack of textually-driven evidence. Such readers allow their own emotions, outlooks and dispositions to over-ride the textual patterning, in producing dispreferred and non-evidential readings. These readings are nevertheless genuinely held. This study raises questions for all text-driven models of literary reading and analysis.

As the English-speaking book market is difficult to penetrate for authors who are not native speakers of English, it is important to analyze how writers of different languages can produce notable works. This dissertation sets to translate, analyze, and assess the literary value of "Tu Non Esisti", a short story written by Italian author Leonardo Patrignani, as an example of contemporary Italian dystopian fiction that could be successful abroad.

RESUMO: pela contracção involuntária de grupos musculares de extensão variável, originando movimentos involuntários e posturas anómalas, por vezes dolorosas. O tratamento convencional consiste em injecções localizadas de toxina botulínica, podendo, em casos refractários, estar indicado o tratamento por estimulação cerebral profunda. A neurobiologia da distonia focal primária permanece incompletamente compreendida. Os estudos de neuro-imagem estrutural e funcional revelam alterações subtis da anatomia e funcionamento do estriado e das vias cortico-basais, com destaque para o aumento do volume, da actividade metabólica e da neuroplasticidade do putamen e de áreas corticais motoras, pré-motoras e sensitivas. O conjunto destas alterações aponta para uma disrupção da regulação inibitória de programas motores automáticos sustentados pelo estriado e pelas vias ortico-subcorticais. Nos últimos anos tem crescido o interesse pelas manifestações psiquiátricas e cognitivas da distonia (estas últimas muito pouco estudadas). Tem despertado particular interesse a possível associação entre distonia focal primária e perturbação obsessivo-compulsiva (POC), cuja neurobiologia parece notavelmente sobreponível à da distonia primária. Com efeito, os estudos de neuro-imagem estrutural e funcional na POC revelam consistentemente aumento do volume e actividade do estriado e do córtex órbito-frontal, apontando mais uma vez para uma disfunção do controlo inibitório, no estriado, de programas comportamentais e cognitivos automáticos. Objectivos: 1. Explorar a prevalência e intensidade de psicopatologia em geral, e de psicopatologia obsessivo-compulsiva em particular, numa amostra de indivíduos com distonia focal primária; 2. Explorar a ocorrência, natureza e intensidade de alterações do funcionamento cognitivo numa amostra de indivíduos com distonia focal primária; 3. Investigar a associação entre a gravidade da distonia focal, a intensidade da psicopatologia, e a intensidade das alterações cognitivas. Metodologia: Estudo de tipo transversal, caso-controlo, observacional e descritivo, com objectivos puramente exploratórios. Casos: 45 indivíduos com distonia focal primária (15 casos de blefaroespasmo, 15 de cãibra do escrivão, 15 de distonia cervical espasmódica), recrutados através da Associação Portuguesa de Distonia. Critérios de inclusão: idade = 18; distonia focal primária pura (excluindo casos de distonia psicogénica possível ou provável de acordo com os critérios de Fahn e Williams); Metabolismo do cobre e Ressonância Magnética Nuclear sem alterações. Controlos doentes: 46 casos consecutivos recrutados a partir da consulta externa do Hospital Egas Moniz: 15 doentes com espasmo hemifacial, 14 com espondilartropatia cervical, 17 com síndrome do canal cárpico. Controlos saudáveis: 30 voluntários. Critérios de exclusão para todos os grupos: Mini-Mental State Examination patológico, tratamento actual com anti-colinérgicos, antipsicóticos, inibidores selectivos da recaptação da serotonina, antidepressivos tri- ou tetracíclicos. Avaliação: Avaliação neurológica: história e exame médico e neurológico completos. Cotação da gravidade da distonia com a Unified Dystonia Rating Scale. Avaliação psicopatológica: Symptom Check-List-90-Revised; entrevista psiquiátrica de 60 minutos incluindo a Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), versão 4.4 (validada em Português), complementada com os módulos da MINI Plus versão 5.0.0 para depressão ao longo da vida e dependência/ abuso do álcool e outras substâncias ao longo da vida; Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Checklist e a Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Avaliação neuropsicológica: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST; flexibilidade cognitiva); Teste de Stroop (inibição de resposta); Block Assembly Test (capacidade visuo-construtiva); Teste de Retenção Visual de Benton (memória de trabalho visuo-espacial). Análise estatística:os dados foram analisados com a aplicação informática SPSS for Windows, versão 13. Para a comparação de proporções utilizaram-se o teste do Chi-quadrado e o teste de Fisher. Para a comparação de variáveis quantitativas entre dois grupos utilizou-se o teste t de Student ou o teste U de Mann-Whitney (teste de Wilcoxon no caso de amostras emparelhadas). Para comparações de médias entre três grupos recorreu-se à Análise de Variância a um factor (variáveis de intervalo e de rácio), ou ao teste de Kruskal-Wallis (variáveis ordinais). Para o estudo da associação entre variáveis foram utilizados os coeficientes de correlação de Pearson ou de Spearman, a análise de correlações canónicas, a análise de trajectórias e a regressão logística. Adoptou-se um Alpha de 0.05. Resultados: Os doentes com distonia focal primária apresentaram uma pontuação média na Y- -BOCS significativamente superior à dos dois grupos de controlo. Em 24.4% dos doentes com distonia a pontuação na Y-BOCS foi superior a 16. Estes doentes eram predominantemente mulheres, tinham uma maior duração média da doença e referiam predominantemente sintomas obsessivo-compulsivos (SOC) de contaminação e lavagem. Os dois grupos com doença crónica apresentaram pontuações médias superiores às dos indivíduos saudáveis nas escalas de ansiedade, somatização e psicopatologia geral. Os doentes com distonia tratados com toxina botulínica apresentaram pontuações inferiores às dos doentes não tratados nas escalas de ansiedade generalizada, fobia, somatização e depressão, mas não na Y-BOCS. Sessenta por cento dos doentes com distonia apresentavam pelo menos um diagnóstico psiquiátrico actual ou pregresso. O risco de apresentar um diagnóstico psiquiátrico actual era menor nos doentes tratados com toxina botulínica, aumentando com a gravidade da doença. A prevalência de POC foi 8,3% e a de depressão major 37,7%. No WCST e na Prova de Benton, os doentes com distonia focal primária demonstraram um desempenho inferior ao de ambos os grupos de controlo, cometendo sobretudo erros perseverativos. Os doentes com distonia e pontuação na Y-BOCS > 16 cometeram mais erros e respostas perseverativas no WCST do que os restantes doentes com distonia. As análises de correlações e de trajectórias revelaram que nos doentes com distonia a gravidade da distonia foi, juntamente com a idade e a escolaridade, o factor que mais interagiu com o desempenho cognitivo. Discussão: o nosso estudo é o primeiro a descrever, nos mesmos doentes com distonia focal primária, SOC significativos e alterações cognitivas. Os nossos resultados confirmam a hipótese de uma associação clínica específica entre distonia focal primária e psicopatologia obsessivo-compulsiva. Confirmam igualmente que a distonia focal primária está associada a um maior risco de desenvolver morbilidade psiquiátrica ansiosa e depressiva. O tratamento com toxina botulínica reduz este risco, mas não influencia os SOC. Entre os doentes com distonia, os que têm SOC significativos poderão diconstituir um grupo particular com maior duração da doença (mas não uma maior gravidade), predomínio do sexo feminino e predomínio de SOC de contaminação e limpeza. Em termos cognitivos, os indivíduos com distonia focal primária apresentam défices significativos de flexibilidade cognitiva (particularmente acentuados nos doentes com SOC significativos) e de memória de trabalho visuo-espacial. Estes últimos devem-se essencialmente a um défice executivo e não a uma incapacidade visuo-construtiva ou visuo-perceptiva. A disfunção cognitiva não é explicável pela psicopatologia depressiva nem pela incapacidade motora, já que os controlos com doença periférica crónica tiveram um desempenho superior ao dos doentes com distonia. No seu conjunto os nossos resultados sugerem que os SOC que ocorrem na distonia focal primária constituem uma das manifestações clínicas da neurobiologia desta doença do movimento. O predomínio de sintomas relacionados com higiene e o perfil disexecutivo de alterações cognitivas–perseveração e dificuldades executivas de memória de trabalho visuo-espacial – apontam para a via cortico-basal dorso-lateral e para as áreas corticais que lhe estão associadas como estando implicadas na tripla associação entre sintomas motores, obsessivo-compulsivos e cognitivos. Conclusões: A distonia focal primária é um síndrome neuropsiquiátrico complexo com importantes manifestações não motoras, nomeadamente compromisso cognitivo do tipo disexecutivo e sintomas obsessivo-compulsivos. Clinicamente estas manifestações representam necessidades de tratamento que vão muito para além da simples incapacidade motora, devendo ser activamente exploradas e tratadas.-------------- ABSTRACT: Introduction: primary focal dystonia is an idiopathic movement disorder that manifests as involuntary, sustained contraction of muscular groups, leading to abnormal and often painful postures of the affected body part. Treatment is symptomatic, usually with local intramuscular injections of botulinum toxin. The neurobiology of primary focal dystonia remains unclear. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies have revealed subtle changes in striatal and cortical-basal pathway anatomy and function. The most consistent findings involve increased volume and metabolic activity of the putamen and of motor, pre-motor and somato-sensitive cortical areas. As a whole, these changes have been interpreted as reflecting a failure of striatal inhibitory control over automatic motor programs sustained by cortical-basal pathways. The last years have witnessed an increasing interest for the possible non-motor – mainly psychiatric and cognitive – manifestations of primary focal dystonia. The possible association of primary focal dystonia with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has raised particular interest. The neurobiology of the two disorders has indeed remarkable similarities: structural and functional neuroimaging studies in OCD have revealed increased volume and metabolic activity of the striatum and orbital-frontal cortex, again pointing to a disruption of inhibitory control of automatic cognitive and behavioural programs by the striatum. Objectives: 1. To explore the prevalence and severity of psychopathology – with a special emphasis on obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) – in a sample of patients with primary focal dystonia;2. To explore the nature and severity of possible cognitive dysfunction in a sample of patients with primary focal dystonia; 3. To explore the possible association between dystonia severity, psychiatric symptom severity, and cognitive performance, in a sample of patients with primary focal dystonia. Methods: cross-sectional, case-control, descriptive study. Cases: forty-five consecutive, primary pure focal dystonia patients recruited from the Portuguese Dystonia Association case register (fifteen patients with blepharospasm, 15 with cervical dystonia and 15 with writer’s cramp). Inclusion criteria were: age = 18; primary pure focal, late-onset dystonia (excluding possible or probable psychogenic dystonia according to the Fahn & Williams criteria); normal copper metabolism and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Diseased controls: forty-six consecutive subjects from our hospital case register (15 patients with hemi-facial spasm; 14 with cervical spondilarthropathy and cervical spinal root compression; 17 with carpal tunnel syndrome). Healthy controls were 30 volunteers.Exclusion criteria for all groups: Mini-Mental State Examination score below the validated cut-off for the Portuguese population (<23 for education between 1 and 11 years; <28 for education >11 years); use of anti-cholinergics, neuroleptics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, triciclic or tetraciclic antidepressants. Assessment: neurological assessment: complete medical and neurological history and physical examination; dystonia severity scoring with the Unified Dystonia Rating Scale. Psychiatric assessment:Symptom Check-List-90-Revised; 60 minute-long psychiatric interview, including Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), version 4.4 (validated Portuguese version), extended with the sections for life-time major depressive disorder and life-time alcohol and substance abuse disorder from MINI-Plus version 5.0.0; Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Checklist and Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Cognitive assessment: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST; cognitive set-shifting ability); Stroop Test (response inhibition); Block Assembly Test(visual-constructive ability); Benton’s Visual Retention Test (visual-spatial working memory). Statistic analysis: Data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows version 13. Proportions were compared using Chi-Square test, or Fisher’s exact test when appropriate. Student’s t-test or Mann-Whitney’s U test (or Wilcoxon’s teste in the case of matched samples) were used for two-group comparisons. P-values were corrected for multiple comparisons. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc analysis (interval data), or the Kruskal-Wallis Test (ordinal data), were used for three-group comparisons. Associations were analysed with Pearson’s or Spearman’s correlation coefficients, canonical correlations, path analysis and logistic regression analysis. Alpha was set at 0.05. Results: Dystonia patients had higher Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom scores than both control groups. 24.4% of primary dystonia patients had a Y-BOCS score > 16. These patients were predominantly women; they had longer disease duration, and showed a predominance of hygiene-related OCS. The two groups with chronic disease had higher anxiety, somatization and global psychopathology scores than healthy subjects. Primary dystonia patients undergoing treatment with botulinum toxin had lower anxiety, phobia, somatization and depression scores than their untreated counterparts, but similar Y-BOCS scores. Sixty percent of primary dystonia patients had at least one lifetime psychiatric diagnosis. The odds of having a currently active psychiatric diagnosis were lower in botulinum toxin treated patients, and increased with dystonia severity. The prevalence of OCD was 6.7%, and the lifetime prevalence of major depression was 37.7%. Primary dystonia patients had a lower performance than the two control groups in both the WCST and Benton’s Visual Retention Test, mainly due to an excess of perseveration errors. Primary dystonia patients with Y-BOCS score > 16 had much higher perseveration error and perseveration response scores than dystonia patients with Y-BOCS = 16. Correlation and path analysis showed that, in the primary dystonia group, dystonia severity, along with age and education, was the main factor influencing cognitive performance. Discussion: our study is the first description ever of concomitant significant OCS and cognitive impairment in primary dystonia patients. Our results confirm that primary dystonia is specifically associated with obsessive-compulsive psychopathology. They also confirm that primary focal dystonia patients are at a higher risk of developing anxious and depressive psychiatric morbidity. Treatment with botulinum toxin decreases this risk, but does not influence OCS. Primary focal dystonia patients with significant OCS may constitute a particular subgroup. They are predominantly women, with higher disease duration (but not severity) and a predominance of hygiene related OCS.In terms of cognitive performance, primary focal dystonia patients have significant deficits involving set-shifting ability and visual-spatial working memory. The latter result from an essentially executive deficit, rather than from a primary visual-constructive apraxia or perceptual deficit. Furthermore, cognitive flexibility difficulties were more prominent in the subset of primary dystonia patients with significant OCS. The cognitive dysfunction found in dystonia patients is not attributable to depressive psychopathology or motor disability, as their performance was significantly lower than that of similarly impaired diseased controls. Our results suggest that OCS in primary focal dystonia are a direct, primary manifestation of the motor disorder’s neurobiology. The predominance of hygiene-related symptoms and the disexecutive pattern of cognitive impairment – set-shifting and visual-spatial working memory deficits – suggest that the dorsal-lateral cortical-basal pathway may play a decisive role in the triple association of motor dysfunction, OCS and cognitive impairment. Conclusions: primary focal dystonia is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome with significant non- -motor manifestations, namely cognitive executive deficits and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.Clinically, our results show that PFD patients may have needs for care that extend far beyond a merely motor disability and must be actively searched for and treated.

Les dystonies, troubles moteurs d'origine cérébrale, se traduisent par des contractions musculaires involontaires provoquant des postures et des mouvements anormaux. Les formes primaires sont cliniquement et génétiquement hétérogènes avec en général une transmission autosomique dominante et une pénétrance incomplète. Nous avons caractérisé une nouvelle localisation probable d'un gène impliqué dans les formes focales par analyse de liaison. Les gènes candidats de cette région de 40 cM sont en cours d'analyse. D'autre part, en France, peu de données épidémiologiques existaient quant à la dystonie généralisée DYT1 due à une mutation unique et récurrente dans le gène TOR1A. L'incidence de cette mutation a donc été étudiée : 1 nouveau-né sur 12000 a été trouvé positif confirmant une faible prévalence de la maladie. Dans un deuxième temps, une étude exhaustive de la population française porteuse de cette mutation a confirmé la rareté de cette maladie en France et nous a permis de suggérer qu'un effet fondateur plus ancien que celui décrit chez les Juifs Ashkénazes pouvait être proposé dans notre population. Des études d'association testant les possibles implications de différents facteurs sur la pénétrance réduite et à la variabilité clinique observées dans cette pathologie ont été réalisées avec le gène TOR1A lui-même ou certains de ses interacteurs. Finalement, un modèle d'étude de ce gène a été établi chez Caenohrabditis elegans afin de mieux comprendre son implication dans la physiopathologie des dystonies. L'ensemble de ces travaux confirme l'hétérogénéité génétique rencontrée dans les dystonies et révèle toute la complexité de maladies initialement classées monogéniques.