Translating and literary agenting Anna Holmwood’s Legends of the Condor Heroes

The role of literary agents in translation is intriguing yet under-researched. The mechanism of literary agenting vis-à-vis the initiation, production, and promotion of translated literature is under-explored. How literary agenting affects translation epistemologically, aesthetically, and technically remains uncharted territory. This dissertation attempts to fill the gap by investigating how Anna Holmwood, a translator-cum-literary agent, conceives and conducts the English translation of Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan (“射雕英雄傳”), a wuxia (武俠) magnum opus by Jin Yong (金庸). It first employs an NVivo-based theme analysis to unearth how the translation has been received and perceived by general readers. Next, it develops the notion of professional habitus based on Bourdieu’s concept of habitus. Capitalizing on first-hand materials such as email exchanges, speech transcriptions, interview records, agent reports, and unpublished essays, it then examines how Holmwood’s professional habitus as a literary agent empowers her to act as the initiator (as demonstrated in translation selection, contract-signing, and pitching), coordinator (as demonstrated in designating co-translators, and establishing and strengthening connections between various actors), and promoter (as demonstrated in coining the tagline “A Chinese Lord of the Rings”) of the translation project, and recounts the process in which this translation comes into being. Next, it conducts a textual analysis of the first two volumes of the translated book with various corpus tools (AntConc, L2SCA, MAT, etc.), showing how Holmwood’s literary agent identity shapes her approach to wuxia translation, and demonstrating her “fingerprints” on the “tone”, “pitch”, and “pace” of the translated texts. It is revealed that Holmwood’s translation is distinct from previous translations of Jin Yong’s novels on multiple linguistic levels, and that her translation style is imprinted on the translation by Gigi Chang, the co-translator. Finally, Holmwood has appropriated such cinematic techniques as undercranking, fast cutting, zoom in shot, and extreme long shot in her translation, making it reminiscent of Tsui Hark’s wuxia films. Thanks largely to her literary agenting experience, Holmwood produces a reader-oriented translation that is readable, dynamic, and fast-paced, and projects Jin Yong wuxia as entertaining, individualistic, apolitical, multicultural, and cosmopolitan. This mixed-method study not only refreshes our understanding of literary agenting of translation, but also contributes to the research methodology of translation reception and translation style

Sustainable Technology and Elderly Life

The coming years will see an exponential increase in the proportion of elderly people in our society. This accelerated growth brings with it major challenges in relation to the sustainability of the system. There are different aspects where these changes will have a special incidence: health systems and their monitoring; the development of a framework in which the elderly can develop their daily lives satisfactorily; and in the design of intelligent cities adapted to the future sociodemographic profile. The discussion of the challenges faced, together with the current technological evolution, can show possible ways of meeting the challenges. There are different aspects where these changes will have a special incidence: health systems and their monitoring; the development of a framework in which the elderly can develop their daily lives satisfactorily; and in the design of intelligent cities adapted to the future sociodemographic profile. This special issue discusses various ways in which sustainable technologies can be applied to improve the lives of the elderly. Six articles on the subject are featured in this volume. From a systematic review of the literature to the development of gamification and health improvement projects. The articles present suggestive proposals for the improvement of the lives of the elderly. The volume is a resource of interest for the scientific community, since it shows different research gaps in the current state of the art. But it is also a document that can help social policy makers and people working in this domain to planning successful projects

Reading men's lifestyle magazines in contemporary China

Men's lifestyle magazines came to China at the turn of the 21st century, as a result of commercialization and the globalization of the media. They have prospered in the last decade along with the marked emergence of a new "middle class" in China and their pursuit and imagination of a consumerist lifestyle. Reflecting dynamic negotiation and hybridization between global and local discourses, the men's lifestyle magazine, as a form of popular culture, points to new possibilities of gender and sexuality in post-socialist China. In particular, targeting the newly-emerged social elite, these magazines construct and promote a new mode of masculinity that is characterized by hedonism, consumerism, and cosmopolitanism. The thesis aims at developing a framework for understanding men's lifestyle magazines in China by focusing on this new mode of manhood, which, as an aspirational model, represents a new development of Chinese masculinities that are significantly different from both the Confucian and Maoist discourses. At the centre of the discourse of consumerist masculinity is the pursuit of a lifestyle defined by pinwei or "good taste", which is rendered modern and Westernized by readers and is closely associated with a middle-class identity and fantasy. As an interdisciplinary study of men's magazines in China, the thesis synthesizes research methods of both media studies and gender studies. From the perspective of media studies, it investigates the ownership patterns of the magazines, i.e., local copyright ownership versus shared copyright ownership with established overseas magazines. Comparison has been made between the two types of magazines in terms of representations of lifestyle, masculinity and consumerism. Based on interviews and surveys with magazine editors and readers, the study empirically examines the production, reception and interpretation of these magazines and the male images constructed and promoted by them. By content analysis and critical readings of the verbal and visual texts, the study also compares Chinese editions of international titles such as FHM and Esquire with their "mother editions" in the West and probes into the localization of Western hegemonic masculinity in China. In addition, the distinctive "Chinese characteristics" of the magazines, namely elitism and nationalism, have been embedded in the social and ideological context of post-socialist China. In light of gender studies theory, the study interprets different types of spectatorship of the body in the magazines and examines the cultural habitus of the new "middle class" as desiring subjects

Multisensory processing, affect and multimodal manipulation: A cognitive-semiotic empirical study of travel documentaries

Multisensory processing represents the mirror image of multimodal meaning-making, in that interpreting multimodal discourse predominantly requires multisensory processing, even when different modes rely on the same sensory channels (Khateb et al., 2002), for example images and text in a book (Gibbons, 2012, p. 40). Remley (2017) makes a similar point when discussing the neuroscience of multimodal persuasive messages, when he asserts that “[t]he term ‘multisensory integration’ is the biological equivalent of the term ‘multimodal’ in rhetoric” (p. 9). An understanding of multisensory processing can therefore be (and presumably is) exploited at the stage of text-production as a resource for manipulative multimodal discourses, with all the ideological consequences that entails. The concept of manipulation has been a matter of discussion in critical discourse studies (CDS) and pragmatics for more than a decade. Agreement on how to define and analyse the latter has yet to be reached, although most scholars seem to agree that Relevance Theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1995) can provide a useful entry point thanks to its theorisation of variable contexts and individual cognitive environments (de Saussure, 2005; Maillat, 2013; Maillat and Oswald, 2009; Oswald, 2014). Moreover, the concept of epistemic vigilance (Sperber et al., 2010) has been used to investigate the cognitive barriers that need to be bypassed in order for manipulation to work (Hart, 2013; Mazzarella, 2015). Finally, Sorlin (2017: 133) recently highlighted the need to focus not only on the cognitive aspects influencing manipulation, but also on “the psychological aspect of manipulation that often consists in exploiting the target's weaknesses”, thus pointing towards the dimension of affect as a further explanatory force. This paper begins with an overview of the concepts of manipulation and epistemic vigilance, before discussing insights from the field of multisensory processing in the neurosciences. Then, drawing on some principles from Relevance Theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1995) and looking at some data from travel documentary programmes and their viewers, examples are offered of how manipulation is attempted and achieved through this specific multimodal genre in individual case studies. The focus of the analysis will be on bottom-up (i.e. text-driven) processes and the interpretation/reaction of an audience. The research draws on a novel methodological approach (Castaldi, 2021) that integrates Audience Research (e.g., Schrøder et al., 2003) and Social Semiotics (e.g. Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996, 2001; van Leeuwen, 1999; Machin and Mayr, 2012) in order to analyse media interactions in their individuality. Results suggest that the affective dimension, predominantly attended to through sonic and visual modes, plays a key role for multimodal manipulation to successfully occur

Zero Distance

This open access book offers a new management meta-theory to replace Taylorism. It presents a new paradigm in management thinking and a new, practical organizational model for implementing it in our personal and working lives, in our companies, in our communities and nations, and in a sustainable global order. It will offer an understanding of why and how “thinking-as-usual” is failing both business and political leaders in these new times, and it will advocate new thinking and new management practices that are so radically new that they turn everything we have taken for granted inside out and upside down. This new management model is called “Quantum Management Theory”, because it is rooted in the new paradigm bequeathed to us by quantum physics and its younger sibling, complexity science

Zero Distance

This open access book offers a new management meta-theory to replace Taylorism. It presents a new paradigm in management thinking and a new, practical organizational model for implementing it in our personal and working lives, in our companies, in our communities and nations, and in a sustainable global order. It will offer an understanding of why and how “thinking-as-usual” is failing both business and political leaders in these new times, and it will advocate new thinking and new management practices that are so radically new that they turn everything we have taken for granted inside out and upside down. This new management model is called “Quantum Management Theory”, because it is rooted in the new paradigm bequeathed to us by quantum physics and its younger sibling, complexity science

Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook (2023-2024)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/course-catalogues/1321/thumbnail.jp

Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook (2022-2023)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/course-catalogues/1320/thumbnail.jp

METROPOLITAN ENCHANTMENT AND DISENCHANTMENT. METROPOLITAN ANTHROPOLOGY FOR THE CONTEMPORARY LIVING MAP CONSTRUCTION

We can no longer interpret the contemporary metropolis as we did in the last century. The thought of civil economy regarding the contemporary Metropolis conflicts more or less radically with the merely acquisitive dimension of the behaviour of its citizens. What is needed is therefore a new capacity for imagining the economic-productive future of the city: hybrid social enterprises, economically sustainable, structured and capable of using technologies, could be a solution for producing value and distributing it fairly and inclusively. Metropolitan Urbanity is another issue to establish. Metropolis needs new spaces where inclusion can occur, and where a repository of the imagery can be recreated. What is the ontology behind the technique of metropolitan planning and management, its vision and its symbols? Competitiveness, speed, and meritocracy are political words, not technical ones. Metropolitan Urbanity is the characteristic of a polis that expresses itself in its public places. Today, however, public places are private ones that are destined for public use. The Common Good has always had a space of representation in the city, which was the public space. Today, the Green-Grey Infrastructure is the metropolitan city's monument that communicates a value for future generations and must therefore be recognised and imagined; it is the production of the metropolitan symbolic imagery, the new magic of the city

Understanding and designing for control in camera operation

Kameraleute nutzen traditionell gezielt Hilfsmittel um kontrollierte Kamerabewegungen zu ermöglichen. Der technische Fortschritt hat hierbei unlängst zum Entstehen neuer Werkzeugen wie Gimbals, Drohnen oder Robotern beigetragen. Dabei wurden durch eine Kombination von Motorisierung, Computer-Vision und Machine-Learning auch neue Interaktionstechniken eingeführt. Neben dem etablierten achsenbasierten Stil wurde nun auch ein inhaltsbasierter Interaktionsstil ermöglicht. Einerseits vereinfachte dieser die Arbeit, andererseits aber folgten dieser (Teil-)Automatisierung auch unerwünschte Nebeneffekte. Grundsätzlich wollen sich Kameraleute während der Kamerabewegung kontinuierlich in Kontrolle und am Ende als Autoren der Aufnahmen fühlen. Während Automatisierung hierbei Experten unterstützen und Anfänger befähigen kann, führt sie unweigerlich auch zu einem gewissen Verlust an gewünschter Kontrolle. Wenn wir Kamerabewegung mit neuen Werkzeugen unterstützen wollen, stellt sich uns daher die Frage: Wie sollten wir diese Werkzeuge gestalten damit sie, trotz fortschreitender Automatisierung ein Gefühl von Kontrolle vermitteln? In der Vergangenheit wurde Kamerakontrolle bereits eingehend erforscht, allerdings vermehrt im virtuellen Raum. Die Anwendung inhaltsbasierter Kontrolle im physikalischen Raum trifft jedoch auf weniger erforschte domänenspezifische Herausforderungen welche gleichzeitig auch neue Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten eröffnen. Um dabei auf Nutzerbedürfnisse einzugehen, müssen sich Schnittstellen zum Beispiel an diese Einschränkungen anpassen können und ein Zusammenspiel mit bestehenden Praktiken erlauben. Bisherige Forschung fokussierte sich oftmals auf ein technisches Verständnis von Kamerafahrten, was sich auch in der Schnittstellengestaltung niederschlug. Im Gegensatz dazu trägt diese Arbeit zu einem besseren Verständnis der Motive und Praktiken von Kameraleuten bei und bildet eine Grundlage zur Forschung und Gestaltung von Nutzerschnittstellen. Diese Arbeit präsentiert dazu konkret drei Beiträge: Zuerst beschreiben wir ethnographische Studien über Experten und deren Praktiken. Sie zeigen vor allem die Herausforderungen von Automatisierung bei Kreativaufgaben auf (Assistenz vs. Kontrollgefühl). Zweitens, stellen wir ein Prototyping-Toolkit vor, dass für den Einsatz im Feld geeignet ist. Das Toolkit stellt Software für eine Replikation quelloffen bereit und erleichtert somit die Exploration von Designprototypen. Um Fragen zu deren Gestaltung besser beantworten zu können, stellen wir ebenfalls ein Evaluations-Framework vor, das vor allem Kontrollqualität und -gefühl bestimmt. Darin erweitern wir etablierte Ansätze um eine neurowissenschaftliche Methodik, um Daten explizit wie implizit erheben zu können. Drittens, präsentieren wir Designs und deren Evaluation aufbauend auf unserem Toolkit und Framework. Die Alternativen untersuchen Kontrolle bei verschiedenen Automatisierungsgraden und inhaltsbasierten Interaktionen. Auftretende Verdeckung durch graphische Elemente, wurde dabei durch visuelle Reduzierung und Mid-Air Gesten kompensiert. Unsere Studien implizieren hohe Grade an Kontrollqualität und -gefühl bei unseren Ansätzen, die zudem kreatives Arbeiten und bestehende Praktiken unterstützen.Cinematographers often use supportive tools to craft desired camera moves. Recent technological advances added new tools to the palette such as gimbals, drones or robots. The combination of motor-driven actuation, computer vision and machine learning in such systems also rendered new interaction techniques possible. In particular, a content-based interaction style was introduced in addition to the established axis-based style. On the one hand, content-based cocreation between humans and automated systems made it easier to reach high level goals. On the other hand however, the increased use of automation also introduced negative side effects. Creatives usually want to feel in control during executing the camera motion and in the end as the authors of the recorded shots. While automation can assist experts or enable novices, it unfortunately also takes away desired control from operators. Thus, if we want to support cinematographers with new tools and interaction techniques the following question arises: How should we design interfaces for camera motion control that, despite being increasingly automated, provide cinematographers with an experience of control? Camera control has been studied for decades, especially in virtual environments. Applying content-based interaction to physical environments opens up new design opportunities but also faces, less researched, domain-specific challenges. To suit the needs of cinematographers, designs need to be crafted with care. In particular, they must adapt to constraints of recordings on location. This makes an interplay with established practices essential. Previous work has mainly focused on a technology-centered understanding of camera travel which consequently influenced the design of camera control systems. In contrast, this thesis, contributes to the understanding of the motives of cinematographers, how they operate on set and provides a user-centered foundation informing cinematography specific research and design. The contribution of this thesis is threefold: First, we present ethnographic studies on expert users and their shooting practices on location. These studies highlight the challenges of introducing automation to a creative task (assistance vs feeling in control). Second, we report on a domain specific prototyping toolkit for in-situ deployment. The toolkit provides open source software for low cost replication enabling the exploration of design alternatives. To better inform design decisions, we further introduce an evaluation framework for estimating the resulting quality and sense of control. By extending established methodologies with a recent neuroscientific technique, it provides data on explicit as well as implicit levels and is designed to be applicable to other domains of HCI. Third, we present evaluations of designs based on our toolkit and framework. We explored a dynamic interplay of manual control with various degrees of automation. Further, we examined different content-based interaction styles. Here, occlusion due to graphical elements was found and addressed by exploring visual reduction strategies and mid-air gestures. Our studies demonstrate that high degrees of quality and sense of control are achievable with our tools that also support creativity and established practices