Usos amorosos e identitarios de Esther Tusquets: ¿Hacia una transición inconclusa?

The aim of this study is to investigate the types of discourse, ideologies, values and models codified in Tusquet’s novels with respect to love and identity related narratives. In order to achieve our goal, we will apply the sociocritical theory regarding transition as well as love related theoretical patterns coined in sociology and psychology. The following questions shall be taken into consideration: which love and identity concepts are being depicted in the novels?, how do the love and identity discourses interact among themselves? Which types of discourse and which cultural models seem to be dominant in Tusquets’ narrative? and to what extent could the analyzed texts be seen as the inscription of an unaccomplished transition?The aim of this study is to investigate the types of discourse, ideologies, values and models codified in Tusquet’s novels with respect to love and identity related narratives. In order to achieve our goal, we will apply the sociocritical theory regarding transition as well as love related theoretical patterns coined in sociology and psychology. The following questions shall be taken into consideration: which love and identity concepts are being depicted in the novels?, how do the love and identity discourses interact among themselves? Which types of discourse and which cultural models seem to be dominant in Tusquets’ narrative? and to what extent could the analyzed texts be seen as the inscription of an unaccomplished transition?The aim of this study is to investigate the types of discourse, ideologies, values and models codified in Tusquet’s novels with respect to love and identity related narratives. In order to achieve our goal, we will apply the sociocritical theory regarding transition as well as love related theoretical patterns coined in sociology and psychology. The following questions shall be taken into consideration: which love and identity concepts are being depicted in the novels?, how do the love and identity discourses interact among themselves? Which types of discourse and which cultural models seem to be dominant in Tusquets’ narrative? and to what extent could the analyzed texts be seen as the inscription of an unaccomplished transition

Subglacial tunnel valleys in the Alpine foreland: an example from Bern, Switzerland

The morphology of the Alpine and adjacent landscapes is directly related to glacial erosion and associated sediment transport. Here we report the effects of glacio-hydrologic erosion on bedrock topography in the Swiss Plateau. Specifically, we identify the presence of subsurface valleys beneath the city of Bern and discuss their genesis. Stratigraphic investigations of more than 4,000 borehole data within a 430km2-large area reveal the presence of a network of >200m-deep and 1,000m-wide valleys. They are flat floored with steep sided walls and are filled by Quaternary glacial deposits. The central valley beneath Bern is straight and oriented towards the NNW, with valley flanks more than 20° steep. The valley bottom has an irregular undulating profile along the thalweg, with differences between sills and hollows higher than 50-100m over a reach of 4km length. Approximately 500m high bedrock highlands flank the valley network. The highlands are dissected by up to 80m-deep and 500m-broad hanging valleys that currently drain away from the axis of the main valley. We interpret the valleys beneath the city of Bern to be a tunnel valley network which originated from subglacial erosion by melt water. The highland valleys served as proglacial meltwater paths and are hanging with respect to the trunk system, indicating that these incipient highland systems as well as the main gorge beneath Bern formed by glacial melt water under pressur

Between the crisis of the “human”, “trans(fuge)” autofiction and “the queer art of failure”: Camila Sosa Villada’s “Las malas”

"Las malas" de Camila Sosa Villada (2019), un relato de vida construido en clave de una autoficción tránsfuga, deviene en una crítica de la violencia patriarcal basada en el pensamiento falologocéntrico binario que ha precisado siempre de lo externo a él. En los discursos normativos disciplinarios que Camila afronta, lo exterior está materializado en forma de barbarie, de lo “no-humano” o “vida no habitable” (Butler 2002, Braidotti 2015). Veremos cómo el texto activa y des-activa la dialéctica identidad/otredad, dentro/fuera, humano/no-humano que subyace a todas las narraciones (des)identitarias (Wayar 2019). Asimismo, analizaremos la representación de la (in)felicidad performativa tal y como quedó codificada en "Las malas", con sus mandatos, promesas, tabúes y fracasos. Por último, hablar del “arte queer del fracaso” nos permitirá ver que las prácticas (trans)discursivas producidas y reproducidas en la novela no siempre se corresponden con los usos de las teorías trans* (Halberstam 2018), creando de esta forma llamativos encuentros y desencuentros ideológicos."Las malas", written by Camila Sosa Villada (2019), is a story of life construc-ted as an defector ́s autofiction that evolves into a critique of patriarchal violence based on the binary, phalogocentric system of thought that always depended on its own exterior. In the normative disciplinary discourses that Camila must face, the exterior is materialized in the form of the non-human or the “no-livable life” (Butler 2002, Braidotti 2015). The text activates and deactivates the dialectics iden-tity/alterity, inside /outside, human/non-human which underlies all (non)identity narratives. Likewise, we will analyse the representation of performative (un)happiness as it was codified in "Las malas", with its mandates, promises, taboos and failures. Finally, the concept of “the queer art of failure” will allow us to see that the (trans)discursive practices produced and reproduced in the novel do not always comply with the uses propagated by trans* theories (Halberstam 2018), creating striking ideological encounters and discounters

Amor, género y orden social en El último patriarca y La cazadora de cuerpos, de Najat El Hachmi

Las prácticas discursivas amorosas existen siempre dentro del marco cultural concreto y se relacionan con otros discursos e interpretaciones individuales y colectivas generados por dicha cultura. Este artículo reflexiona sobre El último patriarca (2008) y La cazadora de cuerpos (2011), dos novelas de la escritora catalana Najat El Hachmi, que pueden ser leídas conjuntamente como un relato sobre la historia de los conceptos del amor, la sexualidad y del matrimonio en Occidente. Asimismo, las dos novelas no solo se complementan al poner en el centro de su atención las cuestiones de identidad, género, cuerpo y amor, sino que también reinscriben la evolución de tales conceptos, su mitificación y desmitificación.Les pratiques discursives de l'amour sont toujours dans le contexte culturel spécifique et se rapportent à d'autres discours et interprétations individuelles et collectives générées par cette culture. Cet article se penche sur El último patriarca (2008) et La cazadora de cuerpos (2011), deux romans par l'écrivain catalan Najat El Hachmi, qui peut être lu en même temps comme une histoire à propos de l'histoire des concepts de l'amour, la sexualité et mariage en Occident. En outre, les deux romans non seulement se complètent à placer au centre de leur attention sur les questions de l'identité, le sexe, le corps et l'amour, mais aussi réinscrivent l'évolution de ces concepts, leur mystification et démystification.Discourse practices of love always enhance cultural meanings and social values. Every single love discourse, every version or interpretation of affective experiences can solely exist and be decoded within a specific cultural framework as it is connected with other socio-ideological narratives generated by a given culture. This article aims at analyzing El último patriarca (2008) and La cazadora de cuerpos (2011), two novels written by the Catalan writer Najat El Hachmi as one story highlighting the evolution of the concepts of love, sexuality and marriage in Western culture. Thus, the novels not only complement one another by focusing on the questions of identity, gender, body and love, but also re-write the history of those concepts, their mythification and demythification

La performatividad de género según La hija extranjera o el compromiso político de Najat El Hachmi

The objective of this article consists in analysing how and to what extent “the psychic life of power” (Butler, 2001) and the “synchronicity of the non-synchronic” (Cros, 2002) organise discourse practices of the hybrid identity (Sabaté, 2014) encoded in Najat El Hachmi’s La hija extranjera (2015), a novel written from a marked transcultural and feminist perspective. The protagonist and narrator in first person, a young Catalan woman of Moroccan origin (“the foreign daughter” of the title), is torn between contradictory ideologies, hopes and desires. She is suspended between the Spanish and the Moroccan cultures, between submission and rebellion. Likewise, we will see how the narrator reveals the great political potential of literature that lies in “resignification” (Butler, 2002).The objective of this article consists in analysing how and to what extent “the psychic life of power” (Butler, 2001) and the “synchronicity of the non-synchronic” (Cros, 2002) organise discourse practices of the hybrid identity (Sabaté, 2014) encoded in Najat El Hachmi’s La hija extranjera (2015), a novel written from a marked transcultural and feminist perspective. The protagonist and narrator in first person, a young Catalan woman of Moroccan origin (“the foreign daughter” of the title), is torn between contradictory ideologies, hopes and desires. She is suspended between the Spanish and the Moroccan cultures, between submission and rebellion. Likewise, we will see how the narrator reveals the great political potential of literature that lies in “resignification” (Butler, 2002).The objective of this article consists in analysing how and to what extent “the psychic life of power” (Butler, 2001) and the “synchronicity of the non-synchronic” (Cros, 2002) organise discourse practices of the hybrid identity (Sabaté, 2014) encoded in Najat El Hachmi’s La hija extranjera (2015), a novel written from a marked transcultural and feminist perspective. The protagonist and narrator in first person, a young Catalan woman of Moroccan origin (“the foreign daughter” of the title), is torn between contradictory ideologies, hopes and desires. She is suspended between the Spanish and the Moroccan cultures, between submission and rebellion. Likewise, we will see how the narrator reveals the great political potential of literature that lies in “resignification” (Butler, 2002)

The kinetic mechanisms of fast-decay red-fluorescent genetically encoded calcium indicators.

Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) are useful reporters of cell-signaling, neuronal, and network activities. We have generated novel fast variants and investigated the kinetic mechanisms of two recently developed red-fluorescent GECIs (RGECIs), mApple-based jRGECO1a and mRuby-based jRCaMP1a. In the formation of fluorescent jRGECO1a and jRCaMP1a complexes, calcium binding is followed by rate-limiting isomerization. However, fluorescence decay of calcium-bound jRGECO1a follows a different pathway from its formation: dissociation of calcium occurs first, followed by the peptide, similarly to GCaMP-s. In contrast, fluorescence decay of calcium-bound jRCaMP1a occurs by the reversal of the on-pathway: peptide dissociation is followed by calcium. The mechanistic differences explain the generally slower off-kinetics of jRCaMP1a-type indicators compared with GCaMP-s and jRGECO1a-type GECI: the fluorescence decay rate of f-RCaMP1 was 21 s−1, compared with 109 s−1 for f-RGECO1 and f-RGECO2 (37 °C). Thus, the CaM–peptide interface is an important determinant of the kinetic responses of GECIs; however, the topology of the structural link to the fluorescent protein demonstrably affects the internal dynamics of the CaM–peptide complex. In the dendrites of hippocampal CA3 neurons, f-RGECO1 indicates calcium elevation in response to a 100 action potential train in a linear fashion, making the probe particularly useful for monitoring large-amplitude, fast signals, e.g. those in dendrites, muscle cells, and immune cells

Non-Random Integration of the HPV Genome in Cervical Cancer

HPV DNA integration into the host genome is a characteristic but not an exclusive step during cervical carcinogenesis. It is still a matter of debate whether viral integration contributes to the transformation process beyond ensuring the constitutive expression of the viral oncogenes. There is mounting evidence for a non-random distribution of integration loci and the direct involvement of cellular cancer-related genes. In this study we addressed this topic by extending the existing data set by an additional 47 HPV16 and HPV18 positive cervical carcinoma. We provide supportive evidence for previously defined integration hotspots and have revealed another cluster of integration sites within the cytogenetic band 3q28. Moreover, in the vicinity of these hotspots numerous microRNAs (miRNAs) are located and may be influenced by the integrated HPV DNA. By compiling our data and published reports 9 genes could be identified which were affected by HPV integration at least twice in independent tumors. In some tumors the viral-cellular fusion transcripts were even identical with respect to the viral donor and cellular acceptor sites used. However, the exact integration sites are likely to differ since none of the integration sites analysed thus far have shown more than a few nucleotides of homology between viral and host sequences. Therefore, DNA recombination involving large stretches of homology at the integration site can be ruled out. It is however intriguing that by sequence alignment several regions of the HPV16 genome were found to have highly homologous stretches of up to 50 nucleotides to the aforementioned genes and the integration hotspots. One common region of homologies with cellular sequences is between the viral gene E5 and L2 (nucleotides positions 4100 to 4240). We speculate that this and other regions of homology are involved in the integration process. Our observations suggest that targeted disruption, possibly also of critical cellular genes, by HPV integration remains an issue to be fully resolved

Entrevista a Ángeles Encinar

Ángeles encinar es catedrática de literatura Española en saint Louis University, Madrid campus. Licenciada en Filosofía y letras por la Universidad complutense de Madrid, realizó su doctorado en Washington University in saint louis. ha sido profesora visitante en University of texas at austin, stanford University, Washington University in saint louis, University of Illinois at chicago y Växjö Universitetet

New Perspectives in Sinographic Language Processing Through the Use of Character Structure

Chinese characters have a complex and hierarchical graphical structure carrying both semantic and phonetic information. We use this structure to enhance the text model and obtain better results in standard NLP operations. First of all, to tackle the problem of graphical variation we define allographic classes of characters. Next, the relation of inclusion of a subcharacter in a characters, provides us with a directed graph of allographic classes. We provide this graph with two weights: semanticity (semantic relation between subcharacter and character) and phoneticity (phonetic relation) and calculate "most semantic subcharacter paths" for each character. Finally, adding the information contained in these paths to unigrams we claim to increase the efficiency of text mining methods. We evaluate our method on a text classification task on two corpora (Chinese and Japanese) of a total of 18 million characters and get an improvement of 3% on an already high baseline of 89.6% precision, obtained by a linear SVM classifier. Other possible applications and perspectives of the system are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, presented at CICLing 201