Die Wassermetaphorik als Grenzraumgestaltung in Uwe Tellkamps „Der Turm“ (2008)

Español El objetivo de este capítulo es analizar las metáforas del agua como elementos clave para la representación literaria de los espacios de frontera relacionados con la última fase de la República Democrática Alemana en la novela Der Turm de Uwe Tellkamp. El análisis se centra en los siguientes motivos y temas topográficos: Atlantis como negación de la utopía de la RDA; Archipiélago e isla como contraposición a la imagen continente de la utopía de la RDA; Aguas residuales y agua estancada como oposición al agua fluída en el barrio heterotópico de la torre; Fuentes y arroyos como símbolos del inconsciente (colectivo); y, por último, fluidez y porosidad como imágenes que visualizan la historia. El uso de estas metáforas no sólo cuestiona la topografía oficial del aparato estatal y del partido en la RDA y los diversos espacios fronterizos, sino que las imágenes de fluidez y porosidad también representan la discursividad de la memoria y la memoria colectiva en relación con el pasado de la RDA. La Dresde atlante de Der Turm de Tellkamp se representada mediante metáforas acuáticas como un universo topográfico, social e ideológico ambivalente y complejo con numerosos espacios fronterizos interiores y exteriores. English The aim of this chapter is to analyze the water metaphors as key elements for the literary representation of borderland spaces in the late German Democratic Republic in the novel The Tower by Uwe Tellkamp. The analysis focuses on the following topographic motives and topics: Atlantis as a denial of the GDR utopia; Archipelago and island as a contrast of the image continent of the GDR utopia; Wastewater and dammed up water as opposed to running water in the heterotopic tower district; fountains and streams as symbols of (collective) unconscious; and finally, fluidity and porosity as images of history. Not only does the use of these metaphors question the official topography of the state and party apparatus and the various borderland spaces, but images of fluidity and porosity also represent the discursiveness of memory and collective memory in relation to GDR’s past. The Atlantean Dresden in Tellkamp’s The Tower is portrayed by means of water metaphors as an ambivalent and complex topographical, social and ideological universe with many inner and outer borderland spaces.MINECO, proyecto de investigación FFI2017-84342-

Organization, Evolution, Cognition and Dynamic Capabilities

Using insights from ‘embodied cognition’ and a resulting ‘cognitive theory of the firm’, I aim to contribute to the further development of evolutionary theory of organizations, in the specification of organizations as ‘interactors’ that carry organizational competencies as ‘replicators’, within industries as ‘populations’. Especially, I analyze how, if at all, ‘dynamic capabilities’ can be fitted into evolutionary theory. I propose that the prime purpose of an organization is to serve as a cognitive ‘focusing device’. Here, cognition has a wide meaning, including perception, interpretation, sense making, and value judgements. I analyse how this yields organizations as cohesive wholes, and differences within and between industries. I propose the following sources of variation: replication in communication, novel combinations of existing knowledge, and a path of discovery by which exploitation leads to exploration. These yield a proposal for dynamic capabilities. I discuss in what sense, and to what extent these sources of variation are ‘blind’, as postulated in evolutionary theory.

The impact of COVID-19 on the management of European protected areas and policy implications

The COVID-19 pandemic led to many European countries imposing lockdown measures and limiting people’s movement during spring 2020. During the summer 2020, these strict lockdown measures were gradually lifted while in autumn 2020, local restrictions started to be re-introduced as a second wave emerged. After initial restrictions on visitors accessing many Nature Protected Areas (PAs) in Europe, management authorities have had to introduce measures so that all users can safely visit these protected landscapes. In this paper, we examine the challenges that emerged due to COVID-19 for PAs and their deeper causes. By considering the impact on and response of 14 popular European National and Nature Parks, we propose tentative longer-term solutions going beyond the current short-term measures that have been implemented. The most important challenges identified in our study were overcrowding, a new profile of visitors, problematic behavior, and conflicts between different user groups. A number of new measures have been introduced to tackle these challenges including information campaigns, traffic management, and establishing one-way systems on trail paths. However, measures to safeguard public health are often in conflict with other PA management measures aiming to minimize disturbance of wildlife and ecosystems. We highlight three areas in which management of PAs can learn from the experience of this pandemic: managing visitor numbers in order to avoid overcrowding through careful spatial planning, introducing educational campaigns, particularly targeting a new profile of visitors, and promoting sustainable tourism models, which do not rely on large visitor numbers.European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research programme (Project FIDELIO, grant agreement no. 802605)