From Transportation to Transformation: On the Use of the Metaphor of Translation within Media and Communication Theory

This paper explores some of the common ground between media/communication and translation theory by focusing on the double metaphor of transportation/transformation. The first part of the paper deals with the more general theoretical implications of a possible interchange between communication and translation in view of the notion of spatiality and the paradigmatic change that has occurred in translation theory in the last few years moving from a transportation to a transformation oriented approach to the process of translation. The second part focuses on the work of a series of theorists who have made extensive use of the metaphor of translation to describe inter-mediatic and communicative processes: Marshall McLuhan, Vilém Flusser, Lev Manovich, and Michel Serres. This section shows that despite the use of a transformative definition of the functioning of translation the single authors have neglected to address the question of the actual nature of this transformative process. Finally, therefore, the paper discusses the relevance of the use of the metaphor of translation within communication and media theory in view of a closer definition of its transformative power

“I believe that my two tongues love each other cela ne m’étonnerait pas”: Self-Translation and the Construction of Sexual Identity

In this paper I would like to explore the work of five bilingual writers focusing on the different narratives they develop in their use of (self-)translation as a textual strategy to fashion a sexual persona. Julia(e)n Green’s Le langage et son double/The Language and its Shadow and Louis Wolfson’s Le Schizo et les langues create narratives of severance and disjointing. The self-translational activity is used here to create perfectly separated spheres of (sexual) identity. Raymond Federman’s A Voice within a Voice and Christine Brooke-Rose’s Between, on the other hand, develop narratives of merging and mixing. The self-translating activity is viewed as a constant shifting and moving of sexual roles taking place in a sphere outside the conscious control of the writer. The final part of the paper will be dedicated to a discussion of Abdelkebir Khatibi’s Amour bilingue that fictionalizes the functioning of bilingualism and self-translation in terms of sexual roles, introducing, this way, a post-colonial dimension missing in the other texts.Dans ce texte j’aimerais explorer l’oeuvre de cinq écrivains bilingues, en me concentrant sur les différents récits qu’ils produisent en utilisant l’(auto)-traduction comme stratégie textuelle pour créer une identité sexuelle. Julia(e)n Green (Le langage et son double/The Language and its Shadow) et Louis Wolfson (Le Schizo et les langues) élaborent des récits de séparation et de disjonction. L’auto-traduction est utilisée ici pour générer des sphères sexuelles tout à fait séparées. Raymond Federman (A Voice within a Voice) et Christine Brooke-Rose (Between) par contre développent des récits de fusion et de mélange. On considère que l’auto-traduction, lorsqu’elle entraîne des changements et des revirements au sein des rôles sexuels, évolue dans un espace qui relève de l’inconscient de l’auteur. La partie finale de la présentation est consacrée à la discussion de Abdelkebir Khatibi (Amour bilingue) qui parle du bilinguisme et de l’auto-traduction en termes de rôles sexuels, ajoutant, ainsi, une dimension post-coloniale qui est absente dans les autres textes

Block copolymer self-assembly for nanophotonics

The ability to control and modulate the interaction of light with matter is crucial to achieve desired optical properties including reflection, transmission, and selective polarization. Photonic materials rely upon precise control over the composition and morphology to establish periodic interactions with light on the wavelength and sub-wavelength length scales. Supramolecular assembly provides a natural solution allowing the encoding of a desired 3D architecture into the chemical building blocks and assembly conditions. The compatibility with solution processing and low-overhead manufacturing is a significant advantage over more complex approaches such as lithography or colloidal assembly. Here we review recent advances on photonic architectures derived from block copolymers and highlight the influence and complexity of processing pathways. Notable examples that have emerged from this unique synthesis platform include Bragg reflectors, antireflective coatings, and chiral metamaterials. We further predict expanded photonic capabilities and limits of these approaches in light of future developments of the field

Robust Operation of Mesoporous Antireflective Coatings under Variable Ambient Conditions

Generating mesoporous films with adequate film thickness and refractive index is a common method to achieve amplitude and phase matching in low-cost interference-based antireflective coatings (ARCs). For high-surface-energy materials, pores on the 2-50 nm (i.e., on the subwavelength scale) are subject to capillary condensation by surrounding gas phase water molecules, which hampers their functioning. In this work, we examine the effect of relative humidity on mesoporous ARCs and present a simple method for the preparation of ARCs with robust operation under variable conditions. The materials route is based on the generation of well-defined porous aluminosilicate networks by block copolymer co-assembly with poly(isobutylene)- block-poly(ethylene oxide) and postsynthesis grafting of trichloro(octyl)silane molecules to the pore walls. The functionalized films exhibited a maximum transmittance value of 99.8%, with an average transmittance of 99.1% in the visible wavelength range from 400 to 700 nm. Crucially, the antireflection performance was maintained at high humidity values, with an average transmittance decrease of only 0.2% and maximum values maintained at 99.7%. This compared to maximum and average losses of 3.6 and 2.7%, respectively, for nonfunctionalized reference samples. The ARCs were shown to retain their optical properties within 50 humidity cycles, indicating long-term stability against fluctuating environmental conditions

Soil Compaction Study of 20 Timber-harvest Units on the Ouachita National Forest

A soil compaction study was performed on 20 timber harvest units on both rocky (15-35 % by volume gravel) and non-rocky (<15 % by volume gravel) surface soils of the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas, to determine if these areas met the USDA Forest Service Southern Region (R8) soil quality standards for compaction and affected area extent. The compaction standard states bulk density cannot increase more than 15 % from its natural (undisturbed) level and not more than 15 % of an activity area can be adversely affected. Eight of the study units exceeded this standard. These eight units generally contained less than 15 % rock fragments in the top 8 inches (20 cm) of soil, and seven of the eight had been harvested during the moist season (December-June) using rubber tire skidders. The non-rocky soil units, when harvested during the dry season (July-November), resulted in about 20-50 % less compaction than when harvested during the moist season. Non-rocky soils with a sandy loam surface tended to compact less during dry season but more during moist season equipment operation than the non-rocky loam or silt loam soils. Compaction also averaged about 30-50 % less on the rocky soils than on non-rocky soils. On the rocky soils, logging equipment operation during either the dry or moist season did not show a difference, and only native surface roads and log decks tended to have a greater than 15 % bulk density increase. Compaction due to timber harvest activities that had occurred at least 15-20 years earlier averaged about 9 % bulk density increase for the nonrocky soils and 7 % for the rocky soils, and indicated that partial recovery had occurred. An analysis of surface infiltration rates found that a 15 % density change resulted in more than 60 % reduction in infiltration. This study also found that a 15 % density change can be visually determined by change in soil structure

Ordered Mesoporous to Macroporous Oxides with Tunable Isomorphic Architectures: Solution Criteria for Persistent Micelle Templates

Porous and nanoscale architectures of inorganic materials have become crucial for a range of energy and catalysis applications, where the ability to control the morphology largely determines the transport characteristics and device performance. Despite the availability of a range of block copolymer self-assembly methods, the conditions for tuning the key architectural features such as the inorganic wall-thickness have remained elusive. Toward this end, we have developed solution processing guidelines that enable isomorphic nanostructures with tunable wall-thickness. A new poly(ethylene oxide-b-hexyl acrylate) (PEO-b-PHA) structure-directing agent (SDA) was used to demonstrate the key solution design criteria. Specifically, the use of a polymer with a high Flory-Huggins effective interaction parameter, χ, and appropriate solution conditions leads to the kinetic entrapment of persistent micelle templates (PMT) for tunable isomorphic architectures. Solubility parameters are used to predict conditions for maintaining persistent micelle sizes despite changing equilibrium conditions. Here, the use of different inorganic loadings controls the inorganic wall-thickness with constant pore size. This versatile method enabled a record 55 nm oxide wall-thickness from micelle coassembly as well as the seamless transition from mesoporous materials to macroporous materials by varying the polymer molar mass and solution conditions. The processing guidelines are generalizable and were elaborated with three inorganic systems, including Nb2O5, WO3, and SiO2, that were thermally stable to 600 °C for access to crystalline materials

Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes for Rural Development and the Role of Architects in Yunnan, China

This study identified two alternative but potentially simultaneous processes for rural development in China. One is the ‘bottom-up’ approach where individuals and groups of villagers work innovatively in developing new building construction opportunities, prompted by contemporary and indigenous design and construction methods. The alternative ‘top-down’ approach is associated with changes caused by external influences, such as directions given from funding sources, and encouragement for the use of specific knowledge and technologies; this is then filtered down through village administrative systems. Two ethnic villages were studied in Yunnan province, an area with a larger rural low-income population than other regions. Each village exhibited strong traditional cultures and each had undergone different tourist redevelopment over a period of more than ten years. The case studies revealed discrepancies between the academic categorization of dwellings in villages based on the representations of traditional culture created by materials and techniques, and the villagers’ own perception of the social and cultural meanings of their houses and spaces in the village. The outcomes suggest that architects and designers could have different involvement in rural development through building platforms for discussion and decision-making, used with and amongst stakeholders, and which could link the two different directions of approach

Cross-cultural variation in deliberate metaphor interpretation

The distinction between ‘deliberate’ and ‘non deliberate’ metaphors has been developed within a five-step framework (Steen) of metaphor production. Deliberate metaphors invite the addressee to pay special attention to their cross-domain structure mapping rather than focusing primarily on the topical proposition. This paper presents results of a pilot survey eliciting interpretations for the metaphors A NATION IS A BODY/A NATION IS A PERSON from an international sample of respondents in 10 different countries. ESL/EFL users from diverse cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds were asked to apply the metaphorical idiom body politic to their home nations. The responses show systematic variation in preferred metaphor interpretations, some of which can be linked to dominant cultural traditions, as well as evidence of polemical and/or ironic elaboration. Neither of these findings is predicted by classic conceptualist models that describe metaphor understanding as an automatic and unconscious process. Instead, when paying special attention to metaphoricity, informants seem to have chosen between diverse interpretation versions and in some cases to have elaborated them further to achieve social pragmatic effects. These findings provide new supporting evidence for Deliberate Metaphor Theory by highlighting deliberateness in metaphor interpretation and outlining perspectives for further empirical testing of metaphor understanding in specific registers and usage contexts (e.g., political discourse, EFL/ESL acquisition)

Tunable anisotropy in inverse opals and emerging optical properties

Using self-assembly, nanoscale materials can be fabricated from the bottom up. Opals and inverse opals are examples of self-assembled nanomaterials made from crystallizing colloidal particles. As self-assembly requires a high level of control, it is challenging to use building blocks with anisotropic geometry to form complex opals, which limits the realizable structures. Typically, spherical colloids are employed as building blocks, leading to symmetric, isotropic superstructures. However, a significantly richer palette of directionally dependent properties are expected if less symmetric, anisotropic structures can be created, especially originating from the assembly of regular, spherical particles. Here we show a simple method to introduce anisotropy into inverse opals by subjecting them to a post-assembly thermal treatment that results in directional shrinkage of the silica matrix caused by condensation of partially hydrated sol-gel silica structures. In this way, we can tailor the shape of the pores, and the anisotropy of the final inverse opal preserves the order and uniformity of the self-assembled structure, while completely avoiding the need to synthesize complex oval-shaped particles and crystallize them into such target geometries. Detailed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy studies clearly identify increasing degrees of sol-gel condensation in confinement as a mechanism for the structure change. A computer simulation of structure changes resulting from the condensation-induced shrinkage further confirmed this mechanism. As an example of property changes induced by the introduction of anisotropy, we characterized the optical spectra of the anisotropic inverse opals and found that the optical properties can be controlled in a precise way using calcination temperature