“We wake, work, fight, eat, drink, fight, and we forget to sleep” - A corpus linguistic study of WAR metaphors in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic

Denne masteroppgaven tar for seg hvordan Covid-19 pandemien har blitt metaforisk fremstilt i nyhetsartikler og magasiner i USA, Storbritannia og New Zealand. Det vil bli spesielt lagt vekt på krigsmetaforer da de ble brukt og mye omdiskutert i begynnelsen av pandemien. I tillegg vil det bli lagt vekt på hvor ofte krigsmetaforer ble brukt sammenlignet med andre metaforer. Datagrunnlaget til oppgaven er et korpus med samlinger av nyhetsartikler og magasiner som er knyttet til pandemien eller Covid-19 viruset (the Coronavirus corpus). Korpuset blir daglig oppdatert og inneholder tekster fra 20 forskjellige engelsktalende land. Data for oppgaven ble samlet inn fra april 2020 og april 2021, for å se kontrasten i bruken av krigsmetaforer og andre metaforer fra begynnelsen av pandemien og et år inn i pandemien. Analyseringen er hovedsakelig semantisk, da hvilke temaer krigsmetaforene belyser er av interesse for oppgaven. Funnene i oppgaven tilsier at krigsmetaforer ble brukt mer i april 2020 enn i april 2021, og at USA og Storbritannia brukte metaforene til å beskrive Covid-19 mye mer enn New Zealand i begge periodene. Temaer som metaforene belyser er situasjon, resurs, restriksjon, solidaritet, metode, kropp, innsats og andre, noe som viser at metaforene illustrerer ulike sider ved pandemien. Krigsmetaforne er brukt for å fange oppmerksomhet og for å fremheve alvorligheten av situasjonen, men disse effektene blir svekket av den generelle bruken av metaforen om andre tema. Gjennom analyseringen blir det vist at krigsmetaforer ikke bare er brukt for å beskrive pandemien, da også tema som andre sykdommer, feilinformasjon om Covid-19, vaksinering, effekten av pandemien og viruset og andre metaforiske temaer som politikk, klima, personlige problemer og rettigheter kommer frem. Den utvidede bruken av krigsmetaforene kan derfor påvirke alvorligheten den skal forespeile og dermed ha mindre effekt. Krigsmetaforene klarer for så vidt ikke å illustrere et framtidsperspektiv eller beskrive progresjonen av pandemien, da selve krigen er i fokus. I tillegg er det andre sider som spredning og menneskers påvirkning av spredningen av viruset som kan bli bedre belyst med metaforer. Denne oppgaven tilføyer informasjon til tidligere studier om metaforbruk rundt Covid-19 pandemien, i tillegg til at den bidrar til den generelle diskursen rundt metaforbruk.Engelsk mastergradsoppgaveENG350MAHF-LÆFRMAHF-EN

Hva kan arves? Om skyld, vold og seksualitet i to nordiske krigsminneromaner

During the last two decades, an increasing focus on perpetrators has emerged in Scandinavian literature. This so called perpetrator fiction, with an explicit intention of understanding evil, has portrayed the Nazis and their henchmen in detail. These are frequently described in familial relationships, and their stories are told from a second or third generational point of view. Interestingly, the perpetrators are regularly depicted as perverse persons and their deviant sexuality as part of the problem. In this article, I discuss two Scandinavian novels with the family as a narrative structure and the perpetrator as its main character. The novels Jeg har arvet en mørk skog (2012) by Morten Borgersen and Stormen. En berättelse (2016) by Steve Sem-Sandberg deal with wartime events seen from a present-day I-narrator’s point of view. Both novels incorporate mythology and perverse sexuality, and they ask provocative questions about the causes of wartime violence

Terrorizing Images and Traumatic Anticipation in Michael Cunningham’s The Hours

Unni Langås’s chapter is a reading of The Hours (1998), which echoes not only Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway (1925), but also Sigmund Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920). From Woolf’s post-WWI novel, Cunningham picks up the motif of trauma-ridden suicide and re-inscribes it into the character of an HIV-positive author at the end of the twentieth century. Cunningham repeats the idea of trauma as a return of images in individuals, but his novel is also a repetition of images, understood as ekphrastic descriptions and intertextual dialogue with literary references. Langås’s reading emphasizes how the acute crisis of the novel’s AIDS context turns the haunting images of the past into terrorizing anticipations of the future.publishedVersio

Autonomous Pick-and-Place Procedure with an Industrial Robot Using Multiple 3D Sensors for Object Detection and Obstacle Avoidance

Master's thesis in Mechatronics (MAS500)This thesis proposes a full pipeline autonomous pick-and-place procedure, integrating perception, planning, grasping and control for execution of tasks towards long term industrial automation. Within perception, we demonstrate the detection of a large object (target) including position and orientation (pose) estimation in 3D world. Further on, obstacles in the work area are mapped with proposed filtering prior to motion planning and navigation of an industrial robot to the target’s pose. The target is then picked using a custom built motorized 3D printed end gripper, and placed at a desired location in the robot’s reachable environment. Point cloud based model-free obstacle avoidance is performed throughout the whole process. The complete pipeline is targeted towards typical tasks in various industries including offshore, logistics and warehouse domain with scanning of the scene, picking and placing of a bulky object from one position to another without or with minimal human intervention

Et viktig erindringspolitisk arbeid

Anne Birgitte Richard: Køn og kultur. 1930ernes og 1940ernes kamp om køn, kultur og modernitet læst gennem kvindernes tekster. Kbh. 2005 (Museum Tusculanum)

Between Experience and Representation : Intimacy and Identity in Texts by Vita Andersen and Marion Hagen

Accepted version of an article published in the journal: Scandinavian StudiesThe article discusses the concepts of postmodern intimacy and identity in two Scandinavian texts. The short story collection "Hold Kæft og vær smuk" or "Shut Up and Be Lovely" by Vita Andersen and the novel "Akt" or "Nude" by Marion Hagen are discussed. The two books are compared in terms of their characters' experiences in a media and consumer society. The relationship of their personal experiences to the media representation of intimacy and identity is discussed in the context of theoretical phenomenology. The verbal structure in classical rhetoric which is called chiasm or chiasmus is mentioned

Et viktig erindringspolitisk arbeid

Anne Birgitte Richard: Køn og kultur. 1930ernes og 1940ernes kamp om køn, kultur og modernitet læst gennem kvindernes tekster. Kbh. 2005 (Museum Tusculanum)

Dialogues in poetry: an essay on Eldrid Lunden

Published version of a monography from the publisher Alvheim & Eide. Poetry translations by Annabelle Despar

Feeling Valued and Adding Value : A Participatory Action Research Project on Co-creating Practices of Social Inclusion in Kindergartens and Communities

Background: Contemporary public health problems connect to the social determinants of health, with a growing recognition of social inclusion as imperative to sustainable development. In this quest for social inclusion, early childhood and families are of particular interest. Although co-creation is suggested as viable path to support well-being, less is known how social inclusion might be co-created in practice. The aim of this study was to explore how Participatory Action Research (PAR) can be a tool for transformative practices in a local community, pointing to kindergartens as meeting places for recognizing social inclusion as a common value in early childhood. Methods: A qualitative PAR study was embedded in a Norwegian municipality as an integrated part of their local public health work. The study involved a wide range of participants and stakeholders in three kindergartens and the wider community. Together, we explored potentials for co-creating social inclusion to achieve well-being through cycles of transformative actions and reflections. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied to generate patterns and themes in the data. Results: The participants formulated and took on ownership to an inclusive agenda through the PAR-process. Acts of inclusion was framed by an intersection between political aims of achieving health and well-being for all and public value co-creation unfolding at the level of the place, in the context of the Norwegian welfare regime. To feel valued and adding value was seen as important aspects for social inclusion. Four themes were generated from analysis; (1) Co-creating a shared vision of inclusive communities, (2) Becoming aware and empowered through caring, sharing and collaboration, (3) Places and spaces of inclusiveness in kindergartens and beyond, and (4) Valuing and practicing inclusion, and signs of transformative change. Conclusions: Through the PAR process, parents, kindergartens employees, community members and policy makers appear to have opened a creative toolbox for inclusive and transformational change through formulating and co-creating inclusion and well-being as public values. The results suggest that local actors might support adaptive social systems to taking on relational responsibility for inclusive processes and outcomes in the pursuit of well-being for all.publishedVersio