Littérature et sociologie : analyse de l'expérience moderne chez Joseph Roth, Thomas Mann et Max Weber

Ce présent mémoire est animé par une forte conviction : les frontières disciplinaires entre les sociologues et les écrivains ne doivent pas se transmuer en barbelés obstruant un éclairage de sens renouvelé sur la réalité sociale. Alors qu’au tournant du siècle dernier, le roman réaliste et la sociologie allemande se sont mutuellement inspirés, au fil du temps les canaux de communication se sont progressivement brouillés. Notre démarche consiste donc à renouer avec la tradition du monde germanophone à l’orée du 20e siècle, période au cours de laquelle la sociologie émerge comme discipline propre. Plus précisément, nous chercherons à faire converser les deux régimes d’écriture afin d’une part, d’explorer les vertus cognitives de la littérature pour la sociologie et d’autre part de mieux comprendre comment les hommes contemporains aux premiers sociologues entrevoyaient l’époque des temps modernes. Pour ce faire, nous nous appuierons sur la sociologie de Max Weber (1864-1920), un des pères fondateurs de la discipline, ainsi que sur l’analyse de trois romans réalistes, signés par deux romanciers germanophones du début du 20e siècle, c’est-à-dire Joseph Roth (1894-1939) et Thomas Mann (1875-1955).This master’s thesis is driven by a strong conviction: disciplinary boundaries between sociologists and writers should not be transmuted into trenches which would block a renewed sense of social reality. At the turn of the last century, realistic novels as well as German sociology were mutually inspired. However, over time, the communication channels have gradually been blurred. Our approach is therefore to revive the tradition of the German-speaking world at the dawn of the 20th century, in which period sociology emerged as its own discipline. Specifically, we will try to make interact the writing systems by exploring, on one hand, the cognitive virtues of literature in sociology and on the other hand, by trying to understand how the first contemporary sociologists men foresaw the era of modern times. In order to do so, we will rely on the works of Max Weber (1864-1920) one of the founding fathers of sociology as well as on an analysis of three realistic novels, written by two of the German novelists of the early 20th century, Joseph Roth (1894-1939) and Thomas Mann (1875-1955)

A 60-million-year Cenozoic history of western Amazonian ecosystems in Contamana, eastern Peru

Weprovide a synopsis of ~60million years of life history in Neotropical lowlands, based on a comprehensive survey of the Cenozoic deposits along the Quebrada Cachiyacu near Contamana in PeruvianAmazonia. The 34 fossilbearing localities identified have yielded a diversity of fossil remains, including vertebrates,mollusks, arthropods, plant fossils, and microorganisms, ranging from the early Paleocene to the lateMiocene–?Pliocene (N20 successive levels). This Cenozoic series includes the base of the Huchpayacu Formation (Fm.; early Paleocene; lacustrine/ fluvial environments; charophyte-dominated assemblage), the Pozo Fm. (middle + ?late Eocene; marine then freshwater environments; most diversified biomes), and complete sections for the Chambira Fm. (late Oligocene–late early Miocene; freshwater environments; vertebrate-dominated faunas), the Pebas Fm. (late early to early late Miocene; freshwater environments with an increasing marine influence; excellent fossil record), and Ipururo Fm. (late Miocene–?Pliocene; fully fluvial environments; virtually no fossils preserved). At least 485 fossil species are recognized in the Contamana area (~250 ‘plants’, ~212 animals, and 23 foraminifera). Based on taxonomic lists from each stratigraphic interval, high-level taxonomic diversity remained fairly constant throughout themiddle Eocene–Miocene interval (8-12 classes), ordinal diversity fluctuated to a greater degree, and family/species diversity generally declined, with a drastic drop in the early Miocene. The Paleocene–?Pliocene fossil assemblages from Contamana attest at least to four biogeographic histories inherited from (i) Mesozoic Gondwanan times, (ii) the Panamerican realm prior to (iii) the time of South America’s Cenozoic “splendid isolation”, and (iv) Neotropical ecosystems in the Americas. No direct evidence of any North American terrestrial immigrant has yet been recognized in the Miocene record at Contamana.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Paleogene rodents from Peruvian Amazonia : anatomy, systematics, phylogeny, and paleobiogeography

Les rongeurs caviomorphes constituent l’un des groupes de mammifères placentaires les plus diversifiés d’Amérique du Sud. Malgré la grande diversité actuelle et néogène du groupe, les premières phases de l’histoire évolutive des caviomorphes n’étaient documentées que par quelques localités à l’échelle de tout le continent sud-américain. Les recherches paléontologiques récentes menées en Amazonie péruvienne ont permis la découverte de 18 localités éocènes et oligocènes, livrant de nombreux restes dentaires de caviomorphes inédits. L’étude de ces fossiles a conduit à la description et à la comparaison de 52 taxons distincts, dont 11 nouveaux genres et 17 nouvelles espèces. Ce travail révèle une riche diversité alpha-taxonomique des caviomorphes en Amazonie péruvienne à la fin de l’Éocène moyen, mais surtout à l’Oligocène inférieur et à l’Oligocène supérieur, trois fenêtres temporelles jusqu’alors très peu documentées dans les régions de basses latitudes du continent sud-américain. Les localités étudiées de la fin de l’Éocène moyen livrent les plus anciens caviomorphes connus à ce jour. Dans ces localités, la faible diversité taxinomique, associée à une faible disparité morphologique, incluant des taxons caractérisés par des traits dentaires plésiomorphes, rappelant les formes hystricognathes sub-contemporaines de l’Ancien Monde. Cela suggère un intervalle de temps court entre l’arrivée en Amérique du Sud des hystricognathes pionniers et l’émergence des espèces étudiées. Les assemblages de caviomorphes des localités plus récentes montrent une disparité plus importante et livrent des représentants des éréthizontoïdes, octodontoïdes et chinchilloïdes. L’analyse approfondie du matériel d’étude et sa comparaison avec des spécimens provenant d’autres gisements sud-américains ont permis une meilleure compréhension de l’homologie et de l’évolution des structures dentaires chez les caviomorphes. Une analyse cladistique de grande ampleur, incluant un grand nombre de familles des quatre super-familles (i.e., Cavioidea, Erethizontoidea, Chinchilloidea et Octodontoidea) a été réalisée. Elle a permis pour la première fois la reconnaissance de groupes basaux des caviomorphes. Les régions de basses latitudes du continent sud-américain paraissent être le centre d’origine des caviomorphes et le lieu d’une première diversification basale du groupe à la fin de l’Éocène moyen. Les quatre super-familles émergeraient au cours de l’Éocène supérieur–Oligocène inférieur, illustrant ainsi une deuxième radiation majeure du groupe au cours du Paléogène. Durant cette période, les caviomorphes se seraient dispersés aux moyennes et hautes latitudes. L’origine géographique des super-familles reste quelque peu ambiguë, excepté pour les chinchilloïdes qui émergeraient dans les régions de basses latitudes. Nos résultats mettent également en évidence l’existence d’une troisième radiation autour de la limite Oligocène–Miocène. Cette troisième phase correspondrait à la diversification des chinchilloïdes, octodontoïdes, et éréthizontinés basaux et à l’émergence du groupe couronne des caviidés, des octodontoïdes et très probablement des chinchilloïdes. Ces trois événements de diversifications majeures au cours du Paléogène sont concomitants avec des évènements climatiques globaux et des périodes intenses de surrection andine.Caviomorph rodents represent one of the most successful groups of placental mammals from South America. Despite their high modern and Neogene diversity, their early evolutionary history has long remained obscure. Recent paleontological investigations in Peruvian Amazonia allowed for the discovery of 18 Eocene and Oligocene localities yielding many new fossils of caviomorphs (mainly isolated teeth). Fifty-two taxa, including 11 new genera and 17 new species, are described here. This study reveals a rich alpha-taxonomic diversity of caviomorphs in Peruvian Amazonia during the late Middle Eocene, Early Oligocene and Late Oligocene. These three periods were until now poorly documented in the low-latitudes of South America. The late Middle Eocene localities yield the earliest representatives of the group. In these localities, the low taxonomical diversity, associated with a low morphological disparity including taxa that harbor very primitive dental features, reminiscent to those observed in coeval Old World hystricognaths, suggest that a short time range of caviomorph evolutionary history had undergone in South America prior the emergence of these rodents. The most recent caviomorph assemblages show a higher disparity and yield representatives of erethizontoids, octodontoids and chinchilloids. The exhaustive analysis of the material and its comparison with specimens from other South American localities further our understanding regarding the homology and the evolution of dentary structures in caviomorphs. A cladistic assessment with a comprehensive taxonomic sampling including most families of the four superfamilies (i.e., Cavioidea, Erethizontoidea, Chinchilloidea, and Octodontoidea) was undertaken. For the first time, several stem Caviomorpha were recognized. Low latitudes of South America are thus viewed as the cradle and the first diversity hotspot of early caviomorphs. A second radiation would have occurred during the Late Eocene–Early Oligocene and would correspond to the emergence of the four superfamilies. At this time, caviomorphs would disperse towards the middle and high latitudes. The geographic origin of modern superfamilies remains somewhat ambiguous, except for chinchilloids which would emerge in low-latitude regions. A third radiation would have also occurred, around the Oligocene–Miocene transition, corresponding to the more recent diversification of stem Chinchilloidea, Octodontoidea, Erethizontoidea and the emergence of crown Erethizontinae, Caviidae, Octodontoidea, and probably Chinchilloidea. It is noteworthy that these three Paleogene diversification phases were contemporaneous with global climatic events and intense Andean uplift events

Response to the comments on ‘dental homologies and evolutionary transformations in caviomorpha (hystricognathi, rodentia): new data from the paleogene of Peruvian amazonia’

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Important gaps in the fossil record of Paleogene hystricognathous rodents revealed by dental morphology-based phylogeny of taxa from Asia and Africa: paleobiogeographical implications

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Dental homologies and evolutionary transformations in Caviomorpha (Hystricognathi, Rodentia): new data from the Paleogene of Peruvian Amazonia

International audienceDental homologies and evolutionary transformations within caviomorph rodents have long been disputed. Here, we participate in these debates in providing new insights from the dental morphology of Paleogene caviomorphs from Peruvian Amazonia (Contamana and Shapaja). Their analyses and comparisons with many hystricognaths allow (1) to generalize some hypotheses previously proposed about occlusal morphology of caviomorph cheek teeth, and (2) to propose new ones. In caviomorphs, the third crest of upper teeth would correspond either to a mesoloph or to a mesolophule or to a combination of both. The transformation from a pentalophodont pattern to a tetralophodont pattern would be explained by the disappearance of the metaloph. Likewise, the transformation from a tetralophodont pattern to a trilophodont pattern is observed by the loss of the third crest. A direct transformation from a pentalophodont pattern to a trilophodont pattern is also observed. Concerning lower teeth, discrepancies of homologies are centered on the mesial cristids, which can be notably distinguished depending on their compositions and connections with other structures. The ancestral patterns of caviomorph lower molars and dp4s were likely tetralophodont and pentalophodont, respectively. However, schemes with five and four (even three) transverse cristids cannot be ruled out for the two loci, respectively

Emergence of hystricognathous rodents: Palaeogene fossil record, phylogeny, dental evolution and historical biogeography

International audienceAlthough phylogenetic trees imply Asia as the ancestral homeland of the Hystricognathi clade (Rodentia: Ctenohystrica), curiously the oldest known fossil occurrences of hystricognathous rodents are not from Asia, but from Africa and South America, where they appear suddenly in the fossil record of both landmasses by the Late Middle Eocene. Here we performed cladistic and Bayesian (standard and tip-dating analyses) assessments of the dental evidence documenting early ctenohystricans, including several Asian 'ctenodactyloids', virtually all Palaeogene Asian and African hystricognaths known thus far and two representatives of the earliest known South American hystricognaths. Our results provide a phylogenetic context of early hystricognaths (with implications on systematics) and suggest that some Eocene Asian 'ctenodactyloids' could be considered as stem hystricognaths and pre-hystricognaths, although they were not recognized as such originally. However, this view does not fill the gap of the Eocene Asian hystricognath record, as the proposed results imply many ghost lineages extending back to the Middle Eocene for several Asian and African taxa. They also imply a complex early historical biogeography of the group, involving multiple dispersal events from Asia to Africa (and possibly from Africa back to Asia) and then to South America sometime during the Middle Eocene. Based on these phylogenetic considerations, we discuss the emergence of hystricognathous rodents from a morpho-anatomical perspective by analysing the differentiation of their masticatory apparatus and chewing movements; notably, evolution of their dental patterns

Dental homologies and evolutionary transformations in Caviomorpha (Hystricognathi, Rodentia): new data from the Paleogene of Peruvian Amazonia

International audienceDental homologies and evolutionary transformations within caviomorph rodents have long been disputed. Here, we participate in these debates in providing new insights from the dental morphology of Paleogene caviomorphs from Peruvian Amazonia (Contamana and Shapaja). Their analyses and comparisons with many hystricognaths allow (1) to generalize some hypotheses previously proposed about occlusal morphology of caviomorph cheek teeth, and (2) to propose new ones. In caviomorphs, the third crest of upper teeth would correspond either to a mesoloph or to a mesolophule or to a combination of both. The transformation from a pentalophodont pattern to a tetralophodont pattern would be explained by the disappearance of the metaloph. Likewise, the transformation from a tetralophodont pattern to a trilophodont pattern is observed by the loss of the third crest. A direct transformation from a pentalophodont pattern to a trilophodont pattern is also observed. Concerning lower teeth, discrepancies of homologies are centered on the mesial cristids, which can be notably distinguished depending on their compositions and connections with other structures. The ancestral patterns of caviomorph lower molars and dp4s were likely tetralophodont and pentalophodont, respectively. However, schemes with five and four (even three) transverse cristids cannot be ruled out for the two loci, respectively