The distributed author and the poetics of complexity : a comparative study of the sagas of Icelanders and Serbian epic poetry

The thesis brings together Íslendingasögur and srpske junačke pesme, two historically and culturally unrelated heroic literatures, literatures that had, nevertheless, converged upon a similar kind of realism. This feature in which they diverge from the earlier European epics - Beowulf, Nibelungenlied, La Chanson de Roland, is the focal point of this study. Rather than examining it solely in terms of verisimilitude and historicism with which it is commonly associated, I am approaching it as an emergent feature (emergent realism) of the non-linear, evolutionary dynamics of their production (i.e. their networked, negotiated authorship), the dynamics I call the distributed author. Although all traditional narratives develop in accordance with this dynamics, their non-linearity is often compromised by Bakhtinian 'centripetal forces' (e.g. centralised state, Church) with an effect of directedness akin to the authorial agency of an individual. The peculiar weakness of such forces in the milieus in which the sagas/Serbian epics grew, encouraged their distributed nature. As a result, they come across as indexes of their own coming into being, preserving, meshing and contrasting the old and the new, the general and the more idiosyncratic perspectives on past events and characters. In so doing they fail to arouse in the recipient the feeling of being addressed and possibly manipulated by an all encompassing organising authority. As a consequence, they also impress as believable. While chapters one and two of this study deal with theoretical and aesthetic implications of the two literatures' distributed authorship and their emergent realism, chapters three and four illustrate the ways in which these are manifested in the rich texture of the past and the complex make-up of the characters. The final chapter summarises major points of the thesis and suggests the poetics of complexity as a term particularly suitable to encapsulate the two literatures' common creative principles.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Geochemical characteristics of stream sediments from an urban-volcanic zone, Central Mexico: Natural and man-made inputs

Geochemical characteristics of stream sediments [n = 31; Upstream section: Zahuapan River (1-12) and Atoyac River (13-20); Downstream section (21-31)] from Atoyac River basin of Central Mexico have been evaluated. The study focuses on the textural, petrography and chemical composition of the fluvial sediments with the aim of analyzing their provenance, the chemical weathering signature and their potential environmental effects. The fluvial sediments are mostly composed of sand and silt sized particles dominated by plagioclase, pyroxenes, amphiboles, K-feldspar, biotite, opaque and quartz. The sediments were analyzed for determination of major (Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, K, P, Si, Ti), trace elements (As, Ba, Be, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sc, V, Y, Zn, Zr, Ga) and compared with Upper continental crust (UCC), source area composition and local background values. The elemental concentrations were comparable with the average andesite and dacitic composition of the source area and the local background values except for enrichment of Cu (56.27. ppm), Pb (34. ppm) and Zn (235.64. ppm) in the downstream sediments suggesting a significant external influence (anthropogenic). The fluvial sediments of Atoyac River basin display low CIA and PIA values implying predominantly weak to moderate weathering conditions in the source region. Based on the provenance discrimination diagrams and elemental ratios, it is understood that the collected sediments are derived from intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks dominated in the study region. Metal contamination indices highlight the enrichment of Cu, Pb, Zn, Mo, Cr and S clearly indicating the influences from natural (weathering and volcanic activity) and external (anthropogenic) sources. Ecological risk assessment results indicate that Cr, Ni and Zn will cause adverse biological effects to the riverine environment