31 research outputs found
The Distribution of the Irreducibles in an Algebraic Number Field
The objective of this thesis is to study the distribution of the number of principal ideals generated by an irreducible element in an algebraic number field, namely in the non-unique factorization ring of integers of such a field. In particular we are investigating the size of M(x), defined as M ( x ) =â (α) α irred.|N (α)|â€â 1, where x is any positive real number and N (α) is the norm of α. We finally obtain asymptotic results for hl(x)
The Charity of Witches: Watching the Edges in Terry Pratchettâs Tiffany Aching Novels
Terry Pratchettâs final novel, The Shepherdâs Crown, was published months after his death in 2015. The novel concludes the story arc of Tiffany Aching, hero of the Discworld childrenâs/young adult novels that include The Wee Free Men (2003), A Hat Full of Sky (2004), Wintersmith (2006), and I Shall Wear Midnight (2010). The arc follows the heroine from the age of nine through her teenage years and although classified as childrenâs or young adult novels, the novels merge seamlessly with the adult Discworld series. The novelsâ status within childrenâs literature is sustained by a thematic core: Tiffany grows up. Her negotiation of childhood and adolescence, however, is shaped less by the valorisation of youth and desire for fame and fortune than by the example of old women and their dedication to public service. These old women are witches and they mind the margins of their community, as renowned witch Esmeralda Weatherwax explains of their work: âThereâre a lot of edges, more than people know. Between life and death, this world and the next, night and day, right and wrong...anâ they need watchinâ. We watch âem, we guard the sum of things. And we never ask for any reward. Thatâs importantâ (Pratchett 2010c). This article investigates how Pratchett draws on the history of fairy tales about witches and old women with their varied traditions of care and preservation, and reaches a narrative conclusion for the young heroine that rejects traditional fairy tale resolutions of romance, fame, or fortune. Instead, he endorses the heroic and everyday work performed at the âedges.
Pedagogy and Other Unfortunate Events: Cheerful Nihilism in Popular Childrenâs Books
Teaching the difference between right and wrong has long been a pedagogical function ascribed to and demonstrated in children's books. Childhood itself is dominated by educational institutions, practices and theories; even the process of ageing is regulated by a child's schooling. Children's authors, perhaps as a consequence, often focus attention upon school, situating an articulation and dissemination of values within the educational sphere. Children's authors, however, sometimes reject imposed value constructions, creating nihilistic discourses with which to mock and rebuff pedagogical aims and practices. Lemony Snicket, for example, sends his unfortunate protagonists, the Baudelaire orphans, to boarding school in the fifth book of A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Austere Academy (2000). The orphans' initial impression of the 'pointless' (2000, p.4) physical exercises endured by the students is confirmed by their observation that the Prufrock Preparatory School's motto is 'Memento Mori,' or 'Remember you will die' (2000, p.13). Lemony Snicket, like J.K. Rowling and Eoin Colfer, sees nothing incongruous in the simultaneous experiences of education and death, oblivion or general meaninglessness. This paper examines nihilistic discourses elaborating pedagogy as explored in popular, contemporary children's narratives, analysing movements between pessimism and optimism or, in fact, what can be interpreted as cheerful nihilism
Australiaâs Fairy Tales Illustrated in Print: Instances of Indigeneity, Colonization, and Suburbanization
Australian fairy tale could be following a new direction, evident in the recent work of Australian author and illustrator Shaun Tan. From a historical point of view, this article examines the disparity of early attempts to capture indigenous storytelling as fairy tale for white children and the invasion of the native landscape with English fairy creatures. It shows how this disparity has matured into a rediscovery of the underlying strangeness of the migratory infrastructures of Australian suburbs that are evident in such tales as those presented in Tan\u27s Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008)
Disney animated and theatrical musicals : interpreting the magic from The little mermaid to The little mermaid
Abstract not availabl
Comic Book Princesses for Grown-Ups: Cinderella Meets the Pages of the Superhero
Comic book superheroes and fairy tale princesses are stalwarts of contemporary childrenâs culture. Yet, they epitomise an intensifying gender segregation that is manifested and negotiated even up to the representation of female fairy tale protagonists in adult comics. This article examines the appearances of the iconic fairy tale princess, Cinderella, in twenty-first century adult comics including Bill Willinghamâs <i>Fables</i> and Joe Tyler and Ralph Tedescoâs <i>Grimm Fairy Tales</i>. The tales of Perrault, the Grimms and Disney have shaped the contemporary iconography of Cinderella, emphasising the heroineâs journey from ashes and housework to tiaras and handsome princes. These popular tales, problematised by easy misogyny and patriarchal expectations, have overshadowed earlier versions of the Cinderella story, in which the heroine attacks her despised stepmother and beheads ogresses. Rediscovering the earlier, cunning and feisty incarnations of Cinderella, including Basileâs âThe Cinderella Catâ and dâAulnoyâs âFinette Cendron,â it can be seen how fairy talesâ interests in costume, masquerade and cunning have been readily absorbed into the comic book medium