Literal Translation and the Materiality of Language: Lu Xun as a Case

With his insistence upon the literal rendering in Chinese of foreign texts, especially regarding syntax, Lu Xun’s understanding of “literal translation” strikes a rather distinct note in the modern Chinese literary scene. The intention behind this method, namely, the aim to “retain the tone of the original,” reveals a generative perception of language that takes language as not just the bearer of the already existent thought, but as the formative element of thought that has meaning in itself. This paper seeks to delineate the structural constitution of the materiality of language as grasped by Lu Xun. By comparing the notion of the “tone” to Wilhelm von Humboldt’s notion of the “inner form of language” and situating it within the genealogy of qi, as well as tracing its link with Zhang Taiyan’s idea of “zhiyan,” I will attempt to reveal the philosophical and historical basis of Lu Xun’s principle of “literal translation” and its significance for Chinese literary modernity in general

The Chemical Evolution of the Draco Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

We present an abundance analysis based on high resolution spectra of 8 stars selected to span the full range in metallicity in the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We find [Fe/H] for the sample stars ranges from -1.5 to -3.0 dex. Combining our sample with previously published work for a total of 14 luminous Draco giants, we show that the abundance ratios [Na/Fe], [Mg/Fe] and [Si/Fe] for the Draco giants overlap those of Galactic halo giants at the lowest [Fe/H] probed, but are significantly lower for the higher Fe-metallicity Draco stars. For the explosive alpha-elements Ca and Ti, the abundance ratios for Draco giants with [Fe/H] > -2.4 dex are approximately constant and slightly sub-solar, well below values characteristic of Galactic halo stars. The s-process contribution to the production of heavy elements begins at significantly lower Fe-metallicity than in the Galactic halo. Using a toy model we compare the behavior of the abundance ratios within the sample of Draco giants with those from the literature of Galactic globular clusters, and the Carina and Sgr dSph galaxies. The differences appear to be related to the timescale for buildup of the heavy elements, with Draco having the slowest rate. We note the presence of a Draco giant with [Fe/H] < -3.0 dex in our sample, and reaffirm that the inner Galactic halo could have been formed by early accretion of Galactic satellite galaxies and dissolution of young globular clusters, while the outer halo could have formed from those satellite galaxies accreted later.Comment: Submitted to ApJ Dec 22, 2008; accepted June 4, 2009. 75 pages including 22 figures and 9 table

Unconditional quantile regressions, earnings disparity and gender discrimination in post-transformation of urban China

Market-oriented economic reform has gone through several key stages to bring substantial changes to current Chinese economy. It has accelerated after 1992, and meets the pattern transformation of economic development in 2002. During this dramatic and complicated economic transitional process, some issues caused people’s attention included the questions as: how does the earnings distribution change between genders from early market economy to post market economy; how do education, work experience, marriage and other factors affect gender earnings and what is the difference in internal group of women. In this paper, it will be used the data of the Chinese household income projects in 2002 and 2007 to analyse earnings disparity between genders and inner woman group. The unconditional quantile regression finds that comparing with past, the negative effect on earnings of marriage and taking care of child has much decreased, especially to women. However, high return rate to education of female workers is not as significant as before, the rate of work experience even fall faster. Along with the gender earnings gap increasing, the unexplained gap (discrimination gap) also increased over time, and is particularly pronounced for the lower and higher earnings group of women

Superconductivity near Itinerant Ferromagnetic Quantum Criticality

Superconductivity mediated by spin fluctuations in weak and nearly ferromagnetic metals is studied close to the zero-temperature magnetic transition. We solve analytically the Eliashberg equations for p-wave pairing and obtain the normal state quasiparticle self-energy and the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ as a function of the distance to the quantum critical point. We show that the reduction of quasiparticle coherence and life-time due to scattering by quasistatic spin fluctuations is the dominant pair-breaking process, which leads to a rapid suppression of $T_c$ to a nonzero value near the quantum critical point. We point out the differences and the similarities of the problem to that of the theory of superconductivity in the presence of paramagnetic impurities.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, revised version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

A catalogue of Paschen-line profiles in standard stars

We have assembled an atlas of line profiles of the Paschen Delta line at 10,049 angstroms for the use of stellar modelling. For a few stars we have substituted the Paschen Gamma line at 10,938 angstroms because the Paschen Delta line blends with other features. Most of the targets are standard stars of spectral types from B to M. A few metal-poor stars have been included. For many of the stars we have also observed the Hydrogen Alpha line so as to compare the profiles of lines originating from the meta-stable n=2 level with lines originating from the n=3 level. The greatest difference in line profile is found for high luminosity and cool stars where the departures from LTE in the population of the n=2 level is expected to be the greatest. For a few stars, sample line profiles have been calculated in the LTE approximation to demonstrate the usefulness of the tabulated and displayed catalogue

Measurement of spin-exchange rate constants between 129Xe and alkali metals

By measuring the relaxation rates of the nuclear spin polarization of Xe-129 in the presence of alkali-metal vapor at different densities, we have extracted the spin-exchange rates between Xe-129 and the three alkali metals K, Rb, and Cs. By studying the alkali-metal-Xe-129 spin-exchange rates as functions of the cell number density from 0.2 to 0.7 amagat, the binary collision and van der Waals molecular terms are separated, and constants governing both mechanisms are determined. The results from our work can be used to optimize the parameter space for polarizing Xe-129, a promising agent for magnetic resonance imaging and other applications

Thermal Shock Fracture Behaviors of Functionally Graded Ceramics

This thesis uses a thermal fracture mechanics model to study the thermal shock fracture behavior of functionally graded ceramics (FGC). The specimen used in this study is a FGC strip with an edge crack on one surface. A severe thermal shock is applied on the cracked surface. The temperature field in a thermally shocked FGC strip is evaluated first using a closed form solution. Thermal stresses, thermal stress intensity factors (TSIF) and critical thermal shocks are evaluated using a thermomechanics and fracture mechanics approach. The effective thermal properties of the FGC specimens are estimated using micromechanics models for conventional composites. Some numerical results of critical thermal shocks are provided for FGC specimens with constant elastic material properties and graded thermal properties in the thickness direction of the strips. Also, examples of thermal stresses and thermal stress intensity factors (TSIFs) are provided. The results show that the components gradation of the FGC composites has significant influence on the specimens\u27 thermal shock behavior. When the volume fraction of the FGC strip is changed rapidly, the critical thermal shock is changed dramatically

Harmony through Conflicts: Herman Melville's Attitudes towards Transcendentalism in Moby-Dick

According to the Transcendentalist beliefs proposed by great American thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson in the mid-19th century, this article carries out a detailed analysis of Melville's both Anti-Transcendentalist thoughts and Transcendentalist tendency in the perspectives of Oversoul, Individualism, and Man-and-Nature relationship revealed in Moby-Dick. It also lists the reasons for Melville's complex and sophisticated attitude towards Transcendentalism in the hope of directing the critical attention to this aspect that Moby-Dick is a twisted and ambiguous interpretation of Melville's attitude towards Transcendentalism