The Subversion of Enlightenment Rationality: On Two Vision-Blocking Metaphors in J. M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians

The present paper bases its arguments around two vision-blocking metaphors in Coetzee’s novel Waiting for the Barbarians. Revelations of the rich metaphorical meanings of the sunglasses and the blind eyes of the barbarian girl through close readings serve to demonstrate Coetzee’s reflections on and criticism of Enlightenment rationality. As a superb narrator well-versed in the antipathy of modern Western culture, Coetzee arranges in dichotomy the two metaphors similar in form but opposing in essence, so as to propel with their tension the narration forward and highlight the gist of the novel. With the operations of various irrational elements in the text, such as the purification rituals, the dreams, and allusions to myth, he manages to subvert Enlightenment rationality for the sake of getting control of the order of nature.

The Subversion of Enlightenment Rationality: On Two Vision-Blocking Metaphors in J. M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians

The present paper bases its arguments around two vision-blocking metaphors in Coetzee’s novel Waiting for the Barbarians. Revelations of the rich metaphorical meanings of the sunglasses and the blind eyes of the barbarian girl through close readings serve to demonstrate Coetzee’s reflections on and criticism of Enlightenment rationality. As a superb narrator well-versed in the antipathy of modern Western culture, Coetzee arranges in dichotomy the two metaphors similar in form but opposing in essence, so as to propel with their tension the narration forward and highlight the gist of the novel. With the operations of various irrational elements in the text, such as the purification rituals, the dreams, and allusions to myth, he manages to subvert Enlightenment rationality for the sake of getting control of the order of nature.

On the Motif of Death in Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending

This paper sets out to elaborate the theme of death in Julian Barnes’ Man Booker Prize awarded novel The Sense of an Ending. The author is convinced that the two suicides respectively of Robson and Adrian, as well as the death of Mrs. Ford, manage to lay bare the profound impacts of the drastic social changes on people of various social classes. The decline of religion and the rise of various schools of thought, the dismantling of the traditional family and the rising self-confidence of the woman, and the serious class clashes all complicate interpersonal communications and result in various tragic endings.

Existence and Uniqueness of Globally Attractive Positive Almost Periodic Solution in a Predator-Prey Dynamic System with Beddington-DeAngelis Functional Response

This paper is concerned with a predator-prey system with Beddington-DeAngelis functional response on time scales. By using the theory of exponential dichotomy on time scales and fixed point theory based on monotone operator, some simple conditions are obtained for the existence of at least one positive (almost) periodic solution of the above system. Further, by means of Lyapunov functional, the global attractivity of the almost periodic solution for the above continuous system is also investigated. The main results in this paper extend, complement, and improve the previously known result. And some examples are given to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the main results

Experimental realization of non-Abelian gauge potentials and topological Chern state in circuit system

Gauge fields, both Abelian and non-Abelian type, play an important role in modern physics. It prompts extensive studies of exotic physics on a variety of platforms. In this work, we present building blocks, consist of capacitors and inductors, for implementing non-Abelian gauge fields in circuit system. Based on these building blocks, we experimentally synthesize the Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction. Using operational amplifier, to break the time reversal symmetry, we further provide a scheme for designing the topological Chern circuit system. By measuring the chiral edge state of the Chern circuit, we experimentally confirm its topological nature. Our scheme offers a new route to study physics related to non-Abelian gauge field using circuit systems