Making (Non)Sense: On Ruth Ozeki\u27s A Tale for the Time Being

This essay investigates the knowledge produced around Ruth Ozeki’s novel A Tale for the Time Being through a discussion of its marketing processes and its reception, as well as through textual analysis. I first draw upon Sau-ling Wong’s observations about the problem of a US-centric referential framework in the internationalization of Asian American studies to examine a Western-centric framing in the marketing strategies of the US/Canada and the UK editions of Ozeki’s novel. Next, I turn to an examination of how reviews and selected readers’ responses to Ozeki’s novel show an at-times incoherent process of making sense of this text. In the latter part of the paper, I analyze the parallel depictions of Fukushima and Cortes Island, Ruth’s dreams, and Haruki #1’s diary in Ozeki’s novel. Attending to how Ozeki’s narratives destabilize the process of making sense, I argue that the novel is neither easy to read nor as transparent as the marketing strategies and reviews and readers’ responses suggest. The difficulties of making sense represented in A Tale for the Time Being thereby have the potential to intervene in a Western-centric, posivistic reading of the Asian other, challenging us to rethink the analytic frameworks we bring to bear while reading Asian American literary texts

Factors That Impact Consumers' Intention to Shop on Foreign Online Stores

Cross-border e-commerce has been rapidly expanding. However, little research has been done to investigate how consumers decide to shop across national borders. This study aims to explore the factors that impact consumers’ intention to shop on foreign websites. A conceptual model is developed from the perspectives of consumer perceived trust and value. We also examine the effects of vendors’ signaling on perceived trust, as well as the effects of benefits and costs on perceived value. This study conducts an online survey to test the research model. Our findings can help researchers and practitioners understand the barriers to cross-border e-commerce and devise strategies to overcome these barriers

Factors That Impact Consumers\u27 Intention to Shop on Foreign Online Stores

Cross-border e-commerce has been rapidly expanding. However, little research has been done to investigate how consumers decide to shop across national borders. This study aims to explore the factors that impact consumers’ intention to shop on foreign websites. A conceptual model is developed from the perspectives of consumer perceived trust and value. We also examine the effects of vendors’ signaling on perceived trust, as well as the effects of benefits and costs on perceived value. This study conducts an online survey to test the research model. Our findings can help researchers and practitioners understand the barriers to cross-border e-commerce and devise strategies to overcome these barriers

Terahertz imaging with sub-wavelength resolution by femtosecond laser filament in air

Terahertz (THz) imaging provides cutting edge technique in biology, medical sciences and non-destructive evaluation. However, due to the long wavelength of the THz wave, the obtained resolution of THz imaging is normally a few hundred microns and is much lower than that of the traditional optical imaging. We introduce a sub-wavelength resolution THz imaging technique which uses the THz radiation generated by a femtosecond laser filament in air as the probe. This method is based on the fact that the femtosecond laser filament forms a waveguide for the THz wave in air. The diameter of the THz beam, which propagates inside the filament, varies from 20 {\mu}m to 50 {\mu}m, which is significantly smaller than the wavelength of the THz wave. Using this highly spatially confined THz beam as the probe, THz imaging with resolution as high as 20 {\mu}m (~{\lambda}/38) can be realized.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Terahertz Wave Guiding by Femtosecond Laser Filament in Air

Femtosecond laser filament generates strong terahertz (THz) pulse in air. In this paper, THz pulse waveform generated by femtosecond laser filament has been experimentally investigated as a function of the length of the filament. Superluminal propagation of THz pulse has been uncovered, indicating that the filament creates a THz waveguide in air. Numerical simulation has confirmed that the waveguide is formed because of the radially non-uniform refractive index distribution inside the filament. The underlying physical mechanisms and the control techniques of this type THz pulse generation method might be revisited based on our findings. It might also potentially open a new approach for long-distance propagation of THz wave in air.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure