NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Auto-orientalisme et orientalisme : les vestiges du discours orientaliste dans les mémoires auto-biographiques irano-états-uniens

This paper focuses on the interconnected issues of representation, Westernization, and Orientalist discourse in autobiographical memoirs written by Iranian female writers presently living in the United States. Founding my arguments on various post-colonialist theories (dealing with exile/immigrant identity, Orientalism, the issue of representation in the autobiographical genre, Westernization discourse, etc.), I question the discursive authenticity (and authorial intent) of Iranian-American female writers by exploring the process of cultural assimilation (i.e. Westernization) that engenders within them a fundamentally Orientalist self-perception. Once internalized by the writer, this Orientalist gaze is projected onto the Iranian people, whom the writer claims to be a credible and well-meaning representative of.   However, my deconstructionist analysis of Iranian-American memoirs illustrates that these writers only contribute in reinforcing the dominant Orientalist binary (West-modern-superior / East-backwards-inferior). Although the writers claim to unveil the so-called realities of Iranian society to the Western readers, they merely reiterate the same negative stereotypes on Iran already present in American mainstream media.

Keyphrases: Iran, Iranian autobiographical memoir, Iranian-American, Orientalism, Exile narrative, Iranian diaspora, Westernization
Heinrich Zille et sa représentation du «Milljöh» : un exemple de diffusion du «Rinnsteinkunst» opposé à l'académisme artistique wilhelmien

After it was declared capital city of the new Reich in 1871, Berlin was a very dense and very modern European metropolis in regards to different industries, technologies and public transports. However, the Emperor at the head of the country, Wilhelm II (1859-1941), tried to maintain a highly glorified image of his State and imposed his ideal conception of the arts. In so doing, he created an artistic policy, a Kunstpolitik, and strongly urged the Berliner artists of his era to work in a very conservative artistic genre. It is during a famous speech for the inauguration of the Victory Avenue, situated in the Tiergarten in Berlin, on the 18th December 1901, that the Emperor expressed his exact thoughts on what makes a good or a bad artist, and what kind of art is right or wrong. Any art diverging from his ideal would be qualified as “Rinnsteinkunst”.  Heinrich Zille (1858-1929), a working-class draftsman and caricaturist, spent his whole career sketching the proletarians and the poor in a satirical, naturalist and blunt way, exposing their everyday lives and their environment, called the “Milljöh”. This thesis attempts to draw the direct relation between the concepts of the “Rinnsteinkunst” and the work of Heinrich Zille, to finally establish a concrete example of what this “gutter art” is about and to demonstrate how Zille used this artistic style. Belonging to the Berlin modernist movement, mainly as part of the Berlin Secession, Zille drew a lot of attention from the public by bringing forward taboo subjects that were banned from official art. His oeuvre, crafted using different formats, mediums, techniques, shows the hidden face of the official imperial Berlin. Innovations in printing techniques, as well as the development of intermediality and international artistic relations allowed for a wide circulation of his drawings, strongly fostering the establishment of modern art in Berlin.

Keyphrases: Berlin, German art, Modern art, Photography, Exhibition, Topography, Urbanism, Rinnsteinkunst
L'acte poétique de la "transfiguralité" : pratiques de l'autoportrait entre écriture et photographie

While defining what is self-portrait as a genre, I encountered a number of problems from which I came to propose a new reading of self-portraits, especially those who make use of texts along with photography. By combining concept with figure, all forms of self-portraying are based on the transformative value of the figures. Many approaches sway from figurative to figural esthetics (Gilles Deleuze). This latter field of representation allows the emergence of the “sensation” and the “organ less body”. These notions open up the parameters of the “becoming” and of the “all possible” of the figure. The first analysis leads to the figurative approach of the American photographer Sally Mann, and whose work is comparable to Francis Bacon’s concept of the diagram. The second analysis looks into an Afghan-French writer, Atiq Rahimi, whose esthetic approach is almost entirely figural. His self-portraits are built upon the “Name” or the “Word” as a poetic sign (Roland Barthes). From several distinctions between autobiography, self-portrait and self-fiction, I named three literary acts: The narrative act for the autobiography, the performing act for self-fiction, and in a more elaborate matter, the poetic act of self-portrait which favors the type of writing based on excerpts (Michel Beaujour). On this premise, I create the new concept of “transfigurality” as a theoretical model for self-portraying. It confers a system that succeed to determine the process of creation in self-portrait which relies on the skin and the identity it belongs to. It’s different formal treatments are what I call stripping down to nudity, weaving up the skin and the death process of a new figure to become.

Keyphrases: Figure, figuratif, figural, Sensation, Mot-Nom-Topo, Concept, Self-portrait, Autobiography, Self-fiction, Figure, figurative, figural, Transfigurality, Identity/Autobiographic pact, Narrative act, Poetic act, Performing act, Stripping/Nudity, Weaving/Skin, Death process of the figure, Organless body, Sensation, Word-Name-Theme, Photoliterature, Concept
Identidad, alteridad y espacios físicos en dos novelas sobre emigrantes colombianos

This study addresses issues related to migration and representation, in particular it considers how emigration has been recounted in Colombian literature and how emigrants have been represented in Alirio Díaz Guerra’s Lucas Guevara (1914) and Jorge Franco’s Paraíso travel (2002). Our analysis of the novels is based in three main concepts: identity, alterity and physical spaces, which are instrumental in the articulation in the novels plot and characters. For the purposes of this study, we treat these three concepts separately while still considering the existing connections between them. Some of the findings of this work are related to how these novels about emigrants raise the problem of identity and how identity is tightly connected to alterity, as well as to individual othering and the representation of physical spaces. Some of the topics this study considers are the following: the standoff of two different cultural traditions (Hispanic versus Anglo), the confrontation of traditionally educated Latin American individuals with a liberal and secularizing environment as that of New York City, the consequence of migration and the ulterior transformation of the characters, the marginality of Colombian emigrants in the United States of America, the problem of communication, the representation of men, women, immigrants and natives, as well as the way both novels slip some clues about the condition of the modern and postmodern individuals.

Keyphrases: Migration, Alirio Díaz Guerra, Lucas Guevara, Jorge Franco, Paraíso travel, Identity, Alterity, Colombian emigrants, Spaces
Facteurs associés à la diarrhée chez les enfants de moins de cinq ans en Haïti

This master’s thesis contributes to the identification of factors linked to the occurrence of diarrhoea among children under five years of age in Haiti. Following a review of the literature on predictors of childhood diarrhoea in low-income countries, namely Haiti, we take advantage of four databases from Demographic and Health Surveys (n = 14 481) to conduct our quantitative analyses. Our study is concerned mainly with the impact of improved drinking water, improved sanitations and refrigerator on childhood diarrhoea. We use logistic regression models to assess the robustness of the associations between selected factors and the occurrence of diarrhoea among children under five years of age.  The most common commodity was improved drinking water (58%). The presence of more than one commodity was infrequent (17%). On average, diarrhoea prevalence was 29%. The improved drinking water and the ownership of a refrigerator were associated with a decreased occurrence of diarrhoea for children aged 24-59 months. The improved sanitation was related to a decreased in the occurrence of diarrhea for children 1-5 and 12-23 months. Children whose family owned only one commodity were not statistically different from the most disadvantaged children, except for children 24-59 months. Lastly, there was no significant link between any commodity and diarrhoea for children 6-11 months. In the context of Haiti, these new findings highlight, as an intervention path in the prevention of childhood diarrhoea, the importance of increasing the number of commodities within families, and, more specifically, improving sanitations which may help reduce the contamination of water and food.

Keyphrases: Health demography, Diarrhoea, Family amenities, Health of preschoolers, Haiti, Demography and health survey
Déterminants, circonstances et hasards du passage à l’acte délinquant chez les joueurs pathologiques

For two decades, research has shown a rise in the population of pathological gamblers population, followed by an increase of gambling related problems. In recent years, a growing number of studies have demonstrated a link between pathological gambling and several deviant behaviors. However, its relationship with criminal offending is still largely unraveled, despite the fact that a significant number of gamblers do commit crimes during their career. Furthermore, the dynamic aspect surrounding gambling trajectories is still understudied, leaving numerous questions unanswered. We analyze retrospective data from 100 gamblers recruited in Montreal, Canada, between 2006 and 2008. Using a multilevel longitudinal model, we assess the impact of dynamic as well as static factors. Firstly, we aim to establish which factors distinguish criminal offending from non-criminal offending within pathological gamblers. Secondly, assuming that shared antecedent factors aren’t sufficient enough to explain all variations in the adherence to one or both observed trajectories over time, we assess the impact of conventional and deviant lifestyle circumstances on criminal offending. Moreover, we seek to uncover the sequential logic linking pathological gambling and criminal offending in order to determine which behavior precedes the other. Results reveal that gambling parameters are strongly associated with crime, at the static as well as at the dynamic level. Joint analysis of both static and dynamic factors related to gambling trajectories shows the impact of deviant lifestyle circumstances on criminal offending.

Keyphrases: Pathological gambling, Dynamic factors, Multilevel analysis
L'évaluation du risque de comportements suicidaires et d'automutilation en obéissance aux hallucinations auditives impérieuses

The current research consist, in a first step, to better document the relationship between harmful command hallucinations and compliance. More specifically, the study resulted from a literature review on this subject that aims to identify the risk factors associated with compliance to self-harm command hallucinations in individuals with a major mental disorder. To accomplish this, secondary analyses were performed using the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study database. Binary logistic regressions revealed that emotional distress, history of compliance, actual drug abuse disorder, actual major depressive disorder, victimization of physical abuse during adolescence and severity of the hallucinatory behavior were all significant predictors of compliance to self-harm command hallucinations. The study highlights an important predictive model that may guide clinicians to improve the assessment and management of deliberate self-harm and suicidal behaviors in response to command hallucinations in individuals diagnosed with a major mental disorder.

Keyphrases: Command hallucinations, Harmful content, Compliance, Prediction, Logistic regression
Cybernetic Rift of the Dead : entre science et gnose, enquête exploratoire autour de la dimension paradoxale de l'expérience humaine

This research-creation tends to explore the therapeutic potential of second order cybernetics and radical constructivism’s epistemology through the creation of an experience dedicated to virtual reality headsets. Following the work produced in the 60’s and the 70’s at Palo Alto and at the Esalen Institute, the goal of this research is to better understand paradoxical implications of second order cybernetics, such as double bind, solipsism and autopoiesis. Half way between a manifesto for a new digital cosmogony and a survival kit for spiritual cyborgs, this essay relates the metaphysical dimension of my trajectory, from cybernetics to gnosis.

Keyphrases: Paradox, Autopoiesis, Virtual reality, Cyberspace, Second order cybernetics
Entre autonomie et coopération : la construction des bibliothèques universitaires au Québec (1967-1975)

In the late 1960s, at a time when the State was investing heavily in higher education, librarians had to meet a greater need for documentary resources than ever before. To answer this need, they established a cooperative network, thus consolidating the microcosm of Quebec university libraries.  This paper is an exploratory study of this microcosm evolution in the academic field, using Pierre Bourdieu's sociological concepts of field, habitus and capital. In this Master's thesis, we analyze the creation of modern Quebec university libraries through the activities of their main consultative body, the Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities’ (CREPUQ) Libraries subcommittee, from its creation in 1967 to 1975.  We theorize that the symbolic capital of libraries depends on their capacity to support, through their resources and expertise, the universities’ research and teaching mission. In this context, the library subcommittee will adopt a strategy to promote its members’ expertise, to optimize the use of their resources and to increase their budget. It will also defend the libraries autonomy against various policies adopted by the State and the CREPUQ. We conclude by noting the predominance of co-operation in the university libraries microcosm's habitus and by highlighting the fact that, if libraries generally succeed in achieving their objectives when it falls within their competencies, they systematically fail when their strategies require a significant financial investment.

Keyphrases: CREPUQ, Pierre Bourdieu, Field, Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities, Cooperation, Libraries subcommittee, Sociohistorical analysis, Sociology, University libraries
L’accessibilité à la justice pour les travailleurs temporaires : le cas d’une filiale française à Trinidad et Tobago

This research focuses on an exploratory comparative study on the non-accessibility to justice in labor dispute for temporary migrant workers and local workers, based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Port-Of-Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) in a French construction company named French Touch Construction. Building from Foucault's thought, I analyze the non-accessibility to justice as a negative effect of the international labor migrations on temporary migrant workers (North and South) and Trinidadian workers.  As a result, I argue that the transformation of work and workers’ rights are not only an issue for temporary migrant workers but also for Trinidadian workers. Effectively, international labor migration involve competition between employees and thus deteriorate the social status of Trinidadian employees in the French Touch Company. Indeed, employees have to be more flexible and less demanding of their rights to be included in this new work economy. To sum it up, I suggest that the international labor migrations, which encourage the worker to perceive himself as a holder of limited rights, also favor a managerial conflict resolution that is unfavorable for the employee.

Keyphrases: Accessibility to justice, International Labor Migration, Temporary migrant workers, Conflict resolution, Managerial conflict resolution, Trinidad and Tobago
Les figures hôtes, une production singulière en Mésoamérique

Teotihuacan, dated between 100 BCE and 650 CE, is situated in the Basin of Mexico. It is known for its imposing monumental architecture, the Pyramid of the Moon, Pyramid of the Sun, and the Avenue of the Dead, but also for its many apartment compounds that could have contained a population of about 150 000 inhabitants at its peak. In addition to its architecture, Teotihuacan’s history can be understood through its art: murals, sculptures, masks, and ceramic figurines. This study concentrates on the latter with an emphasis on a rare figurine type known as host figurines. Host figures are a class of hollow figurines containing one or several small human figurines in bas-relief within its hollow cavity. Although many of these figurines are without provenience, some have been discovered not only in Teotihuacan, but also in Guatemala, in Michoacán and in Yucatán, pointing to the possibilities of Mesoamerican cultural exchanges and/or Teotihuacan colonies in Mesoamerica. What was the significance of these host figures? Through a meticulous description of every figurine, I find that the host figurines can be divided into two major style groups. One group is considered as a Teotihuacan style and is characterized with a simple opening on the torso, which contain one or two figurines. The other group is a Maya-Teotihuacan style and identified with an opening along the length of the body that contains numerous figurines. A comparison of the host figures with other artefacts from Teotihuacan, such as the masks and other figurines, indicate that these figurines are well-rooted within Teotihuacan iconographic and stylistic visual expression. The function of the Teotihuacan style host figurines seems to be connected with the cult of ancestors. In contrast, the Maya-Teotihuacan style figurines found outside Teotihuacan were likely associated with political rites of foundation central to the power of the Maya state.

Keyphrases: Figurine gigogne, Teotihuacan, Host figures, Hollow figures, Teotihuacan, Mesoamerica, clay figurines
L’utilisation de l’hallux par le jeune macaque rhésus transporté par sa mère et ses implications quant aux coûts de la bipédie humaine

The human hallux (more commonly called big toe) is now aligned with the other toes, which makes its opposition to other toes impossible. It has been proposed that the loss of opposability of the hallux in early hominins would have led to increase the energetic costs related to maternity, due to the obligation to carry juveniles actively (Tanner & Zihlman 1976; Wall-Sheffler 2007, Watson et al. 2008). This implies that Australopithecus afarensis juveniles had to be actively transported instead of grasping their mother's hair. My study proposes to test whether a juvenile primate needs its hallux to cling to the hair of its mother. The two hypotheses of this work are as follows: The abduction of the hallux is essential for the grasping of the hair of a carrier (usually the mother) by the young macaques and the abduction of the hallux is not necessary for the grasp of the hair of a carrier (usually the mother) by young macaques during transport. Videos of mother/child dyads of rhesus macaques are used in this study to evaluate the use of the hallux in juveniles being carried. The macaques are from a free-range colony in Cayo Santiago, Costa Rica, and they were filmed over a 5-month period. Results tend to support my hypothesis. Indeed, rhesus macaques are able to cling and maintain themselves on their mother during transport without using their hallux. It would, however, be necessary to supplement this study with further research in order to infer this type of behavior in A. afarensis.

Keyphrases: Australopithecus afarensis, Hallux, Rhesus macaque, Bipedalism
Les duels de rap en tant que forme de compétition pour le statut : une perspective évolutionnaire

Rap duels have been often described as exchanges of insults, or as freestyle competitions in the sociological literature. These definitions are not only highly reductionist and contextual, but they can also influence researchers to adopt a stereotypical image of what rap duels should look like, and only record the aspects that fit this image. By adopting an evolutionary perspective, it is possible to set the study in a larger framework which considers the universal motivational tendencies underlying social behavior in this context, and thus give a more objective starting point in the study of rap duels. With an evolutionary perspective, rap duels can be studied as a form of competition where participants display their competences in order to get status conferred by the public (initial hypothesis); where participants try to surpass their opponents (hypothesis 1); try to conquer the public (hypothesis 2); and improve their relative status in return for their performances (hypothesis 3). These three hypotheses were confirmed by the systematic examination of five duels, using a standardised analysis grid composed of 14 criteria. These criteria, forming together a set of nine predictions, describe the variable and contextual aspects of rap duels: 1) levels of physical dominance displayed by each participant; 2) levels of interaction with the public; 3) proportions of verses where they boast and/or demean their opponents; 4) the content of those verses; 5) levels of demonstrated artistic skills in rap; 6) humour; and, in terms of the public reactions, 7) the levels of acclamations and, 8) votes to elect a winner; and 9) votes to establish a hierarchical status between the participants. Applying this methodology, we see that using an evolutionary framework allows the integration of the universal motivational aspects and the more contextual and variable aspects of rap duels, and thus offering a more complete and nuanced vision of the phenomenon. Furthermore, this model proposes methods of quantifying links between the performances of each participant, the relative appreciation which they arouse in the public and the status which is attributed to the participants by the public.

Keyphrases: Rap, Dominance, Competition, Status, Verbal duel, Universals