bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Two Sign Languages in a Single Village in India
Authors: Jepson Jill
Published: October 2013

In this paper I explore two sign languages independently employed by two isolated deaf signers in a single village in northern India. Following a suggestion by Washabaugh (1979) that languages can be placed along a continuum of “structuredness,” from “positive” to “negative,” I have compared these two languages. Languages more positively structured are relatively independent of context, complex in syntax, and have a lexicon of discrete, arbitrary, conventionalized signs. Languages more negatively structured are context-dependent, multi-channeled, and their signs have non-discrete, iconic, and ambiguous components. I have argued (Jepson, in press) that positive structuring in a language is related to the existence of a community of speakers who rely on the language as a major mode of communication. While both of the sign languages discussed here are negatively structured, one exhibits the rudiments of positive structuring, and the other does not. The existence of some degree of positive structuring in one of the languages may result from the fact that the signer’s life is strongly embedded in a set of close relationships with family and lifelong friends, who form a tiny speech community, employing his form of sign language as a relatively important mode of communication. The lack of positive structuring in the other form of sign may result from that signer’s marginal position in the village and his lack of family and close friends who can serve as a small speech community.
Aspects of Rhythm in ASL
Authors: Allen George D. , Wilbur Ronnie B. , Schick Brenda B.
Published: October 2013

The fluent production of American Sign Language (ASL), like speech involves highly skilled, complex motor activity. Thus, like all skilled motor acts, it is rhythmically structured. This paper presents the results of an experiment designed to determine whether the rhythm of ASL can be associated with rhythmic beats. Three groups of adult observer subjects, ASL-fluent deaf, ASL-fluent normally-hearing children of deaf parents, and sign-naive normally hearing, tapped a small metal stylus in time to the rhythm of five short ASL narratives 30 times repeated; temporal locations of the observers’ taps were compared statistically for differences related to observer group membership and to various properties of the target signs. There was great overall agreement among subjects that repeated signs, signs with primary stress, and phrase-final signs played a major role in the rhythm of these ASL narratives. The ASL-fluent subjects tapped less often to signs with secondary or weak stress than did the ASL-naive subjects, however, confirming that knowledge of ASL is necessary for full appreciation of the rhythm of ASL.
Sign Language Varieties in Costa Rica
Authors: Woodward James
Published: October 2013

This paper offers a preliminary examination of several sign language varieties in use in Costa Rica and attempts to explain the relationship among these varieties. Using comparative lexical data from these sign language varieties, this paper presents evidence that there are at least four distinct sign languages in Costa Rica: (1) LESCO, a Costa Rican Sign Language distinct from (North) American Sign Language; (2) “Original LESCO” and “New LESCO;” (3) “Brunca Sign Language;” and (4) “Bribri Sign Language.” The conclusion summarizes the findings and discusses some implications for future research.
Hearing Offspring as Visual Language Mediators in Deaf-Parented Families
Authors: Mallory Barbara L. , Schein Jerome D. , Zingle Harvey W.
Published: October 2013

Visual language mediation by hearing offspring was studied in deaf-parented families as part of a larger program of cross-sectional descriptive research into aspects of deaf parents’ child rearing performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 profoundly deaf adults and the oldest hearing school-aged offspring in the home. All parents were fluent signers, deaf from early childhood. Interview videotapes were transcribed and spontaneous utterances categorized by theme. Results indicated that visual language mediation by the oldest hearing child in the home was welcomed and encouraged in all but one family. Frequency of language mediation tasks increased with age and signing competence of offspring. Language–mediation situations were considered in terms of participants, content, and mediation strategy. Parent and child views of the “interpreter” role raised issues related to offspring’s language–mediation responsibilities and perceived parental dependence. Implications for professionals serving deaf–parented families are offered. Elements of the language–mediation event are schematized to facilitate future causal–comparative study.
A Sociolinguistic Analysis of the Interpreter’s Role in Simultaneous Talk in a Face-to-Face Interpreted Dialogue
Authors: Roy Cynthia B.
Published: October 2013

Historically, a common but inaccurate assumption of interpreting has been that interpreters serve as nearly robotic conduits of information, who have little or no impact on the communicative situation in which interpretation is taking place. An interpeter is an active participant when simultaneous or overlapping talk occurs. When primary speakers talk simultaneously, the interpreter recognizes the overlap and makes linguistic choices to resolve the overlap, deciding who will get the turn. Many of the decisions made by the interpreter reflect an understanding and interpretation of the social situation of a meeting between student and professor. The interpreter’s role is active, governed by social and linguistic knowledge of the entire communicative situation, requiring not only competence in the languages but also competence in the appropriate “ways of speaking” and in managing the intercultural event of interpreting.
Sign Vocabulary Recognition in Students of American Sign Language
Authors: Lupton Linda , Fristoe Macalyne
Published: October 2013

The present investigation explored recognition memory for sign language vocabulary in sign language students. Ten beginning and ten advanced students were asked to judge their familiarity with 50 old and 50 new vocabulary items presented in both written (sign gloss) and signed stimulus modes. Both groups were able to recognize vocabulary items with a high degree of accuracy but there were significant differences in their performance with respect to signed versus written modes. Implications for teaching American Sign Language are discussed.
Free Writing of Deaf Children in Kindergarten
Authors: Andrews Jean F. , Gonzales Kay
Published: October 2013

This paper reports the results of immersing six deaf children in a kindergarten classroom for a full school year of literacy-rich activities focused on daily reading and writing in authentic communication tasks. Case studies of the children, with samples of their free writing, show increasing levels of written language production over the year. The paper concludes with suggestions to teachers for optimizing the literacy environment of their classrooms.
An Overview of Russian Sign Language
Authors: Grenoble Lenore
Published: October 2013

An overview of current knowledge about Russian Sign Language (RSL) and its use in Russia today notes that linguistic study of RSL is still in its beginning stages, defines issues that need to be studied, and suggests directions for further research. Most researchers of the deaf in the former USSR focused on pedagogy and psychology. An exception is Galina Zaitseva of the Moscow Institute of Defectology, who stands out as a true pioneer in RSL research. Her work, which will be described, supplemented by the author’s observations and fieldwork.
Perspectives on Deafness. A Deaf American Monograph, 1991 ed. by Merv Garretson (review)
Authors: Meador Helen E.
Published: October 2013

Perspectives on Deafness is necessary reading for anyone involved with or interested in deaf individuals and deafness. The articles it contains combine to make a powerful document, challenging both deaf and hearing individuals. Written by profoundly deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing people, including educators, parents, psychologists, and a lawyer, the articles provide insight into a rich array of important, timely issues related to deafness: personal experiences, Deaf culture, education, technology, political activism, and future prospects. The reader gains information from a sampling of nations, including Africa, Sweden, Yugoslavia, and Italy. Some discussions are amusing and some are frustrating, but all are thought-provoking and informative. In addition to the articles, poems and quotations interspersed in the monograph, add poignancy and beauty. The editor has arranged the articles alphabetically by author’s name, but they will be reviewed thematically below.
Cohesion & Quality In Deaf & Hearing Children’s Written English
Authors: Maxwell Madeline M. , Falick Tracey Gordon
Published: October 2013

Although it is well known that the English writing skills of deaf individuals are usually considerably inferior to those of hearing peers, there is a need for information on the exact nature of their difficulties and of the effects of different linguistic elements on writing success. Deaf and hearing children at two grade levels (fourth and eighth) provided written texts for an analysis of text structure and quality. Deaf writers used as many cohesive devices as hearing writers but not as many different lexical items per device. Hearing readers who ranked the texts discussed the effectiveness of different devices in relation to coherence and intelligibility, focusing on vocabulary, information presentation, and coherence. Their attempts at comprehension followed a search for unexpressed relational propositions in order to account for text connectedness and coherence that were unrelated to the structural devices of cohesion. The deaf children’s texts are discussed in terms of possible language transference (from American Sign Language) and individual interlanguage.
The Development of Hand Preference in Children’s Early Signing
Authors: Bonvillian John D. , Richards Herbert C.
Published: October 2013

Hand preference during signing was examined longitudinally in nine very young children with deaf parents. These children typically showed a distinct and consistent hand preference in their signing, beginning with their production of their first signs. For most of the children, their preferred signing hand was their right hand. This hand preference in early signing, moreover, was significantly stronger than that for the children’s production of nonsign actions and gestures. Also, the children’s hand preference in their early signing predicted their eventual hand preference.
Interpreters’ Use of Pausing in Voice to Sign Transliteration
Authors: Siple Linda A.
Published: October 2013

This study investigates how Sign Language interpreters when transliterating utilize pauses in the source message as they construct the target message. Twenty master Sign Language interpreters were asked to transliterate an eleven minute monologue, which contained normal speech pausing, and then to transliterate the same passage in which inappropriate pausing and reduced intonation had been incorporated. The analysis showed that interpreters when transliterating do render source message pauses with visible signals. The source message contained three kinds of pauses: within—sentence (WSP), between—sentences (BSP) and between—topics pauses (BTP). Interpreters when transliterating render these different kinds of auditory pauses with different behaviors, alone or in combination: gaze shifts, held signs, filled pauses, and empty pauses.
Effectiveness Compared: ASL Interpretation vs. Transliteration
Authors: Livingston Sue , Singer Bonnie , Abrahamson Theodore
Published: October 2013

Two kinds of interpretation are currently used to make the spoken language accessible to deaf students in regular college programs; namely, ASL Interpretation and Transliteration. To test the effectiveness of each kind, 43 students from several colleges of the City University of New York were divided into two groups by their preference for one or the other kind, and the groups divided according to level of education. Matched groups then received a narrative presentation and a lecture presentation, interpreted either one way or the other by experienced certified interpreters, and then answered questions on the material so received. The results showed that subjects achieved significantly higher scores when the material was interpreted into ASL than when it was transliterated (i.e. kept in English order by using manual signs for individual words and concepts). This was true even of those students who expressed preference for the latter kind of signing but received the material in ASL interpretation. Other factors addressed in. this study— education level, question type (literal or analytic), communicative competence (judged by qualified interviewers), and bacground knowledge (about the subject of the lecture)—did not affect scores as much as the kind of interpretation used and the kind of information presented (narrative, lecture) The implication is clear: Interpretation into ASL works better for all deaf students in mainstreamed college classes.
Regional Cerebral Blood Flow During Sign Language Perception: Deaf & Hearing Subjects With Deaf Parents Compared
Authors: Söderfeldt Birgitta , Rönnberg Jerker , Risberg Jarl
Published: October 2013

Cerebral activation was studied during sign language comprehension. Six deaf persons with deaf parents were studied and compared to nine hearing persons with deaf parents. The cerebral activation was measured by recordings of the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). The deaf group showed more activation than the hearing group in the right parieto-occipital region, indicating that they were more dependent on the spatial components in sign language. The results thus indicate that deaf persons with deaf parents are different from native hearing signers. The enhanced right hemisphere parieto-occipital activation in the deaf group is suggested to be an effect both of lack of auditory stimulation and of early learning of a visual-spatial language. This combination seems to create a cortical reorganization for language perception.
Words More Powerful than Sound
Authors: Daniels Marilyn
Published: October 2013

Seventy-six hearing children in pre-kindergarten classes, half of them receiving sign instruction and half not receiving sign instruction, were tested on English vocabulary acquisition. The children receiving sign instruction scored significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than those receiving no sign instruction. The results support the hypothesis that hearing pre-K children who learn ASL signs improve their acquisition of English vocabulary to a statistically significant degree.
Private Sign & Literacy Development in Preschoolers with Hearing Loss
Authors: Cook John H. , Harrison Melody
Published: October 2013

This study examined private sign in two groups of preschoolers with hearing loss: those rated most advanced and least advanced in literacy development. Private sign involves signing to oneself without intent to communicate meaning to others. Teachers and parents/primary caregivers were surveyed to obtain information related to the use of private sign in these two groups. Results indicated that the majority of children with signing skills in both groups exhibited private sign in classroom and home contexts. Teachers noted a statistically significantly higher incidence of private sign behavior in the most advanced group while these children were looking at books, playing alone, and writing or drawing. Results from the parents/caregivers showed that more of the least advanced children used private sign immediately after learning a new linguistic unit, and that the most advanced group used more private sign. These findings show that private sign is used among preschoolers with hearing loss who have signing skills. Directions for future research are suggested.
Competencies Important to Teaching ASL: Perceptions between Groups
Authors: Newell William J.
Published: October 2013

The data reported in this paper were collected as part of the Job Analysis of Teaching American Sign Language (JATASL) survey. Background variables of the survey respondents was reported on in Newell (1995a, SLS 56), and overall importance ratings for the 105 competency statements included in the survey were reported in Newell (1995b, SLS 57). This paper reports comparisons of group perceptions based on survey respondents’ characteristics; e.g. gender, age, and hearing status. These comparisons show strong consensus among respondents regarding the skills and knowledge important to teaching ASL, with only 13% of the comparisons between groups showing ratings significantly different, and these different by degree only; e.g. Extremely Important vs. Very Important. Respondents grouped by self-rating of signing skills (Native/Native-like, Near-Native, and Advanced) differed on four of the five domains of skill and knowledge competencies being investigated, with the domain measuring the importance of linguistic knowledge (the Linguistics of ASL sub-scale) resulting in the highest level of rating differences. This scale was rated differently when respondents were grouped by Gender, Deaf-Hearing Identity, and Level of Education. The most striking result of these group comparisons is the strong degree of consensus among respondents and this consensus supports the use of JATASL results to guide revision of the ASLTA’s Evaluation and Certification System for teachers of ASL.
Deaf Life on Isolated Japanese Islands
Authors: Torigoe Takashi , Takei Wataru , Kimura Harumi
Published: October 2013

Thirty-eight deaf persons who had little experience of school were interviewed, as were their hearing families, relatives, and neighbors, in a field survey on some islands of Okinawa, Japan. Findings reported here cover (a) social and language environment during childhood, (b) frequency of contact with other deaf and hearing people, (c) communication methods used, and (d) their past and present social lives. Typical were the use of an indigenous gestural system shared with hearing people that enabled them to be integrated into the local hearing community, and their limited contact with the Deaf community (graduates of the deaf schools who use Japanese Sign Language). Implications of the findings are discussed as they bear on origin and development of Deaf communities and sign languages.
Bilingual, Bimodal Education for Hearing Kindergarten Students
Authors: Daniels Marilyn
Published: October 2013

This investigation provides evidence showing that 17 students in a kindergarten class who received sign language instruction tested significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than 17 students in a kindergarten class not receiving sign language instruction. The same teacher taught both classes in the experimental program. The study’s findings confirm and extend those of previous research that demonstrated simultaneously presenting words visually, kinesthetically and orally offers an advantage to young learners.
Spatial, Temporal and Temporo-Logical Notions in French Sign Language: Comparative Study of Deaf and Hearing Subjects
Authors: Maeder Christine , Loncke Filip
Published: October 2013

Sign languages have typical ways of structuring temporal and spatial relations. In this paper, the influence of these sign language structures on the spontaneous use of time and space markers in French and French Sign Language (LSF) is explored. The deaf subjects were 5 children (age 8–10), 4 adolescents (age 15–16) and 5 adults. The control group was formed by 12 hearing subjects with matching ages. Compared to the use of spatial and temporal markers in French by hearing subjects, the deaf subjects used relatively more markers if they were part of a spatialized structure in LSF. Moreover, compared to non-spatialized utterances, spatialized structures were more easily understood by deaf children and adolescents. Finally, deaf children showed a different pattern in processing spatial-temporal relations versus temporaltemporological relations: in the former they are guided by the spatial reference network which is not available in the latter. This offers an explanation for the different types of errors in understanding.
A Re-Analysis of the Creole Status of American Sign Language
Authors: Lupton Linda , Salmons Joe
Published: October 2013

The claim that American Sign Language (ASL) has creole origins
or remains a creole is examined from a creolist perspective. Applying
criteria based on the work of a number of creole researchers
we find that the evidence for creole origins of ASL fails to meet
any usual definition of a creole. Lexical and morphosyntactic similarities
between ASL and other signed languages (especially French
Sign Language) are discussed in terms of lexical borrowing and
the characteristics unique to the transmission of visual/spatial languages,
respectively.
The Epistemological Politics of Vernacular Scripture in Sixteenth-Century Mexico
Authors: Nesvig Martin Austin
Published: October 2013

The year 1577 was a watershed for linguistic politics in Mexico. After more than five decades in Mexico, the Spanish crown signaled a break from its previous tolerance of the use of indigenous language in catechesis and doctrinal publications. The landmark case is the crown's confiscation of Bernardino de Sahagún's Historia General in 1577. Simultaneously, the Mexican Inquisition pursued an assault on vernacular Scripture, confiscating dozens of Spanish scriptural editions, and culminating in the Inquisition's prohibition of Nahuatl and other indigenous-language translations of Scripture, in particular Ecclesiastes and the Epístolas y Evangelios (Epistles and Gospels). Also central was the second trial of a noted Erasmian, Alonso Cabello, who had spent much of the same year in house arrest in Tlatelolco. All this came on the heels of the establishment of the Holy Office in Mexico in November 1571 and its first full-scale purge of prohibited books, including well over 200 editions of Scripture—dozens of them in Spanish and a few in Nahuatl—that had circulated freely in Mexico. Prior to the 1570s exico had witnessed intense debates about the role of language in missionary projects, in catechesis, and in the education of indigenous Mexicans, alongside those regarding the proper language for Scripture and devotional works.
Lisson Grove, Part Two
Authors: Plumly Stanley
Published: October 2013

On December 28, 1817, the painter Benjamin Robert Haydon hosts what he refers to in both his diaries and " Autobiography " as "the immortal dinner." What follows is the second half of the first chapter of a book about that dinner, its guests, and the implied world surrounding it—a moment in cultural and literary history framed by the Regency and Romanticism. The stated reasons for the dinner are, one, that Haydon wants to introduce his young friend John Keats to the great William Wordsworth and, two, that Haydon wishes to celebrate his progress on his most important and largest historical painting so far, "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem." Haydon has invested three years in this work, with three more to go. Keats, Wordsworth, and Charles Lamb (also a dinner guest) appear as spectators in the most vivid quadrant of the painting, along with anachronistic versions of Newton and Voltaire. Later arriving guests include John Landseer, Joseph Ritchie, and John Kingston. After thoughtful and entertaining discussions of poetry and art and their relation to Enlightenment science, the dinner party evolves into a lively, even raucous evening. Haydon also refers to this memorable event as "an immortal evening." The title of the book is The Immortal Evening .
Reciprocal Investments: John Galt, the Periodical Press, and the Business of North American Emigration
Authors: Scott Jennifer
Published: October 2013

When John Galt resigned from the Canada Company in 1829, he returned to England penniless. This article explores how Fraser's Town and Country Magazine enabled Galt to capitalize on his failure as a businessman by writing about his experiences in Upper Canada. Galt originally imagined his work in the colonial project taking place through a land distribution and emigration company; instead, he promoted emigration through the press. Galt offers a unique perspective on the industry of emigration and the labour found not in the act of emigrating itself but in the largescale apparatus surrounding emigration and the settlement of British colonies, which included the British periodical press.
"That inscrutable something": Business in the Periodical Press
Authors: Colella Silvana
Published: October 2013

The business life of the nation, in its commercial and political ramifications, was the object of intense scrutiny in the pages of Victorian periodicals. Combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and using as database the ProQuest digital archive of British periodicals, this essay investigates some aspects of the cultural life of business in the second half of the nineteenth century. The first section of the essay contains an experiment in distant reading which analyses occurrences of three text segments ("man of business," "business habits," and "business life"), looking for collocative meanings and patterns of evaluation. The second part focuses on a selection of articles that explicitly take up the issue of the dignity of business.
Putting the player back in their place: Spatial analysis from below
Authors: Golding Daniel
Published: October 2013

Though theorists have long regarded spatiality as an essential facet of the videogame, the figure of the player has been largely absent from this research. In the language of Michel de Certeau, videogame space is theorized as ‘from above’, and outside of the direct experience of the player. Therefore, this article seeks to re-place the figure of the player as central within a theoretical schema of videogame space, and gesture towards the study of videogame space ‘from below’. Through the theoretical framework provided by de Certeau, we can understand the player in space as more prone to error, appropriation and unintended movements through videogame diegeses. The player is comparable to de Certeau’s city walker, and theory which instead finds itself at the perspective of the bureaucrat, looking down on the videogame ‘from above’, can never fully account for the player. This article will examine the possibilities of spatial analysis ‘from below’.
Argh!: An exploration of the response cries of digital game players
Authors: Conway Steven
Published: October 2013

Response cries are often viewed by an audience as instinctive, asocial and primitive: as simply cathartic release for whatever sensation currently overwhelms the invoker, whether that be the dropping of a phone, stubbing a toe or burning of one’s hand. Yet these response cries, as articulated by Erving Goffman, are in many instances also social performances, as the performer attempts to create or sustain a particular impression beneficial to his or her status within a group or larger community. This article focuses upon the response cries of digital game players, discussing what kinds of social meaning are communicated through such shouts and curses, and how they can be productively viewed through the prism of social status, role and gaming capital. In doing so, response cries, though often neglected in analyses of gamers, are shown to be an essential facet of player performance in social contexts, filled with meaning for the attentive analyst.
Strong and weak procedurality
Authors: Skolnik Michael Ryan
Published: October 2013

This article examines the procedural and constructivist approaches to interpreting political meaning in interventionist video games, i.e., games that are designed to play with the fundamental beliefs of the player to change or reinforce these beliefs. The procedural approach involves the meaning being embedded in the game’s rule set and the constructivist approach asserts that the player constructs the meaning through the performative process of game play. These two approaches are frequently viewed as a binary opposition. This article attempts to reconcile these approaches by introducing a continuum of procedurality, bounded at its ends by ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ procedurality, which favour procedural and constructivist interpretive approaches, respectively. By examining case studies of interventionist games and game play near each end of the spectrum, it makes claims about the relative efficacy of strong and weak procedurality as approaches for designing interventionist video games and advocates for a holistic general game criticism informed by these concepts.
Diggy Holes and Jaffa Cakes: The rise of the elite fanproducer in video-gaming culture
Authors: MacCallum-Stewart Esther
Published: October 2013

Online communities have developed rapidly in the last few years, and key to this is their growing visibility outside the game itself. Fan conventions, cosplay, videos on YouTube and gamer ‘chic’ are becoming increasingly prevalent parts of mainstream culture. This article investigates the growth of these groups through a discussion of ‘fan-producers’: gamers who make videos, machinima and webcasts. Specifically, it examines the role of the group. The Yogscast, and the game Minecraft, in developing the relationship between game and fan. It also argues that the self-supporting nature of the gaming community has, despite some notable issues, started to change the ways in which gaming is perceived and developed. The player now takes an active role in the development and dissemination of many games – especially indie titles such as Minecraft – and this in turn is changing the ways in which the game text is interpreted.
Constructing and measuring an ‘audience’ for digital games
Authors: Boyer Steven
Published: October 2013

What is the ‘audience’ for digital games? This article argues that measurement is a crucial component of conceptions of the audience, exemplifying the complexities of translating theories and models of the audience to digital games. Beginning with mass communication studies, the common audience conception based on invisibility, exposure, institutional agreement, advertising value, and technological measurement found widespread resistance from game studies. This model gave way to reception studies’ focus on interpretation and sociocultural context, more readily aligned with game studies’ emphasis on interactivity. However, the shift towards a constructionist model of the audience, as a discursive construct separate from actual people and reified by measurement technologies, has not been widely applied to digital games. Ultimately, this article argues that a constructionist approach complicates naturalized notions of game ‘players’ and ‘cultures’ as the medium both integrates into and disrupts traditional conceptions of the audience.
Machinima Review
Authors: Johnson Phylis
Published: October 2013

Machinima Open Studio Project (MOSP) Debuts with No Regrets: Interview with MOSP Director/Film-maker Chic Aeon
‘Animating’ the narrative in abstract comics
Authors: Davies Paul Fisher
Published: October 2013

How can one read an abstract graphic narrative? Under what conditions do we cease to view a set of images as static representations, or as marks on paper existing for their own sake, and begin to read them as the story of a changing world in motion, or even invest them with impetus, emotions and desires? In this article I will explore the ways in which readers can make sense of abstract comics. The notion of an abstract graphic narrative seems to be a contradiction in terms: how can something be non-representational, and also be a narrative, a category which seems to presuppose representations of characters, settings and events? When confronted with these visual texts, readers will have to seek out and create such ‘actants’ and ‘existents’ from the material abstract comics offer, if the text is to warrant its status as narrative. The article will use a number of exemplar stories from Andrei Molotiu’s 2009 collection Abstract Comics to explore the process of reading these image texts. It will use ideas from narratology and philosophy of consciousness to help outline some of the ways we can ‘animate’ the static images we see across the sequence of panels, in which we recognize and reconstitute persistent entities, bringing a narrative life to the apparently inert marks on the comics page. I will explore the limits of readers’ ability to apply this process and comment on its relevance to more mainstream graphic narrative in general.
Invisible symmetries: Superheroes, Grant Morrison and Isaiah Berlin’s two concepts of liberty
Authors: Murray Chris
Published: October 2013

Throughout his career in comics Scottish writer Grant Morrison has interrogated concepts of liberty and power and their relationship to revolutionary action, often using the superhero as a metaphor. This article examines liberalism in his work with reference to the ideas of political philosopher Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997), whose influential lecture ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’ ([1958] 2002), described the dangers of ‘positive liberty’, and set out the case for the virtues of ‘negative liberty’. Both Berlin and Morrison were profoundly influenced by the Cold War, and the philosophical and ideological arguments about the definition of freedom that arose from it. The superhero was also shaped by these debates, and Morrison’s liberalism, as expressed through his writing in this genre, owes much to the distinctions Berlin put in place. This article argues that a greater understanding of the politics of the superhero, and Morrison’s changing attitude towards the genre and its underlying themes of identity and freedom, can be gained by applying Berlin’s schema. Indeed, several of Morrison’s key works, such as Zenith (1987–1993), The Invisibles (1994–2000), Flex Mentallo (1996) and All Star Superman (2005–2008), dramatize the struggle between positive and negative concepts of liberty, but his views have undergone shifts, from a rather sceptical conception of the superhero in his early work to the point where he now enshrines the superhero as the best example of liberty and aspiration.
The cognitive grammar of ‘I’: Viewing arrangements in graphic autobiographies
Authors: Schneider Christian W.
Published: October 2013

Gerard Genette’s classic questions about narrative perspective – ‘Who sees?’ and ‘Who speaks?’ – are at their most relevant when it comes to the multimodal narrative intricacies of autobiographical graphic novels. The already complex matter of narration and focalization in a purely visual medium is distinctly complicated when taking the different perspectives of the narrating ‘I’ and the experiencing ‘I’ into account. Furthermore, many acclaimed autobiographical comics, including works like Maus, Fun Home, Blankets or Safe Area Goražde, thematize the construction of their viewpoints, addressing issues of memory, objectivity and (un-)reliability. In this article, I propose a new approach to this complexity, turning to cognitive linguistics – more specifically, to the model of cognitive grammar established by Ronald Langacker and his concept of ‘viewing arrangements’. In Langacker’s theory, all categories of grammar are based on cognitive conceptualizations that represent our position in the world and our relation to our surroundings. These conceptualizations have a distinctly visual bent. In Langacker’s terminology, a ‘viewing arrangement’ is a model of how a viewer conceptualizes a scene, ‘the overall relationship between the “viewers” and the situation, being “viewed”’. These arrangements change constantly, as conceptualizers focus on various parts of their environment, imbuing them with different meanings and expressing various degrees of subjectivity. Applying Langacker’s model to examples from autobiographic graphic novels, I will use the concept of the ‘viewing arrangement’ to illustrate how intricate narrative perspectives in these works can be analysed systematically and how different degrees of subjectivity are constructed with the formal means of comics. The model may not only help to untangle the narrative intricacies of autobiographies, but may enrich discussions of narration and focalization in comics generally.
Resisting narrative immersion
Authors: Schneider Greice
Published: October 2013

The following article will discuss the work of Chris Ware in terms of narrative immersion, that is, the state of mental absorption, the capacity of being dragged in the storyworld, or being ‘carried away’ in the game of ‘make-believe’. The taxonomy by Marie-Laure Ryan will be taken here as a guideline to look at three main types of narrative immersion, namely, spatial, temporal and emotional immersion. I will depart from a negative approach, addressing Ware’s unrelenting resistance towards fictional immersion (that should not be taken as a complete rejection, but a deliberate delay).
The myth of Eco: Cultural populism and comics studies
Authors: Singer Marc
Published: October 2013

For decades, Umberto Eco’s essay ‘The myth of Superman’ has been cited as the authoritative study of superhero comics. More recently, however, Eco’s work has been a site of argument as cultural and media studies scholars such as Angela Ndalianis and Henry Jenkins contend that the narrative logic of contemporary superhero comics has become more complex than Eco imagines. These scholars replace Eco’s ‘oneiric climate’ of suspended time with models of multiple and intertextual narratives that extend across diverse media. While Eco’s observations are more historically contingent than he acknowledges, his analysis remains more applicable than his critics allow. Some scholars have misread Eco’s arguments and overstated the radicalism of contemporary superhero narratives. This article argues that it is time to re-evaluate Eco’s work and move beyond the populist, predominantly celebratory tone of his critics.
From illustration to narrativization: Connecting to a reader in three parodies by Hunt Emerson
Authors: Thompson Christopher J.
Published: October 2013

In contrast to the dynamic ‘visual’ image, Will Eisner in 1985 characterizes the ‘illustration’ as simply repeating a textual description or decorating it, embodying the antithesis of comics idealized form. Curiously it is this very technique that forms a starting point from which British alternative comix artist Hunt Emerson is able to strike a relationship with his readers in the adaptations Lady Chatterley’s Lover! (1986), Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1989) and Dante’s Inferno (2012). This article investigates the ways in which Emerson’s comics participate with a reader in the formation of certain ambiguous narrator positions, exploring their ultimate connections to a project designed to engage with wider audiences both inside and beyond the classroom. In making its investigation, this article utilizes Thierry Groensteen’s concept of the monstrator to delineate between visual and verbal narrative positions in conflict with one another. These positions are fundamental in establishing a sense of humour where, in the case of Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1989), the verbal narrative is seemingly misinterpreted in order to draw attention to its mediation; in the case of Dante’s Inferno (2012) a complicity between visual and verbal channels is employed as a means of issuing forth contextual information needed to appreciate an archaic text; and in Lady Chatterley’s Lover! (1986) a visual narrator is used to bring into question the representation of the subjectivity of certain characters. This article employs theoretical advances made by Monika Fludernik in 1996 to understand the ways in which these visual and verbal narrative channels are ‘narrativized’ by the reader in the formulation of ambiguous narrator positions that offer conflicting accounts of their mediation. As a consequence the reader takes an active role of involvement in the comics thereby completing Emerson’s project of engaging participatory readers beyond the institutional confines of the traditional literatures he adapts.
Reviews
Authors: Crucifix Benoît , O’Donnell Stephen , Round Julia
Published: October 2013

The Cultural Standing of Comics: Ambiguities and Changes, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, 2–3 May 2013

International Comics and Graphic Novel and International Bande Dessinée Society Joint Conference, University of Glasgow, June 2013

Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Novels: Comics at the Crossroads, Shane Denson, Christina Meyer and Daniel Stein (eds) (2013) London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 294 pp., ISBN 978-1-4411-875-4, h/bk, £65.00
Non-pheochromocytoma (PCC)/paraganglioma (PGL) tumors in patients with succinate dehydrogenase-related PCC–PGL syndromes: a clinicopathological and molecular analysis
Authors: Papathomas Thomas G , Gaal Jose , Corssmit Eleonora P M , Oudijk Lindsey , Korpershoek Esther , Heimdal Ketil , Bayley Jean-Pierre , Morreau Hans , van Dooren Marieke , Papaspyrou Konstantinos , Schreiner Thomas , Hansen Torsten , Andresen Per Arne , Restuccia David F , van Kessel Ingrid , van Leenders Geert J L H , Kros Johan M , Looijenga Leendert H J , Hofland Leo J , Mann Wolf , van Nederveen Francien H , Mete Ozgur , Asa Sylvia L , de Krijger Ronald R , Dinjens Winand N M
Published: October 2013

Objective

Although the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH)-related tumor spectrum has been recently expanded, there are only rare reports of non-pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma tumors in SDHx-mutated patients. Therefore, questions still remain unresolved concerning the aforementioned tumors with regard to their pathogenesis, clinicopathological phenotype, and even causal relatedness to SDHx mutations. Absence of SDHB expression in tumors derived from tissues susceptible to SDH deficiency is not fully elucidated.

Design and methods

Three unrelated SDHD patients, two with pituitary adenoma (PA) and one with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), and three SDHB patients affected by renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) were identified from four European centers. SDHA/SDHB immunohistochemistry (IHC), SDHx mutation analysis, and loss of heterozygosity analysis of the involved SDHx gene were performed on all tumors. A cohort of 348 tumors of unknown SDHx mutational status, including renal tumors, PTCs, PAs, neuroblastic tumors, seminomas, and adenomatoid tumors, was investigated by SDHB IHC.

Results

Of the six index patients, all RCCs and one PA displayed SDHB immunonegativity in contrast to the other PA and PTC. All immunonegative tumors demonstrated loss of the WT allele, indicating bi-allelic inactivation of the germline mutated gene. Of 348 tumors, one clear cell RCC exhibited partial loss of SDHB expression.

Conclusions

These findings strengthen the etiological association of SDHx genes with pituitary neoplasia and provide evidence against a link between PTC and SDHx mutations. Somatic deletions seem to constitute the second hit in SDHB-related renal neoplasia, while SDHx alterations do not appear to be primary drivers in sporadic tumorigenesis from tissues affected by SDH deficiency.
The orphan nuclear receptors at their 25-year reunion
Authors: Mullican Shannon E , DiSpirito Joanna R , Lazar Mitchell A
Published: October 2013

The nuclear receptor superfamily includes many receptors, identified based on their similarity to steroid hormone receptors but without a known ligand. The study of how these receptors are diversely regulated to interact with genomic regions to control a plethora of biological processes has provided critical insight into development, physiology, and the molecular pathology of disease. Here we provide a compendium of these so-called orphan receptors and focus on what has been learned about their modes of action, physiological functions, and therapeutic promise.
Sex-Specific Effects ofCis-Regulatory Variants inDrosophila melanogaster
Authors: Coolon Joseph D , Webb William , Wittkopp Patricia J
Published: October 2013

Sexual dimorphism at the level of gene expression is common and well documented, but much less is known about how different cis-regulatory alleles interact with the different trans-regulatory environments present in males and females. Here we show that sex-specific effects of cis-regulatory variants are common in Drosophila.
Resection Activity of the Sgs1 Helicase Alters the Affinity of DNA Ends for Homologous Recombination Proteins inSaccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Bernstein Kara A , Mimitou Eleni P , Mihalevic Michael J , Chen Huan , Sunjaveric Ivana , Symington Lorraine S , Rothstein Rodney
Published: October 2013

The RecQ helicase family is critical during DNA damage repair, and mutations in these proteins are associated with Bloom, Werner, or Rothmund-Thompson syndromes in humans, leading to cancer predisposition and/or premature aging. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mutations in the RecQ homolog, SGS1, phenocopy many of the defects observed in the human syndromes. One challenge to studying RecQ helicases is that their disruption leads to a pleiotropic phenotype. Using yeast, we show that the separation-of-function allele of SGS1, sgs1-D664Δ, has impaired activity at DNA ends, resulting in a resection processivity defect. Compromising Sgs1 resection function in the absence of the Sae2 nuclease causes slow growth, which is alleviated by making the DNA ends accessible to Exo1 nuclease. Furthermore, fluorescent microscopy studies reveal that, when Sgs1 resection activity is compromised in sae2Δ cells, Mre11 repair foci persist. We suggest a model where the role of Sgs1 in end resection along with Sae2 is important for removing Mre11 from DNA ends during repair.
APOEModulates the Correlation Between Triglycerides, Cholesterol, and CHD Through Pleiotropy, and Gene-by-Gene Interactions
Authors: Maxwell Taylor J , Ballantyne Christie M , Cheverud James M , Guild Cameron S , Ndumele Chiadi E , Boerwinkle Eric
Published: October 2013

Relationship loci (rQTL) exist when the correlation between multiple traits varies by genotype. rQTL often occur due to gene-by-gene (G × G) or gene-by-environmental interactions, making them a powerful tool for detecting G × G. Here we present an empirical analysis of apolipoprotein E (APOE) with respect to lipid traits and incident CHD leading to the discovery of loci that interact with APOE to affect these traits. We found that the relationship between total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (ln TG) varies by APOE isoform genotype in African-American (AA) and European-American (EA) populations. The e2 allele is associated with strong correlation between ln TG and TC while the e4 allele leads to little or no correlation. This led to a priori hypotheses that APOE genotypes affect the relationship of TC and/or ln TG with incident CHD. We found that APOE*TC was significant (P = 0.016) for AA but not EA while APOE*ln TG was significant for EA (P = 0.027) but not AA. In both cases, e2e2 and e2e3 had strong relationships between TC and ln TG with CHD while e2e4 and e4e4 results in little or no relationship between TC and ln TG with CHD. Using ARIC GWAS data, scans for loci that significantly interact with APOE produced four loci for African Americans (one CHD, one TC, and two HDL). These interactions contribute to the rQTL pattern. rQTL are a powerful tool to identify loci that modify the relationship between risk factors and disease and substantially increase statistical power for detecting G × G.