title: Let the Real Scheherazade Stand: Literary Representations of Middle Eastern Women

authors: Al-Hadban, Leen Mustafa Naji

subjects: Orientalism

abstract: This thesis considers the multiple and complex ways in which Arab and Middle Eastern women have been conceived in literature written by both Western and Arab male and female authors. It covers almost a millennium of literature, beginning with the eleventh century Crusades which represent the earliest encounters between the West and the East. From there, the discussion moves to examine representations of Middle Eastern women in Western literature and the influences that helped forge that image, such as the biblical stories of Salomé, The Arabian Nights, the Mu’allaquat or the Seven Arabian Poems, Al-Firdausi’s poetic epic, The Shahname, and the travelogues of British explorers who travelled the Middle East. Finally, the thesis turns to the work of Arab authors writing about their own culture and identity.
The analysis of this material is structured chronologically and undertaken in three parts. The first part examines historical and contextual material to establish the ways in which Oriental images, narratives and landscape became imbedded in the Western psyche and influenced Western literature and how Near Eastern men and women were imagined. The second stage analyses late nineteenth and early twentieth century British texts which engage directly with or are influenced by Oriental themes and ideas. The third stage considers English translations of Arabic texts written by men and women and their depiction of Arab women, in addition to a comparison between Western views of the East and Arabic perceptions of the West. The discussion concludes with a discussion of diasporic literature written by Arab women which forms a dialogue and a bridge between the two cultures.
The diverse range of literary forms discussed in the thesis include: travelogues; epistolary writing; poetry; drama; novel; memoirs; biographies; social criticism; and art. All the material discussed here is available in English with the exception of two or three poems and some critical works.

text: Let the Real Scheherazade Stand: Literary Representations of Middle Eastern Women This thesis considers the multiple and complex ways in which Arab and Middle Eastern women have been conceived in literature written by both Western and Arab male and female authors. It covers almost a millennium of literature, beginning with the eleventh century Crusades which represent the earliest encounters between the West and the East. From there, the discussion moves to examine representations of Middle Eastern women in Western literature and the influences that helped forge that image, such as the biblical stories of Salomé, The Arabian Nights, the Mu’allaquat or the Seven Arabian Poems, Al-Firdausi’s poetic epic, The Shahname, and the travelogues of British explorers who travelled the Middle East. Finally, the thesis turns to the work of Arab authors writing about their own culture and identity.
The analysis of this material is structured chronologically and undertaken in three parts. The first part examines historical and contextual material to establish the ways in which Oriental images, narratives and landscape became imbedded in the Western psyche and influenced Western literature and how Near Eastern men and women were imagined. The second stage analyses late nineteenth and early twentieth century British texts which engage directly with or are influenced by Oriental themes and ideas. The third stage considers English translations of Arabic texts written by men and women and their depiction of Arab women, in addition to a comparison between Western views of the East and Arabic perceptions of the West. The discussion concludes with a discussion of diasporic literature written by Arab women which forms a dialogue and a bridge between the two cultures.
The diverse range of literary forms discussed in the thesis include: travelogues; epistolary writing; poetry; drama; novel; memoirs; biographies; social criticism; and art. All the material discussed here is available in English with the exception of two or three poems and some critical works.

year: 2016

title: On the insecurity of arithmetic coding

authors: Cleary, John G.

subjects: computer science

abstract: Arithmetic coding is a technique which converts a given probability distribution into an optimal code and is commonly used in compression schemes. The use of arithmetic coding as an encryption scheme is considered. The simple case of a single binary probability distribution with a fixed (but unknown) probability is considered. We show that for a chosen plaintext attack w+ 2 characters is sufficient to uniquely determine a w-bit probability. For many known plaintexts w+ m+ O(log m) symbols where mis the length of an initial sequence containing just one of (the two possible) symbols is sufficient. It is noted that many extensions to this basic scheme are vulnerable to the same attack provided the arithmetic coder can be repeatedly reset to its initial state. If it cannot be reset then their vulnerability remains an open question.

text: On the insecurity of arithmetic coding Arithmetic coding is a technique which converts a given probability distribution into an optimal code and is commonly used in compression schemes. The use of arithmetic coding as an encryption scheme is considered. The simple case of a single binary probability distribution with a fixed (but unknown) probability is considered. We show that for a chosen plaintext attack w+ 2 characters is sufficient to uniquely determine a w-bit probability. For many known plaintexts w+ m+ O(log m) symbols where mis the length of an initial sequence containing just one of (the two possible) symbols is sufficient. It is noted that many extensions to this basic scheme are vulnerable to the same attack provided the arithmetic coder can be repeatedly reset to its initial state. If it cannot be reset then their vulnerability remains an open question.

year: 1994-06

title: Distributed agent-centric system for indigenous data sovereignty

authors: Noovao, Setephano

subjects: holochain

abstract: The sovereignty of indigenous data is a key issue facing indigenous communities. Holochain, a distributed ledger technology, has the potential to address some of the challenges indigenous communities face with respect to data sovereignty. The purpose of this thesis is to critically evaluate the feasibility of using holochain technology to support indigenous data sovereignty. This paper first explores the literature on holochain technology, examining its underlying architecture and features. The research employs a three-phase design science research methodology, conducting an experiment to explore the integration of a decentralized application, holochain, with a prominent cloud service provider. The first phase concentrates on emulating real data-sharing platforms that may utilize data at its disposal, following the principles of indigenous data sovereignty, where a centralized platform could be hosted on a cloud computing service with multiple services in operation. The second phase involves developing a holochain application guided by the principles of indigenous data sovereignty. The final phase seeks to combine the established centralized platform from the first phase with the outcomes of the holochain application from the second phase to experimentally assess whether both technologies can create a data sovereignty solution that aligns with the needs of indigenous data sovereignty. The results of the experiment will provide a solid foundation for understanding the current state of the field and identifying areas where holochain can potentially offer solutions. Furthermore, the results of our research indicate that holochain shows significant promise in tackling the issue of indigenous data sovereignty, although there are considerable limitations that must be addressed and resolved to achieve improved results.

text: Distributed agent-centric system for indigenous data sovereignty The sovereignty of indigenous data is a key issue facing indigenous communities. Holochain, a distributed ledger technology, has the potential to address some of the challenges indigenous communities face with respect to data sovereignty. The purpose of this thesis is to critically evaluate the feasibility of using holochain technology to support indigenous data sovereignty. This paper first explores the literature on holochain technology, examining its underlying architecture and features. The research employs a three-phase design science research methodology, conducting an experiment to explore the integration of a decentralized application, holochain, with a prominent cloud service provider. The first phase concentrates on emulating real data-sharing platforms that may utilize data at its disposal, following the principles of indigenous data sovereignty, where a centralized platform could be hosted on a cloud computing service with multiple services in operation. The second phase involves developing a holochain application guided by the principles of indigenous data sovereignty. The final phase seeks to combine the established centralized platform from the first phase with the outcomes of the holochain application from the second phase to experimentally assess whether both technologies can create a data sovereignty solution that aligns with the needs of indigenous data sovereignty. The results of the experiment will provide a solid foundation for understanding the current state of the field and identifying areas where holochain can potentially offer solutions. Furthermore, the results of our research indicate that holochain shows significant promise in tackling the issue of indigenous data sovereignty, although there are considerable limitations that must be addressed and resolved to achieve improved results.

year: 2024