Vampires, Viruses and Verbalisation: Bram Stoker’s Dracula as a genealogical window into fin-de-siècle science

This paper considers Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, published in 1897, as a window into techno-scientific and sociocultural developments of the fin-de-siècle era, ranging from blood transfusion and virology up to communication technology and brain research, but focusing on the birth of psychoanalysis in 1897, the year of publication. Stoker’s literary classic heralds a new style of scientific thinking, foreshadowing important aspects of post-1900 culture. Dracula reflects a number of scientific events which surfaced in the 1890s but evolved into major research areas that are still relevant today. Rather than seeing science and literature as separate realms, moreover, Stoker’s masterpiece encourages us to address the ways in which techno-scientific and psycho- cultural developments mutually challenge and mirror one another, so that we may use his novel to deepen our understanding of emerging research practices and vice versa (Zwart 2008, 2010). Psychoanalysis plays a double role in this. It is the research field whose genealogical constellation is being studied, but at the same time (Lacanian) psychoanalysis guides my reading strategy. Dracula, the infectious, undead Vampire has become an archetypal cinematic icon and has attracted the attention of numerous scholars (Browning & Picart 2009). The vampire complex built on various folkloristic and literary sources and culminated in two famous nineteenth-century literary publications: the story The Vampyre by John Polidori (published in 1819)2 and Stoker’s version. Most of the more than 200 vampire movies released since Nosferatu (1922) are based on the latter (Skal 1990; Browning & Picart 2009; Melton 2010; Silver & Ursini 2010). Yet, rather than on the archetypal cinematic image of the Vampire, I will focus on the various scientific ideas and instruments employed by Dracula’s antagonists to overcome the threat to civilisation he represents. Although the basic storyline is well-known, I will begin with a plot summary

The oblique perspective: philosophical diagnostics of contemporary life sciences research

This paper indicates how continental philosophy may contribute to a diagnostics of contemporary life sciences research, as part of a “diagnostics of the present”. First, I describe various options for an oblique reading of emerging scientific discourse, bent on uncovering the basic “philosophemes” of science. Subsequently, I outline a number of radical transformations occurring both at the object-pole and at the subject-pole of the current knowledge relationship, namely the technification of the object and the anonymisation or collectivisation of the subject, under the sway of automation, ICT and big machines. Finally, I further elaborate the specificity of the oblique perspective with the help of Lacan’s theorem of the four discourses. Philosophical reflections on contemporary life sciences concur neither with a Master’s discourse, nor with university discourse, nor with what Lacan refers to as hysterical discourse, but rather with the discourse of the analyst, listening with evenly-poised attention to the scientific files in order to bring to the fore the cupido sciendi which both inspires and disrupts contemporary life sciences discourse

Scientific iconoclasm and active imagination: synthetic cells as techo-schientific mandalas

Metaphors allow us to come to terms with abstract and complex information, by comparing it to something which is structured, familiar and concrete. Although modern science is “iconoclastic”, as Gaston Bachelard phrases it, scientists are at the same time prolific producers of metaphoric images themselves. Synthetic biology is an outstanding example of a technoscientific discourse replete with metaphors, including textual metaphors such as the “Morse code” of life, the “barcode” of life and the “book” of life. This paper focuses on a different type of metaphor, however, namely on the archetypal metaphor of the mandala as a symbol of restored unity and wholeness. Notably, mandala images emerge in textual materials related to one of the new “frontiers” of contemporary technoscience, namely the building of a synthetic cell: a laboratory artefact that functions like a cell and is even able to replicate itself. The mandala symbol suggests that, after living systems have been successfully reduced to the elementary building blocks and barcodes of life, the time has now come to put these fragments together again. We can only claim to understand life, synthetic cell experts argue, if we are able to technically reproduce a fully functioning cell. This holistic turn towards the cell as a meaningful whole also requires convergence at the “subject pole”: the building of a synthetic cell as a practice of the self, representing a turn towards integration, of multiple perspectives and various forms of expertise

Next. Michael Crichton. New York: Harper Collins, 2006

Michael Crichton‟s latest novel Next (2006) is his third about genomics. Yet, whereas Jurassic Park (and its sequel The lost world) contained stories about sequencing, reconstructing and revivifying the genomes of (extinct) animals, Next analyses the impact of genomics in the biomedical sphere: its consequences for human life (health, labour, sexuality, family life). Gene patenting, and the philosophy of genetic determinism that inspired and legitimised this practice, is at the root of most of the soap-like absurdities Crichton stages in his novel

Relasi Lokalitas Dan Pembangunan Infrastruktur Indonesia Tahun 2005-2015

Pemerintah Indonesia dalam sepuluh tahun terakhir memfokuskan pembangunan negeri ini pada aspek infrastruktur. Pembangunan pondasional masih meninggalkan jejak sentralisasi budaya pusat kepada daerah sehingga membentuk ketimpangan daripada sinergi. Pembangunan infrastruktur masih ekonomis berbasis investasi dan mengabaikan aspek lokalitas. Hal inilah yang menggelisahkan; apakah budaya lokal diakomodasi dalam pembangunan infrastruktur di Indonesia pada 2005-2015? Pertanyaan tersebut akan dibahas melalui metodologi eksploratif-deskriptif dengan analisis kualitatif pada sumber-sumber tekstual. Analisis tersebut menjawab relasi pusat dan lokal dalam komunikasi antar-budaya terkait pembangunan infrastruktur. Relasi pertama adalah pembangunan transportasi yang masih bertumpu pada akses daripada pembangunan dan pemerataan ekonomi lokal. Keterbukaan akses nyatanya tidak seketika pula membangun wilayah daerah. Relasi kedua adalah struktur sosial yang berubah dikarenakan pembangunan infrastruktur. Perubahan ini tidak jarang berujung represi dan konflik antara masyarakat lokal dan pemerintah atau Perusahaan karena infrastruktur seringkali tidak sesuai dengan keadaan sosial setempat. Relasi ketiga adalah ketimpangan budaya pendidikan yang mengabaikan komunikasi antar-budaya. Pendidikan masih didasarkan pada aspek kuantitatif daripada kualitatif dengan konten lokal. Dari ketiga hal tersebut, pembangunan infrastruktur masih menjadikan lokalitas sebagai objek pembangunan semata. Dengan meninjau kembali tujuan pembangunan, komunikasi dengan aspek lokal hendaknya dibangun tanpa melupakan hakikat pembangunan itu sendiri. Kata Kunci pembangunan infrastruktur, komunikasi antar-budaya, konstruksi sosial, pendidikan, transportasi In the last ten years, The Government of Indonesia focused this country\u27s development in infrastructure aspect. Meanwhile, this foundational development still left traces of centralistic culture to local that built imbalances rather than synergies. Infrastructure-based development was still aiming to enhance the economy through global investments which unfortunately ignore local aspects of people. From explanation above, a question raised; was local culture accomodated by infrastructure-based development in Indonesia in 2005-2015? This question will be answered through explorative-descriptive method through qualitative analysis on textual data. This analysis would like to answer center-local relations in cross-cultural communication in infrastructure-based development. First relation is about transportation development which still built access rather than shaped equal local economy. Openness through accesibility is not automatically strengthen local region. Second relation is changing social structure as the excess of infrastructure-based development. This change was faced through repression and conflict between government or companies with local people because of such inappropriateness within. Third relation is cultural education which ignored cross-cultural communication. Developments are made only through quantitative aspect rather than local qualitative content. From those three above, infrastructure-based development still indicated locality only as its object. By reflecting the purpose of development, communication with locals should be built without taking out the essence of the development itself. Keywords cross-cultural communication, education, infrastructure-based development, social construction, transportatio

Autentizace v přímém bankovnictví

The aim of this text is to show how authentication is implemented in on-line banking industry. Czech banks are analyse as well as their on-line banking services. It is examined authentication of user's identity of this services

Počet měření pro vytvoření vzoru identifikačního pole dynamiky psaní krátkého textu na klávesnici

Keystoke dynamics is biometrics authentification. This biometrice usually does not involve some special hardware and it is advantage os this way how to prove you are really you. In this article it is suggested the criterium which determines how many measurement is necessary for creating template of keystroke dynamics. This criterium is simultaneously used in experiments