Figuralität und Persuasion. Barack Obamas Redekunst als Gegenstand interdisziplinärer und experimenteller Forschung

While there has been considerable discussion on "figurative” language in the larger sense, especially on cognitive aspects of metaphor, this article describes an interdisciplinary experiment which focuses on the narrower and more technical definition of figurality, i.e. on rhetorical figures as formal patterns of sound or composition (such as alliteration or anaphora) as opposed to rhetorical tropes as methods of indirect signification (such as metaphor or metonymy). In line with Greek and Roman theory on the threefold function of rhetorical language (lógos, páthos, éthos; docere, movere, conciliare) we hypothesize that figures have persuasive, affective and aesthetic effects on the reader of a text that can be determined individually as well as cumulatively. The experimental study is specifically devoted to the reception of rhetorical figures in political speeches, taking Barack Obama's "Acceptance Speech” as an example. By ‘de-activating' hundreds of figures in a single text, without affecting its imagery or semantics, we are able to measure differentially the degrees by which these figures enhance the effects on the recipients. In an additional experiment, we investigate how they condition the memorability of a text or its content. On the basis of classical theory (Gorgias, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian), integrating psychology and neuroscience, psychiatry and psychotherapy, we aim at defining an interdisciplinary research agenda for empirical and experimental as well as intercultural rhetori

Paratexte und Bilder in der Primatographie

This study examines paratexts and images in works of primatology. In order to classify generic traits of primatographical publications, all paratexts, images and narrative positions of a large corpus of such monographs were registered. The analysis of these data allows for the determination of three distinct genres: scientific books, illustrated books and autobiographical/popular science books. The paratexts also reveal the strategies employed in the presentation of the books: They address a lay public, underline scientific objectivity or generate authenticity. The form of the texts indicate the audiences that the books address and enact an intimate relationship between non-human primates and human beings. Images showing researchers in close contact with non-human primates as well as paratexts addressing monkeys or calling for their preservation and conservation embed these field studies within a Christian iconography, invoke the life of saints or martyrs and appeal to the empathy of the readership

Robustness and modularity properties of a non-covalent DNA catalytic reaction

The biophysics of nucleic acid hybridization and strand displacement have been used for the rational design of a number of nanoscale structures and functions. Recently, molecular amplification methods have been developed in the form of non-covalent DNA catalytic reactions, in which single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) molecules catalyze the release of ssDNA product molecules from multi-stranded complexes. Here, we characterize the robustness and specificity of one such strand displacement-based catalytic reaction. We show that the designed reaction is simultaneously sensitive to sequence mutations in the catalyst and robust to a variety of impurities and molecular noise. These properties facilitate the incorporation of strand displacement-based DNA components in synthetic chemical and biological reaction networks

Programming in situ immunofluorescence intensities through interchangeable reactions of dynamic DNA complexes

The regulation of antibody reporting intensities is critical to various in situ fluorescence imaging analyses. While such control is often necessary to visualize sparse molecular targets, the ability to tune marker intensities is also essential for highly multiplexed imaging strategies where marker reporting levels must be tuned to both optimize dynamic detection ranges and minimize crosstalk between different signals. Existing chemical amplification approaches generally lack such control. Here, we demonstrate that linear and branched DNA complexes can be designed to function as interchangeable building blocks that can be assembled into organized, fluorescence reporting complexes. We show that the ability to program DNA strand displacement reactions between these complexes offer new opportunities to deterministically tune the number of dyes that are coupled to individual antibodies in order to both increase and controllably balance marker levels within fixed cells

“[M]on extrême répugnance à écrire la relation de mon voyage” - Alejandro de Humboldt deconstruye la relación de viaje

AbstractAlexander von Humboldt's American travelogue (Relation historique du Voyage aux Régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, 3 vols., 1814-1831) defies generic definitions: It is a complex hybrid of diverse scientific discourses, documentations of empirical data, diary writing, and traditional forms of travel narrative. Humboldt's poetics specifically undermine the conventional format of the travelogue. All its central features which could lend the text coherence and make it readable for the recipient, are charged with multiple meanings and become thus destabilized:(1) the subject (traveller, author, narrator, signature, personal pronouns),(2) the object (the countries that the travelogue is supposed to thematize, their various and contradictory forms of denomination and description in the text),(3) the addressee (the explicit narratee as well as the implicit reader and the interpretive community), and finally(4) the text itself (as a literary genre or discoursive phenomenon, its format, its polyphony, its self-reference and self-reflection).A narratological analysis and a structural reading lead us to the question of how Humboldt's poetics reflect his approach to cultural difference. The specific kind of deconstruction of the travelogue which is at work here de-authorizes imperial forms of colonial writing. There are no "identities" and "differences" which can be defined unequivocally from a privileged perspective. Humboldt's travelogue can thus be read within the paradigm provided by contemporary postcolonial theory: In the encounter with „the other“, Homi Bhabha observed, „the language of the master becomes hybrid“. ResumenLa relación de viaje de Alejandro de Humboldt sobre América desafía las definiciones genéricas: es un complejo híbrido de diversos discursos científicos, documentaciones de datos empíricos, diario personal y formas tradicionales de la narrativa de viaje. La poética de Humboldt socava específicamente el formato convencional de una relación de viaje. Todos sus elementos centrales, aquéllos que podrían otorgar coherencia al texto, están cargados de múltiples significados que lo desestabilizan: (1) el sujeto (viajero, autor, narrador, firma, pronombres personales),(2) el objeto (los países que, supuestamente, la relación de viaje debe tematizar, las formas variadas y contradictorias de la descripción y la denominación en el texto), (3) el destinatario (tanto lo explícitamente narrado como el lector implícito y la comunidad de interpretación) y, finalmente, (4) el texto en sí mismo (como género literario o fenómeno discursivo, su formato, su polifonía, su autorreferencialidad y su autorreflexión). Un análisis narratológico y una lectura estructural del texto nos llevan a preguntarnos cómo la poética de Humboldt refleja su aproximación a la diferencia cultural. El modo específico de la deconstrucción de la relación de viaje que funciona aquí, desautoriza las formas imperiales de la escritura colonial. No hay „identidades“ ni „diferencias“ que puedan ser definidas inequívocamente desde una perspectiva privilegiada.ResumenLa relación de viaje de Alejandro de Humboldt sobre América desafía las definiciones genéricas: es un complejo híbrido de diversos discursos científicos, documentaciones de datos empíricos, diario personal y formas tradicionales de la narrativa de viaje. La poética de Humboldt socava específicamente el formato convencional de una relación de viaje. Todos sus elementos centrales, aquéllos que podrían otorgar coherencia al texto, están cargados de múltiples significados que lo desestabilizan: (1) el sujeto (viajero, autor, narrador, firma, pronombres personales),(2) el objeto (los países que, supuestamente, la relación de viaje debe tematizar, las formas variadas y contradictorias de la descripción y la denominación en el texto), (3) el destinatario (tanto lo explícitamente narrado como el lector implícito y la comunidad de interpretación) y, finalmente, (4) el texto en sí mismo (como género literario o fenómeno discursivo, su formato, su polifonía, su autorreferencialidad y su autorreflexión). Un análisis narratológico y una lectura estructural del texto nos llevan a preguntarnos cómo la poética de Humboldt refleja su aproximación a la diferencia cultural. El modo específico de la deconstrucción de la relación de viaje que funciona aquí, desautoriza las formas imperiales de la escritura colonial. No hay „identidades" ni „diferencias" que puedan ser definidas inequívocamente desde una perspectiva privilegiada. AbstractAlexander von Humboldt's American travelogue (Relation historique du Voyage aux Régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, 3 vols., 1814-1831) defies generic definitions: It is a complex hybrid of diverse scientific discourses, documentations of empirical data, diary writing, and traditional forms of travel narrative. Humboldt's poetics specifically undermine the conventional format of the travelogue. All its central features which could lend the text coherence and make it readable for the recipient, are charged with multiple meanings and become thus destabilized:(1) the subject (traveller, author, narrator, signature, personal pronouns),(2) the object (the countries that the travelogue is supposed to thematize, their various and contradictory forms of denomination and description in the text),(3) the addressee (the explicit narratee as well as the implicit reader and the interpretive community), and finally(4) the text itself (as a literary genre or discoursive phenomenon, its format, its polyphony, its self-reference and self-reflection).A narratological analysis and a structural reading lead us to the question of how Humboldt's poetics reflect his approach to cultural difference. The specific kind of deconstruction of the travelogue which is at work here de-authorizes imperial forms of colonial writing. There are no "identities" and "differences" which can be defined unequivocally from a privileged perspective. Humboldt's travelogue can thus be read within the paradigm provided by contemporary postcolonial theory: In the encounter with „the other“, Homi Bhabha observed, „the language of the master becomes hybrid“

De América a Asia. El «otro viaje» de Alexander von Humboldt

In 1829, Alexander von Humboldt went on an expedition to Asia. The German naturalist’s second great journey is in many ways complementary to his American voyage of 1799-1804. In Russia, Humboldt travelled and worked under conditions of political pressure. His Central Asia (1843) displays subtle techniques of indirect criticism. He observed that inefficient energy production in an economy dominated by state monopolies damaged the environment and led to man-made climate change.En 1829 Alexander von Humboldt emprendió una expedición a Asia. Este segundo gran viaje del científico alemán fue complementario, en muchos sentidos, de su más conocido viaje a América, que realizó entre 1799 y 1804. En Rusia, Humboldt viajó y trabajó bajo una fuerte presión política. En su Asie centrale (1843) se sirve de técnicas sutiles y de una crítica indirecta. Humboldt concluyó que, en una economía de monopolios estatales, generar energía era poco eficiente y causa de la destrucción del medio ambiente y del cambio climático

Humboldt, el ruso – Humboldt, the American

Durante mucho tiempo, Alexander von Humboldt fue percibido ante todo en relación con América Latina. A partir de la edición de sus escritos completos (2019, 2021), también podemos seguir su publicación y recepción internacional en inglés y en ruso. Durante su vida, 250 de sus artículos aparecieron en inglés y 40 en ruso. Las experiencias de Humboldt en Estados Unidos y en Rusia fueron contradictorias. En Estados Unidos encontró condiciones favorables para la comunicación de sus ideas políticas. En Rusia, viajó en condiciones difíciles de vigilancia y censura. Así, en el mundo inglés y en el mundo ruso, Humboldt se muestra desde dos lados opuestos: como un intelectual público y un científico comprometido

"Figuralität und Persuasion. Barack Obamas Redekunst als Gegenstand interdisziplinärer und experimenteller Forschung"

Abstract While there has been considerable discussion on “figurative” language in the larger sense, especially on cognitive aspects of metaphor, this article describes an interdisciplinary experiment which focuses on the narrower and more technical definition of figurality, i.e. on rhetorical figures as formal patterns of sound or composition (such as alliteration or anaphora) as opposed to rhetorical tropes as methods of indirect signification (such as metaphor or metonymy). In line with Greek and Roman theory on the threefold function of rhetorical language (lógos, páthos, éthos; docere, movere, conciliare) we hypothesize that figures have persuasive, affective and aesthetic effects on the reader of a text that can be determined individually as well as cumulatively. The experimental study is specifically devoted to the reception of rhetorical figures in political speeches, taking Barack Obama’s “Acceptance Speech” as an example. By ‘de-activating’ hundreds of figures in a single text, without affecting its imagery or semantics, we are able to measure differentially the degrees by which these figures enhance the effects on the recipients. In an additional experiment, we investigate how they condition the memorability of a text or its content. On the basis of classical theory (Gorgias, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian), integrating psychology and neuroscience, psychiatry and psychotherapy, we aim at defining an interdisciplinary research agenda for empirical and experimental as well as intercultural rhetoric.</jats:p