Documents found
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51.More information
The criminal is the equivalent of the hero in another context, i.e. an exceptional individual with a captivating boldness. Interest in crime is linked to the attractiveness of exceptional behaviour. Media representations of criminality fulfil an anthropologically discriminating function that sets the boundaries between abnormal and normal, and a social function that turns exceptional individual actions into a socially significant experience: the media help to crystallize our worries by focussing a fragmented mass of fears on identical objects, i.e. emblematic violence. But the relationships thus created are projective rather than socially unifying.
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52.More information
AbstractThe world can only be fit to live in if it has meaning, that is to say—if even the slightest of its elements proves to be meaningful. This is the apparent essence of most literary works, from fairy tale to metaphysical fable to popular detective novel. Because literature is quite often unable to tackle reality in itself, it resorts to a permanent allegorization, turning the object into a sign and the world into discourse. Still, a large part of modern literature devotes itself to obviating such alibis, and instead confronting us with the dull, the insipid, the colourless. Thus, by setting aside fine talk and heroic postures (noble holiness, etc.), contemporary writers plunge their characters into the indifference created by an anomic world. Hence the modern day hero does not fight dragons and monsters but rather the petty tragedies arising from all the hostile details that cause us to “resist” reality. In the face of such opprobrium the reader senses a personal derision, of meaningless and seemingly purposeless lives turned in on themselves. But it's uncertain whether the accumulation of material details and the replacement of the essential by the anecdotal are but smoke screens to hide the terrifying emptiness. In some cases, this subduing/exhausting of the world appears to be a way to a “minimal plenitude” that sets aside the world's arrogance and adheres to the immediate feeling, the simple joy of living. Rather than try to understand, perhaps it is better to appreciate the physical presence: to touch, taste, smell… to replace Sense by the senses, and knowledge by sensuality.
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53.More information
AbstractThe author demonstrates the ambivalence of the narrative through an analysis of philosophical musings by Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle and Rousseau. Though set aside with the help of a school of thought, though being cast as inappropriate or subordinate, appearances scripted by the narrative are actually a component of reflection that define the temporal silhouettes of ideas throughout the story.
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54.More information
In France after the War, the notion of development coincided with a will to modernize large urban agglomerations within the framework of city planning and urban development. After recalling the evolution of planning policy and local development, the author examines the more recent issues facing local policy-makers, in particular the increased sphere of activity of local government in large cities. In this context, the notion of development, despite its ambiguities, contains a good deal of symbolism. This goes not without raising a certain number of questions concerning, above all, the role of elected officials and their legitimacy.
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