Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Egypt – Civilization – Western influences'

The legend of Shambhala incorporated in the Tibetan Canon, has been one of the favourite motives of Tibetan Buddhism throughout the centuries. High lamas and laity alike venerated the legend connecting their innermost aspirations with it. For some it represents a mystical millennial country revealing itself only to the chosen ones, while others perceive it as a symbol of the hidden treasures of the mind. This way or the other, the legend of Shambhala remains a living belief for many. The present hardships of Tibet made the legend with its leitmotif of future victory of Buddhism, especially viable.
When the legend reached the West in the beginning of this century, it inspired many westerners including political leaders, and acquired diverse and innovative interpretations.
Conveying the ever cherished human dream of a better world beyond ours, the legend of Shambhala proved to be a ubiquitous symbol surpassing its original Buddhist framework.

This creative project is a study of cultural awareness in architecture. The hypothesis states that architecture is one of many cultural manifestations in a society. One seeking contemporary architecture in a society should explore the idea of contemporary culture in that society. This study aims to point out the relationship of living patterns and living spaces (culture and architecture). Living patterns are influenced by their own cultures and, at the same time, the characteristics of living spaces reflect the aspects of living patterns. To explore contemporary living spaces, cultural issues must be considered.However, culture is dynamic. It is changed by reasons of time, place and people. Even though the tradional cultures in a society continuingly permeate to the next generations, some of them disappear as time, place or people change. Therefore, to study the issue of culture in contemporary society, traditional and new cultures are reckoned with as contemporary families adapt both cultures into their lifestyles.While Thai society has maintained its own unique culture, recently globalization has brought influences of Western ideas into Thailand. These influences are effecting Thai culture and bearing on how housing responds to a changing society.The work is divided into two parts, research and design. To explore the deeper meaning of contemporary living spaces, the research focuses on the importannce of culture to the characteristics of living spaces. It analyzes cultural and social changes that have influenced contemporary Thai families. This cultural analyses confirms that the meaning and design of contemporary living spaces are directly influenced by cultural adjustments.To support the hypothesis and research, a housing project for contemporary Thai families is proposed. It is a schematic design that incorporates the cultural analyses into the design process. The design is a model for organizing cultural information into the design of living spaces.
Department of Architecture

L’étude des productions céramiques thébaines des 25e et 26e dynasties (c. 750-525 avant notre ère) a longtemps été négligée en raison d’un manque incontestable de contextes archéologiques stratifiés. Cette thèse a pour objectif l’étude de cette industrie par un examen rigoureux du matériel céramique de la chapelle d’Osiris Ounnefer Neb-Djefaou à Karnak (IFAO – sous la direction de L. Coulon) et du secteur du temple de Ptah à Karnak (CFEETK – sous la direction de Chr. Thiers). A cela s’ajoutent les données extraites des fouilles récentes des tombes TT 29 et TT C3 à Cheikh Abd el-Gourna (ULB / MANT – sous la direction de L. Bavay et D. Laboury).

En plus d’une définition précise de cette industrie par de l’établissement d’une analyse typologique fine, ce travail vise à associer les changements politiques de la ville de Thèbes avec les développements des productions céramiques locales.

Vers le milieu du 8e siècle avant notre ère, des évolutions techniques et morphologiques majeures se produisent dans l’industrie céramique thébaine, donnant naissance à un nouveau répertoire spécifique de cette région, se distinguant clairement des productions de la Basse-Egypte. Cette différenciation semble être le reflet des tensions politiques entre le nord et le sud du pays. Cette industrie va se développer au cours de la Basse Epoque avec des formes devenant plus sinueuses, complexes et carénées. Un nouveau traitement de surface se développe grâce au tour rapide :les stries plates, éléments caractéristiques des productions thébaines de la Basse Epoque.

Sous la dynastie nubienne, les produits vraisemblablement originaires de la région thébaine sont diffusés en Egypte et en Nubie. Cette diffusion a pour conséquence quelques phénomènes d’interactions en Egypte, mais surtout en Nubie où se développe un nouveau répertoire formel inspiré des productions céramiques thébaines, en parallèle aux productions locales.

Ce travail s’articule en trois parties. La première reprend une présentation des différents sites et contextes archéologiques exploités dans cette analyse. La deuxième correspond à une étude typologique des productions céramiques thébaines alors que la troisième partie se penche sur une synthèse reprenant une définition complète de la production thébaine.

Cette thèse a pour objectif d’utiliser l’objet céramique comme un élément datant et le témoin d’un savoir-faire, mais également comme un marqueur de changements politiques et économiques./

The study of the Theban ceramic production from the 25th to the 26th Dynasty (c. 750-525 BC) has been neglected for a long time because of a lack of stratified archaeological context. The aim of the thesis is to analyse the ceramic material coming from the chapel of Osiris Wennefer Ned-Djefau at Karnak (IFAO – Dir. L. Coulon) and from the temple of Ptah at Karnak (CFEETK – Dir. Chr. Thiers). The study of the pottery from the tombs TT 29 and TT C3 at Cheikh abd el-Gourna broadens our knowlegde on this production (ULB-ULg – MANT – Dir. L. Bavay et D. Laboury).

In addition to the formulation of a precise definition of this industry by the establishment of a new ceramic typology, this work aims to associate the political changes occurring in Thebes at that period with the evolution of the local ceramic production.

In the mid-8th century BC, technical and morphological changes are observed in the Theban ceramic industry, defining a specific industry in the region, a pottery repertoire which is easily distinctive from the ceramic production from the North of Egypt. This distinction is the reflection of political tensions between the North and the South at this time. The above-mentioned industry developed during the Late Period with more complex, marked and carinated shapes; a new surface treatment appeared thanks to the use of the kick-wheel: ribbed surface, which is a specific element of the Theban production in the Late Period.

Under the Nubian Dynasty, pottery from the Theban area is spread through Egypt and Nubia. This distribution caused some interaction phenomenas in Egypt, but also in Nubia where a new ceramic repertoire developed alongside the local ceramic industry.

This work has been divided in 3 parts. The first part corresponds to a presentation of archaeological sites and contexts used for the study. The second part presents a typological analysis of the Theban production. The last part is a synthetic analysis of the Theban pottery production.

The thesis tends to prove that the ceramic object is certainly a dating data and the testimony of a savoir-faire, but also the testimony of political and economical changes.

Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Edkins' theory is mainly consisted of two parts, comparative linguistics and researches on religious ideas of ancient Chinese people. At the same time, he also attempted to find western elements in ancient Chinese astrology, astronomy, philosophy and technology. His theory, together with other supporters, formed a special visual angle through which some Sinologists connected the Chinese culture with the main stream of the general history of human civilization constructed by western scholars. It seams to them that the Chinese civilization and the western civilization are not two different systems. To some Sinologists at that tine, whether the Chinese civilization could be correctly understood or not, rests on whether scholars could find its relation with western civilization. After a series of researches, almost all the elements of Chinese civilization were brought into the hermeneutic system of the west. The mystic color of China faded.
Edkins' theory is not completely new. In the 16th century, Jesuits began to interpret Chinese language, history and religion through the theory of the western origin of Chinese civilization. From the second part of the 19th Century to the first years of the 20 th century, this theory became popular, and among many advocates, there are not only westerners like John Chalmers, Joseph Edkins, Terrien de Lacouperie and Thomas Kingsmill, but also Chinese like Zhang Tai-Yan, Liu Shi-Pei and Huang Jie, etc. Meanwhile, various versions evolved from this theory, different from one another in the time and place that civilization came to China from the west. Some of them mix religious faith with academic studies together, and others' opinions are much more like scientific researches. Strange in the sight of scholars nowadays, this theory had its special meaning at the very beginning of western Sinology.
It seems that Sinologists of the 19th century did not try to describe China as an utter other, totally different from the west. On the contrary, they attempted to eliminate the difference. So this dissertation can also help us to get a deeper insight into the conception of Orientalism.
This dissertation is to discuss the methods that some Sinologists used to decipher the Chinese civilization by examining Joseph Edkins' works on Chinese language and civilization. Edkins is a missionary and Sinologist who advocated the theory of the western origin of Chinese civilization.
陳喆.
Adviser: Xue Yu.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: 2069.
Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-164) and index.
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts in Chinese and English.
School code: 1307.
Chen Zhe.

This dissertation explores the transformation of a small town in South East Transylvania, Sighisoara, historically defined through a strong German presence. Despite the small number of Germans remaining in the region after the massive migrations of the last decades, historical German privilege (made visible through and materialized in the long-lasting architecture) is reformulated and re-configured in the present precisely through processes connected to valuing and producing this built landscape as historical heritage. Claims for stakes in the development of the area become entangled with an interest in heritage preservation publicly performed by a diverse set of (mostly foreign) actors. By analyzing a failed development project, the gentrification of the historical citadel, transformations in public spaces, and NGO and historical preservation funding, I argue that Germanness offers a discursive space in which local desires for a developed West are able to articulate, productively, with Western nostalgias for a developmental do-over, as well as with fears for an endangered European heritage at the 'margins' of Western civilization. This dissertation contributes to the anthropology of post-socialist transformations in Eastern Europe by drawing attention to the relationship between ethnicity and participation in a global capitalism. It shows how a continuous, living engagement with the "outside," the "West," with consumer capitalism has been part of local quotidian subjectivities and understandings of the world, all mediated by desire and access to mobility and possibility. Understandings of people's current relationship with development, consumption, the idea and reality of capitalism cannot be disentangled from these continuities, and I argue for locating analysis precisely in these relationships. This dissertation also brings a critical native voice to the body of English language Eastern European anthropology. At the same time, it attempts to both build on and disrupt historical approaches to the region by forging analytical and substantive continuities with discipline-wide approaches to ethnicity, development, and heritage tourism.
text

伍紅玉.
Submitted: November 2007.
Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-204).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts in Chinese and English.
Wu Hongyu.

China's relations with the world have been an influential factor determining Chinese self-perceptions and how 'foreigners' and one of their languages, English, are perceived in the country. Between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, China's defeats in wars, unequal treaties and humiliations by foreign countries (mainly from the West) destroyed China's self-image as a 'middle kingdom'. Exacerbated by the deteriorating relations with the West in the twentieth century, English became associated with "barbarians", "military aggressors", and "anti-Communists" (Adamson 2002). There is, and always has been, the fear of the spread of culture(s) associated with English which can lead to the weakening of Chinese identity. This fear was instrumental in the development of the 'ti-yong' principle: "Chinese learning for essence (ti), Western learning for utility (yong)" (" {u4E2D}{u4F53}{u897F}{u7528}") (Zhang 2001: 18), which prescribes the role of English as a tool separated from Chinese essence and, has been guiding China's English education policies. Since the late 1980s, there has been a massive progression of globalisation in China, characterised especially by the entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and the hosting of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The two events signify the most active participation of China in the global community in the last few decades following the 'reform and opening up' ('{u6539}{u9769}{u5F00}{u653E}') in the late 1970s. As a global language, the roles English plays in China's integration are significant. English is the principal language of trade partners, technicians, scientists and tourists, an essential tool for modernisation and a vehicle to ensure China's voices are heard. In China, a series of government{u00AC}initiated and bottom-up English campaigns have been embarked on and foreign v language education policies have also aimed to equip Chinese people with this essential modern skill. Despite the eagerness to integrate into the global community, globalisation has opened up China to the world and, in learning English, Chinese people are more exposed to western cultural values and beliefs. This, coupled with the absence of a clearly identifiable self-image, has presented challenges to the integrity of Chinese identity and the upholding of the 'ti-yong' principle. Chinese identity and culture has had to confront the influx of English and its associated culture(s). The present research stems from two issues of interest which are interrelated: the roles of English in today's China and what it means to 'be Chinese'. From an applied linguistic perspective, this research aims to investigate Chinese perceptions of 'Self in relation to other countries symbolising 'the Other' through English as a window. In particular, this thesis looks into what it means to 'be Chinese' from the official and popular perspectives using the 'ti-yong' principle as a reference point. To address the research aims, a case study was conducted. It investigates the Chinese government's views on English as reflected in a government newspaper, as well as popular opinions through questionnaires and interviews. Official discourses are identified and analysed using critical language analysis frameworks including the work of critical literary criticisms, in particular, that of Bakhtin, and Critical Discourse Analysis. The analysis is also inspired by Pennycook's critical approaches to global English. In investigating the popular discourses about English, Qmethodology was used to collect questionnaires and interviews data. This research focuses on the interviews as the primary data. In particular, the analysis of Chinese identity draws on post- VI structuralist approaches which take identity as ever-changing and multiple. This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter One reviews and establishes the concept of 'being Chinese' and the ways Chinese perceive their country, identity and language which are important contextual information for the present study of Chinese identity. The Beijing Olympics are used as a window into modern China to provide the broader socio-cultural and political contexts of the study. To conclude the chapter, some keywords that are central to the understanding of Chinese perceptions of itself and the world are also explained. Chapter Two discusses the history of English in China from the eighteenth century onwards, the impacts of English on Chinese perceptions of its identity and how English learning has been linked to the identity challenges of China as a nation. Along the lines of how the 'ti-yong' principle has manifested in different periods, the official discourses about Chinese identity and the challenges English learning has presented are illustrated with reference to China's current policy directions and some existing literature. Chapter Two then discusses the theoretical framework adopted in the case study to analyse the impacts of English on Chinese identity as well as the research focus and aims that guide the present research. The case study ofthis thesis, including data collection methodology and analysis, is presented and discussed in Chapter Three to Chapter Five. Chapter Three introduces and discusses the data collected for the case study, the data collection methodology and approaches to data analysis. The chapter discusses the theoretical frameworks used including Bakhtin's literary theories, Critical Discourse Analysis and Q methodology. Chapter Four examines the data collected from the government newspaper, People 's Vll Daily, to uncover the official Chinese perceptions of English and 'being Chinese' in relation to the outside world. It discusses how Chinese agency is claimed in learning or using English and is related to Chinese discourse of globalisation. Chapter Four also demonstrates how Chinese cultural values and ideologies are manipulated to re{u00AC}accentuate the purposes of English and postulate the ideological construction of Chinese identity in the discourses about English. Chapter Five discusses the results of the interviews conducted during fieldwork in Beijing with university and high school students, teachers and parents. Within the framework of 'frame-shifting' of cross-cultural psychology, the interviews were set up to investigate the significance of Chinese identity for the participants. The chapter particularly focuses on the similarities and differences between the official and popular discourses. In comparing the two discourses, it also investigates the extent to which 'non-standard' language and identity ideologies exist and the ways in which English learning influences 'being Chinese' among the people. The findings reveal some issues around the upholding of the 'ti-yong' principle. Chapter Six discusses the manifestations of 'being Chinese' at the national, local and personal levels as reflected in the case study. It concludes the thesis with the implications of the case study for the status of the 'ti-yong' principle and a note on the potential areas for future research.

劉鳳霞.
"2012年8月".
"2012 nian 8 yue".
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 183-201).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstract in Chinese and English.
Liu Fengxia.

This dissertation examines women's lives in a rapidly urbanizing rural community in Southern Pakistan to understand their responses to modernity in developing societies. Applying a mixed-methods approach, socio-demographic data is collected and contrasted with oral history and personal narratives to analyze social change through women's access to education and reproductive health care in the village. The results are framed within a post-modern and post-colonial feminist anthropological discourse to reveal that Sheherpind represents a model of 'multiple modernities' where women's agency and progress could only be contextualized in non-western, local cultural perspectives. Emerging trends in the village are evaluated for their 'Applied' significance to underscore areas of local, national and transnational policy significance.
Graduation date: 2013

The dissertation firstly looks at how the Arabic essay and short story developed in Egypt since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Then a discussion follows on the life and contribution of the Egyptian author, Mustafā Lutfī al-Manfalūtī, as representative of this literary evolution. The general influences on Egyptian literature are discussed, and the general development of Arabic prose from 1850 onwards is then detailed, including the efforts to save Arabic literature from stagnation and degeneration. Following this, the focus is on the origins of the essay and short story. This leads to dealing with the growth and advancement of the essay and short story, together with the revival of the Arabic heritage and how the Arabic novel came into being. Then Mustafā Lutfī al-Manfalūtīs biography, environmental circumstances and personalities that influenced his writings are focused on. Afterwards, the core discussion is Al-Manfalūtīs seven literary works, and his ideas and opinions as reflected in his writings. In conclusion, the relevance of his writings and an appraisal of his literary contributions are detailed.
Religious Studies & Arabic
M.A. (Arabic)

This is an in-depth analysis of competing cultural ideas at a pivotal time in Japanese history through study of masculinity and identity. Through diaries, newspaper articles, and illustrations found in popular periodicals of the Meiji period, it is evident that there were two major groups who espoused very different sets of ideals competing for the favor of the masses and the control of Japanese progress in the modern world. Manner of dress, comportment, hygiene, and various other parts of outward appearance signified the mentality and ideology of the person in question. One group espoused traditional Japanese ideas of masculinity and dress while another advocated embracing Western dress and culture. This, in turn, explained their opinions on the direction they believed Japan should take. Throughout the Meiji period (1868-1912), the two ideas grew and competed for supremacy until the late Meiji period when they merged to form a traditional-minded modernity.
Department of History