Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Representations up to homotopy'

Cette thèse concerne l’étude de la géométrie des champs dans le contexte de la géométrie différentiable, utilisant les outils de la théorie de l’homotopie et des catégories supérieures. Ces techniques deviennent nécessaires pour traiter des généralisation aux champs d’objets géométriques fondamentales, tels que les fibrés tangent et cotangent, les formes sur un champs, leurs automorphismes et plus en général les complexes parfaits, qui sont un des objets principaux dans ce travail. Dans la première partie de cette thèse nous faisons une récapitulation des champs différentiables supérieurs, leur homotopie et cohomologie. Dans la deuxième partie nous étudions les représentations à homotopie près des groupoïdes de Lie et nous les relions avec une théorie des complexes parfaits sur les champs différentiables. Parmi nos résultat, nous montrons que une représentation à homotopie près d’un groupoïde de Lie est exactement un module cohésive sur la dg-algèbre des fonctions lisses et que les dg-catégories correspondants sont Morita invariantes. Ça nous permets de donner une définition de dg-catégorie des complexes parfaits sur un champ différentiable. De plus nous construisons un 2-groupoide de Lie des automorphismes des complexes des fibrés vectoriels de longueur 2, qui est un analogue supérieur du champs classifiant BGL_n. Nous concluons avec une définition du 2-champs différentiable des complexes parfaits de amplitude [0,1] par le biais d’une présentation par un 2-groupoide de Lie
This thesis is concerned with the geometry of stacks in the differential geometry context using homotopical and higher categorical techniques. These techniques becomes necessary to deal with simple stack generalizations of crucial objects such as tangent and cotangent bundles, forms on a stack, their automorphisms and more generally perfect complexes, which are one of the main object of study of this work. In the first part of this thesis we give an overview of higher and differentiable stacks, their homotopy theory and cohomology theories. In the second part we study one representation up to homotopy of Lie groupoids and rely them with a theory of perfect complex over differentiable stacks. Among our results, we show that a representation up to homotopy on a Lie groupoid is the same as a cohesive module on its dg-algebra of smooth functions and that the correspondent dg-categories are Morita invariant. This allows us to give a definition of dg-category of perfect complexes on a differentiable stack. We moreover construct a Lie 2-groupoid of automorphisms of 2-terms complexes of vector bundles, which is a higher analogue of the classifying stack BGL_n. We conclude by giving a definition of the differentiable 2-stack of perfect complexes of amplitude [0,1] by means of a Lie 2-groupoid presenting it

Processing language is postulated to involve a mental simulation, or re-enactment of perceptual, motor, and introspective states that were acquired experientially (Barsalou, 1999, 2008). One such aspect that is mentally simulated during processing of certain concepts is spatial location. For example, upon processing the word “moon” the prominent spatial location of the concept (e.g. ‘upward’) is mentally simulated. In six eye-tracking experiments, we investigate how mental simulations of spatial location affect processing. We first address a conflict in previous literature whereby processing is shown to be impacted in both a facilitatory and inhibitory way. Two of our experiments showed that mental simulations of spatial association facilitate saccades launched toward compatible locations; however, a third experiment showed an inhibitory effect on saccades launched towards incompatible locations. We investigated these differences with further experiments, which led us to conclude that the nature of the effect (facilitatory or inhibitory) is dependent on the demands of the task and, in fitting with the theory of Grounded Cognition (Barsalou, 2008), that mental simulations impact processing in a dynamic way. Three further experiments explored the nature of verticality – specifically, whether ‘up’ is perceived as away from gravity, or above our head. Using similar eye-tracking methods, and by manipulating the position of participants, we were able to dissociate these two possible standpoints. The results showed that mental simulations of spatial location facilitated saccades to compatible locations, but only when verticality was dissociated from gravity (i.e. ‘up’ was above the participant’s head). We conclude that this is not due to an ‘embodied’ mental simulation, but rather a result of heavily ingrained visuo-motor association between vertical space and eye movements.

This thesis explores media representations of single mothers, and considers how one segment of the audience interprets the messages and ideologies embedded within texts, in relation to their own experiences and perceptions. It combines textual analysis of selected texts from popular television and film with empirical data collected during seminars conducted with groups of teenage, female college students and young single mothers. The texts studied were chosen from television soap opera and situation comedy (both of which deal mainly with family relationships and family situations) and popular, modem Hollywood films; three areas I considered to be central in helping me to gain an understanding of how the media construct meanings and messages for audiences in a form and style designed for repetition and unambiguity, to create easy understanding for audiences, even when they are actually complex and contradictory. The research groups were made up of young women aged between 16 and 20, from a variety of social and ethnic backgrounds. The fieldwork was conducted over a period of several weeks over the five year research period, and used with the case-study texts from contemporary popular culture. The data collected suggests that, beneath the increasingly diverse representations of single mothers in popular culture, media texts tend to define and represent single mothers generally as incomplete, lacking and/or deviant in comparison to ‘normal’ motherhood. However, the young audience members with whom I worked, used the parameters of their own experience and knowledge to simultaneously engage with and distance themselves from the seemingly entrenched ideologies embedded within the texts. As a result it seems that despite the essentially negative representations that continue to dominate media stereotypes of single mothers, young female viewers remain generally aware of and distanced from the messages being transmitted.

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 10, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Thesis advisor: Dr. Amanda Hinnant. Includes bibliographical references.

Carol Clover defined a Final Girl as a stereotype of the pure, virginal sole survivor in 1980’s slasher films such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween. But does this representation hold up in 2016 films? Because the horror genre is so broad today, it’s almost impossible to nail down a certain stereotype of the genre, if there even is one. Films like the 1996 slasher parody Scream historically subverted the slasher genre, and since then there has been little to no iconic Final Girls. I argue that this trope is one very much set inside the confines of the 1980’s slasher genre, and instead is being replaced by an older, more responsible Dysfunctional Mother female character that arises from supernatural films of the late 2000’s-2010’s.

Aquesta tesi es centra en algorismes de clustering multiobjectiu, que estan basats en optimitzar varis objectius simultàniament obtenint una col•lecció de solucions potencials amb diferents compromisos entre objectius. El propòsit d'aquesta tesi consisteix en dissenyar i implementar un nou algorisme de clustering multiobjectiu basat en algorismes evolutius per afrontar tres reptes actuals relacionats amb aquest tipus de tècniques. El primer repte es centra en definir adequadament l'àrea de possibles solucions que s'explora per obtenir la millor solució i que depèn de la representació del coneixement. El segon repte consisteix en escalar el sistema dividint el conjunt de dades original en varis subconjunts per treballar amb menys dades en el procés de clustering. El tercer repte es basa en recuperar la solució més adequada tenint en compte la qualitat i la forma dels clusters a partir de la regió més interessant de la col•lecció de solucions ofertes per l’algorisme.
Esta tesis se centra en los algoritmos de clustering multiobjetivo, que están basados en optimizar varios objetivos simultáneamente obteniendo una colección de soluciones potenciales con diferentes compromisos entre objetivos. El propósito de esta tesis consiste en diseñar e implementar un nuevo algoritmo de clustering multiobjetivo basado en algoritmos evolutivos para afrontar tres retos actuales relacionados con este tipo de técnicas. El primer reto se centra en definir adecuadamente el área de posibles soluciones explorada para obtener la mejor solución y que depende de la representación del conocimiento. El segundo reto consiste en escalar el sistema dividiendo el conjunto de datos original en varios subconjuntos para trabajar con menos datos en el proceso de clustering El tercer reto se basa en recuperar la solución más adecuada según la calidad y la forma de los clusters a partir de la región más interesante de la colección de soluciones ofrecidas por el algoritmo.
This thesis is focused on multiobjective clustering algorithms, which are based on optimizing several objectives simultaneously obtaining a collection of potential solutions with different trade¬offs among objectives. The goal of the thesis is to design and implement a new multiobjective clustering technique based on evolutionary algorithms for facing up three current challenges related to these techniques. The first challenge is focused on successfully defining the area of possible solutions that is explored in order to find the best solution, and this depends on the knowledge representation. The second challenge tries to scale-up the system splitting the original data set into several data subsets in order to work with less data in the clustering process. The third challenge is addressed to the retrieval of the most suitable solution according to the quality and shape of the clusters from the most interesting region of the collection of solutions returned by the algorithm.

This thesis examines post-1990 representations of growing up in the Third Reich within German culture. It has two primary aims: to demonstrate how childhood is recalled, represented, and imagined by those with, and without first-hand experience of Nazism; and to situate these narratives as a central part of the post-Unification discourse about identity in the Berlin Republic. The material is organised into five chapters: it begins with an analysis of recent museum displays and exhibitions, followed by German cinema (Hitlerjunge Salomon, NaPolA: Elite für den Führer); autobiographical works, by former members of the Hitler Youth (Günter de Bruyn, Martin Walser, Günter Grass) and by Jewish children (Ruth Klüger, Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt, Günter Kunert); and finally, imagined accounts of growing up in the Third Reich (W.G. Sebald, Binjamin Wilkomirski, Gudrun Pausewang). Through close readings of primary sources, and analysis of their reception, including the public debates which they sparked, this study shows how these narratives interact with historical and contemporary notions of childhood. They are informed by the concern, embedded within post-Unification discourse, that the wealth of documentary and technical accounts of Nazism obscures the individual’s understanding of those events and what it was like to experience them. I argue that because of the close conceptual association between childhood and origins, these narratives contribute to a discourse about how the Third Reich is to be remembered, performing a 'search for a usable childhood'. This is situated within the context of Harald Welzer's notion of 'gefühlte Geschichte'; that is a mode of historical discourse focused on experience, rather than 'factual knowledge', and which appeals to emotions. In assessing narratives of growing up – which take a developmental view of childhood – this study seeks to open up previously rigid categorisations of childhood as found in literary studies which focus on the function of the child’s perspective as a literary device. Thus within a crowded research area the present study offers a differentiated treatment of these works.

This written explication deals with the integration of the forms of stand-up comedy and domestic comedy in order to create a comic text. The comic text explores issues regarding the presentation and representation of Jewish cultural identity. The integration results in both the experienced and imagined truths of the playwright to become present on stage. These were points of enquiry in the writing, directing and performing of DRIVEN: A COMEDY IN 70 MINUTES, which opened at The Intimate Theatre, Orange Street, Cape Town on the 23 November 2004. The Introduction deals with defining key terms and forms to be used and discussed in the thesis, informing the reader of the writer's purpose in creating comic text by integrating stand-up and domestic comedy. In the first chapter the generating of comic text is explored. The generating of comic text is achieved by using the comic persona. The comic persona is developed using identity, outside voice. Once the comic persona is in place it is possible to: create an authentic stage persona for the stand-up comedian and to create a 'theatrical climate' consisting of plot, characters, themes and narrative storylines. In the second chapter the idea of pastiche (borrowed elements) is explored in terms of its impact structurally and stylistically in the writing, directing and performing of DRIVEN. Structurally this impact is evident via the use of 'pastiching' the structure of situation comedy (sitcom) and stylistically through the use of Yiddish and the influence of other comedians' performance styles on the comic persona. The third chapter delves into the way Jewish cultural identity is represented through stand-up comedy and Jewish cultural identity is presented through domestic comedy. The stand-up comedian, through persona, audience relationship and other devices associated with the form, becomes the representation of Jewish cultural identity. Characters, story and situation, through the use of both comic traits (elements associated with Jewish cultural identity) and stereotypes, become the presentation of Jewish cultural identity.

This thesis presents work done on compressed graph representations via hyperedge replacement grammars. It comprises two main parts. Firstly the RePair compression scheme, known for strings and trees, is generalized to graphs using graph grammars. Given an object, the scheme produces a small context-free grammar generating the object (called a “straight-line grammar”). The theoretical foundations of this generalization are presented, followed by a description of a prototype implementation. This implementation is then evaluated on real-world and synthetic graphs. The experiments show that several graphs can be compressed stronger by the new method, than by current state-of-the-art approaches. The second part considers algorithmic questions of straight-line graph grammars. Two algorithms are presented to traverse the graph represented by such a grammar. Both algorithms have advantages and disadvantages: the first one works with any grammar but its runtime per traversal step is dependent on the input grammar. The second algorithm only needs constant time per traversal step, but works for a restricted class of grammars and requires quadratic preprocessing time and space. Finally speed-up algorithms are considered. These are algorithms that can decide specific problems in time depending only on the size of the compressed representation, and might thus be faster than a traditional algorithm would on the decompressed structure. The idea of such algorithms is to reuse computation already done for the rules of the grammar. The possible speed-ups achieved this way is proportional to the compression ratio of the grammar. The main results here are a method to answer “regular path queries”, and to decide whether two grammars generate isomorphic trees.

Une part de plus en plus importante de la société française est confrontée à la nécessité et/ou à la possibilité de recourir au système de protection sociale du fait de l’augmentation des inégalités sociales et des situations de pauvreté. Parallèlement, un phénomène antinomique interroge les pouvoirs publics : le non-recours aux droits sociaux (Warin, 2010). Notre thèse de doctorat s’est focalisée sur la compréhension de ce phénomène en lien avec celui de la pauvreté, du point de vue de la psychologie des représentations sociales (Moscovici, 2013 ; Jodelet, 2015). Une démarche de triangulation méthodologique (Apostolidis, 2006), mêlant méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives, nous a permis d’observer et de recueillir en contextes les représentations sociales décrivant, expliquant et organisant ces pratiques de droit et ce qui les rend difficiles. Plusieurs thêmata participent particulièrement à l’interprétation des expériences vécues et à l’orientation des actions. D’abord le thêmata complexe-simple permet de décrire et d’expliquer les pratiques de droits, renvoyant au processus d’objectivation propre au fonctionnement de la pensée sociale. La simplification de l’accès aux droits et sa familiarisation, nécessaire aux recours, sont rendues possibles grâce aux savoirs acquis dans l’expérience passée de la pauvreté et du droit, et grâce aux autres partageant leurs savoirs expérientiels, scolaires, culturels et experts. Ces expériences vécues font aussi émerger le thêmata force-faiblesse. La force comme vertu sociale, liée au courage et à la volonté, permet de ne pas faiblir, associé l’image de la chute et des corps qui se « laissent aller », et de s’activer pour faire face aux difficultés socio-économiques et d’accès aux droits. Mais la faiblesse apparaît paradoxalement comme un moyen d’être reconnu dans la sphère du droit, mettant en tension la demande de reconnaissance. Cette demande fait cohabiter simultanément les deux mouvements caractérisant le processus d’ancrage : la reconnaissance et la stigmatisation. Ces expériences vécues s’inscrivent encore dans les représentations sociales de la justice et dans des rapports d’allégeance ou de défiance envers le droit et la justice instituée, façonnant des usages différenciés du système de protection sociale et des formes de fragilisation des représentations sociales de la justice. Nous montrons que ces dernières s’inscrivent dans l’échange don/contre-don et façonnent différemment le recours en fonction de qui est identifié comme donateur et donataire. Finalement, à travers ces trois thêmata (simple-complexe, force-faiblesse, justice-injustice) nous avons montré la prégnance, dans ces contextes sociaux, de représentations sociales totales autour desquelles s’organise l’expérience des sujets, leur rapport au monde et à eux-mêmes, leurs recours aux droits sociaux et leurs participations sociales. A travers chacun de ces thêmata se joue l’enjeu de la reconnaissance (symbolisation) ou de la non-reconnaissance (stigmatisation) structurant l’ensemble de la construction des représentations et des pratiques sociales des sujets sociaux recourant aux droits sociaux en situation de pauvreté relative
More and more, French society is faced with the necessity and/or possibility to resort to the social welfare system because of increasing social inequality and poverty. At the same time, an opposing phenomenon baffles authorities: no take-up of social rights (Warin, 2010). Our doctoral thesis focused on understanding this phenomenon in relation to poverty, from the perspective of social representations (Moscovici, 2013; Jodelet, 2015). Through methodological triangulation (Apostolidis, 2006), combining qualitative and quantitative methods, we observed and collected social representations that describe, explain and organize these legal practices and what makes them difficult.Several themata in particular contribute to the interpretation of experiences and guide action. First, the complex-simple themata describes and explains legal practices, referring to the objectification process specific to the operation of social thought. The simplification of access to rights and their familiarization, which are necessary to be able to benefit from them, are possible because of knowledge gained through the experience of poverty and law, and through shared experiential, scholarly, cultural and expert knowledge.These experiences also bring out the strength-weakness themata. As a social virtue linked to courage and will-power, strength prevents weakness, which is associated with collapse and “letting oneself go”, and helps to cope with socioeconomic difficulties and accessing social rights. Paradoxically, weakness is also a way to be recognized legally, putting pressure on the search for recognition. Hence, both aspects of the anchoring process are present simultaneously: recognition and stigmatization.These experiences also fit into the social representations of Justice and into dynamics of loyalty or defiance regarding law and instituted justice. Hence, they shape different uses of the social welfare system and contribute to weakening the social representations of justice. We show that the latter are part of the donation/counter-donation exchange and take different forms depending on who is identified as the donor and the recipient.Finally, through these three themata (simple-complex, weakness-strength, justice-injustice) and in social contexts, we highlighted the pervasiveness of social representations that organize individuals’ experiences, views of the world and of themselves, their reliance on social benefits and their social participations. In each themata, the issue of recognition (symbolization) and non-recognition (stigmatization) structures the social representations and practices of relatively poor subjects who benefit from social welfare rights

La perspective d’un développement durable, si nous nous référons à l’accentuation de l’ensemble des phénomènes qu’il était supposé endiguer depuis son entrée en scène il y a une quarantaine d’années, semble devoir être à nouveau questionnée. Par la même, ceci nous invite à douter de la capacité des États et des entreprises à répondre seuls aux enjeux qu’il soulève. En ce sens, notre recherche, d’inspiration qualitative et interprétativiste, va s’intéresser à la diffusion récente de cette perspective auprès d’associations non nativement impliquées sur le sujet. Ceci afin d’étudier ce que les représentations et les préconisations de ces acteurs, concernant des enjeux qui dépassent le cadre de leur objet social, sont susceptibles de lui apporter. Nous plaçant dans le cadre des sciences de gestion, nous nous intéresserons dans le même temps aux dispositifs de gestion qui, au sein de ces organisations, exercent une influence sur leurs représentations et, par extension, sur leurs actions. Une double perspective théorique sera mobilisée pour cela. D'un côté, la théorie de la structuration développée par Anthony Giddens, qui nous permettra de conjuguer habilement des aspects à la fois très globaux, propres à des systèmes sociaux, et individuels. De l’autre, les travaux de Boaventura De Sousa Santos qui nous obligeront en permanence à faire un pas de côté par rapport à ce qui apparaît comme prédominant et devoir prédominer
The perspective of sustainable development – if we refer to the accentuation of the phenomena that it was supposed to contain since its emergence forty years ago – seems to have to be questioned again. Thereby, invite us to doubt about the capability of states and companies to respond alone to the grand challenges it raises. In this sense, our qualitative and interpretative research will focus on the recent diffusion of this perspective among associations which are non-natively involved on the matter. This would serve to study what the representations and recommendations of these actors, concerning issues which go beyond their social purpose, are likely to bring to it. By placing ourselves in the context of management sciences, we will at the same time be interested in the management systems that, within these organizations, have an influence on their representations, and by extension on their actions. A double theoretical perspective will be mobilized to that purpose. On the one hand, the theory of structuration developed by Anthony Giddens, will allow us to skillfully combine aspects that are both very global, specific to social systems, and individual. On the other hand, the work of Boaventura De Sousa Santos, will require us to constantly step aside from what appears predominant and must prevail

La ville de Constantine (Algérie) a connu depuis quelques décennies un étalement urbain considérable de ses périphéries urbanisées. Cet étalement a donné naissance à la Ville Nouvelle Ail Mendjeli qui constitue aujourd’hui, sans nul doute, l’un des principaux théâtres des dynamiques territoriales de la périphérie constantinoise. Créée ex nihilo, sa mise en place par les seules autorités locales a été difficile et il lui a fallu presque dix ans pour que son développement atteigne son rythme de croisière. Cette thèse analyse la fabrique de la Ville Nouvelle, puis les rôles respectifs des acteurs publics et privés dans l’évolution de sa centralité. Si l’impulsion de départ était bien le fait des responsables politiques, le système d’acteurs s’est rapidement complexifié, du fait des stratégies des commerçants et des pratiques des résidents, “citadins ordinaires”. Aujourd’hui, l’action combinée de tous ces acteurs fait que s’inventent à Ail Mendjeli de nouvelles formes d’urbanité
The city of Constantine (Algeria) has been known for several decades a considerable urban sprawl of its urban peripheries. This urban sprawl has given birth to the New Town ALi Mendjeli. This is one of the man theaters of territorial dynamics of the periphery of Constantine. Creating its establishment only by the local authorities was difficults and it took nearly ten years to make its development reaches its cruising speed. This thesis analyzes the fabric of New Town, and the respective roles of public and private actors in the development of its centrality. If the impulse departure was indeed the work of the political responsables, relayed by urbain planners to their services, the actors’ system was rapidly complexified due to the tradors strategies and pratices of residents (ordinary city, today, the combined action of all these actors, have invented to “Ali Mendjeli” new froms of urbanity

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia (área de especialização em Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde)
Este estudo teve como objetivo examinar a relação entre a qualidade de vida, as representações da doença, o apoio social e o stress intrafamiliar, bem como os melhores preditores de qualidade de vida, em pacientes com tumores de pele. A amostra foi constituída por 106 pacientes com tumores de pele (melanoma e carcinoma), em fase de follow-up da doença. Os participantes completaram o Questionário Clínico e Demográfico, o Dermatology Life Quality Index, o Illness Perception Questionnaire, o Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey e o Index of Family Relations. Os resultados revelaram que melhor qualidade de vida estava associada a representações da doença menos ameaçadoras, a maior perceção de apoio social e a menor stress intrafamiliar. As representações da doença consistiram num preditor negativo da qualidade de vida. Os participantes com melanoma evidenciaram pior qualidade de vida, quando comparados aos participantes com carcinoma. Os resultados enfatizam a necessidade de intervenção, incluindo as representações da doença, o apoio social e o stress intrafamiliar, no sentido de promover a qualidade de vida em pacientes com tumores de pele. A intervenção torna-se particularmente importante nos pacientes com melanoma.
This study aimed to examine the relationship between quality of life, illness representations, social support and intra-family stress, as well as the best predictors of quality of life in patients with skin tumors. The sample consisted of 106 patients with skin tumors (melanoma and carcinoma) in the follow-up stage of the disease. Participants completed the Clinical and Demographic Questionnaire, the Dermatology Life Quality Index, the Illness Perception Questionnaire, the Medical Outcomes Study of Social Support Survey, and the Index of Family Relations. The results demonstrate that better quality of life was related to less threatening illness representations, greater perception of social support and lower intrafamily stress. Illness representations were a negative predictor of quality of life. Participants with melanoma evidenced worst quality of life when compared with patients with carcinoma. The results emphasize the need for intervention, including illness representations, social support and intra-family stress, in order to promote the quality of life in patients with skin tumors. Intervention becomes particularly important in patients with melanoma.

This study sought to examine linguistic and discursive strategies used to construct messages reflective of the implementation of the HIV and AIDS policy for Zimbabwe of 1999 by government and private newspapers. Such analysis was perceived to be important since media content has a bearing on Zimbabweans‘ perception and attitudes regarding HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and control. The study was aimed at comparing messages from newspapers with views by the people of Zimbabwe regarding the implementation of the policy. Findings reveal that empowerment programmes particularly those targeting women and children are lagging behind as Zimbabweans, literature and newspaper data sources testify. In addition, information sources concur that cultural (For example, stigmatisation, polygamy, religious practices, spouse inheritance) and structural (For example, patriarchy, masculinity, bureaucracy, politics) are stumbling blocks that negatively affect the implementation of the policy. Further, even though private and government newspapers do not fully agree on the portrayal of human agents, there is a general consensus between newspaper reports and Zimbabweans that people still face socio-economic and econo-political challenges that militate against the smooth implementation of the HIV and AIDS policy. Government newspapers tend to downplay aspects which reveal inadequacies of government activities. The study notes this as betrayal of use of ideological squares both by government and private newspapers whereby certain aspects regarding the implementation of the policy are either downplayed or highlighted to influence perception. The study reveals that newspaper reports used nominalisation, quantification, positive politeness, thematisation, rhematisation, intertextuality, euphemism, proverbs, idioms, action verbs, metaphors and citation of experts as linguistic and discursive strategies both for agenda setting and building purposes regarding the implementation of the HIV and AIDS policy. Other devices used particularly in the encoding of Operation Murambatsvina are, claptraps, deictic referencing, personal pronouns, adjectives and direct speech. The study attributes problems regarding the Zimbabwean HIV and AIDS intervention model to the top – down approach inherent in the policy. Hence, the call for an adoption of an unhu/hunhu/ubuntu inspired bottom – up HIV and AIDS intervention model in Zimbabwe. This would inculcate pro-family, pro-village, pro-nation/people and ―servant leadership‖ (Mangena and Chitando, 2011) values in the fight against the pandemic through the embracing of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). Unfortunately, such values largely continue to elude the radar of the current top – down HIV and AIDS intervention model cuurently in use in Zimbabwe.
African Languages
D. Litt et Phil. (African Languages)