Дисертації з теми "Hypotexts"

Sous le pseudonyme de Merlin Cocaio, un Liber macaronices, poème héroï-comique en 17 livres, narrant les aventures de Baldo, est publié à Venise en 1517. L'auteur caché derrière ce pseudonyme est Teofilo Folengo, qui écrit en hexamètres macaroniques. Le poème s'inscrit dans la sphère de la littérature en langue macaronique, qui compte à l'époque des poèmes sans ambitions. La Macaronea folenghiana est, en revanche, un produit beaucoup plus raffiné, avec tout un appareil de gloses attribué à un certain Aquario Lodola, en hommage ironico-burlesque à la tradition virgilienne. Trois autres éditions ont été publiées: la Toscolanense en 1521, la Cipadense (probablement publiée entre 1534 et 1536) et la Vigasio Cocaio, posthume (1552). Il existe d'importantes variantes entre les quatre versions et dans la lignée des études sur les variantes, le problème des motivations sous-jacentes à la publication du Cipadense est particulièrement intéressant. Le présent travail se concentre sur l'analyse des hypothextes classiques et médiévales - de nature scientifique ou poétique - que l'on trouve dans les trois livres centraux du Baldus, en prenant pour référence les éditions Toscolanense et Cipadense. Le sujet de ces trois livres - qui servent de charnière entre la première partie (qui raconte les aventures terrestres du héros et de ses compagnons) et la deuxième (un voyage maritime aventureux qui conduira la brigade à combattre les sorcières et les démons en enfer) - est représenté par un épisode alchimique et un épisode astrologique. Ces deux éditions sont les plus intéressantes, de mon point de vue, à la fois pour leur diversité formelle et parce qu'elles montrent le caractère naissant du Macaroni de Folengo à deux moments différents de la vie de l'auteur. Folengo était un moine bénédictin et, de 1525 à 1534, il quitta le monastère en raison de désaccords avec l'ordre. L'œuvre macaronique était considérée comme subversive par rapport à la culture monastique traditionnelle, ce qui explique pourquoi l'édition Cipadense était considérée comme une palinodie par rapport à la forme perturbatrice de l'édition Toscolanense antérieure. Mais l'analyse effectuée dans ce travail fait apparaître une situation beaucoup plus complexe, dans laquelle le macaronique est configuré comme une langue d'art dans laquelle l'imitation, la parodie et l'interférence d'hypotextses jouent le même rôle que la mescidance linguistique. Il est évident que le Folengo qui écrit le Cipadense n'est plus le jeune moine de 1521, qu'il a vécu d'autres expériences, qu'il a voyagé et qu'il a rencontré des personnes d'autres milieux. Il est évident que l'esprit de curiosité et le désir de connaissance, que nous pouvons observer dans les personnages du Baldus, sont les mêmes que ceux qui animent le Folengo humaniste. Le caractère encyclopédique des œuvres médiévales est présent dans les deux digressions, mais dans le Cipadense, on constate que l'interférence entre les sources est plus subtile au point de trahir davantage l'horizon d'attente du lecteur. De même, l'ambivalence des lieux décrits: la caverne protégée par une fée, où se trouve un planétarium alchimique; le voyage en mer qui se transforme en voyage dans les sphères célestes, sont tous deux le fruit d'une imagination qui s'appuie sur une vaste tradition écrite. En outre, les deux épisodes sont menés par des masques à la moralité douteuse qui occupent plus d'espace sur la scène que le protagoniste: un conservateur herbolique de gloses dans la Toscolanense (qui disparaît dans la Cipadense), un gitan astrologue, un bouffon et un troubadour qui acquièrent de plus en plus d'espace dans la structure narrative de la Cipadense. Ce qui est certain, c'est que toute l'architecture du poème repose sur ces fondations incertaines, de sorte que nous ne pouvons pas être sûrs de la véritable intention de Folengo: nous révéler un savoir caché ou, simplement, se moquer des modèles livresques évoqués
Under the pseudonym of Merlin Cocaio, a Liber macaronices, a heroic-comic poem in 17 books, narrating the adventures of Baldo, was published in Venice in 1517. The author hidden behind this pseudonym was the Benedictine monk Theophilus Folengo, who wrote in macaronic hexameters. The poem is inscribed in the sphere of literature in the Macaronic language, which at the time had operettas without great ambitions. The Macaronea folenghiana is, in contrast, a much more elegant and refined product with a whole apparatus of glosses attributed to a certain Aquario Lodola, in ironic-burlesque homage to tradition. Three other editions were published later: the Toscolanense in 1521, the Cipadense (undated, but probably issued between 1534 and 1536) and the Vigasio Cocaio, posthumous (1552). There are important variants between the four versions, prompting attention to the poem's character in fieri. Of particular interest, following the vein of variant studies, is the problem of the underlying motives behind the publication of the Cipadense. The present work focuses on the analysis of the classical and medieval hypotheses - of a scientific or poetic nature - found in the three central books of the Baldus, taking the Toscolanense and Cipadense editions as reference. The subject matter of these three books - which act as a hinge between the first part (which narrates the hero and his companions' terrestrial adventures) and the second (an adventurous sea voyage that will lead the brigade to fight witches and devils in Hell) - is represented by an alchemical episode and an astrological one. These two editions are the most interesting, from my point of view, both because of their formal diversity and because they show the burgeoning character of Folengo's Macaroni in two different moments of the author's life. Folengo was a Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Santa Giustina and from 1525 to 1534 he left the monastery due to unclear disagreements with the order. The Macaronic work was seen as subversive to traditional monastic culture, which is why the Cipadense edition was seen as a palinodia compared to the disruptive form of the earlier Toscolanense edition. But from the analysis performed in this work, a much more complex situation emerges, whereby the Macaronic comes to be configured as a language of art in which imitation, parody and interference of hypotheticals play the same role as linguistic mescidance. It is evident that the Folengo who writes the Cipadense is no longer the young monk of 1521, he has had other experiences, travelled and met people from other backgrounds. It is evident that the spirit of curiosity and desire for knowledge, which we can observe in the characters of the Baldus, is the same that animates the humanist Folengo. The encyclopaedic character of medieval works is present in both digressions, but in the Cipadense we can see that the interference between sources is more subtle and refined to the extent that it betrays more of the reader's horizon of expectation. Similarly, the ambivalence of the places described: the cavern protected by a fairy, where there is an alchemical planetarium; the sea voyage that turns into a voyage into the celestial spheres, are both the result of a creative imagination that relies on a vast written tradition. Moreover, both episodes are led by masks of dubious morality who occupy more space on the scene than the protagonist: a herbolical curator of glosses in the Toscolanense (who disappears in the Cipadense), an astrologer gypsy, a jester and a troubadour who acquire more and more space in the narrative structure of the Cipadense. What is certain is that the entire architecture of the poem rests on these uncertain foundations, so we cannot be sure what Folengo's true intention is: to reveal hidden knowledge to us, or simply, to make fun of the bookish models evoked

The present dissertation has aimed to compare two seventeenth-century European plays, Webster's The Duchess of Malfi (1614) from England and Lope de Vega's El mayordomo de la Duquesa de Amalfi (1618) from Spain, which were written almost at the same time and based upon the same source text originally written by Bandello from Italy and roughly translated into English by Painter. The story concerns Joan of Aragon, Duchess of Amalfi, who was killed by her two brothers as a result of her marrying a gentleman, Antonio, below her social status. Lope's text portrays the female ruler in no positive manner because Lope is more interested in questioning whether “honra” (virtue) should be put before “honor” (bloodline). Lope’s portrayal of Antonio points at a new social order based on merit rather than nobility, although the play ends with a reputational political rule, in compliance with Spanish traditional values supported by Spanish playwrights. Webster also yearns for a new social order based on virtue rather than blood, but his analysis is carried out through the Duchess’s character, issues including the sovereign’s two bodies. The Duchess’s brother Ferdinand exudes incestuous desire for her body as a result of the union of her body natural and her body politic. The Duchess stresses the importance of her body natural over her body politic up to the end of the play. The Duchess's murder guarantees that the audience will be on her side, consequently a new social order is suggested at the end of the play, as the political situation of the early seventeenth century might suggest in England, where Queen Elizabeth had no heirs and Puritanism was oozing in. As for a sensible contact between the two playwrights, no evidence has turned up so far, but the evident points in common in the two plays have been widely highlighted and a critical explanation has been provided in all instances.

Les pastiches-Zola constituent un signe de réception de l’œuvre zolienne. Le style de l’auteur des Rougon-Macquart est toujours ciblé plus d’un siècle après sa mort par les auteurs de ce type de réécriture. Notre travail de recherche pose le problème de l’appropriation mimétique et/ou différentielle des pastiches-Zola postérieurs à sa mort. La question centrale à traiter est celle de savoir comment Zola est imité dans ces pastiches. Le pastiche implique le phénomène de reprise textuelle qui est caractérisé par l’existence de deux types de textes : l’hypertexte (texte dérivé) et l’hypotexte (texte imité). Une approche comparative associée aux théories de l’intertextualité et de l’hypertextualité nous a permis de découvrir que les pasticheurs de Zola s’inspirent de ses romans et des œuvres d’autres auteurs célèbres. Ils produisent ainsi des pastiches à hypotexte simple, double ou multiple. Les pastiches-Zola se distinguent aussi par leur visée interne (littéraire) ou externe (politique, publicitaire). Les pastiches à visées externes montrent que leurs auteurs documentent les faits sociaux de leur époque comme le faisait Zola. Certains pasticheurs font preuve d’engagement (littéraire) en s’attaquant, mais de manière indirecte, aux personnalités politiques de leur époque. En plus de leurs intentions, leur représentation du style de Zola diversifie leurs productions écrites. Chaque pasticheur obéit à certaines règles d’imitation liées de manière générale aux principes de ressemblance et de différence. Certains pastiches sont ainsi plus inventifs et/ou plus représentatifs du style zolien que d’autres. L’étude des manières imitantes des pasticheurs permet de mener une réflexion sur la notion du style dont les définitions paraissent floues. Les pasticheurs ne s’attardent plus seulement sur la thématique zolienne qui a été très critiquée de son vivant et même après sa mort. Ils allient les thèmes aux procédés stylistiques et expriment, de ce fait, une reconnaissance des qualités poétiques de l’œuvre du chef de file du naturalisme. Les pastiches-Zola produits au XXe et à l’aube du XXIe siècles apparaissent donc, non seulement comme une analyse critique de cette œuvre, mais aussi comme une critique des critiques partielles ou partiales qui ont précédé le renouvellement de la lecture des textes de l’auteur de Médan. L’imbrication des procédés stylistiques et des thèmes zoliens repris et adaptés aux contextes des pasticheurs montre que le style littéraire convoque à la fois les dimensions idiosyncrasiques et sociologiques des façons d’écrire propres à un écrivain, le style n’étant pas un phénomène abstrait mais une série de choix formels et thématiques historiquement situés et dont l’imitation est grandement déterminée par des représentations
Zola-pastiches are a sign of reception of Zola’s literary works. More than a centuryafter his death, his style is still targeted by the authors of this type of rewriting. Our researchposes the problem of mimetic or differential appropriation of Zola-pastiches posterior to hisdeath. How the author of Les Rougon-Macquart is imitated in these pastiches is our mainresearch question. A pastiche is a writing that implies a textual repeat characterized by theexistence of two types of texts: the hypertext (derived text) and the hypotext (source text). Acomparative approach linked to the theories of intertextuality and hypertextuality has enabledus to discover that the imitators of Zola draw inspiration from his writings and also from thewritings of other authors. They thus produce pastiches with single, double or multiplehypotexts. The distinction between Zola-pastiches is also based on their internal (literary) orexternal (political, advertising) aim. The authors of pastiches with external aims documentthe social facts of their era just like Zola did in his novels. Some authors show a literaryengagement by attacking political leaders but indirectly. In addition to their aims, theirrepresentation of Zola’s style diversifies their writings. Each writer conforms to someimitation rules which are generally related to the principles of similarities and differences.Some pastiches are therefore move creative and/or more representative of Zola’s style thanothers. The study of the imitative ways of pastiches’ writers implies a reflection on theconcept of style whose definitions seem unclear. These writers no longer focus only onZola’s thematic which has been highly criticized during his life time and even after his death.They blend themes and stylistic devices, thus acknowledging the poetic quality of the literaryworks of the naturalism founder. The Zola-pastiches written during the 20th and at thebeginning of the 21st centuries therefore appear to be a critical analysis of these works as wellas the criticism of the partial or one-sided criticism that preceded the renewed interest in thereading of the author of Medan’s texts. The imbrication of stylistic devices and themesborrowed from Zola and adapted to new contexts shows that the literary style convokes theidiosyncratic and sociologic dimensions of an author’s specific way of writing, given that,style is not an abstract phenomenon but a series of formal and thematic choices which arehistorically located and whose imitation is highly determined by representations

Les pastiches-Zola constituent un signe de réception de l’œuvre zolienne. Le style de l’auteur des Rougon-Macquart est toujours ciblé plus d’un siècle après sa mort par les auteurs de ce type de réécriture. Notre travail de recherche pose le problème de l’appropriation mimétique et/ou différentielle des pastiches-Zola postérieurs à sa mort. La question centrale à traiter est celle de savoir comment Zola est imité dans ces pastiches. Le pastiche implique le phénomène de reprise textuelle qui est caractérisé par l’existence de deux types de textes : l’hypertexte (texte dérivé) et l’hypotexte (texte imité). Une approche comparative associée aux théories de l’intertextualité et de l’hypertextualité nous a permis de découvrir que les pasticheurs de Zola s’inspirent de ses romans et des œuvres d’autres auteurs célèbres. Ils produisent ainsi des pastiches à hypotexte simple, double ou multiple. Les pastiches-Zola se distinguent aussi par leur visée interne (littéraire) ou externe (politique, publicitaire). Les pastiches à visées externes montrent que leurs auteurs documentent les faits sociaux de leur époque comme le faisait Zola. Certains pasticheurs font preuve d’engagement (littéraire) en s’attaquant, mais de manière indirecte, aux personnalités politiques de leur époque. En plus de leurs intentions, leur représentation du style de Zola diversifie leurs productions écrites. Chaque pasticheur obéit à certaines règles d’imitation liées de manière générale aux principes de ressemblance et de différence. Certains pastiches sont ainsi plus inventifs et/ou plus représentatifs du style zolien que d’autres. L’étude des manières imitantes des pasticheurs permet de mener une réflexion sur la notion du style dont les définitions paraissent floues. Les pasticheurs ne s’attardent plus seulement sur la thématique zolienne qui a été très critiquée de son vivant et même après sa mort. Ils allient les thèmes aux procédés stylistiques et expriment, de ce fait, une reconnaissance des qualités poétiques de l’œuvre du chef de file du naturalisme. Les pastiches-Zola produits au XXe et à l’aube du XXIe siècles apparaissent donc, non seulement comme une analyse critique de cette œuvre, mais aussi comme une critique des critiques partielles ou partiales qui ont précédé le renouvellement de la lecture des textes de l’auteur de Médan. L’imbrication des procédés stylistiques et des thèmes zoliens repris et adaptés aux contextes des pasticheurs montre que le style littéraire convoque à la fois les dimensions idiosyncrasiques et sociologiques des façons d’écrire propres à un écrivain, le style n’étant pas un phénomène abstrait mais une série de choix formels et thématiques historiquement situés et dont l’imitation est grandement déterminée par des représentations
Zola-pastiches are a sign of reception of Zola’s literary works. More than a centuryafter his death, his style is still targeted by the authors of this type of rewriting. Our researchposes the problem of mimetic or differential appropriation of Zola-pastiches posterior to hisdeath. How the author of Les Rougon-Macquart is imitated in these pastiches is our mainresearch question. A pastiche is a writing that implies a textual repeat characterized by theexistence of two types of texts: the hypertext (derived text) and the hypotext (source text). Acomparative approach linked to the theories of intertextuality and hypertextuality has enabledus to discover that the imitators of Zola draw inspiration from his writings and also from thewritings of other authors. They thus produce pastiches with single, double or multiplehypotexts. The distinction between Zola-pastiches is also based on their internal (literary) orexternal (political, advertising) aim. The authors of pastiches with external aims documentthe social facts of their era just like Zola did in his novels. Some authors show a literaryengagement by attacking political leaders but indirectly. In addition to their aims, theirrepresentation of Zola’s style diversifies their writings. Each writer conforms to someimitation rules which are generally related to the principles of similarities and differences.Some pastiches are therefore move creative and/or more representative of Zola’s style thanothers. The study of the imitative ways of pastiches’ writers implies a reflection on theconcept of style whose definitions seem unclear. These writers no longer focus only onZola’s thematic which has been highly criticized during his life time and even after his death.They blend themes and stylistic devices, thus acknowledging the poetic quality of the literaryworks of the naturalism founder. The Zola-pastiches written during the 20th and at thebeginning of the 21st centuries therefore appear to be a critical analysis of these works as wellas the criticism of the partial or one-sided criticism that preceded the renewed interest in thereading of the author of Medan’s texts. The imbrication of stylistic devices and themesborrowed from Zola and adapted to new contexts shows that the literary style convokes theidiosyncratic and sociologic dimensions of an author’s specific way of writing, given that,style is not an abstract phenomenon but a series of formal and thematic choices which arehistorically located and whose imitation is highly determined by representations

Iliev-Sendovs hypotes består av följande påstående: Då p(z)=(z-z1)(z-z2)•••(z-zn)är ett polynom av grad n≥2, vars alla nollställen ligger i enhetsskivan, ligger det åtminstone ett nollställe till derivatan p'(z) inom en längdenhet från varje nollställe till polynomet p(z). Hypotesen är bevisad för polynom av gradtal n≤8.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera Iliev-Sendovs hypotes. Utifrån ett givet nollställe a i enhetsskivan vill jag identifiera ett tillräckligt och eventuellt mindre område En(a) än det som begränsas inom en längdenhet från nollstället a, där varje punkt motsvaras av ett nollställe till derivatan p'(z). Jag vill också söka efter delar av En(a) för polynom av grad n≥3.

Redan för polynom av grad två gäller det att det ''optimala'' området E2(a)är betydligt mindre än det som begränsas av cirkeln med radien en längdenhet, nämligen

E2(a)={z:|z-(a/2)|≤(1/2)}.

För polynom av grad tre har jag visat att

{z:|z-(a/2)|≤√(12-3|a|2)/6lE3(a).

För alla polynom jag har studerat har jag börjat med att fixera ett nollställe i origo och har då funnit att En(0)={z:|z|≤(1/(n-1√n)) När jag fixerar ett nollställe till ett polynom av grad n i en punkt z=a, där 0≤a<1, finner jag att ellipsen som beskrivs av ekvationen

(x-(a/2))2+(1/(1-a2))y2=1/4

och dess innandöme är en delmängd av En(a).

Through the study's analysis with background to theories and previous research, it turns out that financial instability is hidden in boom and economic stability. Where causes are speculation, optimism, risk-taking and credit expansion. Minsky (1982a) pointed out, among other things, that high debt ratio increases the risk of financial instability, which is an effect of the lavish lending, partly as a result of global financing. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there was a state of financial instability prior to Sweden's crises, focusing on Sweden's three most recent crises: the financial crisis of 1990, the IT bubble of 2000 and the financial crisis of 2008. The study illustrates how Minsky's financial instability hypothesis that "stability breeds instability" also can explain the emergence of Swedish crises. The result shows that there is a clear link between increased debt before crises.
Genom studiens analys med bakgrund till teorier och tidigare forskning visar det sig att finansiell instabilitet döljer sig i högkonjunktur och ekonomisk stabilitet. Där orsaker som ligger till grund är spekulation, optimism, risktagning och kreditexpansion. Minsky (1982a) pekade bland annat på att hög skuldkvot ökar risken för finansiell instabilitet, något som är en effekt av den frikostiga kreditgivningen, bland annat som en följd av den globala finansieringen. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om där funnits ett tillstånd av finansiell instabilitet innan Sveriges kriser, med fokus på Sveriges tre senaste kriser: finanskrisen 1990, it-bubblan 2000 och finanskrisen 2008. Studien åskådliggör hur Minskys finansiella instabilitetshypotes om att "stability breeds instability" även kan förklara uppkomsten av svenska kriser. Resultatet visar på att det finns ett tydligt samband mellan ökad skuldsättning innan kriser.

A new theory for predicting the windprofile over a canopy has been evaluated. The theory was first presented by Harman and Finnigan (2007). The theory relies on the forming of a mixing-layer above the canopy, due to different mean wind in and above the canopy. Characteristics from both mixing-layer and Monin Obukhov similarity theory have been used to develop the governingequations that give the wind profile. The theory has been used to calculate wind profiles for sixdifferent atmospheric stabilities. In order to evaluate the theory, profiles from the theory have beencompared to measurements from Jädraås forest, Sweden. Profiles from Monin Obukhov similarity theory were also used for comparison.In general the mixing-layer theory gives better results than Monin Obukhov similarity theory. Agreement with measurements is good in neutral conditions, but fails when the atmospheric stability is altered, especially in convective conditions. This is believed to be due to the canopy lacking in thickness. The mean wind speed is systematically underestimated and this is also believed to be caused by insufficient thickness of the canopy. A correction for this behaviour is proposed. The theory gives higher values of the mean wind speed in convective conditions with the correction and the calculated values of mean wind speed are closer to the measurements.

Det övergripande syftet med denna uppsats var att se vilka tendenser som finns i elevuppsatser som producerats kort efter att eleverna arbetat med grammatik. Hypotesen var att de elever som arbetat intensivt med vissa grammatiska moment också använder dessa oftare i fria uppsatser än elever som inte arbetat lika intensivt med grammatik. I studien jämförs en försöksgrupp som nyligen arbetat med tre grammatiska moment med en kontrollgrupp som inte gjort det. Resultaten relateras till nivåer i processbarhetshierarkin enligt Pienemanns modell. De processbarhetsnivåer som undersöks baseras på de grammatiska moment som eleverna tränat på: rak ordföljd, progressiv form och do-omskrivning. I studien redogörs också för andra faktorer än processbarhet som kan påverka elevernas förmåga att ta in grammatisk information. Input hypotesen utgör en viktig del i studien och resultaten visar att eleverna i försöksgruppen i hög grad påverkas av det affektiva filtret som gör att de inte är mottagliga för undervisning. Resultaten av jämförelsen mellan försöksgruppen och kontrollgruppen visar att intensiv träning i vissa grammatiska moment inte gör att samma konstruktion uppträder oftare i elevernas uppsatser.

Nous avons tenté dans ce travail de mettre en évidence le sens et l’utilité des réécritures dans la littérature comparée. Pourquoi et comment les écrivains s’emparent-ils d’une œuvre ou d’un texte en général (un texte sacré par exemple) et les transforment-ils ? Les écrivains francophones (ou imprégnés de culture française) des XXe et XXIe siècles s’inspirent de certains modèles de réécritures présents dans la littérature classique européenne ; ils apportent cependant une richesse supplémentaire aux hypotextes sur plusieurs plans : culturel, philosophique et esthétique. Un parallèle entre les arts du verbe et de l’image est établi, les seconds étant censés jeter un éclairage sur les premiers, aider à mieux saisir comment se réalise le passage d’une œuvre de création à une autre dans la continuité et la rupture. Plusieurs auteurs ― dont Maryse Condé, Assia Djebar, Nedim Gürsel et Abdelwahab Meddeb ― usent de la réécriture ― qui peut être interprétation ou travail esthétique sur l’écriture même (pastiche, parodie, etc.) ― pour exprimer leurs pensées et faire passer plus amplement leurs messages. Notre thèse se propose de dévoiler ces pensées et ces messages et d’essayer de les interpréter en faisant ressortir les mobiles ou les motifs des écrivains. Les œuvres sont à la fois des signaux (c’est-à-dire le sens voulu par les auteurs, ce qu’ils souhaitent consciemment exprimer, leur projet intentionnel) et des symptômes (ce que les œuvres révèlent en plus au lecteur)
In this work, we have attempted to highlight the meaning and usefulness of rewriting in comparative literature, whether this literature is European or is derived from French-speaking countries in other parts of the world. Why and how do writers seize a work or text in general (sacred text, for example) and transform it ? We recall that the French-speaking (or inhabited by French) writers of the 20th and 21st centuries are inspired by models of rewriting present in classical literature; they nevertheless bring hypotexts to a great wealth on several levels: cultural, philosophical and aesthetic. A parallel between the arts of the verb and the image is established, the latter being supposed to shed light on the first, to help better grasp the passage from one work of creation to another in continuity and rupture. Several authors - including Maryse Condé, Assia Djebar, Nedim Gürsel and Abdelwahab Meddeb - use rewriting - which can be interpretation or aesthetic work on writing itself (pastiche, parody) - to express their thoughts and pass messages that matter to them. It is these thoughts and messages that our thesis proposes to unveil and try to understand by bringing out the motives of writers

The purpose was to study children`s thoughts and experiences on photosynthesis, used qualitative interviews with semi- structured questions. The study included eight children, four and five year olds. The children drew a picture of a plant and shared their thoughts and experinces regarding plant growth, nutrient and energy uptake. In a playful and entertaining way, I conducted a learning play and an experiment with the purpose of clarifying the photosynthetic process. Thereafter the children were interviewed again to see if the children gained a deeper understandning of the photosynthesis among the children. Based on the result the responses from the first interview of most of the children. At the second interview more children understood the significant role of the sun for the photosynthetic process as well as the plant needs roots for survival and growth.

De svenska hushållens skuldsättning har ökat markant sedan 1980-talet och är idag på rekordhöga nivåer. Utifrån detta har frågor kring skuldsättningsnivåns hållbarhet, dess makroekonomiska konsekvenser och bakomliggande faktorer, blivit allt vanligare. Tidigare studier på området visar på brister i standardteorin för analys av hushållens skuldsättning, livscykelhypotesen, då hänsyn inte tas till kreditrestriktioner eller människors oförmåga till helt rationellt handlande. En alternativ analysram fick förnyad uppmärksamhet i samband med finanskrisen i USA 2008 – Hyman Minskys hypotes om finansiell instabilitet – vilken inkorporerar ett fokus på spekulation på kredit- och tillgångsmarknader som förklaring till skuldsättning. Den här uppsatsen undersöker om Minskys hypotes kan appliceras på de svenska hushållen och förklara förändringen i skuldsättning sedan 1980-talet, genom en linjär regressionsmodell på aggregerad data för tidsperioden 1980 till 2012. Resultaten tyder på att den ökade skuldsättningen i stor utsträckning kan förklaras utifrån Minsky hypotes, där en avreglerad kreditmarknad och fallande räntenivåer verkar ha lett till en ökad spekulation i reala tillgångar, ökat risktagande hos både långivare och låntagare och därmed en ökad skuldsättning.
The debt level of Swedish households has increased noticeably since the 1980’s and is today at a record high level. This has given rise to questions regarding the sustainability of the debt level, its macroeconomic implications and driving factors. Previous studies on the subject show deficiencies in the standard theory for analyzing household debt, the life-cycle hypothesis, due to lack of consideration in the theory of credit restrictions and humans’ inability to act completely rationally. An alternative framework for analysis received renewed attention in connection with the financial crisis in the U.S. in 2008 – Hyman Minsky’s financial instability hypothesis – incorporating speculation in credit and asset markets as explanations for indebtness. This thesis investigates whether Minky’s hypothesis can be applied on Swedish households and explain the change in debt levels since the 1980’s, through a linear regression model, using aggregate data for the period 1980 to 2012. The results of the thesis indicate that the increased debt level to a large extent can be explained by Minsky’s hypothesis, where a de-regulated credit market and falling interest rates seem to have caused increased speculation in real assets, increased risk-taking by both debtors and creditors and thus an increased level of household debt.

La présente thèse est une recherche imagologique, comparatiste et postcoloniale sur les représentations de l’Afrique et des Africains dans des oeuvres de la littérature contemporaine allemande qui ont un lien hypertextuel avec des oeuvres de la littérature coloniale européenne. En se fondant sur 1m Kongo de Urs Widmer et Kain und Abel in Afrika de Hans Christoph Buch, elle explore, de manière exemplaire et par des voies nouvelles, les rapports de ces hypertextes post-coloniaux à leurs hypotextes coloniaux, Heart of Darkness de Joseph Conrad et Caput Nili de Richard Kandt. Elle vise à déterminer, à l’aide de catégories élaborées par la critique postcoloniale, si les écrits retenus parviennent à dépasser les tendances ethnocentriques caractéristiques des réflexes littéraires de la rencontre ethnographique de l’Autre à l’étranger et donc à proposer des images qui contribuent au renouvellement des représentations de l’altérité et de l’ailleurs dans la littérature contemporaine allemande
The following dissertation is an imagological, comparative and postcolonial research about the representations of Africa and Africans in different works of contemporary German literature, which are hypertextually connected to works of European colonial literature. By taking 1m Kongo by Urs Widmer and Kain und Abel in Afrika by Hans Christoph Buch, it scrutinizes, on an exemplary basis and in new ways, the relationship of these post-colonial hypertexts to their underlying colonial subtexts: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Caput Nili by Richard Kandt. It is focused on evaluating, with the help of criteria developed within the postcolonial criticism, whether the selected writings succeed in overcoming the ethnocentric tendencies that characterise the literary reflexes of the ethnographie encounter with the Other abroad, there by producing images that contribute to the renewal of the representations of otherness and foreignness within the contemporary German literature

Syftet med denna uppsats är att ge en bild av eventuella skillnader mellan fyra länder vad det gäller bonus till VD. Företagen som undersöks är ifrån Sverige, Storbritannien, USA och Norge. I uppsatsen redovisas teorier kring ersättningar och regelverk. Teorierna leder fram till tre stycken hypoteser som testas.Antal bolag från varje land som undersöks är 10 stycken, totalt 40 stycken. Bolagen har valts ut ifrån börslistor där de största bolagen från varje land finns med.Metoden som valts för undersökningen är en kvantitativ metod. Årsredovisningar och Proxy Statements undersöktes för att generera data.Undersökningen resulterar i att de två första hypoteserna styrks och den tredje kan inte få något stöd utifrån de material som undersöks. Som avslutning så ges förslag till vidare forskning inom ämnet.

De acordo com o trabalho de Brady (2008), mudanças estruturais na economia norte-americana que permitiram um aumento do crédito ao consumidor teriam tornado a suavização do consumo uma realidade. No entanto, ele estima um modelo de consumo levando em conta quebras estruturais encontradas nas séries do crescimento das variáveis, o que não implica, necessariamente, que essas quebras também estão presentes no modelo de consumo. Neste trabalho, utilizamos uma metodologia que permite a presença de regressores endógenos na equação de teste e procuramos as quebras diretamente no modelo de consumo. Os resultados indicam que o procedimento adotado por Brady (2008) não e adequado para determinar as datas das quebras do modelo de consumo.
According to Brady (2008), structural changes in the American economy that allowed an expansion of the consumer credit would have made consumption smoothing a reality. However, he estimates a model of consumption based on structural breaks found in the consumption and credit growth rates, which doesn\'t imply, necessarily, that those breaks are also present in the consumption\'s model. In this work, we use a methodology that is able to _nd multiple breaks when the regressors are endogenous and search the breaks directly in the consumption\'s model. Our results indicate that imposing the breaks as Brady (2008) did is not adequate to determine the break dates in the consumption\'s model.

Sammanfattning på tyska: Das Ziel unserer Untersuchung besteht darin, den Mythos, dass deutsche Grammatik schwer ist, zu erforschen. Wir möchten herausfinden, inwieweit er noch existiert und durch welche Faktoren er verbreitet wird. Unsere Vermutungen sind unter anderem, dass der Mythos eventuell durch ältere Generationen weiter vererbt wird oder dass er auf die Unterrichtsform der Lehrer zurückzuführen ist. Unsere Untersuchung basiert auf einem Umfragebogen und einigen Interviews, in denen wir insgesamt 82 Schüler befragt haben. Das Resultat unserer Studie zeigt, dass der Mythos durch die Jugendlichen selber verbreitet wird, aber auch von denen, die nie Deutsch gelernt haben. Die Grammatik wird zwar als schwer angesehen, aber auch als nicht unmöglich zu lernen bezeichnet. Für den Unterricht haben wir festgestellt, dass es für den Lehrer wichtig ist, die Methoden zu variieren und Grammatik auf natürliche Art und Weise in den Deutschunterricht einfließen zu lassen. Es ist außerdem von Bedeutung, dass die Lehrer den Schülern unterschiedliche Lernstrategien vorstellen, um ein bewusstes und effektives Lernen zu gewährleisten.

The topic of this research is the study of new models for the management of livestock effluents, in particular situations of concentration or bad organization, is able to produce negative externality for the environment, especially loss in the underground and surface water of nitrate. This problem of water pollution in one hand is a cost for the community, because the citizen wants clean water and in the other is a cost for the livestock firm, because is constricted to respect an environmental restricted standard, investing in a new organization. In Veneto region, this problem is strongly felt, because there are many specialized livestock chain like cattle, diary, pigs and poultry in a territory rich of important water bodies, flowing into the drainage basin of the Veneto lagoon. After a bibliographic research on the current regulation and on the environmental economics in the agricultural field, in particular how the environmental regulation influences on the firms in terms of economics performances, it was designed a theoretical framework where for a livestock firm is possible develop a new and more efficient technology for the manure treatment that allow to improve the water quality and also can make earn or save money. The context into which livestock waste management inserts itself includes not only constraints already established by standard community regulations for nitrate matter but also special opportunities rendered by the increase in value of biomass energy. These opportunities have become even greater in the past few years due to the governmental incentives which are given to companies producing energy from renewable resources, an incentive program undertaken by the European Union in response to international collaboration (the Kyoto Protocol). Then it followed the study of the best practices started in the northern Italy, making interviews to the most important stakeholders in the economic, scientific and cultural sphere, aimed to identify the most common organizational and technologic typologies The new proposed models developed by a consortium of firms having the same organizational problem, lack of land for spreading the manure, in a restricted area, that want develop a treatment plant with a first energetic valorization treatment and a second step where is possible to treat the nitrogen element. In this way you can produce electricity (production stimulate with green tariffs), indeed money and with the secondary treatment is possible to recover nitrogen to produce fertilizer (ammonia stripping, compost, drying) or to reduce/destroy it (combustion, biological de-ammonification). An important part of the study is based on the design of an evaluation model that is able to simulate the economics performances of this integrated chain model, which can manage the nitrogen model in a better and sustainable way. Starting by the regional livestock database, it was analyzed the nitrogen production, the energetic potential of the firms and the biomass volumes. the model evaluated the overnight cost of the investment the overhead costs of each technological step and the revenues. The last and most important phase was to divide the incomes and costs between the farmer developing the model, because each animal species have a different nitrogen content, biogas production level, volume weight, and it means different allocation of money between the members of the consortium. The study demonstrated that develop an innovation models of livestock effluents treatment is more sustainable and more profitable than the business as usual organization, and confirmed the thesis that environmental regulation has resulted in a “win-win” situation where both profits and environmental performance have improved.
L’attività di ricerca si è rivolta allo studio delle politiche ambientali inerenti il settore dell’allevamento zootecnico nella Regione Veneto, andando ad approfondire il tema della gestione degli effluenti di allevamento (EA), con particolare interesse verso modalità che prevedono una valorizzazione energetica delle stesse. Date le dinamiche in atto in questi anni nel settore del trattamento delle biomasse, anche in relazione agli incentivi statali rivolti ai produttori di energia da fonte rinnovabile, il settore zootecnico potrebbe essere in grado di rivestire un ruolo di prim’ordine verso un sistema agricolo multifunzionale sempre più attento all’ambiente e alla qualità dei prodotti. In Veneto questo problema, legato al recepimento della Direttiva Nitrati (91/676/CEE), è molto sentito, vista la presenza di un forte settore zootecnico che può contare su diverse filiere di produzione specializzate come bovini da carne, bovini da latte, suini da ingrasso, avicoli da carne e ovaiole. Allo stesso tempo la vulnerabilità di alcuni suoli dovuta alla presenza di numerosi corpi idrici, impone al mondo agricolo l’adozione di standard ambientali e sistemi di gestione degli EA più idonei alle buone pratiche agricole e più rispettosi dell’ambiente. Dopo aver eseguito un profondo inquadramento normativo e bibliografico generale del problema, si è dapprima svolta un’indagine su casi reali, somministrando opportuni questionari, mirati a rilevare l’attuale contesto in cui operano le realtà più dinamiche e attive, inoltre si sono svolte interviste faccia a faccia a testimoni privilegiati rappresentativi della sfera economica, scientifica e politica. Si è in seguito fatto un lavoro di analisi dei dati sul patrimonio zootecnico regionale rivolto alla stima della produzione di azoto e all’individuazione di comprensori critici, dove potenzialmente sarebbe auspicabile una più oculata gestione degli EA. Dalla stessa base dati si è stimato un potenziale energetico derivante dai reflui prodotti dalle aziende zootecniche a livello di unità produttiva, si sono poi aggregati a livello comunale e provinciale, differenziando anche il potenziale per specie animale. Un’altra parte dello studio si è focalizzata sui modelli di gestione integrata degli EA, partendo dai casi studio sono state costituite delle mappe concettuali mirate all’individuazione dei flussi inerenti ai principali processi tecnologici. Tali flussi sono stati caratterizzati per forma organizzativa individuando gli input nei processi, le modalità di conferimento, i trattamenti primari e secondari effettuati, le tipologie di output ottenute e la destinazione dei prodotti finali. Si sono inoltre individuati i principali “ombrelli giuridici” sotto cui gli effluenti di allevamento vengono trattati e movimentati, dalle aziende agricole verso le superfici per lo spandimento o verso strutture di trattamento, agricole o industriali. Si sono evidenziate le due principali modalità di gestione che hanno approcci diversi, uno di abbattimento e distruzione del valore fertilizzante, un altro di valorizzazione rivolta ad un successivo recupero e riutilizzo. In seguito, si è cercato di capire come la regolamentazione ambientale influisca sulle performance economiche delle aziende zootecniche interessate, se l’adozione di soluzioni tecnologiche rivolte all’adeguamento agli standard sia un costo per le aziende o possa rivelarsi un vantaggio competitivo e quali sono i fattori che influenzano queste scelte. In particolare lo studio ha proposto alcuni modelli di gestione, anche alla luce delle novità apportate dal nuovo conto energia, approvato con Decreto Ministeriale del 6 luglio 2012. È stato definito un modello di valutazione con l’obiettivo di testare le performance economico-finanziarie derivanti dagli impianti di trattamento interaziendali. Con la logica del sistema di filiera integrata si sono proposte due principali linee di trattamento, entrambe presentano un primo stadio di valorizzazione energetica attraverso la digestione anaerobica, mentre a valle è stato previsto un processo di trattamento rivolto alla distruzione della componente azotata nel primo caso e di valorizzazione nel secondo. Si sono considerate varie taglie di cogenerazione elettrica e si è simulato un approccio interaziendale, con la presenza quindi di più allevatori con differenti specie allevate. I dati della potenzialità energetica aggregata, ottenuta dall’analisi della consistenza del patrimonio zootecnico, sono stati inseriti nella prima parte del modello di valutazione economico-finanziaria, da dove si ottiene una serie di risultati come costi di investimento, ricavi e costi totali. Nella seconda parte del modello si è poi approfondito il problema della giusta allocazione dei costi e dei ricavi della struttura interaziendale tra i diversi allevatori aderenti, infine si sono comparati i risultati economici che si possono ottenere dall’adozione dei modelli innovativi, con una situazione di gestione ordinaria degli EA, senza rispettare gli standard ambientali imposti dalla Direttiva e una situazione di gestione ordinaria degli EA nel rispetto nel rispetto dei limiti imposti.

Uppsatsen är en närläsning av Patricia C. Wredes bok Dealing with Dragons och undersöker huruvida boken i fråga är en parodi eller travesti på de klassiska sagorna, t.ex. Törnrosa och Askungen. Jag tar också reda på om det går att läsa boken på olika sätt beroende på hur stor förkunskap man har om de gamla sagorna. Gérard Genette har skrivit boken Palimpsestes: La littérature au second degré, och jag har med hjälp av en svensk översättning använt mig av hans teorier om hypotext - hypertext, parodi, travesti och transformation. Jag tar även hjälp av Jack Zipes och hans bok The Brothers Grimm - From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World. Dessutom används Barbara Walls bok The Narrator's Voice - The Dilemma of Children's fiction för att reda ut begreppet dubbelt tilltal.

Uppsatsen är indelad i tre delar med tillhörande underrubriker: Inledning, analys och slutdiskussion. Under analysdelen tar jag upp Wredes sätt att använda sig av direkt och indirekt transformation samt om hänvisningarna till bl.a. Grimms sagor är inslag av parodi eller travesti. Metoden jag använder mig av är att visa och analysera utdrag ur boken som är direkt eller indirekt transformerade från sedan länge befintliga sagor eller legender.

Resultatet av analysen når sitt syfte och svarar på frågeställningen. Slutsatsen är att boken Dealing with Dragons till största delen är en parodi på kända sagor, men att inslagen av travesti är nödvändiga och behövs för den roliga och lite snälla tonen som boken tillhandahåller.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether there is a difference between Swedish learners of English in an at-home environment compared to Swedish learners of English who studied English abroad for a year, in their ability to distinguish between certain English phoneme. The method used to investigate was through a questionnaire where the informants had to identify words containing the sounds /z/, /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/ and /w/. The results showed that the informants who had been abroad were more familiar with the sounds than the informants who had studied in a Swedish senior high school over the same period of time. It was found that the sound /z/ was the hardest sound to identify, followed by /ʒ/, for both groups of informants.
Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det är någon skillnad mellan svenska elever som lär sig engelska under ett år i klassrummet eller under ett år genom utbytesstudier, när det gäller deras förmåga att skilja mellan vissa engelska fonem. Metoden som användes var genom en enkät där informanterna fick identifiera ord som innehöll ljuden /z/, /θ/, /d/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/ och /v/. Resultaten visade att informanterna som hade varit utomlands var mer bekanta med ljuden än informanterna som hade studerat vid ett svenskt gymnasium under samma tid. Det visade sig att ljudet /z/ var den svåraste ljudet att identifiera, följt av /ʒ/ för båda informantgrupperna.

The main aim of this paper has been to examine if Swedish students at upper secondary school were able to use the morphemes The progressive –ing, The irregular past and The irregular third person. In addition, it has also addressed if the students examined in this essay were able to use some morphemes better than others. In addition, it concluded if the results found in this paper were in accordance with what other researchers have concluded. The paper is based on essays written by students at upper secondary school that can be found in The Uppsala Learner English Corpus, as well as essays written for the national test by students studying English 6. In the course of the study, it was vital to explain what the natural order actually is as well as what researchers who believe in it claim and what researchers who do not believe in it claim. Consequently, it becomes important to clarify the differences between a cross-sectional study and a longitudinal study. When analysing the essays the program Antconc was used. It is a free corpus analysis program that allows researchers to study several texts at once. Next, to determine if the students had acquired the morphemes, all obligatory contexts where the morphemes should be used were analysed manually. What can be concluded from this paper is that the three morphemes have not been acquired by the students who were examined in this paper. Students could use some forms of the morphemes; however, even in those cases the correct usage in percentage of the morpheme were often not above 85%. These results were quite like the ones found in studies conducted on students at secondary school; this indicates that students at both secondary and upper secondary school do not actually acquire these morphemes fully. What they do acquire are different forms of a specific morpheme that they probably use quite a lot in their writing.
Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka om svenska elever som studerar på gymnasieskolan kunde aktivt använda de engelska morfemen The progressive –ing, The irregular past och The irregular third person. Dessutom har uppsatsen också behandlat om det fanns morfemen som eleverna kunde använda sig bättre av. Den har även jämfört sitt resultat med vad andra forskare har hittat. Uppsatsen är bygd på essäer skrivna av elever på gymnasieskolan som finns att hämta i The Uppsala Learner English Corpus. Dessutom använder den sig av essäer skrivna av elever för det nationella provet i engelska 6. Under studiens gång var det viktigt att förklara vad The natural order är liksom vad forskare säger gällande denna teori. Följaktligen blir det viktigt att klargöra skillnaden mellan en tvärsnittsstudie och en longitudinell studie. Vid analysen av essäerna användes programmet Antconc. Det är ett gratis korpusanalysprogram som tillåter forskare att studera flera texter samtidigt. För att klargöra om eleverna hade förvärvat morfemen var det därefter viktigt att studera alla obligatoriska sammanhang där morfemen måste användas, vilket gjordes manuellt. Det som framgår är att eleverna som granskades i studien inte har förvärvat de tre morfemen. Eleverna kunde använda sig av vissa former av varje morfem, men även i dessa fall var den korrekta användningen i procent oftast inte mer än 85%. Detta resultat var ganska likt de studier som har granskat elever i högstadiet, vilket tyder på att elever i både högstadiet och gymnasiet inte förvärvar dessa morfem fullt ut. I de flesta fall kunde eleverna enbart använda olika former av morfemen.

This thesis provides an empirical investigation into the relationship between economic growth and the depth of a country's financial sector. We begin by identifying several economic and financial factors traditionally employed by development theorists to understand economic growth. We then summarise the McKinnon-Shaw hypothesis that ascribes considerable importance to the deepening of the domestic financial sector in low-income countries through free-market financial liberalisation in order to achieve superior economic growth. The hypothesis advocates that a domestic financial sector free to offer positive real rates of interest will encourage higher saving, and will in turn more efficiently mobilise and allocate savings to entrepreneurial investment spurring increased economic growth. We construct ten variables that reflect both traditional economic development theories and the McKinnon-Shaw hypothesis, and use these variables to test hypotheses developed from the economic and financial literature. Using the data of 52 low-income countries for the period 1980 to 1990 sourced from the Perm World Table an d the International Financial Statistics, we quantify and compare the statistical relationships between per capita economic growth and the ten variables. We then use a Sims-causality methodology in an attempt to determine the direction of the statistically significant relationships. We find a statistically and economically significant relationship between per capita economic growth and financial depth, but that this relationship is dominated by the investment rate and saving rate effects. Contrary to the McKinnon-Shaw hypothesis, we further find causality relationships demonstrating that economic growth in low-income countries leads to increased investment, saving, and financial depth, and not vice versa. We postulate that these causal relationships reflect (1) a "wait-and-see" attitude on the part of investors and creditors, and (2) an income effect on the part of savers.

This work studies the response of social welfare to fiscal consolidations, by focusingon a less debated characteristic of fiscal plans: the speed of deleveraging. A neo-classical overlapping generations model is calibrated to the German economy, anda sequence of reductions of the same size in the debt-to-GDP ratio are simulatedconsidering different adjustment periods. Welfare gains are found to be larger inslow, delayed fiscal consolidations, due to the presence of incomplete markets. It isalso found that the aggregate welfare response depends on the distribution of wealthand the type of fiscal instrument used.

This study focuses on relationships between individual condition, measures of ornament expression and mate choice in the Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix). It is based on the correlative data as well as results of manipulative experiments. I found positive correlation between the size of melanin- and carotenoid-based ornaments in partridges. The size and the redness of the carotenoid skin patch, and the size of the melanin-based feather ornamentation were associated with several measures of immunity and overall body condition (complement activity, ratio of immature erythrocytes, heterophil/leucocyte ratio, response to novel antigen). Furthermore, data from natural populations indicate that the expression of carotenoid-based ornamentation is associated with sexual attractiveness (measured as the ability to obtain a social mate) in partridges. Data from captive individuals indicate that carotenoid supplementation improves the redness of carotenoid-based ornament, while the stimulation of the immune system under increasing concentrations of supplemented carotenoids has no measurable effect on condition and physiological state. This seems to contradict predictions of the 'Carotenoid maintenance hypothesis'. Overall, results better understanding the role of carotenoid and melanin-based ornamentation in signaling...

The purpose of the study is find out what understanding the children at the age of 3 and 5 have of the physical phenomenon float and sink and to investigate whether a practical activity contributes to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Children at two departments at two different preschools participated in the study. Piaget’s stage theory was used to study how the children of different ages acted and expressed themselves during the activity. The investigations started with an initial discussion about the concepts of float and sink, which then turned into a practical exercise where the children had to make hypotheses and investigate the buoyancy of different objects. The activity ended with a discussion about what they had experienced through the pracitical activity. Sound recordings and field notes from the four groups’ implementation of the activity were complied and analyzed qualitatively. The results show that the practical activity contributed to the children creating a better understanding of the concepts of float and sink and that they began to use concepts relating to density. The practical activity helped to create curiosity and good communication, where the children themselves got to try it out practically. The three-year-olds created an understanding of where an artifact is in the water when it floats or sinks during the practical activity. The children began to use some concepts related to density, such as size, shape and weight. The survey showed that the 5-year-olds had an understanding of floating and sinking, but the practical activity contributed to them also them also starting to use concepts related to density concepts, and to a greater extent that the 3-year-olds.
Syftet med studien är att ta reda på vilken förståelse barnen i 3-årsåldern respektive 5-årsåldern har för det fysikaliska fenomenet flyta och sjunka samt att undersöka om ett praktiskt inslag bidrar till en fördjupad förståelse för fenomenet. I studien deltog barn från två avdelningar på två olika förskolor. Piagets stadieteori användes, för att studera hur barnen i de olika åldrarna agerade och uttryckte sig under aktiviteten. Undersökningarna startade med en inledande diskussion kring begreppen flyta och sjunka, som därefter övergick till en praktisk övning där barnen fick ställa hypoteser och undersöka olika föremåls flytförmåga. Aktiviteten avslutades med en diskussion om vad de har upplevt genom det praktiska inslaget. Ljudupptagning och fältanteckningar från de fyra gruppernas genomförande av aktiviteten sammanställdes och analyserades kvalitativt. Resultatet visar på att det praktiska inslaget bidrog till att barnen skapade en bättre förståelse för begreppen flyta och sjunka samt att de började använda sig av begrepp relaterade till densitet. Den praktiska aktiviteten bidrog till att skapa nyfikenhet och en god kommunikation, där barnen själva fick testa praktiskt. Treåringarna skapade en förståelse för var en artefakt befinner sig i vattnet när den flyter eller sjunker och under den praktiska aktiviteten började barnen använda några begrepp som relaterar till densitet som storlek, form och tyngd. Undersökningen visade att 5-åringarna hade en förståelse för flyta och sjunka men den praktiska aktiviteten bidrog till att de också började använda sig av densitets-begrepp, så även i högre grad än 3-åringarna.