This paper investigates the construction and function of landscape in Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King (1859–85), with particular attention to the poet’s symbolic use of space and its visual counterpart in Gustave Doré’s illustrations. Departing from previous Arthurian narratives that treat setting as a static backdrop, Tennyson transforms landscape into a dynamic, psychological mirror that externalises the internal conflicts of his characters and reflects the moral disintegration of Camelot. The poet employs the idyll form not merely for its structural utility but to stage moments of heightened introspection through painterly description. The resulting ‘geography of the mind’ reconfigures Arthurian space as simultaneously real and imagined, historical and mythical. This study also examines Doré’s visual interpretations, focusing on the techniques through which he interacts with – and at times even disrupts – Tennyson’s authorial voice. A close analysis of the dynamics between word and image reveals in fact how Doré’s illustrations, his use of chiaroscuro and sublime grandeur, do not simply reflect the poems but represent an alternative, at times competing, vision of the Arthurian myth, shaped by nineteenth-century visual culture and book production practices. Together, the poet’s verse and the artist’s intersemiotic translations offer a multilayered reflection on the Arthurian legends, Victorian identity, and the blurred boundaries between dream and reality, past and present.
This article examines the critical and subversive linguistic strategies employed by Zé do Rock in his fourth book, jede sekunde stirbt ein nichtraucher: a lexicon üba vorurteile un andre teile (2009). Conceived as an alphabetically structured reference work, the so-called “lexicon” integrates short entries and extended sections featuring cultural comparisons, travel experiences, and reflections on otherness. By playing on linguistic and cultural misunderstandings, it deconstructs perceptions of foreignness and invites readers to critically reassess their biases and preconceptions. This approach fosters a critical engagement with mechanisms of discrimination and stereotyping. The study investigates how his deliberate humoristic creation of communicative barriers challenges essentialist notions of identity. Additionally, it interrogates how these disruptions, far from obstructing communication, serve as a platform for exploring new pathways through processes of cultural translation toward successful transcultural dialogue. In doing so, the article highlights the transformative potential of misunderstanding as a means to rethink intercultural exchanges and to promote a more nuanced understanding of cultural diversity.
This paper explores the multimodal communication strategies of German and French Guerrilla gardening activists on social media. Guerrilla gardening is a phenomenon that originated in New York during the 1970s and has since spread worldwide. In the interests of (re)greening the urban space, the representatives of this Guerrilla gardening movement plant vegetation in different places without official approval. In addition to this, the activists present now their actions on social media in order to increase their reach and convince other people of their cause. By using social media, activists bridge the gap between the online sphere and the physical world, leveraging new possibilities for multimodal communication. The study analyzes a corpus of 304 posts (French/German, X and Instagram). Building on the principles of multimodality theory and contrastive discourse analysis, it investigates the features of social media posts as multimodal texts, focusing on the relationships between the different semiotic codes – particularly written text and static images – in relation to their pragmatic functions. The three-level intersemiotic analysis (micro, meso, macro) reveals limited language/culture-specific multimodal preferences, with variations mainly due to platform-specific communicative styles, suggesting a trend towards globalized design principles.
Abstract Hybrid plasmonic systems that combine localized and propagative surface plasmons offer new opportunities for tunable light–matter interactions at the nanoscale. This paper provides the most comprehensive study to date of hybridization between gap localized surface plasmons (gap LSP) and diffraction‐mediated propagative surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) in arrays of gold nanodisks over a mirror, part of the larger class of nanoparticle‐over‐mirror (NPoM) devices. By systematically mapping the hybrid mode dispersion as a function of array geometry over a large parameter space, we extract the coupling strength via a coupled oscillator model and reveal its dependence on key structural parameters, with gap thickness identified as the primary tuning factor. The resulting hybrid modes enhance the optical quality factor by nearly fivefold compared to classical LSP while maintaining strong near‐field confinement, combining the advantages of their constituent modes. Dephasing times were measured with interferometric time‐resolved photoemission electron microscopy (ITR‐PEEM). Using a scalable lithography‐compatible NPoM architecture that minimizes the optical index mismatch between the dielectric between the nanodisks and the gap material (Al 2 O 3 ), we achieved the highest coupling strength (123 meV) and dephasing time range (23–50 fs) to date in NPoM arrays.
Industrial oxygen-delignified and fully-bleached hardwood kraft pulps were treated with chemicals to provoke carbohydrates depolymerisation: ozone, hypochlorous acid, and cellulase. The degrees of polymerisation (DP) of cellulose obtained by pulp viscosity measurement in Cuen and by size-exclusion chromatography after direct dissolution in DMAc/LiCl indicated the extent of the chemical degradation inflicted to the fibres. Molar mass distributions (MMD) described the carbohydrates depolymerisation patterns. Fibre strength was assessed by measuring the zero-span tensile index at never-dried state. Fibre strength deterioration seemed to be mainly driven by the topochemistry of the cellulose degradation (homogeneous or localised), rather than by its intensity usually measured as an average DP loss. In fact, depolymerisation by cellulase was found critically detrimental to fibres strength whereas ozone and hypochlorous acid induced little harm to the fibres despite a significant cellulose depolymerisation. According to these results, in line with several past studies, fibre strength measurements should be performed systematically as the sole pulp viscosity is an inadequate indicator. Alternatively, albeit being insufficient strength predictors on their own MMD can give valuable insight on the topochemistry of the cellulose degradation, a key aspect when monitoring fibre strength preservation during pulping and bleaching.