Author and Reader Perceptions of the Literary Map

There is a continuing need in cartographic communication for reserarch directed toward better understanding of the perceptual properties of maps, particularly as they interrelate between map author and map reader (percipient). This research explores that area by examining the perceptions of authors of maps utilized in science fiction and fantasy, and readers who encounter these maps in the literature.

The first phase of the research demonstrates that authors generally have a positive attitude toward the literary map and view them as critical to the formulation of a story and important to proper understanding of the narrative. By contrast, readers tested in the second part of the study view literary maps as superfluous and in general have a negative attitude toward them.

The literary maps employed in this research fail to communicate effectively with the reader. Poor cartographic communication and the negative attitude of readers toward the literary map is explained in terms of functional illiteracy.     

France - History and Story

Although the career of Thierry de Martel, one of France's most illustrious neurosurgeons, would seem primarily of interest to historians of medicine, his life and self‐inflicted death can be inscribed into different contexts. De Martel can be considered representative of what Jean Touchard calls ‘l'esprit des années trente’, a spirit both of malaise and revolt which prompted many among the First World War generation to seek new political and intellectual alternatives to replace what they deemed the morally bankrupt ones of the Third Republic. Both because of his connections with Parisian literary and political circles, and the paradoxical nature of his ideological itinerary between the wars (encompassing both proto‐fascism and Germanophobia), de Martel's case is particularly interesting. This biographical portrait of a previously unstudied ‘nonconformist’ in turn serves as a prism through which to view the ferment of the interwar period.     

A peculiar condition: A history of the Jumping Frenchmen Syndrome in scientific and popular accounts

ABSTRACT

In 1878, Dr. George Beard reported to other neurologists that in Maine there existed French-Canadian woodsmen who jumped when excited. Beard observed the phenomenon firsthand and his subsequent reports attracted the attention of Georges Gilles de la Tourette in France and other neurologists worldwide for a couple of decades. During the second half of the twentieth century, interest in the jumpers revived among neurologists, as some came forward with similar observations in different parts of Canada and the United States. This article compares and contrasts the scientific reports of the jumping syndrome with those of the popular press and highlights what they revealed about the perceived status of French-Canadian descendants.     

Reconciling “Bottom-Up” Perspectives with “Top-Down” Change Data in Evaluating Area Regeneration Schemes

During the 2000s, policy development in the UK was increasingly underpinned by evidence-based research. This was seen as providing policy-makers with a more robust scientific base upon which to make decisions, although in practice other impulses, such as the need to legitimize decisions, proved as important as the evidence base in defining policy. Evaluations of area-based initiatives (ABIs) are complex because of a range of both generic and operational constraints. England's New Deal for Communities (NDC) Programme was subject to a long-term evaluation based on a mixed methods research design involving both “top-down” quantitative data and “bottom-up” qualitative case-study findings examining how regeneration played out at the local level. There were marked inconsistencies between the two sets of evidence, due largely to local observers being overly optimistic about change associated with the Programme's three key design principles: establishing NDC Partnerships; working with agencies; and placing the community at the heart of the initiative. Findings have implications for evaluating, and justifying, ABIs.