Modern Languages Commons^™

French 203: Grammar & Conversation: A Faculty-Led Inquiry Into Reflective & Scholarly Teaching Benchmark Portfolio, Erica Schauer

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The following Benchmark Portfolio is the product of a full reassessment of FRENCH 203: CONVERSATION & GRAMMAR, an intermediate-level grammar course that serves as a prerequisite for students pursuing a major or a minor in French at UNL. Previously, French 203 had been a review course that covered the essential grammar structures discussed in 101, 102, 201 and 202 and invited students to practice these structures orally with peers in class. This new iteration of the course, however, seeks to broaden the reach of student comprehension of French as a functional tool of communication by requiring students to understand and …

Concerning A Manuscript From A Moravian Immigrant’S Trunk: Postil By Johann Spangenberg (1557), Hana Waisserova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

In Nebraska, a family of Czech ancestry possesses a precious and unusual family artifact—an antique early-modern book, which was passed down in the family from generation to generation as their most precious treasure, a book that is much older than most carefully investigated family genealogies. The book has neat calligraphy and prints, leather binding, and comprises more than a thousand pages, though the first batch of pages is missing. The inside of the cover bears a pencil-written date: 1542. There are no title pages, no forewords, and no introductory chapter(s). The family lore tells that they kept it hidden in …

Eda Kriseová And Her Prophecy Of The Velvet Revolution: “The Gates Opened” (1984), Hana Waisserova, Eda Kriseová

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

This is an introduction to a story, “The Gates Opened,” which serves as a memento of a restrictive regime that banned freedom. It also shares a hope and vision that the gates would open someday—and all would be liberated (despite the chaos and lack of natural order). The story was written in 1984 (sharing a strong symbolic value with George Orwell’s masterpiece). Eda Kriseová shares this anecdote: Around 1984, she wanted to stop writing about the mental institution where she was working, while regularly providing a story to the underground monthly Obsah, and many of her stories were set in …

French Club, Brett Foster, Madisen Bell

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

Afterschool club that introduces French Language and Culture to young elementary students. Through hands-on activities and discussions, students will learn the basics of French Language and complete a French Journal full of everything they learned that semester to take home.

Thank You, Samizdat!, Hana Waisserova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

This autumn we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, when a chain of events all across Central and Eastern Europe gradually brought the weakening yet persistent Communist system to its knees. Though the melt was paradoxically coming with Gorbachev’s reforms from the Kremlin, the Czech hardliners seemed to resist. They had a much stronger grasp over the society than the Communist governments of Hungary and Poland. Nevertheless, the domino effect was there and change finally came.

The geopolitics notwithstanding, sometimes we might forget that samizdat and independent literary culture played a major role …

Untitled: Deconstruction And Reconstruction Of Identity In Le Chevalier De La Charrette And The Romance Of Tristran, Devin Louise Moulton

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Questions of identity are a central source of tension within the genre of the chivalric romances. Even among the large collective that is King Arthur’s court, innumerable romances recount the tales of individual knights in search of individual glory and of some way to distinguish their names among the masses of the court and the group of knights across chivalric traditions while simultaneously bound by the confines of that same group and its structures. For most, such a feat is impossible and many knights, though they may earn a name in the course of a single romance, never truly break …

Embodied Transitions In Michel De Montaigne, Nora Martin Peterson, Peter Martin

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Sixteenth-century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne was one of the first writers to reflect on embodiment. “I am myself the matter of my book,” he proclaims in the introduction to his Essays. Montaigne writes about various moments of embodied transitions: a near-death experience, reflections on aging and cognitive decline, and a lengthy discussion of how to cope in the face of devastating loss. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective by analyzing the relationship between embodiment, health representations, and geropsychological themes, this chapter analyzes Montaigne’s in-between moments, arguing that Montaigne’s essays—innovative in their own time—remain important in discussing embodied transitions today.

Socialist Paradise, Sexual Paradise? Meditation On “Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism” (2018) By Kristen Ghodsee, Hana Waisserova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Women have better sex under socialism claims title of Kristen Ghodsee’s recent book (2018) that highlights female economic independence as a main factor leading to greater freedom and thus more sexual pleasure for women in “socialist paradise”. This critical approach opens up new perspectives and frameworks to re-consider socialist advantages that benefit women, and it also invites further discussion of the thought-provoking premise of “female comfort and pleasure” in various socio-cultural and socio-economic orders. Though the text serves primarily as a critique of current capitalism, it also explores available frameworks and generates reasoning for current campaigns concerning women’s sexuality as …

Gaspar Octavio Hernández, Un Poeta Modernista, Karina Ayodele Clarke Murrain

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Panama is known empirically for its geography, climate and natural environment, so it is not surprising that the Afro-Panamanian writer and journalist, Gaspar Octavio Hernández (1893-1918) uses climate and natural conditions as inspirations for his writing. As a modernista, it is entirely plausible that Hernández was attracted to and compelled by both the process and the production of writing poetry. As we approach his work critically, it is evident that Hernández explores nature in his work and his acknowledgment thereof is the principal motivation of his poetry. From this point, Hernández establishes not only a framework for exploring themes …

“Marie” And “An Unusual Recourse”: English Translations Of German Early Romantic Stories, Meghan Leadabrand

Honors Theses

This project consists of English translations of two German early Romantic stories, “Marie” (1798) by Sophie Mereau and “Seltner Ausweg” (1823) by Luise Brachmann, as well as an introductory discussion of the authors, their significance in the Jena Circle of Romantic writers, and the translation process. The introduction incorporates research on both Mereau and Brachmann and German early Romanticism, as well as some research on translation theory. Overall, the project aims to make “Marie” and “Seltner Ausweg,” which have not previously been translated, available to an English-speaking audience and to highlight the work of two little known Romantic women writers. …

Sins, Sex, And Secrets: The Legacy Of Confession From The Decameron To The Heptaméron, Nora Martin Peterson

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

A quick digital search for the term ‘confession’ in Boccaccio’s Decameron yields 75 results (Decameron Web). Confession in Boccacio’s text is conspicuously present and, I argue, not coincidental: it highlights the increased attention to the sacrament after the Fourth Lateran Council made annual confession mandatory in 1215. Decameron 1.1 depicts a false confession performed by a wicked man on his deathbed. His confessor follows the protocol of confession manuals, which began to appear in increasing number following 1215, but his interpretive skills do not extend beyond the questions he is bound by protocol to ask. In Boccaccio’s world, …

Linguistic Landscape And Language Ideology: A Multimodal Analysis Of Government Websites In Morocco., Yassine Rfissa

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Moroccan society has long been a multicultural society. It is characterized by linguistic complexity due to the variety of languages spoken in the region and the power relationship among languages used in politics, education, science, government...etc. The constitution names both Arabic and Tamazight languages as the co-official languages of the country, whereas French is still seen as a dominant language in the public sectors such as higher education, banking, commerce, science, industry, policy, and government affairs. In this paper, I examine the multifaceted use of language and the language choice in the virtual public sphere in Morocco and how this …

El Rock En Nicaragua: Un Discurso De Resistencia Contra La Neoliberalización O Una Re-Definición De La Tradición., Martina Barinova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Abstract in English

This work, which parts from the premise that music is a medium of communication with the potential to transform and create identities, explores rock music in Nicaragua since its beginning until the present. Nicaraguan rock music is born in a sociopolitical context of extreme economic instability and during a crisis of values in the last decade of the 20^th century, with the end of the Sandinista Revolution and the establishment of neoliberal government. The young cultural movement, and rock in particular, constructs a discourse dissident from the patriarchal and capitalist hegemony and interrogates the social reality …

Arab 202: A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Abla Hasan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This project examines the impact of adopting a text book of teaching Arabic for nonnative speakers that doesn’t use any English. The project targets “ARAB 202”, second year Arabic, since this course has already used a text book that uses English for instructions and grammar for 3 semesters, ARAB 101 , ARAB102, ARAB 201 and before the new curriculum was available in the market. Students of ARAB 202 will be the first to experience the switch to the new curriculum and therefore can be the best to evaluate the experience. For the project, students were asked to complete a pre-course …

Capitalismo, Esquizofrenia E Raça: O Negro E O Pensamento Negro Na Modernidade Ocidental, Ingrid Robyn

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Mbembe, Achille. Crítica da razão negra. 1. ed. Lisboa: Antígona, 2014. Tradução de Marta Lança.

Crítica da razão negra, de Achille Mbembe (original em francês pela editora La Découverte, 2013), é um desses livros que nasceu já clássico: clássico não no sentido de antigo, ou imune à passagem do tempo, mas no sentido borgeano de ter sido escolhido por uma comunidade de leitores como leitura obrigatória. E o livro é, de fato, leitura obrigatória não apenas para aqueles que se interessam pela questão do “negro”,1 mas para todos aqueles que, de alguma forma, se interessam pela relação entre raça …

Review Of Performing Captivity, Performing Escape. Cabarets And Plays From The Terezin/Theresienstadt Ghetto. Edited And With An Introduction By Lisa Peschel., Hana Waisserova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Performing Captivity, Performing Escape. Cabarets and Plays from the Terezin/Theresienstadt Ghetto presents Lisa Peschel’s edited, revised, and translated into English Divadelní texty z terezínského ghetta/ Theatretexte aus dem Ghetto Theresienstadt, 1941-1945.

Terezín/Theresienstadt was unusual in that it served as a ghetto with an attached prison, as well as a concentration camp. The Nazi propaganda used this camp to convince the world that life was “normal” in this supposed Jewish resettlement area. For this reason, they allowed cultural life to take place. Peschel’s work is an anthology of selected texts originating there. It contains cabarets, puppet play scripts, as well …

What Women Know: The Power Of Savoir In Marguerite De Navarre’S Heptaméron, Nora Martin Peterson

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

The verbs savoir and connaître appear in central moments in the Heptaméron. Knowledge—as it appears in the frame narrative and in the novellas—can be a way for men and women to debate, among many other things, the relationship between the sexes. When women use this word, or when they demonstrate that they know something, it creates the space to participate – not always unambiguously – in otherwise male-dominated conversations. How Marguerite writes about the acquisition, possession, fragmentation, or loss of knowledge, underscores her interest in exploring the role of women in communities of knowledge.

La Visión Del Colombiano En La Hojarasca, El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba Y Crónica De Una Muerte Anunciada, De Gabriel García Márquez, Luz S. Valencia Galvis

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

El presente trabajo tiene el propósito de analizar la construcción identitaria del colombiano en las obras La hojarasca, El coronel no tiene quien le escriba y Crónica de una muerte anunciada de Gabriel García Márquez. Bajo esta perspectiva, se indagará sobre algunos aspectos que intervienen en la configuración y expresión de la identidad cultural del colombiano representado en los personajes de cada obra, como el lenguaje, las costumbres sociales y culturales, los estereotipos en su lugar/época. Con lo antes indicado, intento esclarecer la visión del colombiano según García Márquez. Asimismo, se realizará una descripción de la evolución de los …

Modl: 398: Women In Quran—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Abla Hasan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This project highlights the experience of teaching Quran as a literature through MODL 298: “Women in Quran”. This course is an attempt to read Quran as a diachronically approached literature and discover what would the analytic, linguistic as well as the critical study of both the Qur’anic text and its exegesis reveal when it comes to feminism and gender issues in Islam.

Arab 102: First-Year Arabic Language—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Abla Hasan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Goals of the class are derived from goals nationally recognized and agreed upon for low intermediate Arabic learners .This systematic consistency with the nationally recognized standards -albeit can be more challenging- insures students' ability to pursue national major programs in Arabic or their ability to compete for national grants, scholarships and study abroad programs. The standers adopted by ACTFL and STARTALK equally consider the linguistic as well as the cultural content of teaching Arabic. These standers known as the five C's are: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Community. The cultural content of learning Arabic is part of the international and …

Kořeny Stoleté České Tradice V Nebrasce, Hana Waisserova

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Do období po roce 1850 se datuje vlna české emigrace do tzv. Nového světa, tvořená především odpůrci rakouské monarchie, kteří nesouhlasili s konzervativním režimem. Migraci do USA motivovala rovněž možnost získat levně pozemky a usadit se ve svobodné zemi. V Nebrasce jako v mnoha jiných státech Unie byl vyhlášen tzv. Homestead Act, což znamenalo, že přistěhovalci mohli za malý administrativní poplatek získat pozemek, na němž museli v průběhu pěti let vybudovat dům a farmu. Pokud se jim to podařilo, pozemek si mohli nárokovat do svého vlastnictví. Tito přistěhovalci za nesmírně tvrdých podmínek budovali na prérii hliněné domy na způsob zemljanek …

De Niño Del Exilio A Hombre De La “Nueva España”: Masculinidad Y Nacionalismo Español En El Otro Árbol De Guernica, De Luis De Castresana, Iker González-Allende

Spanish Language and Literature

Este artigo analisa a representação da masculinidade e identidade nacional espanhola na obra El otro árbol de Guernica (1967), de Luis de Castresana. Nessa narrativa, o exílio implica um momento de rito de passagem, por meio do qual o protagonista acentua sua identidade como homem e como espanhol. Santi deixa de ser um menino para transformar-se num modelo de homem da “nova Espanha” franquista, ao possuir valores como o patriotismo, a capacidade de liderança, a independência e a religiosidade. O surgimento do amor é um sinal de entrada do protagonista no mundo dos homens, o que se fortalecerá com seu …

Red Social En La Celestina: Una Aproximación Cuantitativa A Su Sistema De Personajes, Jennifer Isasi

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

La que hoy es conocida como La Celestina se publicó en su edición príncipe con el título de Comedia de Calisto y Melibea (1499 o 1500), con 16 actos, para ser retitulada Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea en 1502, añadiéndosele cinco actos más. Parece que sin prestar demasiada atención a la decisión tomada respecto a la trama trágica en lugar de cómica, ya en ese mismo siglo Juan de Valdés o Juan Luis Vives comenzaron a referirse a la obra tal y como la conocemos hoy, haciendo de Celestina la protagonista de la obra ¿Por qué se dio dicho cambio, …

Pedagogía De Hablantes De Herencia: Implicaciones Para El Entrenamiento De Instructores Al Nivel Universitario, Lina M. Reznicek-Parrado

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study researches the differences in pedagogical needs between learners of Spanish as a Foreign Language (FL learners) and learners of Spanish as a Heritage Language (HL learners) at the university level. By using the UNL Modern Languages and Literatures Department as an illustrative case and based on an analysis of the Heritage Language student profile in the context of the United States, this study seeks to explore arguments in favor of providing training for university-level instructors of Spanish that responds to the specific pedagogical needs of Heritage Language Learners.

The relevancy of this study is not only based on …

Movie Review De Biutiful Por González Iñárritu, Ana M. López-Aguilera

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

En Biutiful, el director mexicano Alejandro González Iñárritu, presenta las dificultades de tres padres de familia para cuidar de sus hijos en un contexto de marginación y pobreza. La historia principal es la de Uxbal, enfermo de cáncer terminal, con dos hijos a su cargo, separado de una esposa bipolar, sin recursos económicos excepto lo que consigue como mediador en el negocio de inmigrantes ilegales y como medium entre los espíritus de los recién fallecidos y sus familiares. Con esta historia confluyen la de Hin y la de Edweme. El primero, colaborador de Uxbal en el tráfico de inmigrantes …

Span 300: Advanced Reading And Writing In Spanish (Special Section For Heritage Speakers)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Isabel Velázquez

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This is an course portfolio which inquires into an undergraduate class designed to develop the academic reading and writing skills of bilingual students who grew up in Spanish-speaking households and received all or most of their schooling in English.

Contextos Y Prácticas En Las Humanidades Digitales, Joseba Moreno

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

La aplicación de la tecnología a los trabajos enmarcados en el campo de las humanidades y la creación de un nuevo conjunto de prácticas denominado humanidades digitales, es el tema principal de este trabajo, que pretende servir de introducción a algunas de las prácticas y metodologías más recientes en el ámbito académico.

Modelización Social En Dos Novelas Novohispanas: Vida Y Hechos Del Famoso Caballero Don Catrín De La Fachenda Y El Periquillo Sarniento, Wilfrido M. Suárez

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

En este trabajo analizo el modelo de sociedad —es decir, cómo las personas quedan agrupadas y qué tipo de relaciones las caracterizan— propuesto en las primeras novelas que aparecen en la América hispana a principios del siglo XIX. Mi investigación parte de los conocimientos aportados por la investigación socio-histórica en cuanto a la naturaleza de la sociedad establecida por el imperio español en el continente americano y, más en particular, en la Nueva España. Destaco la situación de los criollos dentro del estamento colonial, cuyos representantes son los protagonistas de Vida y hechos del famoso caballero don Catrín de la …

Reseña De La Película Smoking Room (2002), Ana M. López-Aguilera

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Una empresa española es comprada por otra estadounidense. Una de las consecuencias derivadas de esta compra es una nueva política con respecto a fumar en el lugar de trabajo. Nuevas directivas prohiben hacerlo en el área de trabajo. Si los empleados quieren fumar durante su jornada tienen que salir a la calle. Uno de ellos inicia una recogida de firmas entre los trabajadores para pedir que una habitación desocupada en el edificio de oficinas se destine a sala de fumadores o, como la definen sus desconocidos superiores estadounidenses, smoking room. A partir de esta anécdota en apariencia irrelevante y …

The Parapraxis Of Translation, Roland K. Végső

Department of English: Faculty Publications

Within the context of politics and culture, provides a theoretic framework for the analysis of modern translation. Includes section titles, "The paradoxa of translation," "The pragmatics of translation," and "The truth of translation."