A groundbreaking appreciation of Dylan as a literary practitioner
WINNER OF THE ELIZABETH AGEE PRIZE IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
The literary establishment tends to regard Bob Dylan as an intriguing, if ...baffling, outsider. That changed overnight when Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, challenging us to think of him as an integral part of our national and international literary heritage. No One to Meet: Imitation and Originality in the Songs of Bob Dylan places Dylan the artist within a long tradition of literary production and offers an innovative way of understanding his unique, and often controversial, methods of composition.
In lucid prose, Raphael Falco demonstrates the similarity between what Renaissance writers called imitatio and the way Dylan borrows, digests, and transforms traditional songs. Although Dylan’s lyrical postures might suggest a post-Romantic, “avant-garde” consciousness, No One to Meet shows that Dylan’s creative process borrows from and creatively expands the methods used by classical and Renaissance authors.
Drawing on numerous examples, including Dylan’s previously unseen manuscript excerpts and archival materials, Raphael Falco illuminates how the ancient process of poetic imitation, handed down from Greco-Roman antiquity, allows us to make sense of Dylan’s musical and lyrical technique. By placing Dylan firmly in the context of an age-old poetic practice, No One to Meet deepens our appreciation of Dylan’s songs and allows us to celebrate him as what he truly is: a great writer.
L’idée d’un déficit global d’imitation dans l’autisme existe depuis de nombreuses années. Actuellement, de plus en plus de travaux amènent à nuancer cette idée en montrant que même les enfants avec ...les profils autistiques les plus sévères sont capables d’imiter sous certaines conditions. Toutefois, nous ne disposons pas encore de données longitudinales relatives aux trajectoires développementales des différentes formes d’imitation chez les enfants présentant un TSA. Ainsi, l’objectif de cette étude est : 1) d’étudier les trajectoires développementales de l’imitation spontanée, de l’imitation provoquée et de la reconnaissance d’être imité.e. chez des enfants ayant un TSA ; 2) d’identifier les facteurs intra-individuels associés aux performances imitatives mesurées ; et 3) d’examiner les relations entre chacune des trois formes d’imitation évaluées et le développement cognitif et communicatif.
Quatorze enfants ayant un TSA, âgés entre 3 ans 8 mois et 9 ans 4 mois, ont été inclus dans cette étude. Un design longitudinal, impliquant trois temps de mesures sur une période de 16 mois, a été mis en place. L’échelle de Nadel a été utilisée pour évaluer l’imitation spontanée, l’imitation provoquée et la reconnaissance d’être imité.e. Le Profil psycho-éducatif et le test non verbal d’intelligence de Snijders-Oonen ont permis d’évaluer le développement cognitif et communicatif.
Les enfants progressent sur chacune des trois composantes de l’imitation, bien qu’une hétérogénéité des trajectoires évolutives soit constatée. Les avancées les plus importantes se situent au niveau de l’imitation provoquée. Les compétences motrices, le niveau cognitif et l’intensité des comportements autistiques au début de l’étude sont corrélés aux compétences imitatives ultérieures des enfants. L’âge chronologique, en revanche, ne l’est pas. Le développement cognitif et communicatif corrèle plus fortement avec l’imitation spontanée et la reconnaissance d’être imité.e, qu’avec l’imitation provoquée.
Quel que soit leur âge, les enfants présentant un TSA peuvent progresser dans les différentes formes d’imitation. Cela témoigne de l’intérêt d’évaluer régulièrement leurs compétences dans ce domaine, notamment pour leur proposer un programme d’entraînement individualisé. Sur ce point, nos résultats soulignent la nécessité de ne pas se centrer exclusivement sur l’entraînement à l’imitation sur commande, mais également de soutenir la communication par l’imitation.
The idea of a global imitation deficit in autism has existed for many years. Actually, a growing body of research is nuancing this idea by showing that even children with the most severe autistic profiles are able to imitate under certain conditions. However, we do not yet have longitudinal data on the developmental trajectories of different forms of imitation in children with ASD. So, the aim of the present study is: 1) to investigate the developmental trajectories of spontaneous imitation, elicited imitation, and imitation recognition in children with ASD; 2) to identify intra-individual factors associated with measured imitative performance; and 3) to examine the relationships between each of the three forms of imitation assessed and cognitive and communicative development.
Fourteen children with ASD aged between 3 years 8 months and 9 years 4 months were included in this study. A longitudinal experimental design involving three measurement times over a 16-month period was implemented. Nadel's imitation scale was used to assess spontaneous imitation, elicited imitation and imitation recognition. The Psycho-Educational Profile and the Snijders-Oonen non-verbal intelligence test were administered to assess cognitive and communicative development.
Children made significant progress over time on each of the three components of imitation, although we noted a heterogeneity of the developmental trajectories. The greatest gains were in elicited imitation. Motor skills, cognitive level and intensity of autistic behaviors at the beginning of the study significantly correlated with children's later imitative skills. Chronological age, however, was not. Cognitive and communicative development correlated more strongly with spontaneous imitation and imitation recognition than with elicited imitation.
Regardless of their age, children with ASD can progress in different forms of imitation. This underlines the value of regularly evaluating their skills in this area, in particular to offer them an individualized training program. On this point, our results illustrate the need not to train exclusively elicited imitation, but also to support communication through imitation.
Existing safe imitation learning (safe IL) methods mainly focus on learning safe policies that are similar to expert ones, but may fail in applications requiring different safety constraints. In this ...paper, we propose the Lagrangian Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning (LGAIL) algorithm, which can adaptively learn safe policies from a single expert dataset under diverse prescribed safety constraints. To achieve this, we augment GAIL with safety constraints and then relax it as an unconstrained optimization problem by utilizing a Lagrange multiplier. The Lagrange multiplier enables explicit consideration of the safety and is dynamically adjusted to balance the imitation and safety performance during training. Then, we apply a two-stage optimization framework to solve LGAIL: (1) a discriminator is optimized to measure the similarity between the agent-generated data and the expert ones; (2) forward reinforcement learning is employed to improve the similarity while considering safety concerns enabled by a Lagrange multiplier. Furthermore, theoretical analyses on the convergence and safety of LGAIL demonstrate its capability of adaptively learning a safe policy given prescribed safety constraints. At last, extensive experiments in OpenAI Safety Gym conclude the effectiveness of our approach.
Scholars have long been interested in how social media platforms shape user communication and behavior. We add to this literature by critically analyzing the TikTok platform. We argue that the ...principles of mimesis—imitation and replication—are encouraged by the platform’s logic and design and can be observed in the (1) user sign-up process and default page, (2) icons and video-editing features, and (3) user and video creation norms. These memetic features alter modes of sociality, contributing to what we theorize as imitation publics on TikTok. This analysis extends the meme’s theoretical and methodological utility by conceptualizing the TikTok platform as a memetic text in and of itself and illustrates a novel type of networked public.
De folos poate fisi una din Încercarile de definire oferite de Michel Leiris: "From the psychological point of view, the culture of a given society is the sum of the ways of thought, reactions and ...habits of behaviour acquired by its members through teaching or imitation and more or less common to all of them" (Race and Culture, UNESCO, Paris, 1951, 22). Numai asa ne putem explica prezenta În basme a unor motive epice comune la popoare care nu s-au aflat vreodata În contact unele cu altele, sau formule de descântec culese În zilele noastre aproape identice cu cele din Cartea mortilor, din secolul al XV-lea Î.e.n. Asemenea schimburi sau Împrumuturi pot fiÎntâlnite pretutindeni În lume. Studiul "Folclorul - cum poate fiÎnteles", Îi da prilejul lui N. Constantinescu sa citeze un astfel de caz, as spune extrem, textul unui "Plugusor" modern: "Aho, Ahooo!/ La multi ani, boieri, cu bine!/ Bine seara n-o-nserat,/ Noi cu plugul ne-am luat/ C-asa-i În lume lasat/ Sa aram o brazda, doua,/ Si sa punem pâine noua;/ (...)/ Ia mai roata, mai flacai/ Si la stânga trei batai/ Tot mai Îndemnati mai, hai, bai!/ D-ta gospodina de casa,/ Ia poftim pân' la fereastra/ Si nu sta asa mâhnita/ Ca ti-i fata urâta/ Si nu vin petitori În casa/ Sa se aseze la masa..." Constantin Eretescu Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island SUA
► We trained three groups of adults to either imitate, inhibit imitation or general inhibitory control. ► Twenty-four hours later all groups were tested on imitation–inhibition, Theory of Mind and ...perspective taking. ► Only imitation–inhibition training resulted in improved performance on perspective taking. ► We propose that the same self-other distinction process underlies imitation inhibition and perspective taking.
Evidence for successful socio-cognitive training in typical adults is rare. This study attempted to improve Theory of Mind (ToM) and visual perspective taking in healthy adults by training participants to either imitate or to inhibit imitation. Twenty-four hours after training, all participants completed tests of ToM and visual perspective taking. The group trained to inhibit their tendency to imitate showed improved performance on the visual perspective-taking test, but not the ToM test. Neither imitation training, nor general inhibition training, had this effect. These results support a novel theory of social cognition suggesting that the same self-other discrimination process underlies imitation inhibition and perspective taking. Imitation, perspective taking and ToM are all pro-social processes – ways in which we reach out to others. Therefore, it is striking that perspective taking can be
enhanced by
suppressing imitation; to understand another, sometimes we need, not to get closer, but to pull away.
The discovery of a set of beads, comprising both Sicilian amber and resin-coated beads in the Middle Bronze Age burial site of Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona, Spain), has sparked inquiries into ...whether the coating was intended for imitation or counterfeiting of amber. We assert that human-made materials, such as bead coatings, are intentionally conceived, designed, and crafted to fulfill specific functions. Thus, for an object to effectively fulfill its intended purpose, it must meet particular performance criteria influenced by situational factors.
This paper aims to construct an empirically grounded narrative elucidating the development and function of resin-coated bead technology. Our methodology includes a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the coating and beads, an exploration of the interplay between technical choices and situational factors, and an investigation into whether the simulation of sensory performance characteristics played a pivotal role in the concept and design of resin-coated beads. Additionally, we synthesize data to unveil broader patterns related to the crafting and utilization of resin-coated and amber beads across time and space.
We have documented resin-coated beads in the Iberian Peninsula from the Neolithic period (5th to 3rd millennia BCE) until at least the Middle Bronze Age (first half of the 2nd millennium BCE), where they coexisted with amber beads. Analysis employing ATR-FTIR and μ-CT imaging has revealed a composite coating comprising pine resin, beeswax, and carotene, adhered to shell beads with bone glue. This composite material represents the earliest known development in human history, unique to the Iberian Peninsula and without parallel in Prehistoric Europe.
Our examination of the performance characteristics and functional roles of resin-coated beads suggests their potential as substitutes for amber beads, particularly in regions where amber was scarce or inaccessible. Despite being crafted from commonplace materials, these coated beads exhibit intentional design choices likely aimed at simulating the visual performance characteristics of amber. This deliberate effort, alongside their widespread distribution across time and space, indicates that composite-coated beads held symbolic and social significance akin to amber beads.
•Our study quantitatively examines the development of coated beads in prehistoric Iberia, offering a thorough hypothesis of their past function and use.•Our study uses ATR-FTIR and μ-CT scans for a comprehensive analysis of these artifacts' composition and structure, appealing to a broad audience.•Our findings show the oldest evidence of humanmade composite material, bonded to a shell by bone glue, indicating advanced prehistoric design.•We uncover how these beads were designed to visually mimic amber, aiming for a specific color and aging process.•Our study highlights the social and symbolic significance of amber-like beads in high-status adornment, analyzing factors driving this technology.•The Tagus estuary concentration of these beads suggests a nuanced understanding of genuine amber scarcity and the need for innovative adornment technology.
In the prooemium of the
of Faltonia Betitia Proba (lines 1–23) there are fragments not only of Vergil’s works but also of Lucan’s
and Juvencus’
. This article shows that in these lines Juvencus has a ...particular importance, for the references to his work increase until they reach a remarkable intensity in lines 22–23 and they stand out on different levels both formally and semantically. This thesis is supported by re-examining the origin of a reference in line 22 of the
(
) that is usually ascribed to Lucan. The attribution to Juvencus can be established through the phenomenon of acoustic imitation.
Social media challenges (SMCs) have become more diverse and seemingly more extreme, with certain dangerous challenges causing immediate harm to participants and capturing the attention of media ...outlets and academics. Children and adolescents are the most at-risk groups, often engaging in these challenges without fully understanding the consequences. Nevertheless, most existing research and reporting on SMCs are driven by specific cases or phenomena. Thus, we conducted a scoping literature review of 66 studies that capture the breadth of the research field.
Our review provides several critical insights. First, we identify a pronounced absence of theoretical grounding in the current literature, which we attribute to a focus on single-case and exploratory studies that often lack prior theoretical reasoning. This results in scattered and inconsistent descriptions of SMCs. This underscores the urgency of establishing a unified definition and a robust conceptual framework to explain the varied nature of SMCs. Second, the existing research predominantly fixates on the negative aspects of SMCs, narrowing the scope of analysis and overlooking the diverse intents and potential positive outcomes of engaging with SMCs, especially for young individuals.
We propose a consolidated conceptualization of SMCs, providing a unified definition that captures their multifaceted nature. We introduce a typology to evaluate various SMCs, their underlying intents, and potential consequences, underscoring the necessity of considering a spectrum of SMCs—spanning positive, neutral, and negative—to fully comprehend the potential benefits and risks associated with participation. Our work aims to lay a theoretical groundwork for future research and practical interventions.
•A unified approach to defining and typologizing Social Media Challenges (SMCs) is needed, moving away from a sole focus on their negative impacts.•SMCs are defined as user content that fosters replicable behaviors and virality, marked by unique identifiers like hashtags.•SMCs can be categorized by their intent (positive, neutral, negative), and associated danger levels (low, high).•The motives of young people engaging in SMCs vary between positive and negative challenges, necessitating differentiation.•Framework merging rational decisions, needs, social learning, and platform dynamics for enhanced regulation & intervention.
