The following dissertation stories and analyzes the discourses and development of human-environmental connections in the Sonoran Desert. Firstly, after providing a brief introduction to the Sonoran Desert region, an overview of relevant theoretical, linguistic, and social psychological ideas is presented in relation to environmental orientation. Then, ten semi-structured interviews with environmentally-oriented individuals from two languacultures—White American (E group) and Mexican/Chicanx (S group)—are analyzed linguistically and thematically to uncover discursive and developmental patterns, respectively, of more-than-human affinities within and between groups. The results of the linguistic portion of the analysis—whose major codes include agentive verb use, personhood markers, I-constructions, and we-constructions—indicate a high degree of overlap between groups. Quantitatively, we-constructions and agentive verb use were more common than I-constructions and personhood markers, although the S group's greater use of I-constructions is of note. Qualitatively, consultants frequently identified emotive and/or cognitive functions not typically granted to more-than-human beings and perceived a degree of personhood within them, illuminating what might be considered a personhood-based affinity (which are linguistically demonstrated via the use of agentive verbs and personhood markers). Secondly, consultants instantiated a mirror-based affinity, which is built on the premise that humans and more-than-human beings can see themselves in one another. This type of affinity is exemplified by the use of I-constructions, and, as is the case for the personhood-based affinity, is most prevalent when referring to more-than-human beings perceived as discrete (e.g., animals, plants) when referring to direct mirrors (e.g., anthropomorphizing a more-than-human being), but is more common among more abstract more-than-human beings (e.g., desert/nature) when referring to scientific and/or spiritual parallels between humans and more-than-human beings. The final type of affinity identified—support-based affinity—is exemplified by the use of we-constructions, and is also most prevalent when referring to more abstract more-than-human beings. The results of the thematic portions of the analysis—whose major codes include cultural influences and more-than-human influences—similarly indicate a high degree of overlap between groups. Cultural influences were more prevalent among both groups, specifically family/friends/partners and education/media; however, it is of note that the first was more prevalent among S group consultants while the second was more prevalent among E group consultants. The more-than-human influences of emotional impact, receiving, and seeing oneself were popular among both. The overarching similarities identified between groups supports the idea that there is an environmentally-oriented cognition that extends beyond language and culture.

Durante el siglo XIX, y hasta la primera mitad del siglo XX, Europa fue el escenario de una emigración masiva hacia las Américas. En ese mismo siglo, numerosos países de lo que posteriormente sería América Latina y el Caribe lograban sus independencias y se ostentaban como naciones libres. Lugares como Brasil y Cuba, donde anteriormente la principal fuerza laboral estaba compuesta por esclavos, fueron algunos de los principales destinos en la emigración europea. Esta investigación se enfoca en las fotografías de tres archivos que documentaron tanto la emigración, como la inmigración, en este contexto geopolítico y que actualmente forman parte de proyectos de humanidades digitales relacionados con la memoria y la identidad. Estos son el archivo iconográfico del Museu da Imigração do Estado de São Paulo , la Biblioteca Digital Hispánica de la Biblioteca Nacional de España y la Memoria Digital del Principado de Asturias . La hipótesis es que las imágenes de estas fotografías pueden estar contribuyendo para fomentar y/o reforzar un discurso colonialista basándose en la imagen del blanco/europeo en las Américas integrados en proyectos de nación decimonónicos y que forman parte de narrativas fundacionales. Para este análisis, construyo una mirada a partir de la teoría decolonial, la cual propone desvincularse de las bases eurocéntricas del poder que llegaron con el colonialismo, así como de la lógica de la modernidad y otras epistemologías basadas en estos principios. Esta mirada es consciente de los afectos y la forma en la cual estos operan en el cuerpo, así como de la conformación de sociedades afectivas. A partir de esta mirada, es posible determinar cómo la historia oficial construyó narrativas que siguen perpetuando mecanismos de poder basados en una estética imperialista. Los estudios sobre la migración hacia América Latina y el Caribe se han consolidado como un importante medio para extender e incentivar el diálogo sobre las conformaciones identitarias y su repercusión en la cultura. Actualmente, con el surgimiento de nuevas formas de comunicación y expresión cultural en plataformas electrónicas, resulta oportuno, si acaso necesario, analizar el posible impacto de las imágenes utilizadas en la virtualidad, cómo son vistas, cómo se presentan y bajo qué narrativas están insertas. Más aún, ¿cómo afectan emocionalmente a las sociedades afectivas?

This dissertation examines practices of belonging in contemporary Italy as a fluid process. I examine the Chinatalian experience in Rome, Italy. I am interested in the ways that a Chinatalian phenomenology creates a discursive space for myriad practices of being both Chinese and Italian. “Chinatalianess” is an elastic process and a way of life unique to the individual and the historic and geopolitical context of the moment; it is not definable by nationality, biological characteristics, or even shared cultural practices. “Chinatalian choreographies” are sets of literal and symbolic bodily operations that resist exclusion and generate material and symbolic support for Chinatalians. I would argue that “Chinatalian choreographies” also create the potential for a more just Italy. I analyze actual choreographed events —for example, a happy hour in Rome and a dance performance by a Sicilian dance company — and autobiographical texts written by Chinatalians. My theoretical and practical approach is interdisciplinary and intersectional; I use critical ethnography as a primary method, which builds on theories and practices in critical dance studies, feminist geographies, and postcolonial Italian studies to engage the ways that Chinatalians in Rome are contributing to new forms of “Italian” culture. The recent resurgence of anti-Chinese sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic lends urgency to this project which asks: What are the lived conditions of Chinatalians in contemporary Italy? Who is allowed to contribute to “Italian” culture? This thesis demonstrates that the notion of Italianess and Chinatalianess, are cultural fictions. Not only is Chinatalian identity and culture an invention but its performance is situated in the specific historical and geopolitical context in question. Rome provides the backdrop to this project, and it is against and alongside this history and contemporary context that my argument for a more just Italy emerges.

In the new age of digital capitalism and consumerism, how are Marxist ideas and analyses enriched by new commodity forms while simultaneously in need of rethinking? This thesis sets out to answer this question by interpreting Marx and other thinkers and thus to preserve any authenticity left in our age of techno-revolutionized late-stage capitalism. More particularly, my analysis of the new phenomenon of celebrity and influencer culture would serve as a pathway to explore how deeply our individualistic, capitalist mindsets have invaded our external and internal lives. The thesis, therefore, will explore how capitalism has transformed itself during the digital age, how this has affected consumers, and if any sort of conciliation or mediation can be made through critical analysis of these phenomena.

The work of one of the most prominent German Turkish authors, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, is well known for its multilingual strategies. Her collection of short stories Mutterzunge (1990) is praised for its strategic use of literal translation to convey the linguistic hybridity of cultures that emerged following twentieth century migration from Turkey to Germany. Özdamar points to the impossibility of a homogenous language by creating bilingual neologisms and by referencing Turkish language reforms. While Mutterzunge's use of translation has been well researched, the actual practices shaping the work's translations into other languages and the reception of these translations have remained underexplored. This thesis considers how Mutterzunge’s multilingual qualities are treated in English- and Turkish-language translations, and how the receiving cultures' relationship to migration and multiculturality impact their reception. This project argues that while the English translation sacrifices many of Mutterzunge's creative neologisms to introduce Turkish German cultures to English-speaking audiences through analogy to migration from Mexico, the Turkish translation reiterates the Turkish language reform’s attempt to create a "purer" language, while successfully rendering Özdamar’s neologisms in a context where Turkey is becoming an immigrant-receiving country. As the two translations aim to acquaint their audiences with a multilingual text and the migrant culture it references, they are shaped by experiences of migration and ideas about national identity in the host nations. The thesis concludes that both translations signal a reluctance to fully represent Özdamar’s multilingualism, which points to the need for further conversations on the practices of translation of literary texts that incorporate multilingual strategies.

I will be arguing that, although Kierkegaard is masterful when it comes incorporating rhetorical strategies and poetic elements in his works in an attempt to grasp the reader’s attention, his reliance upon a theistic system contradicts what I believe to be the message of subjectivity. This is why he does not affect me in a way that Nietzsche does and I will be objectively showing why I have been influenced more by Nietzsche through the use of their texts. His ideas on the overman, the will to power, and masks and appearances are liberating for the subjective thinker and invoke a sense of nobility in human existence that is not matched by Kierkegaard’s ideas. Perhaps my reader will disagree with my opinion but I hope this provides a dialogue or “loving fight” between these two thinkers for my reader to come to his/her own conclusion about the nature of subjectivity and its role in human existence.