Search

Longtemps associée à des perspectives archétypologiques soucieuses de débusquer les matrices universelles du fait symbolique, la notion d’« imaginaire » a souvent été suspectée par les historiens ; avec l’émergence de l’histoire culturelle dès les années 1980, elle a pourtant fini par s’imposer, avec sa déclinaison « sociale », dans l’arsenal conceptuel de la recherche historique, où elle suscite depuis un engouement manifeste. Cette entrée de l’« imaginaire social » dans l’éventail des préoccupations de l’histoire sociale et culturelle n’a cependant jamais été véritablement accompagnée par un effort de clarification conceptuelle, les mises au point faisant encore aujourd’hui défaut. En partant d’un survol des usages du concept d’imaginaire social au sein des sciences humaines et sociales, s’inspirant par ailleurs des apports fondamentaux venus de la philosophie et de la sociocritique du texte littéraire, cet article entend combler cette lacune : offrant une synthèse théorique utile autour de la notion, il en propose une théorisation susceptible de définir et d’unifier ce champ de la recherche qu’on appelle parfois aujourd’hui « histoire des imaginaires sociaux »., Although the concept of the “imaginary” has long been associated with archetypal perspectives whose goal is to illuminate our understanding of the universal matrices of the symbolic fact, historians traditionally approached it with scepticism. Since the 1980s, however, when the study of cultural history began to gain widespread acceptance, the concept of the imaginary, with its various “social” declensions, has inspired a growing interest in the theoretical framework of historical research. Despite a widespread acceptance of the imaginary as a field of study, socio-imaginary narratives have never been truly conceptualized and the foundations of their theoretical expression have yet to be clearly defined. Beginning with an overview of the ways in which existing socio-imaginary narratives are used in the human and social sciences, and with reference to a literary review of the fundamental contributions of philosophy and sociocriticism to the study of cultural history, this article is intended to elucidate a more thorough comprehension of the concept of the imaginary. It offers a theoretical synthesize of socio-imaginary narratives and, in so doing, proposes a theoretical framework that serves to define and unify this field of research – what French historians often refer to as the histoire des imaginaires sociaux., Asociada durante mucho tiempo con las perspectivas arquetipológicas interesadas en la búsqueda de matrices universales a partir del hecho simbólico, la noción de “imaginario” a menudo ha sido observada de forma sospechosa por los historiadores. Sin embargo, con el surgimiento de la historia cultural en la década de 1980, finalmente esta noción, con su variación “social”, ha terminado por imponerse en el arsenal conceptual de la investigación histórica, suscitando desde entonces un entusiasmo evidente. No obstante, la entrada del “imaginario social” en el rango de las preocupaciones de la historia social y cultural, nunca ha estado realmente acompañada de un esfuerzo de aclaración conceptual, puesto que aún hace falta su desarrollo. Partiendo de una mirada general a los usos del concepto de imaginario social al interior de las ciencias humanas y sociales, e inspirándose en las contribuciones fundamentales que provienen de la filosofía y de la sociocrítica del texto literario, este artículo pretende llenar este vacío, ofreciendo una síntesis teórica útil en torno a la noción y proponiendo una teorización susceptible de definir y unificar este campo de investigación, llamado en ocasiones en la actualidad “historia de los imaginarios sociales”.

Prolonged lymphopenia represents a major clinical problem after cytoreductive therapies such as chemotherapy and the conditioning required for hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT), contributing to the risk of infections and malignant relapse. Restoration of T-cell immunity depends on tissue regeneration in the thymus, the primary site of T-cell development, although the capacity of the thymus to repair itself diminishes over its lifespan. However, although boosting thymic function and T-cell reconstitution is of considerable clinical importance, there are currently no approved therapies for treating lymphopenia. Here we found that zinc (Zn) is critically important for both normal T-cell development and repair after acute damage. Accumulated Zn in thymocytes during development was released into the extracellular milieu after HCT conditioning, where it triggered regeneration by stimulating endothelial cell production of BMP4 via the cell surface receptor GPR39. Dietary supplementation of Zn was sufficient to promote thymic function in a mouse model of allogeneic HCT, including enhancing the number of recent thymic emigrants in circulation although direct targeting of GPR39 with a small molecule agonist enhanced thymic function without the need for prior Zn accumulation in thymocytes. Together, these findings not only define an important pathway underlying tissue regeneration but also offer an innovative preclinical approach to treat lymphopenia in HCT recipients.

Dans l’imaginaire social français du xxie siècle naissant, l’islam devient, selon Raphaël Liogier, « la figure centrale de l’altérité indésirable ». Intrusive, sa présence est souvent considérée comme doublement menaçante, sur les plans sécuritaire et identitaire. Le phénomène n’est pas nouveau, mais il connaît, depuis le milieu des années 2000, une aggravation inédite, alors que les thèmes de l’« islamisation » de la société et de la « radicalisation » des individus alimentent de nouvelles peurs et nourrissent un récit sociétal, celui d’une invasion étrangère qui marquerait le déclin possible d’un Occident menacé. Dans la foulée, on voit apparaître, depuis quelques années, des fictions romanesques qui, s’appropriant ces thèmes, interagissent directement avec ce récit, dans une double dynamique de reprise et de rupture narratives. À partir d’une lecture du discours médiatique visant, dans un premier temps, à reconstruire ce récit sociétal de l’invasion musulmane, cet article analyse, dans un deuxième temps, cinq romans qui, parus en France entre 2012 et 2016, mettent en récit l’islamisation de la société occidentale et/ou la radicalisation ou « djihadisation » d’un personnage converti à l’islam. Il retrace ainsi divers types de transformation que la littérature contemporaine fait subir au récit sociétal : alors que certains textes s’approprient le récit d’invasion pour l’exacerber, racontant ou bien la résistance héroïque d’une Civilisation indestructible ou bien, au contraire, la déliquescence inéluctable d’une France agonisante, d’autres le mettent à distance et, en insistant sur le naufrage d’un Occident délétère, rattachent moins la barbarie à une invasion étrangère qu’à une détérioration intérieure., In the social imaginary of the 21st century, Islam has become, according to Raphael Liogier, the “central figure of undesirable otherness.” Its intrusive presence is often considered doubly threatening in terms of security and identity. This phenomenon is not new, but since the mid-2000s, it has experienced an unprecedented aggravation, whereas the themes of the “Islamization” of society and the “radicalization” of individuals feed new fears and nourish the social narrative of a foreign invasion, marking the possible decline of an already threatened West. With this, fiction has been appearing for some years now that directly interacts with this narrative, within a double dynamic of reenactment and rupture that can be explained by sociocriticism. Based on a reading of media rhetoric, which aims to reconstruct the narrative of the Muslim invasion, this article analyzes five novels, published in France between 2012 and 2016, which fictionalize the Islamization of the Western world and/or the radicalization of a character converted to Islam. By doing so, it retraces the various types of transformation of the narrative throughout contemporary literature: while certain texts exacerbate the narrative of the invasion, recounting either the heroic resistance of an indestructible Civilization or, on the other hand, the ineluctable decay of a dying France, others are taking distance. By insisting on the wreck of a deleterious West, those fictions attach less barbarism to a foreign invasion than to an internal deterioration.

Stream water pH and composition are widely used to monitor ongoing recovery from the deposition of strong anthropogenic acids in many forested headwater catchments in the northeastern United States. However, stream water composition is a function of highly complex and coupled processes, flowpaths, and variations in soil and bedrock composition. Spatial heterogeneity is especially pronounced in headwater catchments with steep topography, potentially limiting stream water composition as an indicator of changes in critical zone (CZ) dynamics during system recovery. To investigate the link between catchment characteristics, landscape position, and stream water composition we used long-term data (1991–2015) from the Sleepers River Research Watershed (SRRW) in northeastern Vermont. We investigated trends with time in stream water and trends with time, depth, and landscape position (upslope, midslope, and riparian zone) in groundwater (GW) and soil solution. We further determined soil elemental composition and mineralogy on archived (1996) and modern (2017) soil samples to assess changes in composition with time. SRRW is inherently well-buffered by calcite in bedrock and till, but soils had become acidified and are now recovering from acidification. Although base cations, especially Ca, decrease progressively with time in GW, riparian soils have become more enriched in Ca, due to a mixture of lateral and vertical transfers. At the same time stream water Ca fluxes increased over the past two decades, likely due to the leaching of (transient) legacy Ca from riparian zones and increased water fluxes. The stream water response therefore reflects the dynamic changes in soil chemistry, flow routing and water inputs.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is a well-established therapy with curative potential for a variety of malignant and non-malignant diseases. However, delayed T cell reconstitution is an important contributor to transplant-related morbidity and mortality due to infections and malignant relapse. Optimal T cell development requires a functional thymus and many patients who could benefit from enhancing immune regeneration after HSCT have poor thymic function due to their age or their exposure to chemo- and radiation therapy. Here, we show that zinc, which is the second most abundant trace metal in the body, is crucial for thymic function and can be used to promote T cell reconstitution after HSCT. Mice that had been fed a zinc deficient diet for 3 weeks showed reduced thymic cellularity as zinc was required for the expansion and transition from DN to DP thymocytes. Conversely, supplementation of zinc in drinking water could significantly enhance T cell reconstitution after HSCT. Mechanistically, we found a switch in the bioavailability of zinc following damage, likely due to the death of thymocytes; and its release from thymocytes was able to directly stimulate the zinc-gated receptor GPR39 on endothelial cells to directly induce the production of BMP4; which we have previously identified as a key mediator of endogenous thymic regeneration. Consistent with this hypothesis, mice that had been given a pharmacologic inhibitor of BMP4 signaling did not demonstrate any improved thymic regeneration after zinc supplementation. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that zinc is important for steady-state T cell development and zinc supplementation offers a simple but innovative therapeutic strategy to improve T cell reconstitution.

Bien étudié par l’historiographie française, l’impact considérable du fait divers et du crime sur la littérature et l’imaginaire du xixe siècle l’est beaucoup moins par l’historiographie québécoise, alors que le phénomène est, bien qu’à une échelle plus réduite, tout aussi important de ce côté de l’Atlantique. L’article a pour objectif d’éclairer ce point d’histoire littéraire en réinscrivant certains des premiers romans canadiens-français dans le contexte précis de leur publication. Inspirés de faits divers marquants (dont la fameuse affaire de la « bande de Chambers »), ceux-ci entretiennent d’étroites et de fortes relations avec la presse et, partant, avec certains débats sociaux et politiques qui ont marqué l’espace public québécois des années 1830 et 1840.

Loin des debats epidemiologiques, cet article ne vise pas a identifier les principaux facteurs ou causes suicidogenes. Il entend plutot examiner les facteurs socioculturels qui, sans causer ou determiner le suicide, accompagnent sa realisation en modelant la « scenarisation » du passage a l’acte. A partir de la theorie sociologique des scripts, d’abord elaboree dans le champ des etudes sur la sexualite, nous analysons les modalites narratives ou scenaristiques du geste suicidaire lui-meme et mettons en lumiere les regularites suicidaires, telles que celles-ci se degagent d’une lecture des archives quebecoises des coroners au xxe siecle : se suicider, c’est le plus souvent se donner la mort selon des formes convenues, en « agissant » l’un ou l’autre des scripts suicidaires qui, dans tel ou tel contexte, s’offrent aux acteurs.

I nterview with I khlaq S idhu Alexander Gagnon, Felicia Linn, Jennifer Cherone, Stephano Iantorno Ikhlaq Sidhu is the founding director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology and the “2009 Emerging Area Professor” of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at UC Berkeley. He is an authority on the process of innovation and technology management. Dr. Sidhu has held senior executive positions at several companies including U.S. Robotics Corporation, 3Com Corporation, and Cambia Networks. In 1999 he was the recipient of 3Com’s Inventor of the Year award, and holds BSJ: Could you give a brief description about the Center of Entrepreneurship and Technology and talk about what the program is all about? Sidhu: This is a center that’s located in the College of Engineering. It was started in 2005 and the mission of the center is to educate engineers and scientists primarily, although we tend to get students from really all over the campus, including the business school and chemistry just, you know, broadly. But it is to educate engineers and scientists to be able to innovate, to lead and to commercialize technology, and we say it in a global economy. One thing that I’ve told people before is that all engineers and scientists want to innovate—nobody wants to fix old things, everyone wants to build new things—that’s kind of why you go into the profession. But just innovating or thinking of new things by itself isn’t enough, and there’s other skills that you need along with this interest in innovating that lead to practice, that lead to whatever it is that you want to do actually becoming some sort of reality. In part, that includes explaining to other people what you think is worth doing and why you think it’s a good idea Ikhlaq Sidhu is the founding director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Entreneurship and getting them to agree with & Technology and the “2009 Emerging Area Professor” of Industrial Engineering you and to help you, and that’s and Operations Research at UC Berkeley. really what leadership is about. So it’s innovating, leading, and over 50 US patents in networking technology, IP then of course what you can do with technology, or telephony, and PDA functionality. Dr. Sidhu received what you can do with your ideas is so much more his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer scalable if you can leverage the resources of investors Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana- because it’s one thing just to build something, but it’s Champaign, and his masters’ degree and doctorate in another thing to build on all the finances and money Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University. that comes when you happen to hit something that B S J B erkeley S cientific J ournal • E conomics • S pring 2010 • V olume 13 • I ssue 2 • 13

THE MIND FALL THE MIND Matthew Walker www.hno.harvard.edu Matthew P. Walker is an assistant pro- fessor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of California at Berkeley. He has received several hon- ors and awards from institutions such as Harvard and the National Academy of Sciences for his work in neuroscience and psychiatry. Dr. Walker’s research at Berkeley is focused on sleep and the brain, using tools such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). His research investigates the role of sleep in human society and its relation to memory processing, brain plasticity, and learning. Furthermore, this research explores the impact of loss of sleep and how it correlates with mood disorders, such as major depression and aggression. Interviewed by: Alexander Gagnon, Tiffany Horne, Stacy Hsueh, Mio Kitayama, Barry Ko, Felicia Linn, Michael Moses SJ: Your research is very interesting, could you maybe say first off what kind of opportunities there are for undergradu- ates to research with you? Walker: Sure. I actually just moved my lab here from Boston in the past September [2007], so my lab is not fully built, so now the opportunities are a total of zero, since I haven't a lab. But it will arrive, it will be built, in August. At that point we will be looking for bright but committed people, because sleep research—unlike some other aspects of psychology where you can pull people any time of day to sit them down and do some tests, stick them inside a brain scanner, monitor brain activity, etc.—we tend to be much more intensive. They have to come in and get wired up to electrodes, have their whole night recorded, or we deprive them of sleep com- pletely and keep them up all of the next day, take them out on walks, you name it. For people that get involved, it’s a weird type of involvement, that requires so much more than just, you know, okay you’re going to be testing subjects between four and six P.M. and everything is golden after that. But hopefully what they get is something a little more rewarding, because they are seriously immersed in the research. So they have to be very interested in sleep, to the point of irony because what you end up trying to study is the same thing you have to deprive yourself of to actually under- stand what it is you are trying to study. There’s this delight- ful paradox in the whole world of sleep research. But we think it’s very exciting and I’m not trying to be arrogant, but we tend to be idea rich and hand poor, meaning we usually have many more ideas than we have people to carry out our ideas. So, the more people we can get interested and bring on board the better. BSJ: Mostly as subjects? Walker: Well definitely we need them too, but the nice thing is that we pay rather handsomely. Some of you guys will deliberately go without sleep for a night for whatever reasons you’ve got, and we’ll pay people anywhere between $80 and $150 to stay up all night. If they want to complete their essay in that time, they are going to do anyway so why not get paid for it? And then we’ll just, well, use and abuse you in psy- chological terms, stick you in brain scanners and such, but that’s a small price to pay. So that’s where we are at in terms of the lab and where it’s set up, so come August we’ll hope- fully be firing on all cylinders. BSJ: Unlike the brains of the people you will be testing.