@misc{Hennemann2012, author = {Hennemann, Anja}, title = {The epistemic and evidential use of Spanish modal adverbs and verbs of cognitive attitude}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe}, number = {107}, issn = {1866-8380}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93929}, pages = {38}, year = {2012}, abstract = {This article deals with Spanish modal adverbs and verbs of cognitive attitude (Capelli 2007) and their epistemic and/or evidential use. The article is based upon the hypothesis that the study of the use of these linguistic devices has to be highly context-sensitive, as it is not always (only) the sentence level that has to be looked at if one wants to find out whether a certain adverb or verb of cognitive attitude is used evidentially or epistemically. In this article, therefore, the context is used to determine which meaning aspects of an element are encoded and which are contributed by the context. The data were retrieved from the daily newspaper El Pa{\´i}s. Nevertheless, the present study is not a quantitative one, but rather a qualitative study. My corpus analysis indicates that it is not possible to differentiate between the linguistic categories of evidentiality and epistemic modality in every case, although it indeed is possible in the vast majority of cases. In verbs of cognitive attitude, evidentiality and epistemic modality seem to be two interwoven categories, while concerning modal adverbs it is usually possible to separate the categories and to distinguish between the different subtypes of evidentiality such as visual evidence, hearsay and inference.}, language = {en} } @article{Kraft2012, author = {Kraft, Tobias}, title = {Textual Differences in Alexander von Humboldt's Essai politique sur l'{\^i}le de Cuba}, series = {Alexander von Humboldt im Netz ; international review for Humboldtian studies}, volume = {XIII}, journal = {Alexander von Humboldt im Netz ; international review for Humboldtian studies}, number = {24}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, issn = {2568-3543}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-61435}, pages = {75 -- 85}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Die vorliegende Studie basiert auf einem Editionsbericht, der 2009 im Rahmen der Konferenz »Alexander von Humboldt and the Hemisphere« an der Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) vorgestellt wurde. Die f{\"u}r diese Publikation weiter entwickelte Untersuchung verdeutlicht die Textgenese von Humboldts Essai politique sur l'{\^i}le de Cuba auf der Basis eines Textvergleichs zwischen allen drei "Originalquellen" des Texts. Der hier in seinen Ergebnissen vorgestellte Textvergleich ist Teil des Editionsprojektes »Humboldt in English« (HiE), bei dem sich ein US-deutsches Editorenteam seit 2007 zum Ziel gesetzt haben, kritische Neu{\"u}bersetzungen von drei wichtigen Schriften aus Humboldts »Opus Americanum« anzufertigen (s.a. Fußnote). Der Textvergleich des Essai politique sur l'{\^i}le de Cuba bildete die Textgrundlage f{\"u}r den ersten Band der HiE-Reihe, den 2011 bei Chicago University Press erschienenen The Political Essay on the Island of Cuba (hg. von Vera M. Kutzinski und Ottmar Ette).}, language = {en} } @article{vonMoritz2012, author = {von Moritz, Brescius}, title = {Connecting the new world}, volume = {XIII}, number = {25}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, issn = {1617-5239}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-62386}, pages = {11 -- 33}, year = {2012}, abstract = {This article explores the link between the profound technological transformations of the nineteenth century and the life and work of the Prussian scholar Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859). It analyses how Humboldt sought to appropriate the revolutionary new communication and transportation technologies of the time in order to integrate the American continent into global networks of commercial, intellectual and material exchange. Recent scholarship on Humboldt's expedition to the New World (1799-1804) has claimed that his descriptions of tropical landscapes opened up South America to a range of 'transformative interventions' (Pratt) by European capitalists and investors. These studies, however, have not analysed the motivations underlying Humboldt's support for such intrusions into nature. Furthermore, they have not explored the role that such projects played in shaping Humboldt's understanding of the forces behind the progress of societies. To comprehend Humboldt's approval for human interventions in America's natural world, this study first explores the role that eighteenth-century theories of progress and the notion of geographical determinism played in shaping his conception of civilisational development. It will look at concrete examples of transformative interventions in the American hemisphere that were actively proposed by Humboldt and intended to overcome natural obstacles to human interaction. These were the use of steamships, electric telegraphy, railroads and large-scale canals that together enabled global trade and communication to occur at an unprecedented pace. All these contemporary innovations will be linked to the four motifs of nets, mobility, progress and acceleration, which were driving forces behind the 'transformation of the world' that took place in the course of the nineteenth century.}, language = {en} }