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Ursini, Francesco-AlessioORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0001-7042-3576
Alternative names
Publications (10 of 34) Show all publications
Ursini, F.-A. (2017). David Bowie's Influence on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, 7, Article ID 1.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>David Bowie's Influence on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
2017 (English)In: Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, E-ISSN 2048-0792, Vol. 7, article id 1Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article analyses the influence of David Bowie's work in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, a manga known for its wealth of references to western popular culture. It is argued that David Bowie's cultural reception can be attested via the presence of three narrative themes featuring in this manga series. The first theme is the exploration of diverse genres and an innovative, genre-defying attitude. The second theme is the use of avant-garde, flamboyant and gender-ambiguous aesthetics for its fictional characters. The third theme is a self-reflexive approach to the creation of fictional characters, intended as an awareness of the temporary, transient nature of their role as reluctant heroes in their own stories.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Open Library Humanities, 2017
Keywords
Celebrity, David Bowie, Intertextuality, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Manga
National Category
General Literature Studies Cultural Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-35406 (URN)10.16995/cg.95 (DOI)000396543800003 ()
Available from: 2017-04-24 Created: 2017-04-24 Last updated: 2022-07-14Bibliographically approved
Ursini, F.-A. (2017). Objects and nouns: An account of the vision-language interface. In: Jordan Zlatev, Göran Sonesson and Piotr Konderak (Ed.), Meaning, mind and communication: Explorations in cognitive semiotics (pp. 379-389). Peter Lang Publishing Group
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Objects and nouns: An account of the vision-language interface
2017 (English)In: Meaning, mind and communication: Explorations in cognitive semiotics / [ed] Jordan Zlatev, Göran Sonesson and Piotr Konderak, Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2017, p. 379-389Chapter in book (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2017
National Category
General Language Studies and Linguistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-38308 (URN)10.3726/978-3-653-04948-0 (DOI)2-s2.0-85034407546 (Scopus ID)9783653049480 (ISBN)9783631657041 (ISBN)
Available from: 2017-12-30 Created: 2017-12-30 Last updated: 2018-01-13Bibliographically approved
Ursini, F.-A. (2017). On the structure of toponyms. In: Lívia Kőrtvélyessy, Pavol Štekauer, Salvador Valera (Ed.), Word formation universals: . Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Open this publication in new window or tab >>On the structure of toponyms
2017 (English)In: Word formation universals / [ed] Lívia Kőrtvélyessy, Pavol Štekauer, Salvador Valera, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017Chapter in book (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This paper offers an account of toponyms (e.g. London, Shanghai, Roma, Kulosaari), in four languages on a cline of increasing morphological complexity: English, Mandarin, Italian and Finnish. The common morphological processes that underlie these four sets of toponyms are connected to their syntactic distribution and semantic interpretation. An account is thus offered within a minimal version of Type-Logical syntax, coupled with a simple semantic analysis.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017
Keywords
Toponyms, Compounds, Type-Logical Syntax, Type-Logical Composition, Spatial prepositions
National Category
General Language Studies and Linguistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-32156 (URN)
Available from: 2016-10-31 Created: 2016-10-31 Last updated: 2018-01-14
Ursini, F.-A. (2017). Themes, Focalization and the Flow of Information: The Case of Shingeki no Kyojin. Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, 7, Article ID 2.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Themes, Focalization and the Flow of Information: The Case of Shingeki no Kyojin
2017 (English)In: Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, E-ISSN 2048-0792, Vol. 7, article id 2Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article discusses the interaction between themes, narrative structure and focalization points employed in Shingeki no Kyojin ('attack on Titan', Isayama 2009-ongoing), a manga featuring the desperate battle of humankind against the mysterious Titans. Following a narratological approach, the article explores how the themes underpinning the narrative, especially the 'control' theme, act as information filters on both narrative structure and background knowledge of Shingeki no Kyojin. The resulting interplay of these themes with a focalization point are explored in detail, and connected to ongoing discussions on focalization in comics and other media.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Open Library Humanities, 2017
Keywords
focalization, narrative, manga, Shingeki no Kyojin, themes
National Category
General Literature Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-35409 (URN)10.16995/cg.83 (DOI)000396543800001 ()
Available from: 2017-04-24 Created: 2017-04-24 Last updated: 2022-07-14Bibliographically approved
Ursini, F.-A. (2016). Jerrold M. Saddock. 2012. The Modular Architecture of Grammar [Review]. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics (CJAL)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Jerrold M. Saddock. 2012. The Modular Architecture of Grammar
2016 (English)In: Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics (CJAL), ISSN 1481-868XArticle, book review (Other academic) In press
Keywords
Syntactic theories, modularity, review
National Category
General Language Studies and Linguistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-31516 (URN)
External cooperation:
Available from: 2016-08-29 Created: 2016-08-25 Last updated: 2018-01-10
Ursini, F.-A. (2016). Literal and metaphoric readings in spatial prepositions. Semantics-Syntax Interface, 3(1), 73-107
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Literal and metaphoric readings in spatial prepositions
2016 (English)In: Semantics-Syntax Interface, ISSN 2383-2010, Vol. 3, no 1, p. 73-107Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The goal of this paper is to propose a novel compositional analysis of literal and metaphoric readings in spatial prepositions and prepositional phrases. It is shown that these types of readings emerge as the result of prepositions interacting with other parts of speech, such as verbs, DPs and temporal adverbs (e.g., in one hour). Two types of understudied data are discussed. The first set of data involves the interaction of literal and metaphoric readings with lexical aspect, including their distribution with temporal adverbs (e.g., in one hour/for one hour). The second set of data involves the co-existence of literal and metaphoric readings for prepositions in coordinated structures (e.g., under the table and through the briefing). The account suggests that both readings emerge as types of possible relations that spatial prepositions can denote, as part of a complex semantic domain that includes distinct semantic dimensions.

Keywords
metaphors, prepositions, lexical aspect, type-logical syntax, polysemy
National Category
General Language Studies and Linguistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-31790 (URN)
Available from: 2016-09-19 Created: 2016-09-19 Last updated: 2018-01-10Bibliographically approved
Ursini, F. A. (2016). Metaphors below the sentence level: The case of appositives. SKY Journal of Linguistics, 29, 179-196
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Metaphors below the sentence level: The case of appositives
2016 (English)In: SKY Journal of Linguistics, ISSN 1456-8438, E-ISSN 1796-279X, Vol. 29, p. 179-196Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This squib sketches an analysis of the contribution of appositive constructions to metaphoric readings (Australia, the country with a passion for rugby). It is suggested that optional constructions can contribute the emergence of underlying metaphoric readings of sentences, depending on how they interact with other phrases and constituents. This analysis is based on a simple variant of the Type-Logical Syntax framework, enriched with a simple semantic algorithm that computes "local" source and target domains. As a test case, a discussion of a sub-set of appositives labelled as "spatial" appositives (Australia, the land where dreams come true) is discussed and accounted for.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
The Linguistic Association of Finland, 2016
Keywords
Appositives, Compositional metaphors, Generative lexicon, Spatial prepositions
National Category
Language Technology (Computational Linguistics) General Language Studies and Linguistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-35120 (URN)2-s2.0-85010698082 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2017-02-27 Created: 2017-02-27 Last updated: 2018-01-13Bibliographically approved
Ursini, F.-A. (2016). Objects and Nouns: An Informorphic theory of the Vision-Language Interface. In: J. Zlatev, Å. Konderak & G. (Ed.), Introducing Cognitive Semiotics: (pp. 330-342). Peter Lang Publishing Group
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Objects and Nouns: An Informorphic theory of the Vision-Language Interface
2016 (English)In: Introducing Cognitive Semiotics / [ed] J. Zlatev, Å. Konderak & G., Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2016, p. 330-342Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

This chapter tackles an important question that cognitive semiotics can answer about cross-modal relations among meanings, and the systems that produce them. The answer consists of an account of the relation between the cognitive systems underpinning object recognition in vision and NP interpretation in language. The analysis is based on the notion of “infomorphism”: two systems governed by the same underlying principles exchange information in regular ways. We show that, once we apply this account to classify the properties of each system, we can also model their possible connections. We discuss three phenomena (lexical variation, reference patterns, and semantic memory patterns) that can be modeled via this account. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2016
National Category
Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-31413 (URN)
Available from: 2016-08-19 Created: 2016-08-19 Last updated: 2016-08-22
Ursini, F.-A. & Giannella, A. (2016). On the polysemy of Spanish spatial Ps. Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 5(2), 253-312
Open this publication in new window or tab >>On the polysemy of Spanish spatial Ps
2016 (English)In: Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, E-ISSN 1893-3211, Vol. 5, no 2, p. 253-312Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The goal of this paper is to investigate the polysemy of Spanish spatial prepositions (a, en, de, among others), and offer a syntactic and semantic treatment of this phenomenon. The core idea behind this account is that these prepositions can denote sets of possible locations that are involved in spatial relations. Consequently, the compositional interaction of polysemous prepositions with other parts of speech can determine which specific sense emerges in a sentence. The analysis is couched in a Type-Logical Grammar approach. It addresses data that have not previously been analysed in the literature, involving so-called Boolean constructions (e.g. en la estación y la calle). Also, the paper shows that a single treatment can capture all the relevant data. Therefore, the analysis shows that polysemy is a grammar phenomenon that is better accounted for in architectures with a distinct syntactic/derivational component (e.g. Distributed Morphology), than in architectures lacking this component (e.g. Cognitive Linguistics approaches). Consequences for a theory of grammar are discussed.

Keywords
Polysemy; Zeugma Test; spatial prepositions; Distributed Morphology; Type-Logical Syntax, polisemia; prueba del zeugma; preposiciones espaciales; Morfología Distribuida; Type-Logical Syntax
National Category
General Language Studies and Linguistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-31410 (URN)10.7557/1.5.2.3633 (DOI)
Available from: 2016-08-19 Created: 2016-08-19 Last updated: 2023-11-06Bibliographically approved
Ursini, F.-A. (2016). Punk "Bodies" and the "do it yourself" ethics.. In: Field, Chris, Keegan Lannon, Michael MacBride, and Christopher Douglas. Jefferson. (Ed.), The Punk Aesthetics in Comics: (pp. 108-126). McFarland pres
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Punk "Bodies" and the "do it yourself" ethics.
2016 (English)In: The Punk Aesthetics in Comics / [ed] Field, Chris, Keegan Lannon, Michael MacBride, and Christopher Douglas. Jefferson., McFarland pres , 2016, p. 108-126Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The goal of this chapter is to outline a theory of punk culture and its constituting principles that allow us to individuate punk comics. We focus on one specific aspect: the “Do It Yourself” (henceforth DYI) philosophy, usually defined as the desire to modify and design objects, possessions and parts of the environment (Wolf and McQuitty 1-2). Although certainly not specific to the punk movement, this philosophy played a key role in the evolution of punk culture. With respect to its use in comics, we address a central question about the role of this philosophy/principle: whether and how the DYI philosophy, acting as a core principle of punk culture, can crucially individuate “punk comics.” The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces core theoretical notions. Section 3 presents a discussion of comics that acted as “precursors” to the genre. Section 4 presents a discussion of punk comics, while section 5 discusses “contemporary” works in this genre. Section 6 concludes.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
McFarland pres, 2016
National Category
Cultural Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-31412 (URN)
Available from: 2016-08-19 Created: 2016-08-19 Last updated: 2016-08-22
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0001-7042-3576

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