Explicit Statements Research Articles

Using Genre Analysis to Detect AI-Generated Academic Texts

This study investigates the distinguishing characteristics between human-written and AI-generated abstracts through genre analysis techniques. The research examined mini-memoir abstracts authored by MA2 students at Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Kairouan, Tunisia and compared them to AI-generated abstracts created specifically for this study using ChatGPT. The analysis focused on text function recurrence, specifically the frequency and quality of elements such as purpose statements, methodology, results, and contextualization. Findings revealed that human-written abstracts exhibit a more comprehensive and detailed presentation, emphasizing contextualization and thorough results, while AI-generated abstracts tend to prioritize clear and explicit purpose statements with less depth in results and contextual information. The study highlights the need for targeted teacher training and rigorous assessment criteria to uphold academic integrity and address the challenges posed by AI in scholarly writing.

Idris Bitlisi and the prevalence of historiography in the ottoman empire: A Look at his most important work Hasht Bihisht.

Idris Bitlisi was an historian and statesman of Kurdish and Iranian descent in the Ottoman Empire. This article introduces the influence of Bitlisi work on the historiography in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Bitlisi was commissioned to write the history of the Ottoman family from the reign of Osman (1310 AD) to Bayazid II (1502 AD) which was entitled Hasht Bihisht (Eight Heavens) and was written in Persian. This era is considered the Golden Period in Ottoman historiography. By creating this work, Bitlisi transferred the methods of Iranian writing of history to the Anatolian regions. In all his works, the Persian language and literature and the crystallization of Iranian culture and civilization can be seen. Bitlisi's writings, especially Hasht Bihisht, can be seen as a more explicit statement of the political and cultural situation of the Ottoman sultans and their interest in history.

A scoping review of coaching in occupational therapy: Mapping methods, populations and outcomes.

Coaching is proposed as a core enabling skill of occupational therapy and increasingly suggested for a diverse range of health populations. In recent years, research on coaching has proliferated, emerging from within and outside of occupational therapy. Yet, concern has been raised about the absence of theoretical underpinning and diversity of descriptions of coaching in occupational therapy, as well as low-quality evidence supporting its effectiveness. The aim of this study is to map the use of coaching by occupational therapists from 2007 to 2022 to identify the populations, settings and outcomes it is applied to, differences between coaching interventions and evidence supporting its use. This systematic scoping review applied Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage methodological framework with further methodological direction using the Levac framework. There was no consumer involvement in undertaking this review. Findings from 60 research publications on coaching indicate its use with populations across the lifespan in primarily community settings to improve occupational performance, participation and self-efficacy. A wide range of coaching interventions are designed or used by occupational therapists, with Occupational Performance Coaching being the most researched (16/27, 59% of named interventions). Common elements of coaching interventions included collaborative goal setting and problem-solving; however, a lack of described theory or coaching methods persists. High-quality study designs indicate its effectiveness; however, an absence of fidelity definition or monitoring limits interpretation of many studies. The language of coaching is becoming common practice within occupational therapy, and evidence indicates effectiveness of some coaching interventions. Advances in coaching research and use by occupational therapists will be aided by an explicit statement of the theoretical basis for coaching interventions, with congruent coaching methods, mechanisms and outcomes stated. This scoping review maps the use of coaching by occupational therapists in current published research. Key aspects of coaching examined include how coaching is defined, who it is used with and how effective it is. The kinds of outcomes that coaching is intended to improve are also reported. From 633 publications, 60 research publications were fully analysed. The use of coaching by occupational therapists has grown rapidly over the past 10years. Strong evidence of its effectiveness exists for achieving the personal goals of people receiving occupational therapy when goals describe changes in everyday life activities. Coaching is being used with people across the lifespan with a variety of disabilities and chronic conditions and their caregivers/parents, most commonly parents of children with developmental issues. The key features of coaching interventions used by occupational therapists include collaborative goal setting, shared problem-solving and client-led action planning. Some elements of coaching are also used within other interventions with a wider range of methods. Coaching is believed to work by supporting an individual's self-belief that they can make changes. Theories that underpin coaching vary but commonly focus on self-determination, behaviour change and occupational therapy theory. However, many of the coaching interventions do not describe any theoretical basis nor coaching methods in detail. Future research on coaching in occupational therapy should ensure a clear explanation of the theory that underpins it, coaching methods and monitoring of how well coaching is applied.

Biesta’s world-centred education: subjectification revisited?

Abstract This article explores Biesta’s recent revisiting of his iconic and at times contested notion of education as subjectification. First, I look at how Biesta presents his notion by attending to his answers to the criticisms it has faced concerning elusiveness, oversimplification, and self-centredness. Then, going beyond the declarative level, I explore a concrete example of education as subjectification from Biesta’s 2022 book, World-Centred Education. Analysing the example of Homer Lane and Jason, I examine the ambivalence between Biesta’s explicit statements on subjectification as a form of spontaneous and noncoercive teaching aimed at cultivating freedom and the more complex picture that emerges from a close reading of the original story. From this analysis, I find important conceptual limitations to education as subjectification: it could conceal part of the institutional context of education and the teacher’s active role, and also reduce freedom to an individualistic concept. I thus conclude by suggesting that the language of subjectification should always be engaged with critically—but never in isolation—and with a stereoscopic optic in mind.

Improving Transparency of Decision Models Through the Application of Decision Analytic Models with Omitted Objects Displayed (DAMWOOD).

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased public awareness of the influence of epidemiological and economic decision models on public policy decisions. Alongside this is an increased scrutiny on the development, analysis, reporting and utilisation of decision models for public policy making. Therefore, it is important that model developers can clearly explain and justify to all stakeholders what is included and excluded from a model developed to support decision-making, to both improve transparency and trust in decision-making. Our aim is to provide tools for improving communication between modellers and decision-makers, leading to improved transparency in decision-making. To do so, we extend the recently described directed acyclic graphs with omitted objects displayed (DAGWOOD) approach from Haber et al. (Ann Epidemiol 68:64-71, 2022) to decision analytic models, giving the decision analytic models with omitted objects displayed (DAMWOOD) approach. DAMWOOD is a framework for the identification of objects omitted from a decision model, as well as for consideration of the effects of omissions on model outcomes. Objects omitted from a decision model are classed as either an exclusion (known and unknown confounders), misdirection (alternative model pathways) or structure (e.g. model type, methods for estimating relationships between objects). DAMWOOD requires model developers to use explicit statements and provide illustration of included and omitted objects, supporting communication with model users and stakeholders, allowing them to provide input and feedback to modellers about which objects to include or omit in a model. In developing DAMWOOD, we considered two challenges we encountered in modelling for pandemic policy response. First, the scope of the decision problem is not always made sufficiently explicit by decision-makers, requiring modellers to intuit which policy options should be considered, and/or which outcomes should be considered in their evaluation. Second, there is rarely sufficient transparency to ensure stakeholders can see what is included in models and why. This limits stakeholders' ability to advocate to decision-makers for the prioritisation of specific outcomes and challenge the model results. To illustrate the application of DAMWOOD, we apply it to a previously published COVID-19 vaccine allocation optimisation model. The DAMWOOD diagrams illustrate the ways in which it is possible to improve the communication of model assumptions. The diagrams make explicit which outcomes are omitted and provide information on the expected impact of the omissions on model results. We discuss the usefulness of DAMWOOD for framing the decision problem, communicating the model structure and results and engaging with those making and affected by the decisions the model is developed to inform.

Deciding The Provisional Measures Regarding the Suspension of Criminal Procedure by International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

The Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States (hereafter referred to as the Convention), as well as the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) was established within the framework of the Convention, aims to resolve disputes encountered in international investments in a prompt and facilitated manner under an independent credible judicial mechanism. ICSID tribunals can order provisional measures in a dispute presented before them to protect the parties’ mutual rights as mentioned in Article 47 of the Convention. The raison d’être for these measures is to ensure the integrity of the proceedings and exclusivity of the ICSID arbitration by preserving the status quo and preventing aggravation of the dispute. However, no explicit statement occurs in the Convention which suggests that the possibility of rendering a decision regarding provisional measures against a national criminal proceeding. Criminal proceedings are perhaps the most indisputable component of state sovereignty. Hence, the tribunals acknowledge a high threshold shall be required to justify an intervention in national criminal proceedings. Therefore, any intervention related to criminal proceedings that conflict with the sovereignty of a state authority should be evaluated case by case and kept at a minimum. In this context, the current paper will address the provisional measures that are orderable by ICSID tribunals, the impact these measures have on pending criminal proceedings in domestic law. ICSID’s authority to impose sanctions on state parties if they do not comply with the measures in relation to the criminal proceedings. In addition, the article will evaluate requests for provisional measures to comprehend whether or not they intervene in the sovereign authority of a state party. We should also point out that, arbitration is a multidisciplinary subject, it has connections with International law, Constitution and other legal disciplines. However, the issue will only be handled within the scope of ICSID and criminal procedure.

How do I know this Law corpus is reliable and valid? Using a representativeness argument for corpus validation

Corpus findings are only useful if the corpus adequately represents the content and language of the target domain; yet few studies evaluate or report representativeness. This paper argues that corpus linguists should focus explicitly on the validation process. It introduces the innovative concept of a Representativeness Argument, which is an explicit statement of reliability and validity to enable defensible applications of a corpus for a specifically defined purpose and audience. Adapted from Toulmin's (1958/2003) argument model, its originality lies in its attention to both target domain and linguistic representativeness, and in the critical role played by expert judgements. To illustrate this approach, I present a representativeness argument for the 1.98-million-word ‘DSVC-IL’ corpus, which was compiled to investigate the discipline-specific vocabulary required for reading postgraduate International Law texts. The corpus is demonstrated to adequately represent target domain content, established by analysing modules and reading lists, and confirmed by experts. The language is shown to adequately reflect the domain through analysis of a 1026-flemma Single Word List, extracted using measures of frequency, keyness, range and evenness of distribution. List items are evenly-distributed in randomly-split corpus halves (rs=.98, p<.00). The list provides similar coverage of the DSVC-IL (26.37%) and other texts from the domain (23.87%). Moreover, Law experts confirmed the majority of list items were Law words. Together, the evidence supports the usefulness of the corpus and list for its explicitly defined purpose.

Factors Influencing Engineering Assets Management Decisions in Food Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

This paper assessed the factors influencing Engineering Assets Management decisions in small and medium-scale food manufacturing companies in Southwestern Nigeria. Data were collected from 30 selected food manufacturing companies registered with National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in the study area. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results reveal that food manufacturing companies practice some elements of Engineering Assets Management. There were no explicit guidelines and policy statements that guide their decisions and actions. However, a) how maintenance was to be carried out; and b) the amount and intensity of service that maintenance was expected to provide in order to satisfy the need of production, were the major factors that guided ways of making Engineering Asset Management decisions.

“You’re my people”

In The Last of Us Part II, the second installment in the hit video game series, players are made to reckon with the moral consequences of its protagonist Joel’s disastrous actions in the previous game. For his inaugural column, Ramzi Fawaz argues that the sequel “is one of contemporary popular culture’s most explicit statements of what political theorist Hannah Arendt calls ‘representative thinking.’” The video game as a medium makes representative thinking an embodied experience, forcing players into a range of perspectives and moral positions as they both commit and become victims of virtually enacted violence. In doing so, the game functions a critique of “the ceaselessly spreading network of human violence and its unforeseen consequences,” and testament to the forms of collectivity and connection that are forged in its wake.

Patriarch and patriot: history in Patriarch Kirill’s sermons in the first year of the full-scale war in Ukraine

ABSTRACT The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus, has correctly been seen as a staunch supporter of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, explicit statements of support for the war are rare in his public sermons and speeches, and it is worth exploring the mechanisms of his support in some detail. The article presents an analysis of all the patriarch’s sermons and speeches between February 2022 and February 2023 and shows how the patriarch uses references to history to nurture a worldview that makes the war both legitimate and necessary. Using Duncan Bell’s notion of a mythscape, the author argues that Kirill infuses secular history with divine meaning in order to give indirect divine legitimation for the war in Ukraine. He further relates this to Stoeckl’s contention that the Russian Orthodox Church’s promotion of so-called traditional values functions as civil religion for today’s Russia and suggests that Kirill’s use of history nurtures this civil religion further.

A review of the earthworm Amynthasmasatakae (Beddard, 1892) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae), with designation of two new synonyms.

Correct and timely identification of an invasive species during quarantine or at an early stage of invasion before establishment or spread is critical for preventing biological invasions. However, taxonomic confusion of potential invasive earthworm species caused by incorrect taxonomic treatment or reckless taxonomic work has made it difficult to properly recognize potential invasion threats. Through analyzing publicly available DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, we confirmed the validity of the specific status of Amynthasmasatakae (Beddard, 1892), a peregrine earthworm species in East Asia with the potential to spread to other regions of the world, and designated two new synonyms of A.masatakae: Amynthastralfamadore Blakemore, 2012 syn. nov. and Amynthasscaberulus Sun and Jiang, 2021 syn. nov. Additionally, the name A.triastriatususualis Dong, Jiang, Yuan, Zhao and Qiu, 2020 is nomenclaturally unavailable since it was published in an electronic journal without ZooBank registration and an explicit statement establishing a new nominal taxon. Specimens described under this unavailable name actually belong to A.masatakae. Inadequate literature review and erroneous species identities associated with sequences in GenBank have caused even more problems in the already confusing earthworm taxonomy.

Overlapping Surgery Verbiage in Informed Consent Documents.

To assess informed consent documents from United States (US) institutions for verbiage regarding overlapping surgery. Overlapping surgery remains a controversial practice. Recent guidance from the Senate Finance Committee and American College of Surgeons emphasizes transparency with patients regarding this practice through the informed consent process, but it remains unclear how many institutions adopted their recommendations. Informed consent documents were collected from a national sample of 104 institutions and assessed for verbiage regarding overlapping surgery and/or attending absence during a surgical case. The verbiage of these forms was further analyzed for inclusion of key terms (e.g., "overlapping surgery," "critical portions") as well as transparency regarding surgeon absence. Thirty (29%) forms included verbiage regarding overlapping surgery and/or surgeon absence during a case. Most of these 30 utilized the terms "overlapping surgery" or "critical portions" (18 [60%] and 25 [83%], respectively), although only 3 (10%) explicitly stated that portions of the procedure that may be performed in the absence of the attending surgeon. Six forms (20%) specifically stated who may perform the procedure without the attending present, and 3 forms (10%) had patients acknowledge this section of the consent form with an additional signature or initial. Only 2 of the forms (7%) fulfilled all of the criteria set forth by the SFC. Detailed information regarding overlapping surgery is infrequently included in hospitals' procedure informed consent documents. Forms that include this information rarely provide explicit statements of attending presence and trainee participation, raising concerns regarding surgeon-patient transparency.

Evolutionary trends of reproductive phenotype in Cycadales: an analysis of morphological evolution in Ceratozamia.

The size and shape of reproductive structures is especially relevant in evolution because these characters are directly related to the capacity of pollination and seed dispersal, a process that plays a basic role in evolutionary patterns. The evolutionary trajectories of reproductive phenotypes in gymnosperms have received special attention in terms of pollination and innovations related to the emergence of the Spermatophytes. However, variability of reproductive structures, evolutionary trends and the role of environment in the evolution of cycad species have not been well documented and explored. This study considered this topic under an explicitly phylogenetic and evolutionary approach that included a broad sampling of reproductive structures in the genus Ceratozamia. We sampled 1400 individuals of 36 Ceratozamia species to explore evolutionary pattern and identify and evaluate factors that potentially drove their evolution. We analyzed characters for both pollen and ovulate strobili within a phylogenetic framework using different methods and characters (i. e., molecular and both quantitative and qualitative morphological) to infer phylogenetic relationships. Using this phylogenetic framework, evolutionary models of trait evolution for strobilar size were evaluated. In addition, quantitative morphological variation and its relation to environmental variables across species were analyzed. We found contrasting phylogenetic signals between characters of pollen and ovulate strobili. These structures exhibited high morphological disparity in several characters related to size. Results of analyses of evolutionary trajectories suggested a stabilizing selection model. In regards to phenotype-environment, the analysis produced mixed results and differences for groups in the vegetation type where the species occur; however, a positive relationship with climatic variables was found. The integrated approach synthesized reproductive phenotypic variation with current phylogenetic hypotheses and provided explicit statements of character evolution. The characters of volume for ovulate strobili were the most informative, which could provide a reference for further study of the evolutionary complexity in Ceratozamia. Finally, heterogeneous environments, which are under changing weather conditions, promote variability of reproductive structures.

Leo Strauss’s Reading of Spinoza and the Art of “be Alert to the Art of Writing”

Leo Strauss’s way of reading of Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise got changed after his rediscovery of exotericism. As early as in the comment article on Hermann Cohen’s analysis of Spinoza’s Bible science, Strauss put forward that the Treatise should not be understood on the basis of our readers’ own presupposes of Spinoza’s personal motives. Later, in Spinoza’s Critique of Religion (1930), Strauss indeed read the Treatise literally, trying to understand it on the basis of Spinoza’s explicit statements. After the rediscovery of exotericism in 1930s, however, Strauss’s way of reading got changed. Strauss became very alert to Spinoza’s way of writing. Strauss found that Spinoza spoke with a view to the capacity of the vulgar and practiced exoteric writing. Some of Spinoza’s explicit statements were addressed to the non-philosophic majority and were not Spinoza’s true teachings. Based on this, Strauss regarded not all of Spinoza’s explicit statements, but those most opposed to what Spinoza considered the vulgar view, as well as those with an implication of a heterodox character, as expressing Spinoza’s true views. Strauss shows that “be alert to the art of writing” means two things. First, understand the author’s explicit statements. And second, try to find whether there are teachings that are different from or even opposed to the explicit statements. Keywords: Leo Strauss, exotericism, Spinoza, theologico-political treatise

The experience of feeling old after a fragility fracture

BackgroundThere has been little exploration of the effect of fragility fractures on patient perceptions of their age. The common assumption is that fractures “happen to old people”. In individuals with a fragility fracture, our objective was to explore the experience of feeling old after sustaining a fragility fracture.MethodsA secondary analysis of data from 145 community-dwelling women and men participating in six qualitative primary studies was conducted relying on a phenomenological approach. Participants were English-speaking, 45 years and older, who had sustained a recent fragility fracture or reported a history of previous fragility fractures. Data for the analysis included direct statements about feeling old as well any discussions relevant to age post-fracture.ResultsWe highlight two interpretations based on how individuals with a history of fragility fracture talked about age: (1) Participants described feeling old post-fracture. Several participants made explicit statements about being “old”. However, the majority of participants discussed experiences post-fracture that implied that they felt old and had resigned themselves to being old. This appeared to entail a shift in thinking and perception of self that was permanent and had become a part of their identity; and (2) Perceptions of increasing age after sustaining a fracture were reinforced by health care providers, family, and friends.ConclusionsOur findings challenge the notion that fractures “happen to old people” and suggest that fractures can make people feel old. Careful consideration of how bone health messages are communicated to patients post-fracture by health care providers is warranted. (Word Count: 248)

A Review of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Themes in Arboriculture Organizations’ Codes of Ethics

Abstract Codes of ethics (COEs) play an important role in outlining an association’s ethical expectations of its membership. Diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in arboriculture have been long-standing, resulting in prevalent systemic inequality and discrimination within the industry. Codes of ethics may provide a means through which to address systemic barriers; however, unlike the forestry industry, there is limited understanding of how arboriculture organizations’ codes of ethics approach diversity, equity, and inclusion. This review of 9 national and international arboriculture organizations’ codes of ethics examines how equity, diversity, and inclusion are included within the expected ethical conduct of professional members. Through thematic and qualitative content analyses, we found that arboriculture organizations’ codes of ethics varied in length and depth, ranging from 7 to 47 statements in codes of ethics. Most ethical codes were positively framed, indicating what membersshoulddo, rather than the contrasting negative framing which indicates what membersshould notdo. Of the 9 arboriculture organizations, 7 included equity, diversity, and inclusion statements. Inclusion codes were the most common (n= 6 COEs), followed by equity (n= 5 COEs) and diversity (n= 3 COEs). In total, 8 codes of ethics referenced adherence to laws and regulations, 4 of which may provide a means for promoting ethical practice in the absence of explicit statements about equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Denial from the other side: Experiences of racism as narrated by South Sudanese refugees in Australia

This paper discusses experiences of everyday racism as narrated by South Sudanese refugee-background informants living in Australia. The paper draws on accounts of verbal and physical attacks reported during a sociolinguistic interview about the refugee experience and adaptation to the Australian lifestyle. The study contributes to the exploration of features of refugee narratives, using the socio-interactional approach to narrative analysis. Selected stories about racism are explored using positioning theory, paying attention to the discursive strategies narrators use to position themselves in the interactional world of the interview setting as well as the story-world. Their narratives demonstrate that despite the harsh experiences of everyday racism, they position themselves as resilient and strong individuals. They do this by drawing on their refugee history and making references to harder times. However, the stories also reveal their mitigation strategies to soften the accounts and either downplay or deny racism. However, by sharing their stories and making explicit evaluative statements about social injustice, they mobilise their agency to make their story heard.

RESnet: 3D direct-current resistivity simulation using the equivalent resistor network circuit

Thin and highly conductive objects are challenging to model in 3D direct-current (DC) problems because they often require excessive mesh refinement that leads to a significant increase in computational costs. RESistor network (RESnet) is a novel algorithm that converts any 3D geo-electric simulation to solving an equivalent 3D resistor network circuit. Two features of RESnet make it an attractive choice in the DC modeling of thin and conductive objects. First, in addition to the conductivity with units of Siemens per meter (S/m) defined at the cell centers (cell conductivity), RESnet allows conductive properties defined on mesh faces and edges as face conductivity with units of S and edge conductivity with units of S·m, respectively. Face conductivity is the thickness-integrated conductivity, which preserves the electric effect of sheet-like conductors without an explicit statement in the mesh. Similarly, edge conductivity is the product of the cross-sectional area and the intrinsic conductivity of a line-like conductive object. Modeling thin objects using face and edge conductivity can avoid extremely small mesh grids if the DC problem concerns electric field responses at a much larger scale. Second, once the original simulation is transformed into an equivalent resistor network, certain types of infrastructure, similar to above-ground metallic pipes, can be conveniently modeled by directly connecting the circuit nodes, which cannot interact with each other in conventional modeling programs. Bilingually implemented in MATLAB and Python, the algorithm has been made open source to promote wide use in academia and industry. Three examples are provided to validate its numerical accuracy, demonstrate its capability in modeling steel well casings, and indicate how it can be used to simulate the effect of complex metallic infrastructure on DC resistivity data.

Sending a Message to the Future: (Deep) Time Travel in and through Medieval Icelandic Literature

ABSTRACT This article seeks to understand how medieval Icelandic authors may have considered the possibility of speaking to the future. In the absence of explicit statements to this effect, it does this by looking at representations of time travel — or chronodisplacement — within medieval Icelandic sagas. When something from the past abruptly appears in the narrative, the past is seen as communicating with its future. The examples looked at include undead mound-dwellers, long-lived wanderers and the Icelandic version of the Seven Sleepers. The frequent association of voices emerging from the past with the underland is considered, particularly in relation to Iceland’s geology. This is also linked to the possibility for medieval Icelanders to engage with deep time. The analysis reveals that Icelandic authors were interested in the dynamic of the past speaking to its future, but chose always to represent it within a past setting. Moreover, authors seem to have been aware that speaking to a future inevitably involves changes in media and the materiality of communication.

A Cut-off. Seven Fragments

The text consists of seven fragments which in different ways refer to a central category of separation; in particular to masochism, one of its manifestations. First, however, separation reveals itself in an imaginary act of self-castration (in a dream), described by Schulz in a letter. This act locates the writer beyond the sexes, symbolically excludes him from biological support of the stream of life and directs to art. Schulz considered that irreversible passage from biological reproduction to artistic creation a grave sin. The masochistic separation became a topic of many graphic works and drawings in which the artist, as an icon of himself, paid homage to “la belle dame sans merci.” His literary works are quite different – Schulz’s fiction is marked by shame. The present essay demonstrates how the literary discourse of the Cinnamon Shops generates meaningful gaps. Allusions and silence, all kinds of narrative suspension, were supplemented by Schulz with pictorial representations, according to a principle that what cannot be written about, may be drawn. Many of his graphic works are overt manifestoes of masochism. In the Booke of Idolatry these are emblematic representations, projections of the artist’s own phantasms, based on the visual idiom of the times, while in the compulsive drawings from the 1930s the boundary between fantasy and reality blurs. Schulz’s artistic operations are ostentatious. He never used any disguise, reporting on himself. He was a masochist, but what did it mean? Another fragment is an attempt to find out what it meant to be a masochist in Schulz’s times, and how he defined himself in that context, particularly in an explicit statement made in a letter to a certain psychiatrist: “Creatively, I express this perversion in its loftiest, philosophically interpreted form as a foundation determining the total Weltanschauung of an individual in all its ramifications.” The final fragment presents for the most part some hitherto unknown documents of Schulz’s life, such as a police certificate of decency, men’s second-hand reports on his masochism, and memories of women with whom the writer held various kinds of liaisons.