Imaginary Space Research Articles

Animated Interactive Communication of the Chinese Zodiac through Virtual Reality Technology

This study aims to explore the impact of a combination of virtual reality (VR) technology and Chinese zodiac animation for the dissemination of Chinese zodiac culture. A questionnaire survey was conducted for 100 university teachers and students for their experience in the VR Chinese zodiac animation. We used Flash, 3DMax, and UNITY to design a virtual showroom animation. Participants were highly satisfied with the VR Chinese zodiac animation with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.862 and 0.941, confirming the internal consistency and reliability of the results. This animation provides an interactive experience, immersive viewing, and a space for imagination. The experts’ understanding of VR technology and Chinese zodiac animation was higher than that of the students. The combination of VR technology and Chinese zodiac animation enhances communication and the user experience of Chinese zodiac culture. The results of this study are important for the design and improvement of VR for Chinese zodiac animations.

Decolonising the Map Through Literary Cartography in Select Malayalam Novels

Using select indigenous novels translated from the Malayalam language, this paper will study how fictional spaces created by writers of Indian regional languages become a counter-narrative for colonial history and decolonise narrative and physical spaces. The paper will examine how postcolonial texts become ethnographic and social commentaries on colonial binaries and become resistance narratives to the hegemonic powers. Questions like how regional writers decolonise occidental maps, how the authors write alternative histories, how different versions of postcolonial communities are portrayed, how a postcolonial nation-state is built through literature, how communities that were left out in colonial discourses are brought back to the folds; how the history of a place influences power and identity of people; how Malayali writers locate an imagined space within actual geographic space through cartography; what determines the boundaries of these spaces- economically, culturally, historically, and politically, etc. will be addressed.

Quintessential Delineations of Learning Spaces in English Prose Fiction

The mapping of places in literary texts enables the writer to present the social contexts wherein the characters’ actions and conversations take place; the delineated imaginary spaces may denote domestic spots, country-side landscapes, urban areas or work places depending on the writers’ intentions and the nature of the narrated events. In various novels, the author’s narrative description may depict educational scenes whenever the fictitious personalities are affiliated to educational spheres. Accordingly, literary spaces may take the form of fictional classrooms to reflect the pedagogical concerns of a particular community and enlighten the readers about the epistemic perspectives related to certain academic realms. Consequently, the present article aims at exploring the artistic visualisation of learning environments via the description of instructional sceneries within literary prose. In order to denote miscellaneous illustrations of fictitious classrooms involving different educational contexts, the quoted passages are extracted from a variety of literary works including adult fiction, children’s novels and young adult fiction. The study of the furnished excerpts relies on the use of various techniques of analysis targeting aspects of style and discourse as well as the characters’ speech styles. This manuscript initially presents the significance of the distinct dimensions of educational atmospheres as well as a succinct account of the emergence and development of classrooms throughout history. Subsequently, it furnishes a historical sketch of the reflections of educational settings in fictional works. Then, different facets of literary learning spaces are illustrated through the provision of various examples elicited from several novels to reveal how fictional classrooms can represent images of actual or prospective educational climates. Indeed, this research work attempts to convey the idea that the delineation of learning spaces in narratives constitutes a sort of an aesthetic mapmaking of a set of instances simulating real-life situations.

Czarnomorskie wizje w liryce Christa Fotewa

The purpose of this article is to interpret the semantic dominants in the lyrics of the Bulgarian writer Hristo Fotev, which deal with the diverse visions of the Black Sea coast, Burgas, the port, the inhabitants, the newcomers, and the sea waters. The analysis includes selected poems from the following volumes: Ballad Journey (1961), Lyrics (1965), Sentimental Dedications (1967), and Collected Works. Vol. 1: Poetry (1998). Attention is focused on the subjective identification with place and strategies for creating symbolic, metaphorical, imaginary, geographical, and historical space and its maritime elements. The seaside landscape becomes the inspiration for the poetic imagination, at the same time constituting the object of lyrical creation. Images of the sea also become a probe into the poet’s mental state, the individual elements of the maritime landscape being a metaphor for human experience. In the ballad convention, the sea takes on fantastic, supernatural, mysterious qualities and is the place of existence of mythical characters.

Buildings, books, and memories: Analysing the culture of reading anglophone romance in Pakistan

ABSTRACT The practice by Pakistani women of reading anglophone romance-genre novels set in Regency-era England is rooted in the cultural memory of their colonial past. The Regency-era past provides a credible space for the romantic imagination that takes on distinctive postcolonial nuances in Pakistan. The readers involved in this research shared a fascination with the buildings around them that were constructed during the British Raj, and the experience of reading old, browned copies of Georgette Heyer novels. The materiality of the romance genre in Pakistan informs and reinforces readers’ disposition to regard Regency-era historical novels as sociocultural capital. The study elaborates that these readers create a form of positive postcolonial nostalgia by finding parallels between Regency-era England and aspects of contemporary Pakistani society. This perceived similarity is rooted in the patriarchal social structures and archaic cultural practices that persist in 21st-century Pakistan, making the historical setting more relatable to them.

Urban Ambivalence and Female Autonomy

ABSTRACT The politics of self-empowerment and agency by women in an African city can be examined in Changes: A love Story (1991) and Americanah (2013). These texts describe women in the city negotiating relationships in a changing terrain that simultaneously propels and restrains their agency. It is important to foreground the extent to which gender shapes experiences and representations of the city and foregrounds the efforts of Aidoo and Adichie to create imaginative space for women. The struggle faced by the female protagonist to find autonomy in the urban environment often results in the quest of self-discovery and self-identity causing the city to become representative of rebirth and regeneration.

Sublimul trădării

In his volume, "The Sublime of Betrayal", Sorin Crișan meditates on the role of theater as a living mirror of life. The book discusses the concept of working through an artistic context, in contrast to a psychoanalytic one, and discusses the concept of Brechtian distancing and mimesis, inspired by Roland Barthes, emphasizing the interplay between thought and perception in contemporary theatre. The themes of the sacred and the profane are discussed in relation to Mircea Eliade's theories and Husserl's phenomenology, to highlight how theater transcends everyday reality and opens new perspectives on human existence. The volume thus becomes a thorough analysis of the theater as a space of imagination and reflection, combining aesthetics and philosophical discourse finally, exploring the diversity of theatrical forms, from ritual to performance. Sorin Crișan significantly contributes to the understanding of theater not only as a performing art, but also as an intellectual and spiritual process, inaugurating specific ways of cognition for both the actor and the spectator.

Design Aesthetics and Visual Metaphor in Theworks of Tasim Sing Take Falling In, as an Example

Falling In reveals the director's bold and avant-garde style in many ways.Tasim Sing has etched his personal mark on the film in an extremely thorough manner. As per the formula, the imaginary world constructed by the human brain overlaps with the real world to create the most bizarre and uninhibited imaginative space. Bright images also continue in the film. The film features a visual masterpiece, but the visual feast it presents is still different from the so-called commercial blockbuster scenes, and it is as different as one is a realistic oil painting with thick colour, and the other is a colourful surrealist watercolour.

From Frozen Ponds to Organized Competitions: The Growth of Skating and Ice Hockey in Korea, 1886–1938

The encounter of American Protestant evangelicalism and Japanese imperialism formed in Korean society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries became a steppingstone for the acceptance of modern winter sports in Korea. In particular, skates introduced by American Protestant missionaries and the Young Men’s Christian Association formed an imaginary space to counter Japanese imperialism in Korea during Japanese colonial era. Ice hockey introduced along with skating is a representative product that evolved in this process. The history of the introduction of American ice hockey to Korea also had a dual imperial influence between the United States and Japan, and in another direction, there was a voluntary acceptance process by Koreans who recognized ice hockey as a modern product.

Searching for Latent River Cultures in English-Language Literature Using Word Embeddings

Abstract Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the United States and the United Kingdom, rivers and streams were piped, dammed, reversed, straightened, and dried-up, all in service of a growing demand for clean, reliable water in every household. This paper uses an interpretive distant reading methodology for asking how this dramatic change was reflected in English-language literature. As an imaginative space of reflection on culture and material life, how does literature accommodate and make sense of changes in environmental realities? Looking at the diachronic word embeddings surrounding the word “river” in the Novel TM corpus housed within HathiTrust Digital Library, this study identifies a number of trends over time in the shifting semantic fields surrounding “river.” It argues that these results indicate a possibly less intimate conceptualization of rivers over time, one more defined by rivers’ geographic attributes than by their ecologies and specific natures. (DM)

A Hybrid Prototype Method Combining Physical Models and Generative Artificial Intelligence to Support Creativity in Conceptual Design

Conceptual design is an essential stage in the design process, and its ultimate success largely depends on designers’ creativity. Both physical and digital prototypes are commonly adopted by designers to support ideation and creativity, providing intuitive perception and rapid iteration, respectively. In recent advancements, large-scale generation models are able to offer data-enabled creativity support by generating high-quality solutions comparable to human designers. This opens up an imaginary space for designers and brings new possibilities for design tools. In this study, we proposed a hybrid prototype method that synergistically combines physical models and generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the conceptual design stage. Correspondingly, we developed a hybrid prototype system to implement the proposed method. We conducted a comparative user study with 45 designers who completed a design task using the physical prototype method, standalone generative AI and the hybrid prototype method, respectively. Our results verified the effectiveness of the hybrid prototype method and investigated its mechanism in supporting creativity. Finally, we discussed the application value and optimisation space of the hybrid prototype method.

Konsep Elemen Ruang Imajinatif melalui Pola Inhabitation dengan Materialitas Virtual pada Perpustakaan

<p><em>This paper explores the initial stages of design from issues, context, to problems related to the development of real and virtual technology, especially the phenomenon of inhabitation in the library building. The aim of this design-based research is to increase motivation and learning effectiveness, as well as maintain the function of the physical library building in the future with integrative virtual technology. The data collection method uses literature reviews as secondary data, and naturalistic research methods as primary data to validate theory and produce aspects and principles of inhabitation in real and virtual contexts that can be applied in library.. The results of this research are the concept of imaginative space elements that represent inhabitation patterns in various interactions and atmospheres in library design. The benefit of the research is knowing how the integrative application of technology in libraries can improve and develop the function of reading and learning spaces interactively and effectively. </em></p>

Imgur, image macros, and algorithms: memes as imaginary issue spaces of users’ encounters with algorithmic recommendations

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes memes collected from Imgur that concern users’ encounters with algorithmic recommendations. Such encounters, mobilized, performed, and circulated via memes, can reveal algorithmic ‘imaginaries,’ expectations that may be realistic or unrealistic, technically informed or uninformed, but that in any case shape the way people interact with platforms. These imaginaries reflect and influence users’ attempts to comply or resist pressures exerted by algorithmic recommendation systems, as is the focus of this paper. Working inductively, this paper extrapolates from memes the imaginaries users have about the algorithmic systems. First, this paper uses a qualitative analysis and coding scheme to analyze a meme ‘collection’ scraped from Imgur. Second, it localizes and discusses the imaginaries performed in these memes, which are termed as follows: algorithmic recommendation systems vs nostalgic antagonism; algorithms as dysfunctional and flawed; algorithms as making magic; and humanity vs AI. In the analyzed data sample, memes that concern algorithms appear primarily in the context of users’ encounters with the algorithmic outputs, which are either glitches, failures, or happy accidents. Third, the practice of ‘memeing’ algorithmic imaginaries is discussed in the context of ‘memetic issue spaces,’ spaces for memetic evocations that can ignite algorithmic counter-imaginaries.

Virtual reality luxury fashion show: how imaginary space influences brand word‑of‑mouth

The proliferation of digital technologies and the development of virtual reality (VR) have enabled the fashion industry to implement virtual fashion shows, thereby improving the consumer experience. This study explores the effect of the imaginary space created by virtual fashion shows on consumers’ perceived benefit, risk, and brand word-of-mouth (WOM). A survey is conducted to investigate how consumers perceive imaginary space and its effectiveness as a marketing tool. This study identified four aspects of imaginary space: immersion, interaction, agency, and presence. Using the stimulus–organism–response model, this study finds a significant effect of imaginary space on the generation of brand WOM. Furthermore, this study found that perceived benefit and risk mediate the relationship between imaginary space and brand WOM. Empirical findings can help academics and practitioners manage VR marketing campaigns using fashion shows.

Nevanlinna analytic continuation for Migdal–Eliashberg theory

In this work, we present a method to reconstruct real-frequency properties from analytically continued causal Green’s functions within the framework of Migdal–Eliashberg (ME) theory for superconductivity. ME theory involves solving a set of coupled equations self-consistently in imaginary frequency space, but to obtain experimentally measurable properties like the spectral function and quasiparticle density of states, it is necessary to perform an analytic continuation to real frequency space. Traditionally, the ME Green’s function is decomposed into three fundamental complex functions, which are analytically continued independently. However, these functions do not possess the causal properties of Green’s functions, complicating or even preventing the application of standard methods such as Maximum Entropy. Our approach overcomes these challenges, enabling the use of various analytic continuation techniques that were previously impractical. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this method by combining it with Nevanlinna analytic continuation to achieve accurate real-frequency results for ME theory, which are directly comparable to experimental data, with applications highlighted for the superconductors MgB2 and LaBeH8.

An intimate prayer with the dead

AbstractThis article explores how listening to monājāt (Islamic sung prayer) creates dynamic and unsettling imaginative spaces for Amir—a paraplegic veteran of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War—to be‐with Sohrab, his comrade killed in combat. Amir, who both witnessed Sohrab's tragic death and endured severe physical trauma himself, engages in a profound, nonreciprocal relationship with Sohrab through the act of listening to the sung prayer. Monājāt is a collective experience that derives its power from Amir's imagined world where he finds himself whispering the prayers alongside Sohrab. This participatory mode of listening allows the living to host and welcome the dead. Monājāt creates a nonreciprocal relationship with the dead, a place where Amir hears what is otherwise inaudible. In this imaginary world, Amir finds proximity to be‐with his dead friend. Listening is a mode of being‐in‐the‐world that challenges one to not neglect the other's needs. For Amir, monājāt provides both images of Sohrab in heaven (the radiant face with the angels) and a disturbance by alerting him to recall Sohrab's suffering and the injured face. Listening, then, becomes a response and obligation to care for the dead; a way to attend to and be responsible for Sohrab which for Amir is both healing and haunting.

Figuring Displacement: Spaces of Imagination in Early Modern and Postmodern Intertextual Transmissions

This essay examines, ecocritically, geocritically, and comparatively, the metaphoric spaces represented in Shakespeare’s The Tempest and in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10½ Chapters—seas, mountains, islands, jungle—to show that these spaces allow for different interpretations, yet they are spaces of individual imagination in both the play and the novel, suggesting transformation and metamorphosis. I argue that these literary spaces show a common feature of displacement, which allows human language to re-imagine other worlds—in literature and in visual arts. The spaces of imagination proliferated through Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Barnes’ novel have suffered a transformation in time and space, as they speak to past and present audiences and readers. The sea in Barnes’ chapter entitled “Shipwreck” symbolizes danger but also hope, as does the sea in the storm scene in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The Mountain in Barnes’ eponymous chapter represents an isolated and inaccessible landscape on Mount Ararat, at the intersection of three cultures (Armenia, Turkey and Russia), but it also represents the biblical language of faith and hermitic isolation. Similarly, the island in The Tempest, which is—geologically—a mountain above the water, represents metaphorically the island of the mind. The jungle in Barnes’ chapter “Upstream” is a remote place in the forest on the Orinoco River, where Europeans and native Indians interact while making a movie; this movie is a work of visual art, represented in a novel; so is any one of the many productions of The Tempest, which reiterates the island’s imaginary space in various directorial interpretations. All these locations are metaphoric spaces of imagination, transmitted through different media, in which reality is transformed into literary representation by means of fictional description or theatrical action.

Literary cityscape in the sociological topology before 1945 in Việt Nam

When Việt Nam became a French colony in the 20th century, the press created an imagined space of possibilities where urban dwellers could exercise their new power. Attracted by this space of opportunity, literary authors from all over Vietnam came to big cities, like Hà Nội, to make their dreams come true. Depending on their choice of literary genres, authors from rural areas or cities invest their capital in writing. The press then played a key role in creating a cityscape in the literary field. By establishing the link between the hometown, the city of residence, and the choice of literary genre, we strive to understand the investment of capital among writers and the laws regulating the literary landscape in sociological topology.

The space not beyond: T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939) and their musical adaptations as elemental melodrama of an upper-atmospheric limit

ABSTRACT This essay examines T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939) and its subsequent musical adaptation, Cats (1981) by Andrew Lloyd Webber, through the lens of elemental melodrama. It begins with Eliot’s envisioned but omitted conclusion, where a poet ascends with Jellicle cats, and explores its revival in the musical’s song ‘Journey to the Heaviside Layer’. This ascent melodramatises the climactic journey to a heaven, an imaginary space beyond Earth’s tangible experiences. The essay contrasts the musical’s alignment of the Heaviside Layer with a ‘heaven’ oriented toward the desires and aspirations of anthropomorphised cats with Joseph Kittinger’s 1960 high-altitude balloon ascent and Maurice Blanchot’s reflections on Yuri Gagarin’s space mission. Both Kittinger’s and Blanchot’s writings reveal the Heaviside Layer as both a real and metaphorical space of death and existential void, contrasting with the musical’s portrayal of it purely in terms of celestial ascent. Drawing on Peter Brooks’s theory of melodrama as a post-sacred mode, the essay highlights how tableau, gesture, heightened emotion and, especially, song in Cats convey a collective yearning for transcendence. Ultimately, it argues that the Heaviside Layer in Cats serves as a zone of elemental melodramatic transcendence. It is in this context that earthly limitations, particularly those relating to embodied differences of race and sex, exist in tension with feline (and, by implication, human) aspirations for an unreachable ‘beyond’.

Planners Becoming Visualizers in the Mediatized World: Actor-Network Analysis of Cairo’s Street Billboards

While visual communication is crucial in urban planning, there is a gap in understanding how dominant narratives and visuals affect professional planning practice and planners’ roles, particularly in mediatized urban environments. This study addresses this gap by examining street billboards in Cairo to understand how planning visualizations contribute to the restructuring of the planning profession. It explores how these visual tools shape the practice and roles of urban planners, who are increasingly becoming visualizers. Employing actor-network theory, the study traces the relationships between billboards, planners, and other network actors. The primary research question is: How and why does the use of planning visualizations (billboards) restructure the profession of planning, including planning practice and the roles of planners? Utilizing a qualitative exploratory methodology, the study focuses on billboards along Cairo’s 6th of October Bridge. Data were analyzed through visual and content analysis of 209 billboards to understand their language, content, patterns, and geo-positioning. The analysis revealed that billboards in Cairo significantly impact urban landscapes and the visual culture of urbanization, often promoting exclusive real estate projects to a socio-economic elite. The research highlights the dilemmas in the changing professional roles of planners within a mediatized world and underscores the need for more inclusive planning practices. By employing actor-network theory, the study provides a nuanced understanding of the complex relationships that shape and are shaped by the visual culture of urban planning, offering insights into how planners can navigate and influence these dynamics for more equitable urban development.