In line with modernist historiography, functionalism was construed as the foundation of modern architecture. The exact meaning of the concept in the modernist theory of architecture, however, is unclear. If functionalism is to be understood, after Adler, Mies and Sullivan’s dictum that „form follows function,” as the outward expression of function in form and/or mere functionality, functionalism no longer appears to be restricted to modernism: functionalist buildings can be shown to have been erected in all ages from as far back as the Neolithic beginnings of architecture. The actual difference between modern and traditional architecture, therefore, is to be found not in the greater functionality of the former or in its clearer manifestation of function, but rather in form itself. Modern architecture is a radical move away from the formal tradition of classical architecture. (To be continued in Volume 18)
The article is discusses possible limitations of the rationalistic concept of human action within cultural theory. Here, rationality of human action is construed in terms of decision theory. Two kinds of limitations are considered: (1) resulting from non-rationalistic conceptions of human action; (2) implied by anti individualistic approaches to socio-cultural phenomena, especially structuralist and functionalist ones. Proposed conclusions aim for a reconciliation of rationalistic theory of action and principal premises of cultural materialism.
One of the most visible features of contemporary political science, seen also in other social sciences are theoretical problems. They are nothing in this group of scietific disciplines. But new is their form. In second half of 20th century clasical scientific orientations as functionalism, structuralism, institutionalism, behaviouralism or system theory became the subject of critique of many social scientists. But in last decade of that century appeared renewed interest in those orientations of social thought. This article contains an analysis of Talcott Parsons view on social theory. The American sociologist during almost fifty years of scientific activity tried to build that, what he called general social theory. His concept of theory is very specific. Parsons understood it as a collection of logically interdependent generalized concepts of empirical sense. That means that theory is a conceptual outline. The bases of theory are analitycally understood facts, which have sense only in the frames of reference including: goals, means, resources, conditions, social norms, time and situation. Theory is for him a hierarchical category. It includes scientific results of different levels of generality. On the most general level he situated general theory. On next we have motivation theory. On third are comparative analyses of social structure. Fourth consists of particular theories. On the last level of theoretical systematization are relations between theory an research procedures.
The terms ‘functionality’ and ‘functionalism’ are used in the aesthetics of architecture as if they were synonyms but they are not. Functionality means being functional in respect of utility, symbolism, prestige, politics, religion, economics, and in last years also ecology. Functionalism is a belief that the creed ‘form follows function’ is really respected and implemented, not only declared, which results in an object being functional and beautiful. As such a belief is misleading and leads to a semantic confusion, it is better to abandon using the term ‘functionalism’ altogether.
This paper presents Natural Phonology as a functional theory. Natural Phonology is shown to be functional in two senses: as focusing on explanation and thus increasing our understanding of how language works, and as having practical applications, especially to second language acquisition and speech therapy. The contribution argues that crucial as formalism is in computational linguistics and speech technology, Natural Phonology, with less rigid and less formalized claims, has important applications in the areas where language and not totally predictable human factors are involved. The paper discusses approaches to autonomy in language, explanation and hypothesis in Natural Phonology, and applications of Natural Phonology.
Bible translation is traditionally in the hands of theologians, whose focus is on the meaning of the source text rather than on what modern readers are able to understand. This paper attempts to show where translation theory, or more specifically, the Skopos theory of translation, may help Bible translators to produce texts that “work” or “function” for the intended audience without betraying their trust that they are reading God’s word in their own language. After a brief overview of the development of Translation Studies, we shall take a quick look at some guiding principles of Bible translation, as explained in prefaces of modern versions, before presenting the main ideas of Skopos theory and illustrating them by a few examples from the New Testament. The conclusion will sum up the fundamental hypotheses of the skopos-theoretical concept “Function + Loyalty.”
This paper deals with the issue of definition of art and artwork in the sense of functionalist approach. It critically argues with the existing terms and meanings of artwork in that sense and presents them as insufficient and inadequate when speaking of modern art. Furthermore functionalism assumes that a great deal of artworks has a specific function, what we cannot say about a large number of contemporary artistic endeavors. Therefore it is being argued here that this approach, how popular it might have been in the past, must be replaced with a new paradigm of comprehension of esthetics.
Between 1965 and 1982 Eugenio Coseriu published a series of investigations on word formation processes. In a functional perspective, he developed an innovative proposal, which moved away from traditional models and was not adequately taken into account in lexicological studies, neither in those of his time nor in those of later years. In this contribution, I intend to resume the fundamental aspects of this model, which maintains its validity and originality: in Coseriu's theory of word formation the three levels of the system, the norm and the usage interact strictly, so that both the reasons of the system and the creativity of the speakers are adequately taken into account.
The paper introduces an integrative functional approach to legal translation teaching at translation programmes taught as part of Philology major. The approach is based on functionalism, professional realism of training, and social constructivism. The main objective is to train translators who are aware of their mediating role in intercultural and intersystemic communication, know how to produce a translation ‘fit for the purpose’, deal with terminological incongruity and overcome problems typical of the translation process. The approach requires a student-centred approach and autonomy of learners. The paper presents practical tasks which help foster the functional approach to translation and empower students by raising their self-efficacy.
Many books designed for international distribution combine text blocks and images. Their layout offers hybrid messages organized on the visual space of a double page. Texts both in the original language and in translation must fit into limited spaces or boxes positioned around illustrations. Thus, translators practice multimodal translation, writing texts that preserve or enhance the cohesion between visual and textual messages. This skill requires some training. Unfortunately, while theoretical writings on pragmatic translation acknowledge its intersemiotic nature, few training programs address this aspect. The creation of a course on multimodal translation would be a valued addition to any translator training program. The concept of a hybrid translation unit offers a way of structuring material to introduce both intersemiotic and multimodal translation in professional curricula. The author draws on her professional experience to discuss the role of illustrations in grasping meaning through practical examples. She suggests generalizable translation strategies to strengthen text-image cohesion, or even generate text from images alone, while adapting the book in translation to its intended readership.
The article sets out to analyze Jerzy Kaliszan’s linguistic philosophy focused on the field of word-formation and based on the triple unity of philosophy of the language (semantics, syntax and pragmatics), systemic character and functionalism. Intertextuality of the academic speech of the scholar is influenced by classical Slavonic linguistic conceptions, leading representatives of linguistics of the second part of the 20th century, as well as key theoretical investigations of the late 20th - early 21 centuries. The idiolect of the scholar is marked with brevity, laconism, condensed content, wellstructured text, depth and expressiveness, persuasive argumentation, breadth of the material used, refined stylistics, scholarly courage, topicality of the problems discussed, prognostic insights.
As moving, multimodal texts, devised to be embodied by an actor, cinematic texts combine many characteristics which make them difficult to grasp, and which give their translation a high level of complexity. Those are paramount in dubbing. Combined to the technical and linguistic issues at stake, the process induces a singular relation between the audiovisual translators and the verbal material of the dialogues. This is often solved through a functionalist approach, seeking a dynamic equivalence which takes into account the many components of the filmic text, for the benefit of the dubbing actors and, eventually, the foreign audience. After addressing the questions of the authorial and legal status of the translators as scriptwriters, this article draws on several examples taken from different American cinematic genres to illustrate the various aspects of this relation in the French audiovisual translation context.
The article consists of three parts. In the first part, the author interprets the poem of A. Blok as a modernist variant of a “Petersburg Text”, in the second – proposes and explains the formula of the “translation functionalism”, and in the third part, uses it in the analysis of the three Polish translations of The Twelve. The author proves that each of the translators: Wacław Denhoff-Czarnocki, Seweryn Pollak and Wiktor Woroszylski choose a different principle of coherence of the text.This is shown both in the modeling of the city area as well as the social features of the characters. Consequently, three different interpretations of enigmatic epilogue are created, in which the revolutionaries are preceded by Christ carrying a “bloody flag”.
The article is focused on the intellectual significance of the theory of myth developed by prominent Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski within his anthropological approach known as functionalism. Th e author argues that Malinowski already in the first half of the 20th century anticipated the main trend within the later studies on myth. Like many influential myth-theorists of the next generations, Malinowski recognized the elements of rationality within mythical thinking. Both his emphasis on the integrity of culture as well as his opposition to diff usionism and evolutionism resonate with the perspective of structuralists in the second half of the 20th century. According to Malinowski, myth and science as the parts of culture serve mainly for the basic biological needs of the human body. Th e more elaborated vision of the functionality of myth has been proposed later in the philosophy of mythology of German poststructuralist Hans Blumenberg. Despite that, Malinowski’s attention to the function of myth reflected and formed the general tendency of contemporary science of myth. Th is tendency presupposes the “de-archaization” of myth in contrast to the progressivist vision of myth as entirely “irrational” or “paralogical” thinking. Th e author also analyses how the intellectual heritage of Malinowski is used in the recent studies made by contemporary Polish and Ukrainian scholars.
In this paper, the author raised the question of whether the separation of powers is a useless concept. It summarizes some critical arguments against the tripartite separation of powers. The paper deals with application issues related to the separation of powers and distinguishes several attitudes toward them, which it then analyses in more detail. Great attention is dedicated to formalism and functionalism. Eventually, the author wonders whether it would be better to innovate the idea of separation of powers, or to dismiss and replace it with some other principle. He concludes that the separation of powers has problems, but we need to evaluate this idea in relation to its possible alternatives. In such a light it still sounds promising.
This article is a longer note on what is a minor problem in the oeuvre of a great art historian. Its theme is E. H. Gombrich's use of the formula form follows function as the summary of his commonsense approach to the problem of style change. Although I am not sure how interesting this inquiry is in an art historical context, from the perspective of my own field of design history and of modernist design theory, Gombrich's adoption of the formula constitutes an intriguing problem.
This article presents a short portrait of Lewis A. Coser (1913–2003), the American sociologist who became renowned as one of the founders of ‘conflict sociology’. Born in Berlin, Coser had to leave his homeland for political reasons and he spent the years before Nazi Germany’s invasion of France in Paris. Coser then fled to the United States and started his academic career there at the College of the University of Chicago. An abridged version of the PhD thesis he wrote at Columbia University was published as The Functions of Social Conflict, which earned him recognition, a promotion, and made him a figure of authority for sociologists in the 1960s. In this article the author draws on archival materials to examine Coser’s life, major publications and achievements. His intellectual trajectory from Marxism to Mertonian Functionalism, his strong commitment to a Weberian view of the separation of politics from scholarship, the breadth of his erudition in literature and classical sociological theory, and his lifelong place in New York intellectual circles and intellectual magazines made him an extraordinary figure even amongst his contemporaries.
Klasyfikację i analizę funkcji miejskich można przeprowadzić w kontekście miejsca zamieszkania i miejsca pracy. Takie ujęcie badawcze, zastosowane do dzielnic Katowic, pozwala poszukiwać odpowiedzi na pytanie: w jakim stopniu określona dzielnica pełni funkcję miejsca zamieszkania (mieszkalną), a w jakim stopniu – funkcję miejsca pracy (usługową, usługowo-przemysłową lub przemysłową)? Ocena relacji między funkcją miejsca zamieszkania a funkcją miejsca pracy pozwoliła na wyróżnienie 5 typów funkcjonalnych dzielnic, o: bardzo silnej funkcji miejsca pracy, silnej funkcji miejsca pracy, zrównoważonej relacji funkcji miejsc pracy i zamieszkania, silnej funkcji mieszkaniowej, bardzo silnej funkcji mieszkaniowej. Analizując strukturę funkcjonalno-przestrzenną dzielnic katowickich, można odnotować następujące prawidłowości: 1. funkcja usługowa występuje w wielu miejscach miasta, szczególnie w dzielnicach północnych; 2. funkcja usługowo-mieszkaniowa w Śródmieściu i sąsiednich dzielnicach; 3. funkcja mieszkaniowa (wielorodzinna) rozproszona w północnych dzielnicach; 4. funkcja mieszkaniowa (jednorodzinna) skoncentrowana w południowo-zachodnich dzielnicach; 5. funkcja przemysłowa jest rozproszona w północno-wschodnich dzielnicach; 6. funkcja rekreacyjna – w środkowych dzielnicach.
EN
Classification and analysis of urban functions can be conducted in the context of a residence and a workplace. Such a research form, applied to Katowice districts, lets look for answers to the question: to what extent does a given district act as a residence (residential function), and to what extent – a workplace function (service, service-industrial or industrial one)? Evaluation of relations between the residence function and the workplace function let diff erentiate 5 functional types of districts with: very strong workplace function, strong workplace function, balanced relation between residence and workplace functions, strong residence function, very strong residence function. 1. Analysing the functional-spatial structure of Katowice districts the following regularities can be found: 2. service function in many places of the town, especially in northern districts, 3. service-residence function in the downtown and adjacent districts, 4. residence function (multifamily) scattered in northern districts, 5. residence function (one family) concentrated in south-western districts, 6. industrial function scattered in north-eastern districts, 7. recreation function in the middle part of the town.
In the period of totalitarianism in Central Europe many important architectural monuments were demolished. This trend continues in the post-colonial era, although due to other causes. In Slovakia individuals access the sights very easily, but as their relationship to the artistic value is nonexistent, the architectural heritage is frequently destroyed though it used to have different important functions. This is particularly visible on the examples of the bath house Machnáč (1932) and the pool “Green frog” – Zelená žaba (1937). Maison Machnáč was designed by the architect Jaromir Krejcar from Prague, whereas Green frog by Bohuslav Fuchs, the architect from Brno. Poll Green frog with its unique-ness and artistic level goes beyond Slovakia. Nonetheless, the current owner does not want to restore it to its original condition.
PL
W Europie Środkowej w czasie totalitaryzmu rozebrano wiele ważnych zabytków architektonicznych. Tendencja ta utrzymuje się także w epoce postkolonialnej, choć przyczyny takiego postępowania są zupełnie inne. Na Słowacji nie ma problemu z dostępem do zabytków, jednak wiele osób nie przywiązuje wagi do ich wartości artystycznej. Dziedzictwo architektoniczne jest więc nierzadko bezmyślnie niszczone, mimo że wcześniej pełniło różnorodne, istotne funkcje. Szczególnie widoczne jest to na przykładzie domu uzdrowiskowego Machnáč (1932) i basenu „Zielona żaba” – „Zelená žaba” (1937). Maison Machnáč zaprojektował architekt Jaromír Krejcar z Pragi, a „Zieloną żabę” architekt z Brna – Bohuslav Fuchs. Projekt „Zielonej żaby”, przez wzgląd na poziom artystycznej niepowtarzalności i oryginalności, ma wartość ponadnarodową, co jednak nie skłania obecnego właściciela do przywrócenia obiektowi jego pierwotnego stanu.
The notion of the social system in the field of sociology has been meeting the changing level of interest. One may follow the dynamics of the interest while studying the development of the social theory, especially in its functional and neofunctional version. This interest however is not determined only by the intrinsic dynamics of the social thought. It was also directly associated with nonscientific expectations, with the existing social situation. One may thus talk on the social climate of the system or anti-system way of thinking. The climate is to a large extent dependent on the social reaction to a crisis and the answer to the question: whether the solution to the crisis is sought within the frames of the system. In this context the notions of a crisis and a system seem to be clearly associated. The article refers to the social systems theory. The overriding aim of the article is to come up with the answer for the question on the current condition of the social system. Today when the issue of the crisis is so popular may one also talk about the crisis of the social system? The answer may not be unequivocal as the understanding of the crisis and the system in the sociological theory is ambiguous. The viewpoint presented in the article complying with this ambiguity includes also reference to the issue of the situation of the individual in the social system.
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