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This thesis compares and contrasts the multiple discourses on photography found in the critical and theoretical writings of Walter Benjamin and Roland Barthes. It seeks to demonstrate that despite the different historical, philosophical, cultural, and linguistic contexts of their work, Benjamin and Barthes engage with a similar constellation of questions and problems that photography uniquely poses. It argues that each author moves towards a practice of redemptive criticism as foregrounded in relation to one privileged photograph in each case (the childhood portrait of Franz Kafka, for Benjamin, and the photograph of the mother-as-child for Barthes). Dedicated to a close reading of relevant texts by each author, the study is divided into three parts, with each corresponding to a different set of themes to which the photographic is related. The first part focuses on the historical and evolutionary development of Benjamin’s and Barthes’s view of photography in the context of wider shifts in their critical practice and methodology, and then in comparison with each other. The second part investigates the complex historical and philosophical influence of Proustian aesthetics on their writing on photography. Suggesting that Proust’s philosophy of memory provides an apt point of departure for Benjamin’s and Barthes’s discussion of photography in relation to memory, it traces how each thinker then moves beyond the Proustian conceptual framework towards similar ends. The third and final part is devoted to Benjamin’s and Barthes’s conceptualisation of photography in relation to singularity. Specifically, it centres on how certain photographs convey singularity as a function of the relation between the photograph, its referent, and its beholder. In total, this study argues that Benjamin and Barthes rightly deserve their often acknowledged places as pioneering figures in the theory of photography. However, while both theorists provide numerous important insights into the historical, cultural, and phenomenological nature and function of the medium, their writing on photography is also marked (perhaps necessarily, in some cases) by ambiguities, contradictions, and problematic evaluative judgements (with respect to both the medium and to particular photographs) which must be acknowledged in order to gain a proper appreciation of their work in this area.

This article focuses on 1950s American iconography and the players participation in <i>Fallout 3</i>s central storyline to explore the satire of <i>Fallout 3</i>. My approach goes beyond Marcus Schulzkes argument that <i>Fallout 3</i> is a morality simulator, which falls into a tradition of non-narrative approaches to studying videogames. Rather than concede that all videogames are a pariah to a traditional media narrative ecology, consisting of novels, movies, and theatre, I claim that <i>Fallout 3</i> is both simulation and narrative. Under this framework, I investigate a critique on war, in relation to the games ridicule of the idea of a 1950s American golden age. The central story episode, Tranquility Lane, where the player is trapped in a simulation of a 1950s suburbia is the primary focus, and its Rockwellian imagery is explored in relation to the <i>Fallout</i> universes post-apocalyptic setting to provide a commentary that works in opposition to the radio propaganda of the artificial intelligence John Henry Eden. In relation to this analysis, I consider Jean Baudrillards notion of simulacra, Mary Caputis analysis of neo-conservatism in America, and the idea of free will for the inhabitants of Tranquility Lane and the player. I show that the narrative requirements constrain the players free will in the simulated open world environment and that the player is essentially in the same position as the inhabitants of Tranquility Lane. As such, I argue that behind the simulation of the <i>Fallout</i> universe is a critique of war in our universe.

This article focuses on 1950s American iconography and the players participation in <i>Fallout 3</i>s central storyline to explore the satire of <i>Fallout 3</i>. My approach goes beyond Marcus Schulzkes argument that <i>Fallout 3</i> is a morality simulator, which falls into a tradition of non-narrative approaches to studying videogames. Rather than concede that all videogames are a pariah to a traditional media narrative ecology, consisting of novels, movies, and theatre, I claim that <i>Fallout 3</i> is both simulation and narrative. Under this framework, I investigate a critique on war, in relation to the games ridicule of the idea of a 1950s American golden age. The central story episode, Tranquility Lane, where the player is trapped in a simulation of a 1950s suburbia is the primary focus, and its Rockwellian imagery is explored in relation to the <i>Fallout</i> universes post-apocalyptic setting to provide a commentary that works in opposition to the radio propaganda of the artificial intelligence John Henry Eden. In relation to this analysis, I consider Jean Baudrillards notion of simulacra, Mary Caputis analysis of neo-conservatism in America, and the idea of free will for the inhabitants of Tranquility Lane and the player. I show that the narrative requirements constrain the players free will in the simulated open world environment and that the player is essentially in the same position as the inhabitants of Tranquility Lane. As such, I argue that behind the simulation of the <i>Fallout</i> universe is a critique of war in our universe.

Texte remanié de: Th. 3e cycle--Paris--École pratique des hautes études. / Bibliogr. pp. 131-135.

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Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

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Thesis advisor: William Stanwood / The textual analysis of season four, episode one of Mad Men entitled “Public Relations” study the productions values in terms of feminist motifs. By using social codes developed by Leed-Hurwitz and Barthes’ five systems of meaning in semiotics, observations are made about the elements of the mise-en-scène in relation to the gender roles present in the narrative. If certain codes persist, it is assumed that these repetitive observations reflect the deliberate composition of the mise-en-scènce in order to reinforce feminist motifs. The results reveal that the production values in the mise-en-scène indeed reinforce feminist motifs in Mad Men, the most comprehensive motif being the male gender as the norm. The messages communicated by this motif include the idea that masculinity is defined by sex and that a women’s worth is defined by masculinity. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

I feministiska studier är man inte sen med att påpeka att olika typer av kvinnligheter bäddar olika mycket för framgång i samhället. Trots att manligheten rimligen bör vara lika komplicerad talas det sällan om mannen på samma sätt vilket har lett till att många män känt sig knutna till en mansroll de finner svår att leva upp till. Vilken är denna eftersträvansvärda mansroll och vem är egentligen kapabel att uppnå den?   Det är dessa funderingar som gjort mig nyfiken på maskulinitetsforskning och som ligger till grund för uppsatsens syfte. Jag har i uppsatsen utgått från att manlighet är en myt för att sedan studera hur denna myt kan tänkas ha konstruerats och omkonstruerats genom åren. Genom att studera tre artiklar med tio års mellanrum ur tidskriften Café har det övergripande syftet med uppsatsen varit att identifiera manlighetsmyten i de utvalda artiklarna och därför besvara frågeställningarna: -          Vilken myt ligger till grund för hur Café framställer ett allmänt accepterat manlighetsideal? Samt; -          Har manlighetsmyten i Café förändrats över tid? I sådant fall, hur och varför?   Genom att använda semiotiken och Roland Barthes mytologiteori som analysverktyg har ett flertal mytiska drag avslöjats som lett till intressanta slutsatser. Av analysen att döma använder sig tidskriften Café av en redan etablerad manlighetsmyt för att sedan tillföra nya tecken som ger sken av en ny mansroll. Den traditionella manlighetsmyten finns alltid med men med tiden har den tillåtits att fyllas med mer moderna och utmanande tecken. Det mest karaktäristiska för den traditionella myten är hårdhet och temperamentsfullhet som kommer sig av ett manlighetsideal som främst inspirerats av krigaren. Med tiden har mer sofistikerade tecken som exempelvis stil införts vilket gjort att manligheten gått från att vara endast hård till att vara mer och mer mjuk.   Tidningen har gått från att främst lyfta fram macho-mannen, via den sofistikerade krigaren till att lyfta fram den konsumerande materialisten. Detta ansåg jag ha att göra med den konsumtionsideologi som präglar den västerländska kulturen. Jag urskiljde även en tydlig individualistisk ideologi som visade sig genom att de framgångsrika männen alltid porträtterades ensamma.   En av mina viktigaste slutsatser var även att ”den riktige mannen” alltid förväntas vara oberoende. Genom detta krav blir mannen allt annat än oberoende – han förblir fast i ett krav som den omgivande kulturen kedjat fast honom vid.