This dissertation is a critical engagement with the myth of the reified modern state - that Leviathan that seemingly exists outside of the social while residing within the natural. In doing so it joins an effort to move the field of critical geopolitics beyond critiquing classical geopolitics to one that includes a transformative component, as expressed in the overarching field of critical theory. The undergirding methodological and theoretical approaches of this dissertation are rooted in the interplay between the semiotic, the performative, and the visual, an eclectic framework that grapples with the shifting representational practices of geopolitics - practices that are centered on maintaining a particular meta-narrative of the state - i.e., the myth of the state as a reified subject. As a means to demystify this particular paradigm of the state I look at the contradictions and the challenges proffered by a unique set of actors, soldiers and veterans. I accomplish this: military actors. This is accomplished by bringing to the forefront, through imagery, the visual and communicative performances of their everyday geopolitical practices as military actors and citizens. The three cases that make up this dissertation each address particular interconnections between soldiers, veterans, and the myth of "the state," with each employing an approach that visually interrogates the spatial and material relationships as a means to explore "the everyday" performances of their geopolitical practices. Soldiers and veterans are uniquely situated in geopolitical discourses about the state, as they are framed and/or frame themselves, depending on the context, as both "state" and "non-state" actors and, as such, through their conjoined identities can collapse the meta-narrative of the state-as-object by their very "being." In this interrogation, therefore, I add to an effort to push for a reconceptualization of the state, arguing that "it" should be re-imaged or reframed as an everyday relationship between citizens - a state as relationship rather than a state as object. This shift moves a critical geopolitical inquiry away from reproducing what it critiques, to critically engaging with the practices that produce the representations that help to constitute it.

Submitted by Edileide Reis (leyde-landy@hotmail.com) on 2013-04-08T17:09:09Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Euriclésio 2.pdf: 4178784 bytes, checksum: 7338b5403e0b3f2e2c1be57df15066f9 (MD5) Euriclésio 1.pdf: 221494 bytes, checksum: e04aff29fe272c33a3733caff28a06e3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Lêda Costa(lmrcosta@ufba.br) on 2013-04-18T12:33:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Euriclésio 2.pdf: 4178784 bytes, checksum: 7338b5403e0b3f2e2c1be57df15066f9 (MD5) Euriclésio 1.pdf: 221494 bytes, checksum: e04aff29fe272c33a3733caff28a06e3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-04-18T12:33:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Euriclésio 2.pdf: 4178784 bytes, checksum: 7338b5403e0b3f2e2c1be57df15066f9 (MD5) Euriclésio 1.pdf: 221494 bytes, checksum: e04aff29fe272c33a3733caff28a06e3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-07-30 / Este estudo analisa a tradução poética do mito Exu fotografias do livro Laróyè de Mario Cravo Neto. Exu, enquanto o mais humano dos orixás do candomblé, que participa da dialética do sagrado e profano na construção de uma cultura baiana. Dessa forma investiga os aspectos formais da luz e sombra, cores, movimento de algumas imagens fotográficas, no sentido de aproximá-las de algumas aspectos do Exu como orixá mensageiro, isto é aquele que transmite as mensagens entre os orixás e as pessoas. É o orixá do movimento dos corpos e que tem aspectos ligados à sensualidade e fecundidade, é dele que dependem desenvolvimento e o transporte de todas as coisas do universo. Para tanto, utiliza-se uma metodologia de análise com base na semiótica e na teoria da imagem fotográfica, para o desvendar estudo da obra de Cravo Neto. / Salvador

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Como um processo que se inicia nos primeiros anos do sÃculo XX e que obtÃm forÃa e contornos mais definidos a partir da dÃcada de 1930, os livros escritos para crianÃas passam a ganhar a atenÃÃo de intelectuais e autoridades governamentais brasileiras. Assim, essa mesma literatura, entre o carÃter pedagÃgico ou recreativo que possa conter, entra em um momento de definiÃÃo de suas caracterÃsticas e funÃÃes. Criadora de significados e parte da sociedade, a literatura infantil se configura em projeto para a formaÃÃo do futuro cidadÃo e, ao mesmo tempo, guarda uma ou mais noÃÃes sobre o pÃblico ao qual ela à destinada: a infÃncia. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivos identificar o processo de conceituaÃÃo, formaÃÃo e consolidaÃÃo de uma literatura infantil brasileira nas dÃcadas de 1930 e 1940, bem como as temÃticas e questÃes presentes nessa literatura e destinadas a um imaginado leitor infantil. Para tal, foram analisadas as discussÃes do campo intelectual do momento estudado acerca da produÃÃo literÃria para crianÃas, principalmente, em periÃdicos cariocas e na documentaÃÃo do INEP - Instituto Nacional de Estudos PedagÃgicos â e da CNLI â ComissÃo Nacional de Literatura Infantil â do MinistÃrio da EducaÃÃo e SaÃde que permaneceu ativa entre os anos de 1936 e 1939, alÃm de parte das obras literÃrias destinadas Ãs crianÃas dos escritores Graciliano Ramos, Ãrico VerÃssimo, CecÃlia Meireles e Viriato CorrÃa. Tem se chegado à conclusÃo da dÃcada de 1930 como um momento crucial de crescimento da produÃÃo de livros infantis e de tensÃo entre a existÃncia ou nÃo de uma literatura infantil brasileira, o que essa literatura à e o que deve ser, para que serve e os caminhos a seguir em meio a diferentes formas de manifestaÃÃo dessa produÃÃo. Mais do que isso, hà uma Ãntima relaÃÃo entre o que à delineado como literatura infantil e o entendido como infÃncia. Sendo este, assim, parte de um processo maior de modificaÃÃes sobre o entendimento do que à crianÃa e infÃncia.

Multimodal theory has developed out of social semiotics and can be seen as a response to the rise in the use of new technologies for the creation, distribution and consumption of media texts and the need to find new ways of describing and explaining their role in representation and communication. Its development is historical. It is a response to change over time. The incorporation of the visual into social semiotics marks a key moment in the development of multimodal theory. Visual literacy is discussed in relation to changes in modes of representation and a critique of this concept is provided. This is conducted in relation to how the visual modality has been integrated into social semiotics as a platform for research into multimodal communication more generally. Framing is developed along three main lines of enquiry (semiotic, cognitive and affective) as alternative ways of accounting for some of these shifts in communication and each are presented in the form of case studies. Framing and its close relationship with composition in media texts is discussed and this understanding, one that emphasise proximity as a multimodal principle, is applied to the visual design of content, the realisation of context through the provision visual cues, and later to embodiment and urban space. The three case studies, the application of framing to a range of media texts, the critical judgements made about the role visual in contemporary theory and the application of these concepts to multimodality are presented as part of an intellectual journey.

Multimodal theory has developed out of social semiotics and can be seen as a response to the rise in the use of new technologies for the creation, distribution and consumption of media texts and the need to find new ways of describing and explaining their role in representation and communication. Its development is historical. It is a response to change over time. The incorporation of the visual into social semiotics marks a key moment in the development of multimodal theory. Visual literacy is discussed in relation to changes in modes of representation and a critique of this concept is provided. This is conducted in relation to how the visual modality has been integrated into social semiotics as a platform for research into multimodal communication more generally. Framing is developed along three main lines of enquiry (semiotic, cognitive and affective) as alternative ways of accounting for some of these shifts in communication and each are presented in the form of case studies. Framing and its close relationship with composition in media texts is discussed and this understanding, one that emphasise proximity as a multimodal principle, is applied to the visual design of content, the realisation of context through the provision visual cues, and later to embodiment and urban space. The three case studies, the application of framing to a range of media texts, the critical judgements made about the role visual in contemporary theory and the application of these concepts to multimodality are presented as part of an intellectual journey.

Cette thèse se propose de définir l'ékphrasis performée, de la théoriser et de montrer son applicabilité concrète aux études théâtrales. Il s'agit d'un syntagme par lequel nous désignons le point de rencontre entre les possibilités rhétoriques de l'ékphrasis et les moyens du performatif. Cependant, l'ékphrasis ne se réduit guère à une intention purement mimétique, mais elle est toujours l'expression d'un regard aussi distancié que partiel sur le monde. À partir de la théorisation qu'on a réalisée de l'ékphrasis performée, on a élaboré quelques instruments d'analyse dont l'objectif est de comprendre certains aspects de la construction de l'image sur scène, de son utilisation dans le théâtre en général et dans le théâtre contemporain en particulier. La deuxième et la troisième parties de la thèse présentent ensuite deux parcours de recherchedifférentes. Ainsi la deuxième partie est dédiée à l'oeuvre de Samuel Beckett, tandis que la troisième est dédiée au théâtre de Anagoor. Ces deux parties se présentent comme une forme d'application des principes de l'ékphrasis performée. / The aim of this thesis is to develop a theory of performed ékphrasis. This rhetoric figure, generally studied in comparatives studies between literature and visual arts, holds a performative potential. From theory, I have extracted relevant rhetoric tools for an understanding of some aspects of image building on (also contemporary) theatre action. Ékphrasis doesn’t just reply to a mimetic intention but it always returns a partial sight on reality. Following this performed ékphrasis perspective I havefocused on Samuel Beckett’s work and Anagoor’s contemporary performances. / La presente tesi di dottorato si propone di elaborare una teoria dell'ékphrasis performata. L'ékphrasis, categoria retorica normalmente trattata in studi comparativi tra letteratura e arti visuali, ha in sé un potenziale performativo che viene qui dimostrato. In seguito, dalla teoria, sono stati estratti degli strumenti di analisi per la comprensione di alcuni aspetti della costruzione dell'immagine in scena, del suo utilizzo nel teatro in generale e nel teatro contemporaneo in particolare. Poiché si tratta di una tecnica di slittamento tra generi e oggetti di natura diversa, che agisce con operazioni di montaggio e rimontaggio delle immagini (per via discorsiva o visiva), l'ékphrasis non risponde mai a un'intenzione puramente mimetica, ma restituisce sempre uno sguardo parziale sul mondo. In quest'orizzonte si presenta l'approfondimento di due casi emblematici per una concreta dimostrazione dei meccanismi di funzionamento dell'ékphrasis performata: l'opera Samuel Beckett e i lavori della compagnia italiana contemporanea Anagoor.

En partant de l’idée que la guerre et les images sont deux notions interdépendantes, la thèse reprend deux concepts clés : visualité et contre-visualité. La visualité, étant une façon de perpétuer la guerre, représente les discours dominants. L’art contemporain serait donc une possibilité de construction de contre-visualités. La « guerre globale » contemporaine - totale et dispersée - aurait une production visuelle qui lui correspondrait : des images d’amateurs, elles aussi dispersées et de grande circulation. Comment ces images, généralement liées à la sphère privée, se sont converties en enregistrements de la guerre contemporaine ? Comment l’art fait face à la guerre et à la visualité dominante par le biais du remploi de ces images ? La recherche essaie de définir cette production d’images « amateur » et de l’encadrer dans le temps conflictuel du présent. Une telle production serait-elle une résistance à la visualité actuelle ou au contraire quelque chose qui la renforce ? Ensuite, à travers un corpus circonscrit de quatre artistes visuels contemporains (Clarisse Hahn, Rabih Mroué, Coco Fusco et Thomas Hirschhorn), nous travaillons l’hypothèse que la réutilisation de ces images peut contribuer à la construction d’une contre-visualité : par le geste artistique, l'enlèvement de ce matériau d'un certain flux provoquerait un arrêt, une déviation vers une reconfiguration du sensible où le facteur conflictuel serait mis en évidence. Dans un troisième moment, la thèse se penche sur l'œuvre des années 1970 de Jean-Luc Godard et Anne-Marie Miéville, quand ils interrogent les forces et les faiblesses du cinéma militant et mettent en question les images et leurs potentialités. Certaines de leurs procédures créatives sont examinées rétrospectivement, car à notre avis, elles sont toujours présentes directement ou indirectement dans la pratique artistique des artistes de notre corpus. / Considering the idea that war and images are two interdependent concepts, the thesis deals with two key concepts: visuality and counter-visuality. Visuality as a way of perpetuating the war represents dominant discourses. Contemporary art would therefore be a possibility of constructing counter-visuality. The contemporary “global war” - total and dispersed - would have a visual production that would correspond to it: the amateur images, also scattered and widely circulated. How are these images - usually related to the private sphere - converted into records of contemporary war? How does art face war and the dominant visuality by utilizing these images?The research attempts to characterize this amateur production of images and to frame it in the conflicting time of the present. Would such a production be a resistance to the current visuality or, on the contrary, something that strengthens it? From then on, by analyzing a circumscribed corpus of four contemporary visual artists (Clarisse Hahn, Rabih Mroué, Coco Fusco and Thomas Hirschhorn), we work on the hypothesis that the reuse of these images can contribute to the construction of a counter-visuality: by the artistic gesture, the removal of this material from a certain flow would cause a stop, a deviation towards a reconfiguration of the sensible where the conflicting factor would be highlighted. In a third moment, the thesis looks at the work of Jean-Luc Godard and Anne-Marie Miéville on the 1970s, when they question the strengths and weaknesses of militant cinema and challenge images and their potentialities. Some of their creative procedures are examined in retrospect because in our opinion they are still directly or indirectly present in the artistic practice of the aforementioned artists.

This thesis engages in a counter-visual ethnography, using Alcatraz as a site to examine the workings of U.S. memorialization practices and visuality, specifically regarding carcerality. In examining the U.S.’s most popular site of penal tourism, this ethnography aims to provide new vantages from which to perceive of Alcatraz in relationship to the contemporary carceral moment. This is done in part by analyzing the processes of visuality through which hegemonic meanings of carcerality are circulated and consolidated at the site. The work is to at once see and unsee the ways Alcatraz is visually structured, in the process creating alternative ways to perceive of the site in its historical contingencies and relation with the wider workings of the carceral state.

Viviane Sassen is a Dutch fashion photographer, whose personal work feature people from African descent. Through the employment of the equatorial light, her models’ personal identities and faces are left in the shadow, their dark skin rendered “just” black, depicting the sitters invisible and without personal recognition. In this thesis I offer an alternative to reading her work whose praise always stay on the surface; I examine her work in relation to the historical and geographical location, offer an analysis to the ontology of the shadow in photography, and examine the treatment of the surface of Sassen’s models.

[pt] O estudo de aspectos formais e visuais remete ao ensino de design do começo do século XX, e ainda tem demonstrado ser tema de interesse inesgotável diante das constantes atualizações no campo da prática e do ensino de design. No âmbito do design de mobiliário no Brasil, bastante atenção foi dedicada às biografias ou aos contextos históricos de alguns ícones, mas não tanta ao exercício de apreender aspectos de sua própria materialidade. Tomando a forma e a visualidade da ideia de leveza como eixo condutor, este trabalho propõe uma reaproximação a um tipo consagrado de mobiliário para casa produzido no Brasil, a partir dos anos 50, através da tensão entre certas referências culturais, sociais e técnicas em imagens da leveza na modernidade, e um exercício de análise de seus aspectos formais e visuais em oito assentos selecionados. O objetivo principal do trabalho é destacar um repertório formal e visual corporificado na tipologia de design do mobiliário estudado, investindo também na sistematização e síntese de aspectos formais e visuais nas especificidades do mobiliário em geral, e do espaço tridimensional, que podem servir tanto à prática quanto ao ensino de design. / [en] The investigation of formal and visual aspects recalls to the teaching of design back to the beginning of the XX century and it still proves to be a subject of endless interest before the constant updating in the field of practice and teaching of design. Within the scope of furniture design in Brazil, a great deal of attention was drawn to biographies or to the historical context of some icons. It is not possible to say the same when it comes to the exercise of learning the aspects of materiality itself. Taking into account the underlying concepts of lightness such as shape and visuality, the present work aims at reapproaching a renowned kind of home furniture manufactured in Brazil from the 50s on, through the tension amongst certain cultural, social and technical references, as well as techniques on images of lightness in the modernity and an exercise of analysis of its formal and visual aspects in eight pre-selected samples. The general goal of this work is to highlight a formal and visual repertory, which has been incorporated in the typology of design of the pieces of furniture approached hereby. Other aspects here approached are the systematization and synthesis of the formal and visual aspects within the peculiarities of furniture on a whole, as well as the tridimensional space, which can be either used in the practical field and for the teaching of design.