Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2006. / Theses (School of Communication) / Simon Fraser University. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

This study focuses on the concept or phenomenon of nihilism, given the regularity with which it manifests itself (to anyone who is aware of it in more or less theoretical or philosophical terms) in all kinds of cultural artifacts such as films, television shows or series, books such as novels or philosophical texts, and magazines. Most of these artifacts can be grouped together under the heading of the media in the present era. The objective of the study is to use the concept of nihilism to identify and analyse selected cases in contemporary media -- in the form of films and television series – to answer the question, with what kinds of nihilism people would come face to face if they knew how to recognize them. The study begins with an outline of a theoretical framework concerning the concept of nihilism. A number of thinkers’ work is used to come to grips with the complex phenomenon, but mostly it is Nietzsche whose thought seems to be valuable for present purposes. In the second chapter the spotlight falls on what is called (in this study) ‘capitalist nihilism’, which seems to belong with what Nietzsche called ‘passive nihilism’, but also seems to exhibit some aspects of ‘active nihilism’. The third chapter is an examination of nihilism in a foreign (Japanese) culture by concentrating on Japanese anime, to test the differences between Western (historically Christian) culture and one with a different cultural and religious history. The last chapter consists of the analysis of a specific (Western) film, I ‘heart’ Huckabees, which was selected because of the variety of ‘nihilisms’ found in it. The study seems to confirm that nihilism is indeed widespread in contemporary, postmodern culture.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-12-20T08:45:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Urbano Nobre Nojosa.pdf: 1951292 bytes, checksum: 0a99785b2a9ee0dbf9938df2b23ea625 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-20T08:45:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Urbano Nobre Nojosa.pdf: 1951292 bytes, checksum: 0a99785b2a9ee0dbf9938df2b23ea625 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-13 / The thesis Capitalism: from paper press to cloud heralds the relationship between capitalism and social communication because the 2008 economic and financial crisis revealed the plot among the advertising industry, journalistic media outlets and social networks in the web as elements that constitute capital super production and turnover of higher organic composition. It is expressed by international financial capital, which transforms global economy and wealth through securitization into speculative and volatile bonds. This economic and political crisis displays a gambling logical construction, permeated by drug trafficking money, corruption and fraud by corporations. Journalism became the area for capitalist doxa legitimation, playing the role of public doxa that generates consensus. That is, the articulation between good sense and common sense that guides the individual in order to follow the social programming and regularity, to forge total life control, to order daily life according to the social rder values. These fill in tasks, behaviours and rules previously orchestrated by the domination power of capitalism. Modern lifestyle leverages the production and consumption of goods liturgy, which are exposed and worshiped by the media activity. The media undertakes a religious character of expanding and connecting the world, individuals and God in a common movement. Media takes on the role of creating consensus mediation, which results in a pacified unity between discourse standardization and politics. Endoxa is this consensus, the will of the majority, a general will that results in the ideas of subject, consciousness and identity. Therefore, the modern national state project forwarded by the encyclopaedists and the bourgeois revolution slides into a philosophy of the media that involves a philosophical questioning of the writing culture tradition, confronted with digital narrative experiences in the internet, big data use, machine learning and business intelligence. Modern press has become the catalyst of a unique cultural, political and communication process in human history. Press has reshaped the lives of millions of workers and peasants that legitimated the French bourgeoisie actions confronting the previous political regime. The political world is moving again with the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa, Occupy Wall St in the US and Los Indignados in Spain. These protests are identified as the first street demonstrations organized using social networking, mediated by Facebook. These are demonstrations of millions of workers and young people facing the globalization of late capitalism and international crisis. Let’s move forward! / A tese Capitalismo editorial: do papel à nuvem anuncia a relação entre capitalismo e comunicação social, pois a crise econômica e financeira mundial de 2008 revelou a trama da indústria da propaganda e publicidade, mídia jornalística, redes socais na WEB como elementos constituintes da superprodução e rotação do capital de composição orgânica superior, expresso pelo capital financeiro internacional, que através da securitização transforma a economia mundial e sua riqueza em títulos especulativos e voláteis. Essa crise econômica e política demonstra a lógica de cassino, mesclada por moedas do narcotráfico, corrupção e fraudes das corporações. O jornalismo tornou-se o espaço de legitimação da doxa capitalista, assumindo o papel de ser a doxa pública que gera consenso, isto é, articulação de bom senso e senso comum, orientando o indivíduo a seguir programação e regularidade social, forjar controle total da vida, ordenamento do fazer cotidiano em harmonia com os valores da ordem social, que preenchem afazeres, condutas e regras previamente orquestrada pelo poder de dominação capitalista. A forma de vida moderna potencializa essa liturgia para o consumo e produção de mercadorias, que são expostas e cultuadas pelo exercício da mídia. A mídia assume esse caráter religioso de conectar e ampliar num mesmo movimento indivíduos, mundo e Deus. A mídia assume o papel de criar a mediação do consenso, que resulta numa unidade apaziguadora de normatização do discurso e da política. A endoxa é esse consenso, a vontade da maioria, uma vontade geral que resulta numa idéia de sujeito, consciência e identidade. Por isso, o projeto moderno dos enciclopedistas e da revolução burguesa do estado nacional resvala numa filosofia da mídia. em que envolve o questionamento filosófico sobre a tradição da cultura escrita, frente às experiências de narrativas digitais na internet, com uso de big data, machine learning e BI — business intelligence (negócios inteligentes) A imprensa moderna tornou-se o estopim de um processo cultural, político e de comunicação impar na história da humanidade. A imprensa reconfigurou a vida milhões de trabalhadores e camponeses que legitimaram a ação da burguesia francesa frente ao antigo regime político. O mundo político está em movimento novamente com a Primavera Árabe, nos países árabes, Occupy Wall St, nos Estados Unidos, e Los Indignados, na Espanha. Esses protestos são identificados como as primeiras manifestações de ruas organizadas nas redes sociais, mediadas pelo Facebook. Elas são manifestações de milhões de trabalhadores e da juventude frente à globalização do capitalismo tardio e a crise internacional. Avante!