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The Eudaimonic turn: Well-being in Literary Studies (2013), a study by Pawelski et al, sheds light on a recent turn in literary studies. The eudaimonic approach entails that texts are examined with the help of a hermeneutic of affirmation rather than the sceptical, suspicious methods of the deconstruction and post-structuralism. Pawelski et al’s text is drawn upon in this study because it corresponds to the way in which Marlene van Niekerk utilises themes such as relationships, friendship and loss in Die sneeuslaper (2009). The eudaimonic turn focusses on the way in which complex interpersonal connections are able to add to an individual’s well-being through positive as well as negative processes. Die sneeuslaper is mainly a reflection on what it means to be an author. However, it also raises important questions about the nature of being. The four short stories provide different perspectives on friendship, on how friendship can sometimes be problematic and even a nuisance, but also how relations with others repeatedly prove to be beneficial to a person’s well-being. In my study, the relational theme of friendship in Die sneeuslaper is studied from a eudaimonic point of view. Kaja Silverman’s text, Flesh of my Flesh (2009), is referred to in order to shed light on the term relationality. The relational themes of finitude (or mortality) and interpersonal connection are clearly present in Van Niekerk’s text. Although the death of a beloved friend causes trauma in Die sneeuslaper, the trauma proves to have positive effects in the form of posttraumatic growth, comfort and acceptance as time goes by. Comfort is also construed through the creation and appreciation of a work of art like Die sneeuslaper. Cognitive narratology is referenced to show how Marlene van Niekerk overthrows and plays with fixed ideas regarding relationality and friendship, causing the reader to converse with the text. Views on friendship held by thinkers such as Aristotle, Montaigne, Lacan, Kierkegaard and Derrida are referenced to give Van Niekerk’s use of the theme in Die sneeuslaper a certain context. This context represents the fixed frames of thinking generally applicable with regard to friendship. When a reader is willing to critically interpret these as well as personal frames of reference, it provides him or her the opportunity to contemplate reality from new perspectives. In Die sneeuslaper the reader is continually challenged to question existing frames of reference by means of never ending methods (resembling a Möbius-strip) and strange notions. This study concludes with the notion that it is necessary for artists (like the writers in Die sneeuslaper) to reflect differently on reality, so that readers may be inspired to also view reality in a different light. This will result in a broader view of reality, which in turn will have a more defining influence on personal well-being. / MA (Afrikaans and Dutch), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The Eudaimonic turn: Well-being in Literary Studies (2013), a study by Pawelski et al, sheds light on a recent turn in literary studies. The eudaimonic approach entails that texts are examined with the help of a hermeneutic of affirmation rather than the sceptical, suspicious methods of the deconstruction and post-structuralism. Pawelski et al’s text is drawn upon in this study because it corresponds to the way in which Marlene van Niekerk utilises themes such as relationships, friendship and loss in Die sneeuslaper (2009). The eudaimonic turn focusses on the way in which complex interpersonal connections are able to add to an individual’s well-being through positive as well as negative processes. Die sneeuslaper is mainly a reflection on what it means to be an author. However, it also raises important questions about the nature of being. The four short stories provide different perspectives on friendship, on how friendship can sometimes be problematic and even a nuisance, but also how relations with others repeatedly prove to be beneficial to a person’s well-being. In my study, the relational theme of friendship in Die sneeuslaper is studied from a eudaimonic point of view. Kaja Silverman’s text, Flesh of my Flesh (2009), is referred to in order to shed light on the term relationality. The relational themes of finitude (or mortality) and interpersonal connection are clearly present in Van Niekerk’s text. Although the death of a beloved friend causes trauma in Die sneeuslaper, the trauma proves to have positive effects in the form of posttraumatic growth, comfort and acceptance as time goes by. Comfort is also construed through the creation and appreciation of a work of art like Die sneeuslaper. Cognitive narratology is referenced to show how Marlene van Niekerk overthrows and plays with fixed ideas regarding relationality and friendship, causing the reader to converse with the text. Views on friendship held by thinkers such as Aristotle, Montaigne, Lacan, Kierkegaard and Derrida are referenced to give Van Niekerk’s use of the theme in Die sneeuslaper a certain context. This context represents the fixed frames of thinking generally applicable with regard to friendship. When a reader is willing to critically interpret these as well as personal frames of reference, it provides him or her the opportunity to contemplate reality from new perspectives. In Die sneeuslaper the reader is continually challenged to question existing frames of reference by means of never ending methods (resembling a Möbius-strip) and strange notions. This study concludes with the notion that it is necessary for artists (like the writers in Die sneeuslaper) to reflect differently on reality, so that readers may be inspired to also view reality in a different light. This will result in a broader view of reality, which in turn will have a more defining influence on personal well-being. / MA (Afrikaans and Dutch), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Tesis por compendio / [ES] En las últimas dos décadas, la producción de caqui en España ha aumentado exponencialmente y la superficie de cultivo se ha multiplicado casi por ocho. En la actualidad, la producción de caqui está centralizada en el cultivar 'Rojo Brillante', que es mundialmente apreciado. Sin embargo, esta centralización supone una importante limitación comercial. En la presente Tesis se abordan dos objetivos principales: 1) Optimización de la tecnología pre y postcosecha con el fin de garantizar la calidad del caqui 'Rojo Brillante' durante la frigoconservación y el transporte a mercados internacionales. 2) Evaluación del comportamiento bajo condiciones mediterráneas de variedades introducidas de otras regiones productoras con el fin de ampliar el rango varietal de caqui. El primer objetivo de esta Tesis se logró a través de los estudios presentados en los Capítulos I al V. El segundo objetivo se abordó en los Capítulos VI y VII. En el Capítulo I se esclarecieron las causas del pardeamiento interno del fruto en los envíos a los mercados internacionales. La temperatura a la que se expone la fruta inmediatamente tras la aplicación del tratamiento de desastringencia con altas concentraciones de CO2 se identificó como el principal factor implicado en esta alteración. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que esta alteración se puede evitar mediante la implementación de un período de atemperado de 24 h después del tratamiento con CO2, antes de conservar las frutas a bajas temperaturas. En el Capítulo II se evaluó la eficacia de un tratamiento de desastringencia recientemente patentado basado en la aplicación de una nueva cera que contiene etanol en su formulación. Los resultados mostraron que esta cera podría ser una alternativa al tratamiento convencional de desastringencia con altas concentraciones de CO2 cuando la fruta se envía a mercados lejanos a bajas temperaturas. La aplicación de la nueva cera antes de conservación en frío provocó la pérdida de astringencia de la fruta tras 30 días a 0 °C, preservando la firmeza y la calidad interna. Los resultados del Capítulo III demostraron que la realización de dos aplicaciones de ácido giberélico (AG) en precosecha permite retrasar el proceso de maduración de la fruta en el árbol con respecto a una sola aplicación. La combinación de AG en precosecha y 1-metilciclopropeno (1-MCP) en postcosecha resultó en una mayor calidad del fruto durante la frigoconservación en comparación con la aplicación únicamente de 1-MCP. Además, la fruta tratada con múltiples aplicaciones de AG mostró una firmeza ligeramente mayor tras de conservación a baja temperatura. En el Capítulo IV se demostró que, paralelamente al retraso de la maduración, el tratamiento con AG también retrasa la senescencia del cáliz, incrementando la calidad externa del fruto. La senescencia del cáliz durante la maduración del fruto se relacionó con una disminución de los parámetros de fluorescencia de clorofila (Fo, Fm y Fv/Fm). En el Capítulo V se estudiaron las condiciones óptimas de almacenamiento del caqui producido bajo cultivo ecológico. Según los resultados, no se deben almacenar los frutos cosechados con firmeza inferior a 30 N. La calidad del fruto durante la conservación dependió de las condiciones de almacenamiento, momento de aplicación del tratamiento de deastringencia y estado de madurez inicial. Por último, en los Capítulos VI y VII se abordó la evaluación bajo condiciones mediterráneas de 14 variedades de caquis no-astringentes procedentes de otros países. Se identificaron las variedades tempranas y tardías que pueden ser potencialmente interesantes para ampliar el período de cosecha en nuestra región. Los estudios postcosecha mostraron que todas las variedades estudiadas presentan una buena aptitud para ser comercializadas en los mercados nacionales y europeos. Sin embargo, la sensibilidad a los daños por frío que presentaron algunas de las variedades estudiadas podría limitar su comercialización a países de ultramar. Además, se observó que la respuesta al tratamiento con 1-MCP, para el control de los daños por frío, dependió en gran medida de la variedad. / [CA] En les últimes dues dècades, la producció de caqui a Espanya ha augmentat exponencialment i la superfície de cultiu s'ha multiplicat quasi per huit vegades. En l'actualitat, la producció de caqui està centralitzada en el la cultivar 'Rojo Brillante', que és mundialment apreciat. Malgrat això, aquesta centralització suposa d'una banda una important limitació comercial, ja que la producció es concentra en un període de collita relativament curt i, d'altra banda implica un alt risc fitosanitari. En la present Tesi s'aborden dos objectius principals: 1) Optimització de la tecnologia pre i postcollita amb la finalitat de garantir la qualitat del caqui 'Rojo brillante' durant la frigoconservació i el transport a mercats internacionals. 2) Avaluació del comportament de varietats introduïdes d'altres regions productores sota condicions mediterrànies amb la finalitat d'ampliar el rang varietal de caqui. En el Capítol I es van esclarir les causes de l l'enfosquiment intern. La temperatura a la qual s'exposa la fruita immediatament després de l'aplicació del tractament de desastringència amb altes concentracions de CO¿ es va identificar com el principal factor implicat en aquesta alteració. Els resultats obtinguts van mostrar que aquesta alteració es pot evitar mitjançant la implementació d'un període de temperat de 24 h després del tractament amb CO¿, abans de transferir la fruita a baixes temperatures. En el Capítol II es va avaluar l'eficàcia d'un tractament de desastringència recentment patentat basat en l'aplicació d'una nova cera que conté etanol en la seua formulació en caquis 'Rojo Brillante' i 'Triumph'. Els resultats van mostrar que aquesta cera podria ser una alternativa al tractament convencional de desastringència amb altes concentracions de CO¿ quan la fruita s'envia a mercats llunyans a baixes temperatures. L'aplicació de la nova cera abans de conservació en fred va provocar la pèrdua d'astringència de la fruita després de 30 dies a 0 °C, preservant la fermesa i la qualitat interna. Els resultats del Capítol III van demostrar que l'aplicació de dos tractaments d'àcid giberèlic (AG) en precollita permet retardar el procés de maduració de la fruita en l'arbre respecte a una sola aplicació. La combinació de AG en precollita i 1-metilciclopropeno (1-MCP) en postcollita va incrementar la qualitat del fruit durant la frigoconservació en comparació amb l'aplicació únicament de 1-MCP. A més, la fruita tractada amb múltiples aplicacions de AG va mostrar una fermesa lleugerament major després de conservació a baixa temperatura; no obstant això, una sola aplicació de AG també va ser eficaç per a previndre la manifestació de danys per fred en la fruita. En el Capítol IV es va demostrar que, paral·lelament al retard de la maduració, el tractament amb AG també retarda la senescència del calze, incrementant la qualitat externa del fruit. La senescència del calze durant la maduració del fruit es va relacionar amb una disminució dels paràmetres de fluorescència de clorofil·la (Fo, Fm i Fv/Fm). En el Capítol V es van estudiar les condicions òptimes d'emmagatzematge del caqui produït baix cultiu ecològic. D'acord amb els resultats obtinguts, no s'han d'emmagatzemar els fruits collits amb fermesa inferior a 30 N. La conservació del fruit va dependre de les condicions d'emmagatzematge, moment d'aplicació del tractament de desastringència i estat de maduresa de la fruita. Finalment, en els Capítols VI i VII es va abordar l'avaluació de 14 varietats de caquis no-astringents. Es van identificar les varietats primerenques i tardanes que poden ser potencialment interessants per a ampliar el període de collita. D'altra banda, els estudis postcollita van mostrar que totes les varietats estudiades presenten una bona aptitud per a ser comercialitzades en els mercats nacionals i europeus. No obstant això, la sensibilitat als danys per fred que van presentar algunes de les varietats estudiades podria limitar la seua comercialització a països d'ultramar. A més, es va observar que la resposta al tractament amb 1-MCP, per al control dels danys per fred, va dependre en gran manera de la varietat. / [EN] In the last two decades, persimmon production in Spain has increased exponentially and the cultivation area has expanded almost eight-fold. The current production of persimmon is focused on the cultivar 'Rojo Brillante', which is appreciated worldwide due to the high quality of the fruit. Nevertheless, centralized production of this single cultivar implies a major commercial limitation as its high volume of production is concentrated in a relative short harvesting period. Furthermore, it also implies a high phytosanitary risk. In this context, this Thesis addresses two main objectives: 1) Optimization of pre- and postharvest technology in order to guarantee the quality of 'Rojo Brillante' persimmon after cold storage and transportation to overseas markets. 2) Evaluation of the behavior of foreign varieties of persimmon under Mediterranean conditions in order to extend the varietal range. The first objective of this Thesis was tackled through the studies presented in Chapters I to V. The second objective was covered in Chapters VI and VII. Chapter I dealt with the causes of internal browning disorder manifested after cold shipment of 'Rojo Brillante' persimmons to overseas markets. The temperature to which fruit is exposed immediately after CO2 deastringency treatment was identified as the main factor involved in this alteration. Our results showed that this disorder can be avoided by implementing an attemperation period of 24 h after the CO2 treatment, before transferring fruit to cold storage. In Chapter II, the effectiveness of a recently patented deastringency treatment based on applying a new wax containing ethanol was assayed in 'Rojo Brillante' and 'Triumph' persimmons. The use of this new ethanol-based wax could be a potential alternative to the conventional CO2 deastringency treatment when the fruit are sent to distant overseas markets at low temperatures. Application of the new wax before cold storage led to loss of fruit astringency after 30 days at 0 °C while preserving fruit firmness and internal quality. The results of Chapter III demonstrated that two applications of gibberellic acid (GA) made it possible to delay the fruit maturity process on the tree more than with just a single application. The combination of GA and 1-methylciclopropene (1-MCP) preserved the fruit quality better than with the application of 1-MCP alone during cold storage. Moreover, the fruit treated by multiple GA applications showed a slightly higher firmness after cold storage. However, a single GA application was also effective in preventing the manifestation of chilling injury (CI) in fruit. Chapter IV demonstrated that in parallel to delaying maturity, the GA treatment also delayed calyx senescence, which meant that the fruit preserved a good appearance. The calyx lobe senescence during fruit ripening was linked to a decrease in all Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging (CFI) parameters (Fo, Fm, and Fv/Fm). Chapter V addressed the optimization of storage conditions for organic persimmons. According to our results, fruit harvested with a firmness lower than 30 N must not be stored. Fruit harvested with a higher level of firmness could be stored for up to three weeks depending on the storage conditions, the moment of application of the CO2 deastringency treatment, and the stage of fruit maturity. The longest storage period (3 weeks) was achieved when fruit were harvested with a firmness of around 45 N, submitted to CO2 treatment and then stored at 15 °C. Finally, 14 foreign varieties grown under Mediterranean conditions were evaluated to identify early- and late-season varieties with potential to extend the harvesting period. This is presented in Chapters VI and VII. In general, all the evaluated varieties fulfilled the quality criteria to be commercialized in domestic and European markets. However, sensitivity to CI was variety dependent and response to 1-MCP treatment was also observed to depend on the variety. / This study has been supported by the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria de España (INIA) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) through the projects RTA 2013-00043-C02-01 and RTA2017-00045-C02-01. In addition, it has been supported by the Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (Project N° 51910). This study has also been founded by the Consellería de Educación, Investigación, Cultura y Deporte de la Comunidad Valenciana (project GV/2016/183). Ayoub Fathi Najafabadi thanks the INIA for grant FPI-INIA #43 (CPD2015-0151). The authors thank Fomesa Fruitech S.L.U. and Natural Hand S. L. for their technical support, Cooperativa Agrícola Ntra Sra de Loreto for its technical support and for making the plots and fruit used in this study available and Plant Production Department (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias) for providing the fruit weight data and the photographs of the different varieties. / Fathi Najafabadi, A. (2021). Optimization of postharvest Technology for "Rojo brillante" Persimmon and Introduction of New Varieties in the Mediterranean Area [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/171252 / TESIS / Compendio

During the premodern era, images corresponded to the doctrines of ”The Word”, but in contemporary society this relationship is open and does not correspond to the divine Word. Because of our perceived, postmodern inability to respond to ancient Christian symbols, there is a need to revision these symbols and Christian spirituality. The result of such a revisioning would include an ”opening up” of ”The Word” and of traditional, worn symbols which have lost vitality in this milieu. Art produced with this in mind needs to make ”The Word” more currently accessible and relevant. Further, this revisioning would add significance and enhance the possibility of resurrecting language dealing with ”The Word”. In the process of revitalising old Christian imagery and language, I aim to show that the primary role of contemporary Christian art is to function metaphorically. Finally, I argue that Christian images can take on significance as contemporary images. / Art History Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)

La philosophie de la subjectivité culmine chez Husserl avec la paradoxale nécessité de fonder cette philosophie dans une communauté de sujets. Par un même mouvement, la phénoménologie husserlienne dévoile la personne cachée du philosophe, le moi phénoménologique, et autrui sur lequel le moi méditant cherche appui. Désormais, avec l’apparition de la phénoménologie, la problématique d’autrui s’installe au cœur de la philosophie directement liée à celle de la subjectivité. Sans être explicitement l’objet de sa philosophie, le problème d’autrui est constamment présent chez Merleau-Ponty. Si le plus grand problème concernant la question d’autrui de la Cinquième méditation husserlienne était celui de poser ce problème en partant de l’ego constituant, qui se pose comme une subjectivité autosuffisante, dans La structure du comportement, le comportement comme structure (Gestalt) pose un premier décentrement de la subjectivité, qui laisse ainsi de la place pour la question d’autrui. Ce travail de décentrement se poursuit avec l’analyse du corps propre, lequel dans la Phénoménologie de la perception, est entendu comme une subjectivité plus originaire que la conscience. Enfin, dans Le visible et l’invisible, Merleau-Ponty aborde la question d’autrui directement en lien avec la question de l’être. En réhabilitant la notion de forme, il ne s’agit plus seulement de revenir à la question de la subjectivité, mais de remettre en question la réflexion en quête l’être. L’incarnation présuppose une négativité constitutive, que la réflexion doit assumer et qui doit la conduire à refuser tout primat du sujet (ego). Dans l’être comme chair il n’y a plus de place privilégiée, ni pour moi, ni pour autrui, ni même pour notre rapport. Cette philosophie de la chair apparaît donc comme une ontologie indirecte, capable d’embrasser pleinement la question d’autrui dans tous ses paradoxes. / Husserl’s late philosophy is confronted with a paradoxical necessity: founding this philosophy on a community of subjects. At the same time, the Husserlian phenomenology shows out the person sitting behind phenomenological reflection but also the Other in which the phenomenological philosopher tries to find assistance. Thus, along with the emergence of the phenomenology, the problem of the Other is placed at the core of the philosophy directly connected to the question of the subjectivity. The question of the Other, despite not being the central point of his philosophy, is constantly present in the Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy. If in the Husserl’s Fifth Cartesian Mediation the most difficult problem concerning the question of the Other is precisely the fact that this question is being asked by what it seems to be an autosufficient subjectivity, in The Structure of Behavior, the notion of the behavior as structure (Gestalt) accomplishes already a decentering of the human subjectivity, freeing the ground for the question of the Other. In the Phenomenology of Perception, this work of decentering is being continued with the analysis of the body, showing that the corporeal subjectivity precedes the conscience. Finally, in The Visible and the Invisible, Merleau-Ponty investigates the question of the Other along with the question of Being. In reevaluating the notion of structure, it is now not only a question of subjectivity but of how the reflection limits itself to a positive questing of the Being. The incarnation implies a degree of negativity that reflection has to presume and the very consequence of that is there’s no longer a privileged place for a constitutive subject (ego). In the Being of flesh, there’s no longer a privileged place for me, or for the other, or for our relation. It’s only in its final philosophy of the flesh, the indirect ontology, that the question of the Other can be accepted with all its constitutives paradoxes.

In 2001, President Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints announced in an opening statement at General Conference, "The vision of Joel has been fulfilled wherein he declared," he then quoted the KJV of Joel 2:28–32. Throughout the remaining six and a half years of his life, he provided no commentary on the fulfillment of this passage. Fulfillment of the passage is also referenced in the standard works for The LDS Church in Joseph Smith—History (JS—H 1:41) and in the New Testament (Acts 2:17–21). An array of publications before and after President Hinckley's statement, comment on the fulfillment of Joel 2:28–32. This thesis is not another voice commenting on the fulfillment of Joel's ancient message. However, in the many statements made on the fulfillment of Joel 2:28–32 a gap exists, in that, no study has been conducted looking specifically at the perceptions and all of the statements of Joseph Smith on the fulfillment of this passage. This thesis seeks to fill that gap. In this thesis I contend that Joseph Smith did not believe that Joel 2:28–32 had ever been fulfilled prior to his lifetime, and that Joseph utilized the prophecy and its fulfillment as a form of motivation for his followers to preach, gather, and build up Zion. Chapter one summarizes some of the history of Christianity's view of fulfillment of Joel 2:28–32. Because Joseph Smith was not raised in a vacuum, chapter two unfolds the Christian commentary on Joel's prophecy found in Bibles produced in the antebellum era that Joseph Smith lived in. Chapter three elucidates the beliefs about the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy which two contemporary Christians had—Alexander Campbell and William Miller—to show how distinct Joseph Smith's teachings and beliefs were in his time–period. Chapter four provides every documented statement Joseph Smith made on Joel's prophecy, and every primary allusion that points back to Joel 2:28–32. It provides analysis to show what connections Joseph did and did not make with fulfillment of Joel 2:28–32 and shows that Joel 2:28–32 was one of the several primary scriptural texts for the restoration. Chapter five demonstrates that other early leaders within Joseph's church also saw the fulfillment of Joel taking place in their day and as a part of their experiences. This thesis shows that Joseph Smith did not consider the fulfillment of Joel on a single occasion, as many of his predecessors and contemporaries had, but through publications and sermons he produced a more thorough structure of belief's regarding its place in the world and especially his church than any other up–start evangelical Christian leader in the antebellum era. He produced a number of revelations, which quote the unique language of Joel. He also pointed people to the ongoing fulfillment of the passage multiple times between 1830 and 1839, showing that he did not believe that fulfillment would come in a specific singular event.

Cette recherche est le résultat d’un montage d’images issues de l’art contemporain, du cinéma et de la publicité avec des théories philosophiques, suivant le fil rouge déroulé par deux figures esthétiques qui ont traditionnellement été liées à la notion d’image : le miroir et le voile.Il en émerge une figure esthétique inédite : le voile prismatique. À cheval entre miroir et voile, le voile prismatique entraîne une lecture anti-dualiste du monde du visible inspirée de la chair merleau-pontienne entendue comme tissu différentiel dans lequel chaque chose et chaque être ne se donnent que comme différences par rapport aux autres choses et aux autres êtres.Dans le voile prismatique, la notion de chair est filtrée à travers celle, deleuzienne, d’« image-cristal », et ainsi enrichie d’une temporalité facettée et multiple faisant écho à la lecture de l’éternel retour de Nietzsche selon Deleuze et lui donnant par là une fondamentale tonalité libidinale, qui dans cette étude est analysée avec une référence particulière à Lacan.La temporalité de l’image-cristal, réagissant avec la notion merleau-pontienne de chair et avec la temporalité mythique que Merleau-Ponty lui associe, fait surgir la figure du voile prismatique comme une sorte de « chair 2.0 », réalisant ainsi un outil théorique contemporain, en mesure d’aider à la compréhension du caractère toujours plus immersif et enveloppant de l’expérience actuelle des images, y compris les implications que celle-ci comporte au niveau de l’identité de celui qui regarde et de la perception de la vérité liée à son regard. Cela, sans jamais oublier l’aspect de séduction qui caractérise l’univers visuel, ainsi confirmant le lien intime qui entrelace images et désir. / This research is the outcome of a montage intertwining contemporary art, film, and advertisement images with philosophical theory, following the direction set by two aesthetic figures that have traditionally been related to the notion of image, namely the mirror and the veil.What emerges is an unprecedented aesthetic figure, i. e., the prismatic veil, which, bouncing between the mirror and the veil, brings along an anti-dualistic interpretation of the world of the visible inspired by the Merleau-Pontian notion of flesh understood as a differential fabric in which things and beings only give themselves as differences with respect to all other things and beings.In the prismatic veil, the flesh is filtered through the Deleuzian notion of « crystal-image », and hence enriched with a faceted and multiple temporality that echoes Deleuze’s own reading of Nietzsche’s eternal return, and hence characterising it with a fundamental libidinal approach, which, in this study, is analysed with a particular emphasis on Lacan.By reacting to the Merleau-Pontian notion of flesh and to the mythical temporality that Merleau-Ponty himself associates to it, the temporality of the crystal-image makes the figure of the prismatic veil emerge as a sort of « flesh 2.0 », hence realising a contemporary theoretical tool aiming at favouring the understanding of the increasingly immersive and enveloping features of the present experience of images, including the implications that such an experience implies as for the identity of the viewer and for the perception of truth that is bond to his/her/their gaze. All this, without forgetting the aspect of seduction that characterises the visual universe, and hence confirming the intimate connection that intertwines images and desire.

During the premodern era, images corresponded to the doctrines of ”The Word”, but in contemporary society this relationship is open and does not correspond to the divine Word. Because of our perceived, postmodern inability to respond to ancient Christian symbols, there is a need to revision these symbols and Christian spirituality. The result of such a revisioning would include an ”opening up” of ”The Word” and of traditional, worn symbols which have lost vitality in this milieu. Art produced with this in mind needs to make ”The Word” more currently accessible and relevant. Further, this revisioning would add significance and enhance the possibility of resurrecting language dealing with ”The Word”. In the process of revitalising old Christian imagery and language, I aim to show that the primary role of contemporary Christian art is to function metaphorically. Finally, I argue that Christian images can take on significance as contemporary images. / Art History Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Visual Arts)