Giovanni Boldini's La Zingara is an image fraught with mystery. As a lesser-known artist, scholarship on him and this painting is sparse. This thesis details the innovations that Boldini exhibited as an artist working in nineteenth-century France, using the lenses of feminist and Marxist art historical readings for a new interpretation of this piece. Participating in the oppressive systems of capitalism, sexism, and prejudice, Giovanni Boldini created the image of La Zingara for personal gain. Painting a subject from a marginalized community, the Romani, Boldini benefitted from those systems. He "others"his Italian heritage and modern art developments to construct a portraiture totally unique to him and his oeuvre. While other artists worked on similar subjects at the time, Giovanni Boldini set himself apart through his updating of classic styles, drawing upon on the Christian iconography of the Byzantine tradition, the portraiture of Trecento and the Renaissance, and some ancient Roman conventions. Additionally, the artist capitalizes on the growing interest and commodification of japonisme to create a highly marketable work. Furthermore, this thesis explores issues of gender and class to acknowledge the difficult place that women have filled in the history of art. Finally, this thesis argues that Boldini deserves a greater place in the history of art.

In this mini-dissertation the ongoing battle between the self and late-capitalist society is explored as a theoretical response to the notion of the fragmented subject in relation to postmodernism. Frederic Jameson links the schizophrenic subject and postmodern culture explicitly to societal changes in Western economies: this author's tradition outlines a main part of my theoretical stance within this mini-dissertation. Jameson, decisive in his criticism of current popular culture that has formed as a result of postmodernism, conveys a key dystopic viewpoint in his association of schizophrenia with postmodernism and late-capitalism. This sentiment is echoed in this mini-dissertation, as it is my belief that capitalist consumption habits and pastiche are interrelated in current popular visual culture, simulating a schizoid experience which consumers in turn mirror when formulating a sense of self. An essentially fragmented (postmodern) viewpoint with regard to postmodern visual culture is argued, and is aligned with Jameson's perspective on how subjects form identities within late capitalism, with pastiche and consumption labelled as the main causes of the contemporary societal problem of fragmentation. The main contention of the study is thus that contemporary consumption practices, through the stylistic acceptance of pastiche, are the current causes of fragmentation within the self. This naturalisation of postmodern montage and pastiche, in my opinion, effectively disorientates consumers, as similar techniques that are adopted in consumer culture are applied to identity formation, thus contributing to a sense of egolessness, a key characteristic of schizophrenia. Focus is placed on visual examples that highlight postmodern techniques of nostalgic image recycling, aligned to similar postmodern identity models, with parallels drawn between the fragmenting individual and the consuming individual. As exceedingly discontinuous processes of change occur through capitalist consumption habits that are emblematic characteristics of the postmodern condition, it is thus my belief that current postmodern visual culture contributes to an overall fragmented experience of the individual, where consumer practices are negatively affecting identity construction, and thus spurring on further cultural fragmentation and social disintegration. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Visual Arts / unrestricted

This work explores the possibilities of Hegel's critique of liberalisms and Marxism. Firstly, I define the "Return to Hegel", or more precisely, the way how we should conceive of this return to Hegel in order to really return to him. In second part, this formal definition of return is given its content, i.e. Hegel's concept of state. This concept had been denied by the doctrine of liberalism as well as of Marxism and this denial, as I try to demonstrate, can be considered a theoretical cause of totalitarianism. Or, in other words, totalitarianism can be speculatively comprehended as the manifestation of this denial. Thus as long as we live in a post-totalitarian era, Hegel is our contemporary. The last part consists of an explication of Hegel's critique of understanding (Verstand). The main reason for this explication is that liberalism and Marxism are 'understanding'- theories of state, and because of that, they were not able to conceive of the state as an object of Reason (Vernunft) and therefore, they failed to recognize the state as rational in itself. The theoretical result of this analysis is that Hegel's critique of understanding can be grasped, so to speak, as a 'critique of ideology avant la lettre', if the concept of ideology is adequately redefined.

In this essay, I investigate how the historic and current economic structures operating in Appalachia from the 1920s to the 2010s are represented in two contemporary Southern Appalachian novels – Serena (2008) by Ron Rash and Flight Behavior (2012) by Barbara Kingsolver. Through the lens of postcolonial theory, I show how Serena represents Appalachia as functioning under the colonial model outlined by Robert Blauner and Helen Mathews Lewis in 1978. Then, still under the theory of postcolonialism, I explore how Kingsolver’s work depicts regional identity in response to a post-colonial environment and the ever-expanding global economy.

Nostalgia for the Soviet past has been relevant for more than three decades since the demise of the USSR in 1991. The first scholars who studied this phenomenon believed that it related to backward Soviet mentality typical of the old generations. However, with the passage of time it has become clear that young people also not only express interest in the Soviet legacy, but many of them clearly state that they have nostalgia for the USSR. Here, we encounter an intriguing question: can we contend that nostalgia may be provoked by the live experience only, or it can be a longing for the unexperienced past? Nowadays, there are many online nostalgic Russian-speaking communities that provide rich material for studying post-Soviet nostalgia. But Russian language should not be confused with “Russianness”. Moreover, as we go deeper into this topic, we understand that those people who are nostalgic for the USSR, experience longing for different aspects of the Soviet life, depending on their ethnic belonging. This study addresses the difference between Russians who long for the grandeur of the Soviet Union which was the most powerful and effective embodiment of the Russian empire, and the representatives of other nationalities who have another perspective on their Soviet past. This thesis deals a lot with the issue of values, because, as it is shown in the research, longing for socialism is not a matter of age, but rather a matter of values. The most essential point which is recalled by many nostalgic persons is aspiration for the future. Now Russia and other post-Soviet countries do not have a clear plan for the future, while the USSR provided its population with a goal for future development. On the other hand, many nostalgic subjects admit, that a unique spirituality that was embedded in Soviet life is lost. It is another paradox, because the Soviet state was atheist, and now in Russia and other former Soviet republics, religion plays a significant role, however, the decrease of morals in comparison to Soviet times is apparent. Therefore, this thesis discusses compatibility of Communist (socialist) values and religion. Many nostalgic subjects feel that the USSR was a bastion of science and technological advancement in comparison to the backward obscurantist Russia of today. They mourn the downfall of the USSR as a failed project of modernity. This is another important topic that is addressed in the thesis. This study is based on online ethnographies of a few nostalgic communities on three Russian-speaking internet platforms: VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and Facebook. Initially, the focus of the study was on a group level of analysis, but the most valuable portion of this project turned out to be interviews conducted with individual participants of the studied communities. The research participants were from the following countries: Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian and Ukraine. The task of this research was to understand the nature of their nostalgia and to reveal their visions of the to-be-restored USSR. Depending on their worldviews (socialist/ non-socialist, nationalist/internationalist) the research participants provided very different and instructive pictures of this new potential unity which the researcher approached from the perspective of Benedict Anderson’s theory on imagined communities.

Cette thèse présente une analyse du mode de production chinois depuis les réformes économiques de 1978. Notre recherche prend la forme d’une analyse comparative de la structure économique et sociale de la NEP soviétique et des réformes chinoises en utilisant un cadre théorique marxiste. Notre thèse postule que le mode de production chinois moderne suit une logique semblable au mode de production soviétique à l’époque de la NEP. À la lumière de l’expérience de la NEP, notre recherche montre que la stratégie de développement chinoise ne doit pas être comprise comme étant vers une évolution néolibérale, mais plutôt comme une évolution originale du marxisme, s’inscrivant dans la tradition du marxisme-léninisme, adapté à la cohabitation à un système capitaliste mondialisé. Le modèle de la NEP est l’un des premiers exemples d’un type de socialisme basé en partie sur les relations de marchés. En URSS comme en Chine, les structures critiques de l’économie, une grande régulation et un certain niveau de planification économique sont à la base de ce modèle de marché socialiste. Le socialisme de marché soviétique est basé sur une accommodation avec la paysannerie ainsi que sur les relations de marchés entre paysans et entre petites et moyennes firmes publiques. Le socialisme de marché chinois est lui basé sur l’extraversion de l’économie dans un cadre de modernisation technologique. Les relations de marchés sont aussi importantes en Chine dans l’allocation des ressources aux entreprises. La planification économique est le modèle chinois, mais s’opère dans une optique de coordination économique. Le modèle économique de la NEP et chinois partageant tous deux les mêmes objectifs qui sont théorisés dans le courant marxiste comme étant les bases d’une société socialiste : une modernisation technologique, la construction d’une classe ouvrière, une industrialisation et une amélioration de la qualité de vie de la population. À travers l’étude de la présente structure économique et sociale chinoise, il est possible de vérifier qu’un très grand progrès s’est effectué dans la réalisation de ces objectifs. / This thesis presents an analysis of the Chinese mode of production since the economic reforms of 1978. Our research takes the form of a comparative analysis of the economic and social structure of the Soviet NEP and Chinese reforms using a Marxist theoretical framework. Our thesis postulates that the modern Chinese mode of production follows a logic similar to the Soviet mode of production during the NEP era. In the light of the NEP experience, our research shows that the Chinese development strategy should not be understood as a neoliberal evolution, but rather as an original evolution of Marxism, in line with the tradition of Marxism-Leninism, adapted to the cohabitation with a globalized capitalist system. The NEP model is one of the earliest examples of a type of socialism based in part on market relations. In the USSR as in China, the critical structures of the economy, strong regulations and a certain level of economic planning are the basis of this socialist market model. Soviet market socialism is based on peaceful compromise with the peasantry as well as on market relations between peasants and between small and medium public firms. Chinese market socialism is based on the extraversion of the economy within a framework of technological modernization. Market relations are also important in China in the allocation of resources to companies. Economic planning is at the basis of the Chinese model but is carried out within the context of economic coordination. The economic model of the NEP and the Chinese reforms both share the same objectives which are theorized in the Marxist current as being the foundations of a socialist society: technological modernization, the construction of a working-class, industrialization and improvement of the quality of life of the population. Through the study of the present Chinese economic and social structure, it is possible to verify that great progress has been made in achieving these goals.

This diploma thesis examines Sally Rooney's novels Conversations with Friends and Normal People from the viewpoint of Marxist literary criticism. Based on the author's own claim to incorporate "a Marxist framework" into her writing as a way of describing the surrounding world, the thesis, there- fore, aims to explore the aforementioned novels with regard to Marx's theory. The first part focuses on the theoretical background and principal thoughts of Marxism and Marxist literary criticism. Next, there is outlined the conception of social classes in Ireland and a brief introduction of Sally Rooney's views in order to provide context to the novels. The second part of the thesis then applies the theoret- ical background to an analysis of the novels themselves. This includes their stories, settings, charac- ters and conveyed ideas in relation to the issues of base and superstructure, power dynamics, class identity, social status and influences of economic as well as cultural and educational hegemony.

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