Notre travail de thèse de sociologie présente le passage du cinéma allemand en France depuis 1990, de sa sphère de production jusqu'à sa sphère de réception individuelle. Il mobilise les études sur la culture de l'École de Francfort ainsi que les apports de la sociologie de la réception, et s'appuie sur une enquête empirique menée auprès d'acteurs de la branche de production allemande et de spectateurs français. La production contemporaine est traversée par des mutations qui convergent pour générer un paysage cinématographique plus diversifié. L'apparition d'une voie médiane entre cinéma commercial et cinéma d'auteur, les « divertissements de qualité », principalement représentés par les films historiques à caractère authentique, favorise une reconnexion du cinéma allemand avec son public local et international. Les instances d'exportation déploient une nouvelle politique de visibilité polarisée autour de cette voie médiane, valorisée en tant que marchandise culturelle. La réputation du cinéma allemand auprès des distributeurs français est revalorisée, mais s'opère selon un mode conformiste qui tend à privilégier les motifs historiques et à exclure les comédies allemandes des écrans français. Cette orientation guide des horizons d'attente spectatoriels en termes de cinéma historique de qualité, crédible et fiable. Cette catégorisation de la germanité filmique mène alors au réinvestissement actif de visions du monde plus ou moins stéréotypées par rapport à l'Autre. Cette réception favorise en outre la matérialisation de phénomènes abstraits, liés à une expérience généralisée de l'altérité, entre germanité et universalité. / This PhD presents the mechanisms of the appearance of German cinema in France since 1990, from its sphere of production to its individual reception. How can contemporary German cinema support new forms of encounter with the Other for French spectators? The analysis draws on the studies of culture undertaken by the Frankfurt School, as well as on contributions from the sociology of cinema and its reception. It also builds on empirical research conducted with major stakeholders : people working in German production on the one hand, and French spectators on the other. Since 1990 the production of German cinema has undergone changes resulting in the creation of a more productive film landscape. The rise in production has led to an increased export of German cinema, notably to France. This is a contradictory development: it has admittedly allowed a diversification in the nature of movies screened, but this diversification has been based on conformist approaches, smoothing out any heterogeneity. The export and advertising of the productions has tended to support historical themes whilst German comedies have been excluded from French screens in a self-fulfilling prophecy. The reception of contemporary German cinema has then led to an active reinvestment in more or less stereotypical worldviews of the Other. The encounter with German cinema has also fluctuated between being an experience of Germany and an experience of the world. The exoticism of German cinema has been too subtle to have any direct impact on the representation of the Other. Its influence has occurred implicitly on intertwined levels: on iconographic images, societal representations, as well as meta-representations. / Die Dissertation aus dem Fachbereich Soziologie stellt die Passagen des deutschen Kinos in Frankreich seit 1990 dar - von der Produktionssphäre bis hin zur individuellen Rezeption. Hierbei bedient sie sich sowohl an den Kulturstudien der Frankfurter Schule als auch an den Beiträgen der Rezeptionssoziologie. Des weiteren basiert sie auf einer empirischen Studie, die die Sichtweise von Akteuren der deutschen Produktionsbranche und französischer Konsumenten analysiert. Die zeitgenössische Produktion zeichnet sich durch diverse Mutationen aus, deren Kreuzung zu einer vielfältigeren Kinolandschaft führt. Die Entstehung einer Schnittmenge aus kommerziellem Kino und Autorenfilmen, die zu einer qualitativ hochwertigen Unterhaltung führt, basiert überwiegend auf Historienfilme mit authentischem Charakter und führt zu einem Rückschluss auf das deutsche Kino auf lokaler und internationaler Ebene. Der Export der Filme, die durchaus als Kulturgut wahrgenommen werden, trägt zu einer polarisierten Sichtweise bei. Das deutsche Kino wird aus der Sicht französischer Händler neu bewertet, bedient sich jedoch dabei einer sehr konformistischen Art und Weise, die dazu neigt, sich an historischen Filmen zu bedienen und deutsche Komödien auszugrenzen. Dies führt dazu, dass der französische Zuschauer, von seinem Nachbarn, qualitativ hochwertige Historienfilme erwartet. Diese Kategorisierung von Deutschtum in Filmen führt zu einer Art Stereotypisierung im Hinblick auf den Anderen. Diese Rezeption fördert wiederum die Materalisierung abstrakter Phänomene, die an einer generalisierten Erfahrung des Andersseins bezüglich Deutschtum und Universalität anknüpft.

Genericamente, esta tese busca identificar a relação entre arquitetura e cultura de consumo, como definidora da identidade da arquitetura moderna de Miami no segundo pós-guerra. O conceito de cidade-balneário de Miami Beach foi transformado durante o decorrer da sua história. Os seus hotéis de inverno de meados da década de 1910 até 1945--destinados aos milionários associados à indústria automobilística--dão lugar a uma nova tipologia de hotel no pós-guerra, o hotelbalneário para a classe média norte-americana. Especificamente, este trabalho analisa os hotéis-balneários de Morris Lapidus (1902-2001) em Miami Beach na década de 1950, que definem a identidade da arquitetura moderna da cidade e que, por sua vez, caracterizam a sua própria imagem como cidade-balneário. A obra do setor da hospitalidade de Lapidus surge como informante de uma arquitetura com atenção máxima à escala humana do usuário. Suas lojas, construídas na época da Depressão, e seus hotéis do segundo pós-guerra, meticulosamente projetados para a classe média, surgem como veículos que contribuíram para a formação da cultura nacionalista, otimista e progressista, incentivada pelo governo federal de Franklin Roosevelt nesses períodos históricos. A histórica polêmica gerada sobre essa obra hoteleira de Lapidus, associada aos paradoxos presentes na composição arquitetônica de seus edifícios, está dividida entre a dogmática interpretação moderna do International Style e a leitura pós-moderna centrada na recuperação humanista. A narrativa da tese está fundamentada nessa polêmica cujo cerne está na questão sobre gosto e qualidade em arquitetura instigada por essa obra controversa. Este trabalho interpreta os paradoxos desses hotéis-balneários como uma metodologia de projeto de Lapidus, centrada na dialética de elementos de projeto contrastantes. Dessa dialética compositiva, nasce uma arquitetura híbrida, acessível à emergente classe-média, consumista e móvel, do pós-guerra. Esse hibridismo é estrategicamente elaborado como metodologia de projeto--uma colagem. A arquitetura como colagem nasce das escolhas de elementos extraídos de fontes diversas, que são apropriados e recriados pelo arquiteto. A diversidade de fontes de projeto advém da circulação de ideias--exposições, publicações e viagens. O apogeu da carreira de Lapidus é o hotel Fontainebleau (1954), o primeiro edifício do arquiteto de interiores que foi validado pelo seu conjunto de lojas da Main Street norte-americana. Os interiores derivam do método de projeto desenvolvido para as suas lojas, enquanto que a arquitetura do Fontainebleau descende da obra formativa de Oscar Niemeyer. A arquitetura moderna tropical do edifício contribuiu para a tipologia de hotel-balneário de Miami Beach no segundo pósguerra que, por sua vez, redefiniu o seu conceito de cidade-balneário. Após meio século, a arquitetura moderna hoteleira de Miami, originada com o Fontainebleau, está \"preservada\" sob a denominação Miami Modern-MiMo. No terceiro milênio, o MiMo, transformado em \"marca\" de consumo, é o veículo imobiliário da preservação da arquitetura moderna de Miami. / Generally, this dissertation aims at identifying the relationship between architecture and consumer culture, which defines the identity of Miami\'s modern architecture in the second post-war. The concept of Miami Beach as a seaside resort has been transformed throughout its history. Its winter hotels from the mid-1910s to 1945--intended for the auto industry millionaires--are replaced by a new typology of post-war hotel, the hotel-resort for the American middle class. Specifically, this work examines Morris Lapidus (1902-2001)\' hotel-resorts in Miami Beach in the 1950s, which define the identity of the city\'s modern architecture and which, in turn, characterizes the image of the city as a seaside resort. Lapidus\' hospitality industry work emerges as an informant of an architecture with maximum attention on the user\'s human scale. Its stores, built in the Depression era, and its post-war hotels for the middle class, both meticulously designed, have emerged as vehicles that contributed to the formation of the optimistic and progressive nationalist culture encouraged by the Franklin Roosevelt federal government in these historic periods. The historical polemic generated on such Lapidus\' hotel work, associated with the paradoxes present in the architectural design composition of its buildings, is divided between the dogmatic modern interpretation of the International Style and the postmodern review, centered on the rediscovery of humanism. The narrative of the thesis is based on this controversy, whose core is the question about taste and quality in architecture instigated by this controversial work. This work interprets the paradoxes of these hotel-resorts as a Lapidus\' design methodology, centered on the dialectic of contrasting design elements. From this compositional dialectic, a hybrid architecture is formed, accessible to the emerging middle-class, consumerist and mobile, of the second postwar. This hybridism is strategically planned as a design methodology--a collage. Architecture as collage is assembled from the choices of elements drawn from diverse sources, which are appropriated and recreated by the architect. The diversity of project sources comes from the circularity of ideas--exhibitions, publications, and travel. The heyday of Lapidus\' career as an architect is the Fontainebleau Hotel (1954), the first building by the then interior designer, who was validated by its collection of American Main Street stores designed during the Depression. The Fontainebleau Hotel interiors are derived from the design method developed for his stores, while its architecture descends from the formative work of the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The tropical modern architecture of the Fontainebleau established the typology of the post-war Miami Beach hotel-resort, which in turn redefined its seaside resort concept. After half a century, Miami\'s modern hotel architecture, originated with the Fontainebleau Hotel, is \"preserved\" under the slogan Miami Modern-MiMo. In the third millennium, the MiMo, transformed into a consumer brand, is the real estate vehicle for the preservation of the modern architecture in Miami.

Genericamente, esta tese busca identificar a relação entre arquitetura e cultura de consumo, como definidora da identidade da arquitetura moderna de Miami no segundo pós-guerra. O conceito de cidade-balneário de Miami Beach foi transformado durante o decorrer da sua história. Os seus hotéis de inverno de meados da década de 1910 até 1945--destinados aos milionários associados à indústria automobilística--dão lugar a uma nova tipologia de hotel no pós-guerra, o hotelbalneário para a classe média norte-americana. Especificamente, este trabalho analisa os hotéis-balneários de Morris Lapidus (1902-2001) em Miami Beach na década de 1950, que definem a identidade da arquitetura moderna da cidade e que, por sua vez, caracterizam a sua própria imagem como cidade-balneário. A obra do setor da hospitalidade de Lapidus surge como informante de uma arquitetura com atenção máxima à escala humana do usuário. Suas lojas, construídas na época da Depressão, e seus hotéis do segundo pós-guerra, meticulosamente projetados para a classe média, surgem como veículos que contribuíram para a formação da cultura nacionalista, otimista e progressista, incentivada pelo governo federal de Franklin Roosevelt nesses períodos históricos. A histórica polêmica gerada sobre essa obra hoteleira de Lapidus, associada aos paradoxos presentes na composição arquitetônica de seus edifícios, está dividida entre a dogmática interpretação moderna do International Style e a leitura pós-moderna centrada na recuperação humanista. A narrativa da tese está fundamentada nessa polêmica cujo cerne está na questão sobre gosto e qualidade em arquitetura instigada por essa obra controversa. Este trabalho interpreta os paradoxos desses hotéis-balneários como uma metodologia de projeto de Lapidus, centrada na dialética de elementos de projeto contrastantes. Dessa dialética compositiva, nasce uma arquitetura híbrida, acessível à emergente classe-média, consumista e móvel, do pós-guerra. Esse hibridismo é estrategicamente elaborado como metodologia de projeto--uma colagem. A arquitetura como colagem nasce das escolhas de elementos extraídos de fontes diversas, que são apropriados e recriados pelo arquiteto. A diversidade de fontes de projeto advém da circulação de ideias--exposições, publicações e viagens. O apogeu da carreira de Lapidus é o hotel Fontainebleau (1954), o primeiro edifício do arquiteto de interiores que foi validado pelo seu conjunto de lojas da Main Street norte-americana. Os interiores derivam do método de projeto desenvolvido para as suas lojas, enquanto que a arquitetura do Fontainebleau descende da obra formativa de Oscar Niemeyer. A arquitetura moderna tropical do edifício contribuiu para a tipologia de hotel-balneário de Miami Beach no segundo pósguerra que, por sua vez, redefiniu o seu conceito de cidade-balneário. Após meio século, a arquitetura moderna hoteleira de Miami, originada com o Fontainebleau, está \"preservada\" sob a denominação Miami Modern-MiMo. No terceiro milênio, o MiMo, transformado em \"marca\" de consumo, é o veículo imobiliário da preservação da arquitetura moderna de Miami. / Generally, this dissertation aims at identifying the relationship between architecture and consumer culture, which defines the identity of Miami\'s modern architecture in the second post-war. The concept of Miami Beach as a seaside resort has been transformed throughout its history. Its winter hotels from the mid-1910s to 1945--intended for the auto industry millionaires--are replaced by a new typology of post-war hotel, the hotel-resort for the American middle class. Specifically, this work examines Morris Lapidus (1902-2001)\' hotel-resorts in Miami Beach in the 1950s, which define the identity of the city\'s modern architecture and which, in turn, characterizes the image of the city as a seaside resort. Lapidus\' hospitality industry work emerges as an informant of an architecture with maximum attention on the user\'s human scale. Its stores, built in the Depression era, and its post-war hotels for the middle class, both meticulously designed, have emerged as vehicles that contributed to the formation of the optimistic and progressive nationalist culture encouraged by the Franklin Roosevelt federal government in these historic periods. The historical polemic generated on such Lapidus\' hotel work, associated with the paradoxes present in the architectural design composition of its buildings, is divided between the dogmatic modern interpretation of the International Style and the postmodern review, centered on the rediscovery of humanism. The narrative of the thesis is based on this controversy, whose core is the question about taste and quality in architecture instigated by this controversial work. This work interprets the paradoxes of these hotel-resorts as a Lapidus\' design methodology, centered on the dialectic of contrasting design elements. From this compositional dialectic, a hybrid architecture is formed, accessible to the emerging middle-class, consumerist and mobile, of the second postwar. This hybridism is strategically planned as a design methodology--a collage. Architecture as collage is assembled from the choices of elements drawn from diverse sources, which are appropriated and recreated by the architect. The diversity of project sources comes from the circularity of ideas--exhibitions, publications, and travel. The heyday of Lapidus\' career as an architect is the Fontainebleau Hotel (1954), the first building by the then interior designer, who was validated by its collection of American Main Street stores designed during the Depression. The Fontainebleau Hotel interiors are derived from the design method developed for his stores, while its architecture descends from the formative work of the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The tropical modern architecture of the Fontainebleau established the typology of the post-war Miami Beach hotel-resort, which in turn redefined its seaside resort concept. After half a century, Miami\'s modern hotel architecture, originated with the Fontainebleau Hotel, is \"preserved\" under the slogan Miami Modern-MiMo. In the third millennium, the MiMo, transformed into a consumer brand, is the real estate vehicle for the preservation of the modern architecture in Miami.

Coal seams are commonly associated with poor quality water that requires treatment. Water treatment can be very expensive and can severely affect the profitability of mining projects. This study investigated the potential cultivation of Arthrospira maxima (Spirulina) in coal seam water to beneficiate coal seam water in order to effectively offset the water treatment cost. The study was conducted in Northern South Africa and formed part of a larger Coal Seam Water Beneficiation Project (CSWBP). The study consisted of laboratory based Flask Studies and outdoor High Rate Algal Pond Studies. The Flask Studies that were carried out in the on-site field laboratory, found that the coal seam water could provide a suitable medium for Spirulina cultivation. In addition, it was found that the optimal pH for the selected strain ranged between 9 - 10.5 and that the addition of excess iron, up to 100 times the concentration found in defined growth media such as Schlösser’s, to the culture media could enhance productivity. The High Rate Algal Pond Studies (HRAP) were carried out over a period of 18 months. The studies showed that the coal seam water at the CSWBP is a valuable resource that can reduce media costs by 50% without affecting productivity. In a study encompassing 334 days it was shown that heating the culture through plate heat exchangers would result in a significant increase in productivity and a heated productivity of 19.86 g/m2/day was recorded. An unheated productivity of 14.11 g/m2/day was recorded. Therefore, it was found that it would be economically feasible to beneficiate coal seam water found at the CSWBP through the cultivation of Arthrospira maxima (Spirulina). / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)

[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo apresentar uma leitura das crônicas de Rubem Braga a partir do contato com o arquivo do escritor. Procurei delinear minha leitura destacando as cartas recebidas pelo escritor, tanto as de leitores quanto as de literatos. Paralelamente, voltei o foco para depoimentos e entrevistas do cronista e artigos sobre ele publicados na imprensa jornalística. Mesmo lendo as crônicas publicadas em livro, foi pela ótica do leitor empírico de jornal que busquei compreender a sensibilidade artística e afetiva do cronista, montando um contraponto entre as crônicas e as cartas dos leitores comuns ou de seus pares. Observando o jornal, suporte da recepção, encaminhei reflexões sobre o espaço modelar da crônica e, em especial, sobre algumas de suas características (lingüísticas, estilísticas, temáticas) que possibilitam a mediação entre a cultura erudita, a folclórica e a popular. Para destacar a importância literária, cultural e política do cronista, examinei a relação entre o escritor e o gênero (a crônica) e entre o gênero e o veículo (o jornal). / [en] This dissertation has as objective to present a reading of Rubem Braga`s chronicles through the contact with his archive. I have intended to delineate my reading by detaching Braga`s passive correspondence, written as far by readers as by others writers. Parallel to that, I have focused on his depositions and interviews, as well as on articles published about him in the journalistic press. Although I have been reading his chronicles published in books, it was through the optics of the empirical reader of newspaper that I have attempted to understand Braga`s artistic and affective sensitivity, trying to build up a counterpoint between the chronicles and the letters by the common readers or by his literary pairs. Observing the newspaper, support of the reception, I have directed reflections on the modelled space of the chronicle and, in special, on some of its characteristics (linguistic, stylistic, thematic) which have made possible the mediation between the erudite, the folklorical and the popular culture. To emphasize on Braga`s literary, cultural and political importance, I have examined the relation between the writer and the chronicle and between the chronicle and the vehicle (the newspaper).

Punk rock provided not only a watershed of creativity, innovation and a do-it-yourself spirit to a culture saturated in the mainstream, it physically brought like-minded people together in a community, or rather extended family, which in today’s hyper-d.i.y. culture, is progressively declining. As early as the 1940s, theorists such as Adorno and Horkheimer warned us about alienation in a society increasingly dependent on technology. By looking to punk, and other resilient and robust counter-cultures, perhaps we can find solutions to the pitfalls of the ‘culture industry’ (Adorno, Horkheimer, 1944). My thesis, consisting of a feature-length documentary film and textual analysis, is a culmination of: ethnographic research into the punk scene in my own community; theoretical research into the sociology, ethnography and subculture theory; and my own subjectivity. My personal findings are presented to offer insight into punk philosophy and to spur discourse, rather than deliver an objective account or didactic reproach. / Graduate

Esta Tesis Doctoral tiene como objeto de estudio la significación de los videojuegos. Si la forma en la que, desde niños, construimos universos de valores y damos sentido a nuestras vidas está indisolublemente unida a los medios y las obras de la cultura de masas, el estudio de los modos de significación del videojuego requiere, hoy en día, un desarrollo en profundidad. En relación con ello, el principal resultado de esta investigación consiste en la fundamentación teórica y metodológica de tres modelos de análisis del videojuego como discurso: un modelo de estructuras lúdicas, un modelo del discurso como universo narrativo y un modelo de enunciación interactiva. Asimismo, se ofrece una sistematización de los códigos de significación que conforman el lenguaje del diseño de videojuegos. Estos modelos constituyen una aportación metodológica innovadora a la Teoría del Videojuego y al Análisis del Discurso. Las fuentes teóricas y metodológicas fundamentales del trabajo son la Semiótica, la Ludología y la Narratología. La aplicación empírica de los modelos de análisis propuestos se centra en ejemplos y estudios de caso de videojuegos figurativos/narrativos, pero los modelos han sido construidos pensando en su posible utilidad para el análisis de un amplio espectro de videojuegos y otro tipo de textualidades colindantes, como los mundos narrativos de la literatura y las series televisivas. Finalmente, se cierra la investigación con dos estudios de caso donde se prueba el sistema teórico en su conjunto, sobre los videojuegos Ico (2001) y Shadow of the Colossus (2005), ambos del diseñador Fumito Ueda. / The object of study in this Doctoral Dissertation is the signification of videogames. Since early childhood, the way we construct universes of values and make sense of our lifes is closely related to the media and works of mass culture. Therefore, the study of the modes of signification of videogames requires to be fully developed. According to that, this research provides the theoretical and methodological fundamentals of three models of analysis of videogame as discourse: a model of ludic structures, a model of discourse as narrative universe and a model of interactive "énonciation". Besides that, a systematization of the main signification codes which compose the language of videogame design is carried out. These models constitute an innovative methodological contribution to Videogame Theory and Discourse Analysis.The theoretical and methodological framework of the research is built upon Semiotics, Ludology and Narratology.The empirical application of the proposed analytical models is focused on examples and case studies of figurative/narrative videogames. Nevertheless, the models have been constructed bearing in mind their possible utility for the analysis of a broad spectrum of videogames and other kinds of close textualities, like the narrative worlds from literature or television series. At the end of the research, the theoretical system is tested as a whole in two case studies: Ico (2001) and Shadow of the Colossus (2005). Both videogames have been designed by Fumito Ueda.

MA paper is devoted to the researching of interaction between national myths and popular arts in American movies. The philosophical Ideas of G. Bodriyar, M. Kastels, E. Said, A. Kostina, K. Razlogov, and E. Shapinsky are in the basic of methodology. And anthropological ideas of Levi-Strouss, Ealiade, Meletinsky and Zhuladze are in the methodological foundation too. The paper consists from three parts. The specialty of contemporary cultural and social situation is analyzed in the first part of paper. The conceptual approaches to the definition of interaction between national identity and popular art are recovered in the second part. The third part of the paper is rewired the content and function of American’s myths in the American popular movies. The author gives conclusion that popular art represents national myths and therefore national identity is constructed by popular art. / Магистерская диссертация сосредоточена на взаимовлиянии национального мифа и массового искусства на примере кинематографа США. В качестве методологии исследования используется философско-культурологическая методология, представленная идеями Ж. Бодрийяра, М. Кастельса, А.В. Костиной, К.Э. Разлогова, Е.Н. Шапинской, Э. Саида, и других; культурно-антропологическая методология, выработанная К. Леви-Стросом, Е.М. Мелетинским, М. Элиаде, А. Цуладзе и другими. Работа состоит из трех глав. В первой главе рассматривается характеристика современной социокультурной ситуации, в которой существует массовое искусство. Во второй главе анализируются концептуальные походы к определению механизма взаимовлияния национальной идентичности и искусства. В третьей главе исследуется содержание американских национальных мифов и то, как они функционируют в американском массовом кино. В конце работы делается вывод, что массовое искусство репрезентирует национальные мифы и тем самым конструирует национальную идентичность.

Abstract This thesis illustrates the social engagement in the literary writings of Pier Vittorio Tondelli, an Italian gay author whose works have been described by many Catholic, Materialists, and gay critics as frivolous and disengaged. The dissertation summarizes the mutation of the Italian literary concept of impegno from Neorealism to Postmodernism, through a selection of the texts of Elio Vittorini, Italo Calvino, Franco Fortini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Leonardo Sciascia, and Umberto Eco. It shows how Tondelli’s interpretation of the role of the writer falls within the definitions given by Calvino and Eco. Moreover, the thesis demonstrates that Altri libertini and Pao Pao satisfy the characteristics of littérature mineure established by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, though Tondelli’s oeuvre is socially engaged instead of being politically engaged because of his lack of a political ideology. The dissertation highlights the core of Tondelli’s social commitment in his passionate defense of the outcasts in: Altri libertini where drug addicts, homosexuals, transsexuals, and bums are the protagonists; Pao Pao where a group of gay soldiers is described in its grotesque and camp attempt to “homosexualize” their barrack; Rimini where the Riviera Adriatica is portrayed as a place where everyone passes by and no one belongs; Camere separate through the love story of a gay couple in which one partner has to survive his lover’s death, due to an illness that is demonstrated in this thesis to be AIDS, while fighting against the homophobia of their families, institutions, society, and religion. Most of Tondelli’s socially excluded characters are introduced to the reader through an internal homodiegetic point of view. Another important component of Tondelli’s impegno is his open defense of both pop-culture and counter-cultures: gay, hippies, rockers, experimental theatre, street artists and alternative radio, which are central in all his writings.

Abstract This thesis illustrates the social engagement in the literary writings of Pier Vittorio Tondelli, an Italian gay author whose works have been described by many Catholic, Materialists, and gay critics as frivolous and disengaged. The dissertation summarizes the mutation of the Italian literary concept of impegno from Neorealism to Postmodernism, through a selection of the texts of Elio Vittorini, Italo Calvino, Franco Fortini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Leonardo Sciascia, and Umberto Eco. It shows how Tondelli’s interpretation of the role of the writer falls within the definitions given by Calvino and Eco. Moreover, the thesis demonstrates that Altri libertini and Pao Pao satisfy the characteristics of littérature mineure established by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, though Tondelli’s oeuvre is socially engaged instead of being politically engaged because of his lack of a political ideology. The dissertation highlights the core of Tondelli’s social commitment in his passionate defense of the outcasts in: Altri libertini where drug addicts, homosexuals, transsexuals, and bums are the protagonists; Pao Pao where a group of gay soldiers is described in its grotesque and camp attempt to “homosexualize” their barrack; Rimini where the Riviera Adriatica is portrayed as a place where everyone passes by and no one belongs; Camere separate through the love story of a gay couple in which one partner has to survive his lover’s death, due to an illness that is demonstrated in this thesis to be AIDS, while fighting against the homophobia of their families, institutions, society, and religion. Most of Tondelli’s socially excluded characters are introduced to the reader through an internal homodiegetic point of view. Another important component of Tondelli’s impegno is his open defense of both pop-culture and counter-cultures: gay, hippies, rockers, experimental theatre, street artists and alternative radio, which are central in all his writings.