This thesis argues that Heidegger’s thought offers crucial insights into the structural challenges that modernity poses to being an ethical and religious person. I argue that these difficulties come down to an instrumentalist conception of truth, a denial or repression of finitude as the condition of meaningfulness, and a philosophical anthropology that is both too subjectivistic and too objectivistic. Yet while Heidegger was good on the diagnosis, he was reluctant to give more than digressive and opaque prescriptions to these problems. My thesis seeks to respond to this lacuna by putting Heidegger’s critical observations in the service of articulating a positive religious ethics. To that end, it seeks to locate—as well as redefine from an ontological perspective—the human dispositions and practices that expose truth in a non-instrumental light, that show finitude as a positive condition of meaningfulness, and that reveal the essence of the human being in non-subjectivist and non- objectivist terms. I argue that these include listening and gratitude—dispositions and practices I claim should form the backbone of any religious ethics, and yet which I also claim should not be limited to those who believe in a personal, theistic God. My thesis contributes to the fields of modern theology and Heidegger Studies in four ways. First, it shows that Heidegger’s critics (such as Levinas and Adorno) are wrong to oppose ontology to ethics. Second, it shows that Heidegger’s critics (such as Marion and Jonas) are wrong to oppose ontology to theology. Third, it shows that Heidegger’s own ambivalence about the ethical and theological relevance of his thought allows for the development of a deeply ethical and theological posture. And fourth, it offers a unique, post-Heideggerian interpretation of gratitude, one in which it is understood as a structure of Dasein that is both “always already” and “not yet” operative.

This thesis examines the forms and functions of self-consciousness in contemporary Gothic fiction. Though self-consciousness is an often-mentioned characteristic of Gothic writing, it has yet to be explored in sufficient depth. In particular, critics have failed to recognise the manner in which the myriad forms of textual and generic self-reflexivity at work contribute to the fiction’s fearful agenda: how self-consciousness in the Gothic is itself Gothicised. This thesis argues that, rather than being an ancillary quirk of generic coherence or an indication of creative exhaustion, self-consciousness has become an integral part of the genre’s terroristic project, a new source and representational mode of terror. In the wake of postmodern and post-structural theory, the genre’s longstanding interest in reading, writing and textuality has been renewed, re-contextualised and redeployed as a key feature of the Gothic ‘effect’. My original contribution to knowledge is a charting of the intersections between the Gothic and this critical perspective on the text. In particular I explore how the Barthesian reorientation of the text is redeployed in Gothic fiction as a source of terror. Rather than pursuing an author-centric division of chapters I have organised the thesis around types of self-conscious commentary that occur throughout the contemporary Gothic. These are: a focus on the process of writing and textual composition; the internalisation and Gothicised representation of critical theory; an acute awareness and meta-commentary on the critical and commercial contexts of Gothic; and intertextuality. Key texts include Stephen King’s Misery (1987), Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves (2000), Chuck Palahniuk’s Haunted (2005), A.N. Wilson’s A Jealous Ghost (2005), R. M. Berry’s Frank (2005) and Peter Ackroyd’s The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein (2008). This selection of texts is representative of a varied but coherent inward turn in the Gothic fiction of recent decades. It is, however, by no means exhaustive and supplementary evidence will be provided from additional texts. Equally, it is important to contextualise this contemporary turn in relation to an established vein of self-consciousness in the Gothic, present since its inception. As such, my approach is firstly to trace a lineage of reflexivity and to draw upon that tradition in demonstrating how contemporary Gothic writers have honed this technique to a uniquely terrifying purpose.

This thesis examines an approach to directing Mac Wellman and David Lang’s opera, The Difficulty of Crossing a Field; in addition, the paper reflects on my artistic development as a Master of Fine Arts in Directing student in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. As a director I seek a balance between form and content. Similar to Installation Art, I consider the relationship between space/architecture (the stage/theatre) and sculpture, i.e., anything that can be used to create shape: performers, props, scenery, wardrobe, makeup, light, sound, music, language, etc. As a deviser, not a dictator, the success of my work depends greatly on interdisciplinary collaboration and strategies that promote understanding and appreciation among both artists and audiences. My aim is to create structures for formal elements that when arranged uniquely and sophisticatedly have the ability to provoke emotion, thought, and memory in vivid and compelling ways. This paper explores selected stages of directing The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, the strategies that I employed, and concludes with an artistic statement. / text

教育活動的藝術屬性深深由尼采哲學所重新揭示，在此之前，體現該觀點的是古希臘人，於其生活中，感性與理性、個體與群體以及人與大自然係彼此協調，美乃遍佈各項舉措；到了文藝復興，注重身心和諧及全人發展之人文主義再度開顯教育與藝術的親緣關係，同時影響許多教育家立論。秉承古希臘和文藝復興精神，尼采認為徒恃理性、講求規制化的啟蒙教育實為該藝術之淪喪，因這種教育雖滿足充分控約事物的需要，也造成人性失衡與分裂。有鑑於此，根植情感並著重突破法則之藝術性教育頓成其鮮明立場。第二章（教育的誕生）一開始即陳述尼采對現代教育的不滿處，例如高抬知識卻戕害本能，使人產生理性╱感性分裂等等；歸結出尼采『將現代人從現代性的詛咒中釋放出來』，以期恢復人的力與美主張後，接著介紹他從希臘文化發現之兩股動力——代表大自然創生本能的酒神及代表節制、均衡之德的日神；追求有力本能的美之表達，或者說酒神與日神共同形成的意志，便是教育參贊大自然造化之功的藝術性格顯露。而人和文化所擁有之品味、風格，乃美在教育上的具體展現。由於良好教師為施展教育藝術之首要條件，第三章（作為文化建樹者的教育家）遂探討教師角色，於尼采眼裡，教師既是人的形塑者，亦為文化的引領者，人需要偉大教師——教育家，才能展現力與美、達成文化使命。教育家之鮮明標誌，莫過飽含動能的藝術靈魂，他有雙轉化事物的纖巧細手，是自身力量豐盈的創造者和施與者；生命和存在於其藝術地思考下成為美的圖畫，並替人類未來揭示遠景；他更深明愛的藝術，從提高人類素質中使世間獲得救贖。教育家還擅長經營師生關係，將其提昇為指揮藝術、溝通藝術和贈與藝術。但從事藝術創造，瞭解材質誠屬重要，故第四章（人性、極其的人性）論述教育活動據以奠基的人性，有關人性為何的問題，『理性主體』可謂啟蒙運動之最佳宣言，此般人性看待方式除用思維界定自我、強調穩定的自我同一性外，壓抑欲望情感又為其特徵。尼采則返回自然，改賦熱情、欲望予生命原動力的首要位階，聲言人性是各種欲力充斥流動的生命形態，教育須適切引導諸多本能，凝聚成強大的『求力意志』，這股意志也是追求創造的力量，寓存身體，人之身體遂極富藝術性，不斷創新文化價值；出自身體，人的藝術性，尚由『精神三變』所鋪陳。審視人性後，第五章（超人如是說）處理欲對其改造之教育目的，人會變成何種模樣涉及多項複雜因素，有些似乎可做抉擇，有些似乎無法抗拒，設立目標凸顯人不甘受命運擺佈，希冀無盡可能地自我創造。『超人』理想的提出，誠屬尼采此番作為；尤有甚者，他更依力的強弱多寡區分人之類型，與超人美好型態構成強烈對照的為『末流之人』，『酒神人格』與『基督教人格』係另一劃分方式。是否願意迎接橫逆、承擔痛苦，乃測度力量強弱之試金石。至於自我和他人的交往，尼采仍考量力之升降藝術性地措置。擁有理想尚不充分，須提供達成之實質條件，所以第六章（文教的價值內涵）討論蘊含價值的教育內容，尼采認為，能促進力之增長、給生命帶來蓬勃朝氣即價值和美之所在，倘若踐踏人性，文教內涵便頓失意義。各項教育□，培養健全情感是他的首要訴求，倡導力量豐盈且賦予事物光輝形式之狂醉情態。談到知識，主張語文、歷史、哲學的傳授不可離開生活經驗，如此方可得享真正悅樂。關於倫理教育，他疾呼釋放非善非惡又可善可惡的自然本能，進而發展個性和自我立法。針對充滿痛苦的人生，尼采從希臘悲劇汲取智慧，以『永恆復歸』之壯闊情態超克悲苦。除了實質內涵，履行方法亦不可或缺，第七章（創造價值的文教策略）乃探究有助價值創造的策略，相較側重思辯之辯證法，尼采運用的教育策略格外具藝術氣息，包括學習如何看、聽、感受周遭環境，體會事物多面性，形成裨益生命的『視角』。妥為承襲、增生、調節能量，並減少消耗，使身體有限能量在紀律整飭下發揮最大效益。追溯價值概念的產生、流傳和演變，從揭露該過程介入之意義轉變力量替未來繪製新顏。採取距離，用懷疑、批判的態度瓦解價值立說基礎，求能獲得解放，敲響文化先聲。視提昇生命與否，更改既定價值間之排列順序，或者自為立法，創建嶄新價值。第八章（教育機制的未來）申論結合教師、學生、目的、內涵、策略各項目之教育制度，學校為文化之播種處，欲結成文化碩果，應謹慎篩選學生、施加必要規範，好孕育文化菁英；教師和學生間存在著『精神階級』，彼此講求主從次序。紀律嚴明、井然有序的學校，才是尼采心儀之美的機制。不僅如此，社會的和諧運作有賴按人格、智慧、才能劃分的『等級秩序』，高低等級間的『命令—服從』關係與各本能配合凝聚之『藝術身體』原則一貫。但本能更常相互競逐，透過人我競逐兼顧個人提昇及群體利益，便為促進文化之良美政體。 這個研究試圖藉尼采思想闡釋超乎科學駕馭範圍、介於可言說與不可言說的教育本質——藝術，其有別於審美教育或特就教育中之美學要素所做的論述，因後兩者僅將藝術當成教育之一部分來看待。

(in English): This Diploma work is examining the relation between contemporary social conceptions and aims of education how these are expressed by curriculum documents mainly in Czech Republic. But this relation is not the case of easy and unidirectional impact of social knowledge to educational science. That is why the first part of this thesis is focused on four important postmodern philosophical and sociological concepts differently delimiting as distinct from modern society. General overview of contemporary society change characteristics proceeding from these analyses is the basis of rather different ways of pedagogical thinking followings. With three pedagogical conceptions simultaneously present in nowadays pedagogical discourse, but originally emerged in different eras and different social backgrounds I am trying to point to considerable antinomy demands on present aims of education. I am delineating which phrasings of social reality the contemporary Czech educational policy is rising from. I am stating that the reduction of social reality as background of education in general can lead to formation of ambivalences in suggested educational policy solutions. Finally this diploma work is trying to put forward brief proposals for solution of these new problems of education.

This thesis examines contemporary street art and its exhibition in galleries and museums in connection with Walter Benjamin's concepts of aura and authenticity in the postmodern period. Street art is posited as a marginal art evolving out of the tradition of 1970's New York graffiti that can be made to function as a type of anti-spectacle within the spectacle of the mainstream. Situationist theory and concepts within the agenda of Unitary Urbanism (psychogeography, the dérive, and détournement) are used to evaluate contemporary street art as anti-spectacle. Photography, as a primary method of documenting street art, is considered as a mechanically reproduced medium bringing into play discourses of repetition and originality, which are in turn related back to Benjamin's concepts of aura and authenticity. Andy Warhol, his Pop Art iconography, and practice of seriality are also considered as an influence on contemporary street art's imagery and underlying practice. Warhol's promotion of an "art star" persona is also related to such contemporary street art "stars" as Banksy and Mr. Brainwash.

[pt] A dissertação discute a relação existente entre o videodesign e a cultura pósmoderna, através da análise da linguagem visual das vinhetas da MTV. Porém, há também o estudo do sistema visual da emissora, no qual as vinhetas estão imersas, com referências à história, à programação, aos cenários, aos comerciais, aos videoclipes e aos VJs. A MTV assumiria um lugar de destaque na reprodução das manifestações pós-modernas, por ser um legítimo produto da indústria cultural, tendo como principal audiência o jovem, que costuma consumir diversas mercadorias atreladas à imagem dos artistas que tem seus clipes exibidos pela emissora. Além disso, a MTV procura adotar uma linguagem visual de vanguarda, expressa também em suas vinhetas, para continuar mantendo a atenção de seu jovem público, ávido por novidades que são descartadas de modo contínuo, estando baseadas na efemeridade pós-moderna. O ambiente de criação do videodesigner, repleto de recursos técnicos com o uso maciço do computador, através de programas de edição e manipulação de imagens, faria com que esse profissional fosse ao mesmo tempo produto e reprodutor de determinadas características da cultura pós-moderna, enquanto desenvolve as vinhetas que serão exibidas para milhares de pessoas através da televisão, que é um meio de comunicação de massa. Aspectos concernentes à cultura pós- moderna, como a fragmentação, a efemeridade, o presente contínuo, o pastiche, a globalização, a compressão do tempo-espaço, a indústria cultural, o consumismo generalizado, dentre outros, são expostos sob diferentes ângulos e relacionados à linguagem visual da MTV e de suas vinhetas, que são produtos legítimos do videodesign. / [en] The research presents a case study of MTV on-air promos and discusses the relation between the visual language of MTV - with an analysis of its history, programs, sceneries, video clips and VJs -, and postmodern culture. MTV visual language may be considered a privileged locus of reproduction of postmodern expression insofar as it is a legitimate product of the cultural industry. The teen audience of MTV consumes various commodities that are linked to the artists whose video clips are played in the broadcasting station. Besides, MTV adopts an avant-garde language, also expressed in its promos, to continue maintaining the young audience s attention. This kind of public is always eager for novelties that are continually discarded, true to the pattern of postmodern ephemerality. The videodesigner´s workplace consists of a broad array of computer-based technical resources, such as image edition softwares. These resources are part of the process in which the videodesigner becomes both a product and a reproducer of postmodern culture, while developing the promos that will be displayed to millions of people on television. Postmodern aspects, such as fragmentation of ideas, ephemerality, continuous present, pastiche, globalization, time-space compression, cultural industry, generalized consumerism, and others, will be discussed from different angles and compared to the visual language of MTV and its on-air promos.

This study is a practice-led research that visually examines how the sense of self and identity are experienced within the complexity and multiplicity of selves in a technologically saturated culture. This dissertation, “Deconstructing consciousness in contemporary hyperreality: The multiphrenic self and identity”, is the theoretical component of this research which underpins and discusses the visual works that comprise of three multimedia installations that focus on images of the fractured self, the re-imagining of faces behind facial recognition programmes, and the embodiment of space and aesthetic significance within re-appropriation of images within social media platforms. The practical component falls within multi-media art often associated with video art and installation art within contemporary art. By recognising postmodern identity theories, this study investigates the postmodern subject’s concept of self and identity formation within a world that is influenced by the constant glare of technology and viral1 media exposure. How the development and proliferation of technology in the contemporary world, shapes one’s sense of self and identity. The fragmented postmodern subject exists within this context of “viral media” that describes the endless parasitism and dominance of media, where information is perpetuated as part of representation. Due to the perpetual state of virtual re-invention of the “self” within this realm, a digital footprint of identity and traces of personal information are available to others publicly and globally. This context generates a fractured postmodern self that globally exists within a perpetual sense of the present. This research visually and theoretically reflects on the concepts of postmodern schizophrenia and the multiphrenic self, in relation to identity and how participation on social media platforms can enhance a feeling of fragmented self. To address the main argument, it is the contention of the research to deliberate that identity formation is continually and compulsively shaped and reshaped through adapting to specific social environments. The study further argues that the multitude of digital networks (and the everyday practices occurring within and between them) form a different kind of platform and space that affects identity formation. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology

This thesis intends to introduce Israeli folk dance from a number of different perspectives. In the first part, based on literature review, the author presents the origins of Israeli folk dances in Israel as well as their roots and the way they further function in a current Israeli society. Special attention is given to the problematic labeling of Israeli folk dance as "folk". The second part of the thesis is based on the author's own field work and describes the ways Israeli folk dances are practiced in the Czech environment. Whereas in Israel these dances are mostly connected with demonstration of Israeli identity, they get different meanings in the Czech environment. Firstly the author attempted to reconstruct the history of spreading of Israeli folk dances in the Czech environment and to map the different groups involved in these dances. Collection of these facts can be further used as an information source for all researchers wishing to conduct studies on Israeli folk dances in the Czech Republic in the future. Secondly the author concentrated on the ways of practicing Israeli folk dances in a Prague group called Besamim. Based on participant observation and interviews with the dancers the author attempted to illustrate the significance of these dances in the lives of people, who practice them...

Este trabalho compreende duas partes distintas. Na primeira, dispõe-se, contrariamente aos teóricos pós-modernos e contemporâneos, uma definição geral de pós-modernismo: é pós-moderna a obra de arte ou de arquitetura que reproduz imagens com significados conhecidos e lhes dá um outro, imprevisto. Com tal enunciado, obtido dos dois livros de Robert Venturi, mostra-se que é possível conceituar o pós-modernismo, não obstante as suas múltiplas expressões. Como não existem normas para a escolha do tipo de imagem a ser duplicada pelos artistas ou pelos arquitetos, nem para o significado que elas devem apresentar, as peças pós-modernas podem assumir quaisquer configurações. Logo, a fim de indicar o que é (ou não) pós-moderno, é preciso considerar os atributos subjacentes à forma e aos materiais de cada obra. Na medida em que identificar o pós-modernismo a partir da observação direta é impraticável, os conceitos de arte e de arquitetura (que, de fato, condizem com todos os estilos artísticos e arquitetônicos existentes, inclusive com o pós-moderno) também contam quesitos que não são prontamente acessíveis ao olhar. O advento do pós-modernismo invalidou as teorias que justificavam o estatuto de arte e de arquitetura das obras com base na sua aparência; com efeito, há pares de objetos iguais, coincidentes ponto por ponto, mas que diferem entre si porque este tem valor artístico e arquitetônico, enquanto aquele não tem. Para falar sobre a natureza das obras de arte e de arquitetura, toma-se a filosofia estética de Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; conforme a doutrina hegeliana, o pós-modernismo corresponde a um novo estágio do processo de desenvolvimento do espírito, em que a humanidade vai aprofundando a sua consciência de si e do mundo e em que a arte e a arquitetura vão passando da percepção sensorial à reflexão. Finalmente, recusa-se a tese pós-moderna sobre o término das narrativas, com uma defesa da história da arte e da arquitetura. Na segunda parte, apontam-se algumas causas do movimento pós-moderno em Minas Gerais, destacando o ambiente político e cultural no estado e a atuação de Éolo Maia. / This essay comprises two distinct parts. In the first one, contrary to the postmodern and the contemporary theoreticians, it is set a general definition of postmodernism: we must name as postmodernist the work of art or architecture that reproduces very well-known images and gives them unexpected meanings. With this statement, which is presented in two books of Robert Venturi, it is proved the possibility of defining the postmodernism, despite its multiple expressions. Since there are no rules for choosing the type of images that artists and architects will duplicate nor for changing their original meanings to new ones, the postmodern pieces can assume any configurations. Therefore, to indicate what is (or is not) postmodern, we shall consider the features behind the form or the materials of each work. As it is impracticable to identify the postmodernism looking at the pieces, the concepts of art and architecture (which have to match all the existing styles of art or architecture, including the postmodernism) count some points that are not immediately accessible to the eyes. The arrival of the postmodernism invalidated all the theories that used to justify the status of art or architecture of a work on its appearance; in fact, there are exactly alike objects that differ from each other because only one of them has a real artistic or architectonic value. To talk about the nature of works of art and architecture, it is taken the Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel\'s aesthetics into account; according to the Hegelian doctrine, postmodernism corresponds to a new step on the process of spiritual development, through which humanity has increased its consciousness of itself and the world, and art and architecture have left perception for reflection. Finally, it is contested the postmodern thesis concerning the end of narratives, with a defense of art history. In the second part, it is pointed the causes for the postmodern movement in Minas Gerais, Brazil, remarking its political and cultural environment in the 80\'s and the leadership of the Brazilian architect Éolo Maia.