This thesis is meant to give an explication on Fredric Jameson¡¦s Utopian thinking through transcoding, establishing homologies between Lacan¡¦s Imaginary/Symbolic/Real registers, Althusser¡¦s ideology/History binary and Jameson¡¦s ideology/cognitive mapping/History orders. I think Jameson¡¦s Utopian thinking is a mechanism of praxis to induce change for a classless and human-friendly society through theoretical education on desire and formation of consciousness of the capitalistic alienation and exploitation. It is a process of signifying, with no signified. It aims at the construction of a map of the social totality, not at that of an imaginary blueprint. It stresses consciousness-raising, not goal achievement. Traditionally, Utopia features an imaginary blueprint. Nevertheless, for Jameson, the Utopian blueprint is problematic in that it is ideologically enclosed so that it is far from qualified to serve as the goal of praxis. At best, a Utopian blueprint can only be viewed as a ¡§figure¡¨ waiting for the interpretation of theory, or to put it psychoanalytically, it is a symptom of the (political) unconscious awaiting the diagnosis of a psychoanalyst. But Jameson does endorse Utopists¡¦ ¡§Utopian praxis¡¨ to map and criticize their respective social context. The critic applies the practice to the postmodern, in which time is spatialized and the individual is fragmented and deprived of the ability to think historically and to imagine an alternative future. Jameson proposes the approach of ¡§cognitive mapping¡¨ to help people to obtain a map of the postmodern hyperspace, to locate their positions in it, and to finally reconstruct in them class consciousness, which Jameson believes is the basis of praxis for a Utopia. This task has to be done through the construction of the collective subject, because of the death of the subject and the growing abstraction of postmodern hyperspace. And certainly in this undertaking, Marxist critics like Jameson play an important role. They, like a psychoanalyst, are entitled to diagnose and interpret what the current world is suffering from and to offer prescriptions. In conclusion, Fredric Jameson¡¦s Utopian thinking is a persistent process of praxis at present to form collective consciousness and subjectivity in the hope of an unspecified Utopia in the future, which is supposed to be a communist one.

The aim of this dissertation is to study postmodern historical novels, which are labeled &ldquo / historiographic metafictions&rdquo / (Hutcheon 1989: 92), in terms of their allowing for different voices and alternative, plural histories by subverting the historical documents and events that they refer to. The study analyzes texts from feminist and postcolonial literature, Jeanette Winterson&rsquo / s The Passion and Sexing the Cherry, and Salman Rushdie&rsquo / s Midnight&rsquo / s Children and Shame as examples in which the transgression of boundaries between fact and fiction is achieved. Basing its arguments on postmodern understanding of history, the thesis puts forward that historiography not only represents past events but it also gives meaning to them, as it is a signifying system, and turns historical events into historical facts. Historiography, while constructing historical facts, singles out certain past events while omitting others, for ideological reasons. This inevitably leads to the fact that marginalized groups are denied an official voice by hegemonic ideologies. Therefore, history is regarded as monologic, representing the dominant discourse. The thesis will analyze four novels by Winterson and Rushdie as double-voiced discourses where the dominant voice of history is refracted through subversion and gives way to other voices that have been suppressed. While analyzing the novels themselves, the thesis will look for the metafictional elements of the texts, stressing self-reflexivity, non-linear narrative, and parodic intention to pinpoint the refraction and the co-existence of plural voices. As a result, historiographic metafiction is proved to be a liberating genre, for feminist and postcolonial writers, that enables other histories to be verbalized.

As a postmodern director, David Lynch makes films which are innovative, evocative, and uniquely his own. The theme of twinning, in particular, is recapitulated throughout the director's oeuvre; however, it is with Lost Highway that the thematic element he addresses takes center stage. The film's main character Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) is unable to cope with the trauma in his life. After killing his wife and finding himself on death row, he has a parallel identity crisis; he manages a metamorphosis into a younger, virile Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty). The method which allows this transformation is the psychogenic fugue: a fantasy which creates an alternate reality caused by the subject's refusal to see objective truth(s). As the plot progresses, there are several more characters who develop alter egos. These other important twinnings include Fred's wife Renee/Alice (Patricia Arquette), Mr. Eddy/Dick Laurant (Robert Loggia), and the Mystery Man played by Robert Blake. Of all the doppelgangers, the Mystery Man is vital to the unraveling of the story; he is an abstraction and can exist in several places at one time. He is a symbolic function of the superego which allows Fred to carry out the mission. Lynch also uses the Moebius Strip as another tool to interweave reality and fantasy into the plot. The story can have a litany of meanings because of the twist in the strip. It allows overlap in the space/time continuum. The use of this concept is invaluable in applying certain types of analysis to the film. Among others, Jacques Lacan , Sigmund Freud, and Slavoj Zizek are central to defining the film. Lynch shows the audience that fantasy cannot subvert reality. It is only a temporary fix. Fred Madison's twinning is unsuccessful in the end. He is forced to continue riding his own lost highway until another new reality is created.

Disertacijoje nagrinėjamas vizualinės kultūros diskursas kaip konceptualus meninio ugdymo pamatas, aktualus šiuolaikinės kultūros ir ugdymo paradigmų kaitos kontekste. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti vizualinės kultūros edukacinį reikšmingumą ir ypatumus meniniame (dailiniame) ugdyme, ištirti vizualinės kultūros studijų poreikį, problemas ir perspektyvas rengiant dailės pedagogus. Tyrimo problema siejama su meninio ugdymo situacija Lietuvoje, kur vizualinės kultūros diskursas yra nauja tyrimų sritis. Disertacijoje teoriškai pagrindžiamos vizualinės kultūros ugdymo prielaidos visuose meninio ugdymo lygiuose ir per jų sąveiką. Realizuojant postmodernų meninio ugdymo turinį ypač aktuali yra dailės pedagogų kompetencijos ir pasirengimo problema. Tyrimu siekta atsakyti į klausimus, kaip vizualinės kultūros fenomenas keičia šiuolaikinio meninio ugdymo pobūdį ir lemia jo turinį, kokios dailės pedagogo kompetencijos turėtų būti plėtojamos vizualinės kultūros ir postmodernios edukacinės paradigmos kontekste, kaip dailės pedagogai yra pasirengę priimti pokyčius ir plėtoti savo kompetencijas, kokios numatomos vizualinės kultūros studijų įprasminimo perspektyvos rengiant dailės pedagogus. Dailės pedagogų ir ekspertų apklausos rezultatai patvirtino, kad meniniame ugdyme vyrauja klasikinės ir modernistinės tendencijos, nepajėgiančios aprėpti vizualinės kultūros gausos, technologijų įvairovės, atskleisti daugiakultūrinės meninės patirties, reaguoti į aktualius socialinius reiškinius... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The present dissertation deals with the discourse of visual culture as a conceptual background of art education, vital in the context of changing paradigms of culture and education. The aim of the research is to reveal the importance of visual culture in art education, to investigate the need for studies of visual culture as well as problems and perspectives of training teachers of art. The research problem is linked with the situation of art education in Lithuania, where the discourse of visual culture is a new research field. The dissertation provides a theoretical grounding of assumptions for developing visual culture on all levels of art education. In implementing visual culture in the postmodern curriculum, the problem of art teachers’ competence and preparation is of utmost importance. The research questions were as follows: what curriculum changes does visual culture bring in art education? What art teachers’ competences should be developed in the postmodern educational paradigm? How are art teachers prepared to accept visual culture in art education and what competences do they need to develop? What are the prospects of art teacher training with the developing of the concept of visual culture education? The survey of art teachers and experts in art education revealed that classical and modernist tendencies predominate in art education, unable to cover a wide field of visual culture, the variety of new technologies, the multicultural diversity of art experience, and... [to full text]

The present dissertation deals with the discourse of visual culture as a conceptual background of art education, vital in the context of changing paradigms of culture and education. The aim of the research is to reveal the importance of visual culture in art education, to investigate the need for studies of visual culture as well as problems and perspectives of training teachers of art. The research problem is linked with the situation of art education in Lithuania, where the discourse of visual culture is a new research field. The dissertation provides a theoretical grounding of assumptions for developing visual culture on all levels of art education. In implementing visual culture in the postmodern curriculum, the problem of art teachers’ competence and preparation is of utmost importance. The research questions were as follows: what curriculum changes does visual culture bring in art education? What art teachers’ competences should be developed in the postmodern educational paradigm? How are art teachers prepared to accept visual culture in art education and what competences do they need to develop? What are the prospects of art teacher training with the developing of the concept of visual culture education? The survey of art teachers and experts in art education revealed that classical and modernist tendencies predominate in art education, unable to cover a wide field of visual culture, the variety of new technologies, the multicultural diversity of art experience, and... [to full text] / Disertacijoje nagrinėjamas vizualinės kultūros diskursas kaip konceptualus meninio ugdymo pamatas, aktualus šiuolaikinės kultūros ir ugdymo paradigmų kaitos kontekste. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti vizualinės kultūros edukacinį reikšmingumą ir ypatumus meniniame (dailiniame) ugdyme, ištirti vizualinės kultūros studijų poreikį, problemas ir perspektyvas rengiant dailės pedagogus. Tyrimo problema siejama su meninio ugdymo situacija Lietuvoje, kur vizualinės kultūros diskursas yra nauja tyrimų sritis. Disertacijoje teoriškai pagrindžiamos vizualinės kultūros ugdymo prielaidos visuose meninio ugdymo lygiuose ir per jų sąveiką. Realizuojant postmodernų meninio ugdymo turinį ypač aktuali yra dailės pedagogų kompetencijos ir pasirengimo problema. Tyrimu siekta atsakyti į klausimus, kaip vizualinės kultūros fenomenas keičia šiuolaikinio meninio ugdymo pobūdį ir lemia jo turinį, kokios dailės pedagogo kompetencijos turėtų būti plėtojamos vizualinės kultūros ir postmodernios edukacinės paradigmos kontekste, kaip dailės pedagogai yra pasirengę priimti pokyčius ir plėtoti savo kompetencijas, kokios numatomos vizualinės kultūros studijų įprasminimo perspektyvos rengiant dailės pedagogus. Dailės pedagogų ir ekspertų apklausos rezultatai patvirtino, kad meniniame ugdyme vyrauja klasikinės ir modernistinės tendencijos, nepajėgiančios aprėpti vizualinės kultūros gausos, technologijų įvairovės, atskleisti daugiakultūrinės meninės patirties, reaguoti į aktualius socialinius reiškinius... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Darbo objektas - trijų autorių – skirtingų kultūrų atstovų romanai, kuriuos jungia labirinto tematika. Labirinto tema šiuose romanuose yra pagrindinė kūrinio idėja, konstruojanti siužetą. Vienas iš šio darbo tikslų yra išsiaiškinti, kokias reikšmes slepia labirinto simbolika ir kokį poveikį pastarasis simbolis daro meno pasauliui. Kitas tikslas, susijęs su pasirinkta tyrimo metodologija, yra palyginti, kuo labirinto temos traktuotė yra panaši ir kuo skiriasi pasirinktuose kūriniuose. Darbe keliama hipotezė, kad labirinto simbolis glaudžiai susijęs su aptariamų autorių estetinėmis nuostatomis. Šią hipotezę įrodyti bus pagrindinis tyrėjo uždavinys. Darbo pabaigoje daromos išvados, kad labirinto simbolis išreiškia darbe analizuojamų autorių estetines pažiūras, artimas postmoderniai sampratai. Labirinto vaizdinio pagalba šie rašytojai kuria daugiaprasmį, atvirą tekstą, kuriame daug postmodernistiniam romanui būdingų bruožų: autoriaus mirtis, prasmės atsisakymas, proto ir logikos nuvertinimas, spontaniškumo, atsitiktinumo iškėlimas, ribos tarp tikrovės ir fikcijos išnykimas, fragmentiškumas, žaidimas su skaitytoju ir kt. / The object of this research is three novels written by authors belonging to three different cultures, namely “And Those Look out of Windows Be Dimmed“, by Lithuanian prosaist Saulius Tomas Kondrotas, “In the Labyrinth”, by French novelist Alain Robbe – Grillet and “The Name of the Rose", by Italian author Umberto Eco. All these novels are connected by the theme of labyrinth, which in all the three works is the main idea, making up the plot. These novels are familiar to the poetics of the “New Novel” and postmodern mindset. The main aim of this research, related to the chosen methodology, is to compare how the approach to the theme of labyrinth is similar and how it differs in all the three novels, enlisted above. This research tries to find out what meanings does the symbol of labyrinth hide in itself and what impact does it have to the World of Art. The hypothesis that the symbol of labyrinth is closely associated with the aesthetic views of these three authors is also raised. The main aim of the researcher is to prove this hypothesis. The conclusions of the research state, that previously mentioned symbol expresses discussed authors’ attitude to the world. With the help of the image of labyrinth, these authors create open text, having many meanings and traits of postmodern novel, namely the death of an author, the refusal of meaning, devaluation of reason and logic, elevation of spontaneity and coincidence, disappearance of the boundaries between fiction and reality... [to full text]

Darbe nagrinėjamos postmodernizmo teorijos atsiradimo ištakos ir termino vartojimo istorija. Pateikiami autorių svarstymai apie postmodernizmo sampratos susiformavimą. Aptariamos naujosios muzeologijos šalininkų išskirtos naujo postmodernaus muziejaus veiklos kryptys: komunikacija, edukacija bei rinkodara. Atlikus tyrimą, darbe pateikiamos 9 Lietuvos muziejininkų nuomonės apie muziejų (apie lankytojus, jų istorinės savimonės bei kūrybiškumo ugdymo būdus, dabartinio muziejaus trūkumus, modernaus muziejaus viziją ir kt.). 2007 m. patvirtinta „Muziejų modernizavimo programa“, truksianti iki 2015 m. Šioje programoje numatytus tikslus ir uždavinius galima skirti į dvi dalis – materialųjį muziejų modernizavimą ir nematerialųjį muziejų modernizavimą. Į materialiojo muziejaus modernizavimo sąvoką įeina pastatų renovavimas, ekspozicijų atnaujinimas bei naujų eksponatų įsigijimas. Tuo tarpu nematerialusis muziejų modernizavimas apima muziejininkų gebėjimų tobulinimą bei Lietuvos integralios muziejų informacinės sistemos kūrimą. Atlikus tyrimą darbe pateikiami 5 muziejaus darbuotojų požiūriai į muziejų modernizavimo procesą Lietuvoje. / The present Paper deals with the beginning of Postmodernism theory and history of usage of the aforementioned term. Contemplations of different authors regarding formation of Postmodernism conception are provided.Trends of a new postmodern museum activities distinguished by supporters of the new museology are discussed. Three major activities, i.e. communication, education, and marketing, are distinguished. Opinions of 9 Lithuanian museologists on museum (on visitors, methods for development of their historical self-consciousness and creativity, drawbacks of a contemporary museum, vision of a modern museum, etc.) are provided in the Paper upon completion of a research. “Programme for Modernisation of Museums” which shall be implemented by 2015 was approved in 2007. Aims and tasks specified in the aforementioned Programme may be divided into two parts: material modernisation of museums and immaterial modernisation of museums. The conception of material modernisation of museums includes renovation of buildings, renewal of expositions and acquisitions of new exhibits. Meanwhile, immaterial modernisation of museums includes improvement of museologists’ skills and creation of an integral Lithuanian museum information system. 5 attitudes of museum employees towards the process of museum modernisation in Lithuania are provided in the Paper upon completion of the research.

Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves and Audrey Niffenegger's two visual novels The Three Incestuous Sisters and The Adventuress all contain examples of manipulated paratext - paratexts being the devices involved in the presentation of the text such as titles, author names, font, introductions, illustrations, appendices, advertising, and interviews. The emphasis these authors place on these usually inconspicuous devices is an expression of the irrational themes contained within these texts. The irrational is an underlying theme of the Gothic genre and through examining the use of manipulated paratexts this thesis demonstrates how these texts make use of the irrational Gothic elements that are present within the postmodern. While Danielewski and Niffenegger both have these similar themes, the effects they create are extremely different. Niffenegger creates écriture feminine, or feminine writing as described by Hélène Cixous, by prioritising illustrations that feature marginalised bodily expression in order to convey the narrative rather than text. Danielewski, on the other hand, produces a text that is a pure pastiche of Gothic and postmodern devices in order to emulate the postmodern media in its creation of hyperreality and to reproduce the sensation of a media that possesses and changes its consumers. House of Leaves is the instigator for a number of similar texts that have been published since the turn of the millennium which will be considered an emerging literary movement.

Published edition of Thesis (doctoral)--Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 270-285).

La thèse se propose d'explorer les rapports entre utopie et littérature chez deux auteurs majeurs du XXe siècle italien, Elio Vittorini (1908-1966) et Italo Calvino (1923-1985), prenant en considération un large pan de leurs œuvres et de leur travail d'écrivain. À travers ce parcours, c'est une petite parabole de l'utopisme littéraire dans le second XXe siècle italien que l'on cherche à tracer, en partant des années quarante, où le travail littéraire était fonction d'un engagement politique externe, pour arriver, à travers une série de déconvenues politiques et de transformations sociales, à une tentative de redéfinition des fonctions politiques de la littérature qui nous mène jusqu'aux années soixante-dix. La trentaine d'années parcourue dans cette thèse est en effet riche en évolutions, du détachement des écrivains du Parti communiste, au passage à une nouvelle phase « néocapitaliste » dont l'Italie sort considérablement transformée. Nous nous trouvons donc à l'articulation entre deux périodes, moderne et postmoderne, dans une transition qui correspond aussi à une crise et à une remise en question de l'utopie, à travers les notions de progrès, de perfectibilité, de téléologie et de totalité qui lui étaient liées. Notre recherche cherche à cerner ces évolutions et leurs retombées sur le travail littéraire de nos écrivains – travail d'écriture bien sûr, mais aussi travail critique et théorique sur la définition de la littérature et ses fonctions. Cependant, elle évolue également sur un second plan : celui d'une définition des modèles utopiques en littérature, les œuvres dont nous nous occupons mettant en place, dans leurs rapports plus ou moins lointains au genre utopique, un certain type d'utopisme littéraire. Après une partie d'introduction théorique se concentrant sur les définitions possibles de l'utopie, nous partons donc de Vittorini et de l' « utopisme culturel » des années du Politecnico, revue animée par l'auteur entre 1945 et 1947, chapitre auquel répond l'analyse des œuvres Conversazione in Sicilia (Conversation en Sicile, 1941) et Le città del mondo (Les Villes du monde, 1951-1956). Une longue étude est ensuite consacrée au Menabò, revue dirigée par les deux auteurs entre 1959 et 1966, au cœur d'une crise poétique, politique, épistémologique dont la revue se fait l'écho. Sont parcourues en miroir deux « œuvres de la crise », Le donne di Messina (Les Femmes de Messine, 1964) de Vittorini et La giornata d'uno scrutatore (La Journée d'un scrutateur, 1963) de Calvino. Une dernière partie se concentre sur le Calvino « utopiste » des années parisiennes, de sa passion pour Fourier à sa formulation de l' « utopia pulviscolare », une utopie pulvérisée, spatialisée, anti-téléologique, dont les Città invisibili (Les Villes invisibles, 1972) sont la mise en forme littéraire, constituant le point d'arrivée de notre parcours. / This Phd intends to explore the relationship between utopia and literature among two major writers of the Italian Twentieth century, Elio Vittorini (1908 – 1966) and Italo Calvino (1923 – 1985), taking into account a wide range of their novels and other literary output. Through this journey we are seeking to produce a parable of literary utopianism in the second Italian Twentieth Century, starting from the Forties, where literary work was related to an external political commitment to arrive, through a series of political disappointments and societal transformations to an attempt at redefining literature's political functions that leads us to the Seventies. The period of around thirty years covered by this thesis is rich in evolutions, from the estrangement of the Communist Party writers to a new 'neocapitalist' phase from which Italy emerges profoundly transformed. At the end of the Seventies, we were at the juncture of two periods, modern and postmodern, in a transition that also corresponds to a crisis and a questioning of utopia, through the notions of progress, perfectibility, teleology and totality that were connected to it. Our research attempts to outline these evolutions and their consequences on the work of writers – their literary production, but also their critical and theoretical work on the definition of literature and its functions. However, my thesis also functions at another level, and attempts a definition of utopian models in literature, as the selected books are all characterised, in their more or less distant relationship with the utopian genre, by a certain type of literary utopianism. After a theoretical introduction focusing on the possible definitions of utopia, we start with Vittorini and the 'cultural utopianism' of the Politecnico years, a journal animated by the author between 1945 and 1947, in a chapter where we also study Conversazione in Sicilia (Conversations in Sicily, 1941) and Le città del mondo (“The cities of the world”, 1951 – 1956). A long study is subsequently dedicated to Menabò, a journal directed by the two authors between 1959 and 1966, that reflected a poetical, political and epistemologistical crisis. We compare two 'works of crisis', Le donne di Messina (Women of Messina, 1964) by Vittorini and La giornata di uno scrutatore (The Watcher, 1963) by Calvino. A last part concentrates on the 'utopian' Calvino of the Parisian years, from his passion for Fourier to his formulation of the 'utopia pulviscolare', a shattered, spatialised, anti-teological utopia of which Le Città invisibili (Invisible Cities, 1972) is the literary embodiment and the point of arrival of our journey.