This thesis is concerned with an exploration into the reconsideration of meaning of the embodied subject whose figuration is defined as abnormal relative to the prevailing hierarchical structures of western Cartesian dualism. Evidence of the degree of subordinate representation and treatment of the marginalized body is so far-reaching and the variety of classification so extensive that it becomes necessary to frame my research within a lens whose focus isolates more specific parameters for the purposes of an interrogative and pointed analysis. This narrowing of my viewpoint of the process of absention allows more specific areas of interest to be highlighted—since this reductive convention is, ironically, both sweepingly consuming yet tends toward the categorical in its often taxonomic classification. Hence, for the purposes of this analysis, I concentrate on the representations of the body marked as animal, criminal and disabled relative to their normalised ‘other’—interrogating the overt construction of their difference and their consequent, emergent, points of similarity. This exercise not only points to their architecture but simultaneously implies the erosion of their distinctiveness as separate representations of abnormality—as well as emphasizing the contrived act of pairing them with their presupposed ‘normal’ binary counterparts. I argue that the visualization seemingly inhering in the bodies of those absented from dominant ideological structures is necessarily limited, its fixity emerging from stultification; an othering that maintains the subject via carceral structures that are socially and politically informed. The confines of this paradigm are prescribed through a consensual ascription to a governing norm that stipulates the superiority of the artificially normalised body—thereby constructing a dualism of constraint that polices the acceptance and rejection of individual physicality—within a wider public sphere of normalisation. This is evident in the representation of the body on a cultural and political level and undeniably intersects its conceptual interpretation and lived experience in both public and private spaces. The thesis introduces a body of theory that operates on a number of levels and performs a variety of functions—none of which can be easily, or even successfully, separated from the content and role of the significant presence of performance work that comprises the final script. The latter is presented in the form of photographic documentation that links its own process of visualization to the thesis whilst maintaining an active locus of critique—produced as response to the multifaceted problematic of political and personal othering emerging from culturally inscribed figurations of animality, disability and criminality. The theoretical analysis and performance practice exist in a symbiotic relationship—creating a mutual dialectical analysis that aims to avoid the fixities inhering in the extremes of either approach. Instead, one is invited to consider the contrasts, comparisons and complements emerging from the intricacies of their relationship—thereby avoiding the redundancies accompanying their binarist opposition and by extension, the dualisms of visual figuring I have isolated for examination. Utilizing my performative practice as a point of entry into this analysis, I have focused on the problematization of these reified representations of the body within western modalities of seeing, with a view to introducing a different space of articulation so as to encourage alternative inscriptions of meaning. This approach exemplifies my search to undermine the overriding cultural motif that maintains and perpetuates the oppression of the body marked as ‘other’. The spectacle of incarceration that western society continues to tolerate is thereby tirelessly interrogated, with the aim of exposing the secrets whose shame, if allowed to remain hidden, will never allow for release of the abnormal body from the society that birthed its difference.

Cette étude au croisement de l’histoire et des études visuelles porte sur le corps et l’iconographie du nu à Taïwan à deux périodes : la colonisation japonaise (1895-1945) et la période du GMD jusqu’à la levée de la Loi martiale (1945-1987). Elle examine le lien entre la représentation du corps, l’iconographie du nu et l’intervention du pouvoir (re)formé dans la transformation de la société taïwanaise dans les deux périodes. L’influence mutuelle entre ces trois éléments transforme les pratiques corporelles des habitants de l’île, leur perception vis-à-vis de leur propre corps, ainsi que leur regard sur l’iconographie du nu. De la manipulation du colonisateur japonais sur la production et la publication d’images de nu à la domination autoritaire du GMD sur la culture, influencé en même temps par la culture et les valeurs occidentales depuis le début du XXème siècle, le corps des habitants de Taïwan représenté dans l’iconographie est continuellement (re)habillé et (re)dénudé. Ce travail entend analyser à la fois l’intervention du pouvoir dans la représentation du corps nu dans l’iconographie et les facteurs qui changent constamment le regard sur cette iconographie dans le contexte historique, culturel, ethnique, économique et politique de Taïwan au cours du XXème siècle. / This study at the crossroads of history and visual studies focuses on the body and the iconography of nude in Taiwan in two periods: Japanese colonization (1895-1945) and the GMD regime up to the lifting of martial law (1945-1987). It examines the relationship between the representation of the body, the iconography of nude, and the intervention of (re)formed power in the transformation of Taiwanese society in the two periods. The mutual influence between these three elements transformed the bodily practices of the inhabitants of the island, their perception vis-à-vis their own bodies and their gaze on the iconography of the nude. From the manipulation of Japanese colonial in the production and publication of images of nude to the authoritarian domination of the GMD on culture, yet at the same time influenced by Western culture and values since the beginning of the twentieth century, the body of the inhabitants of Taiwan represented in the iconography is continually (re)dressed and (re)denuded. This work examines both the intervention of power in the representation of the nude body in the iconography and the factors that are constantly changing the gaze on this iconography in the economic and political, cultural, ethnic context of Taiwan during the twentieth century.

Dada la internalización y normalización de los estándares de belleza que implantan un tipo de cuerpo ideal para todas las mujeres en la actualidad, y el crecimiento de una población más consciente sobre aquello que es real o no, el movimiento Body Positive se mantiene luchando contra los cánones clásicos de belleza que parecen no dejar de expandirse, optando por representar al cuerpo de la mujer como bello, sin importar el aspecto, color, talla,etc. Por lo que el presente trabajo analiza la influencia de esta representación del cuerpo bajo la tendencia Body Positive en la percepción de autenticidad de marca. De esta forma, y bajo el análisis de literatura, se busca analizar a las marcas que han optado por una estrategia publicitaria Body Positive y sus repercusiones a nivel de usuario. Así mismo, cómo estas repercusiones podrían estar vinculadas directamente con la percepción de una marca como auténtica y/o real. De la misma forma, se estudia los aspectos de una posible marca auténtica y cómo podría afectar esto en el comportamiento del consumidor. / Given the internalization and normalization of beauty issues that implant an ideal body type for all women today, and the growth of a population more aware of what is real or not, the Positive Body movement continues to fight against classic canons of beauty that seem to not stop expanding, choosing to represent the woman's body as beautiful, regardless of appearance, color, size, etc. So the present work analyzes the influence of this representation of the body under the positive body trend in the perception of brand authenticity. In this way, and under the analysis of literature, we seek to analyze the brands that have opted for a positive body public strategy and its repercussions at the user level. Likewise, how these repercussions can be directly linked to the perception of a brand as authentic and / or real. In the same way, study the aspects of a possible authentic brand and how this could affect consumer behavior. / Trabajo de investigación

L’artiste et poète romantique William Blake (1757-1827) produisit, entre la fin du 18e siècle et le début du 19e siècle, plusieurs livres illustrés unissant texte, images, et décorations marginales. Ce mémoire se penche sur ces illustrations afin d’en analyser les motifs selon l’orientation théorique de l’ « altérité », un concept composite unifiant trois sens : l’infinitude, soit la dimension insaisissable de l’autre ; la distinction, soit l’altérité en tant que différence ; et la déclinaison, soit un mouvement hors du soi. Les chapitres abordent cette « altérité » à travers plusieurs thématiques : la dynamique de la forme visuelle, le lien du sublime et de l’émerveillement à la vision, la représentation du corps et du genre, et le rapport avec la nature. Chaque chapitre exemplifie une manière dont l’« altérité » se lie à des enjeux conceptuels issus de perspectives romantiques et contemporaines. L’analyse considère l’iconographie en tant que reflet et expression de l’imagination blakéenne, guidant la lecture vers une vision et une subjectivité accrues. Le « marginalium », l’élément décoratif marginal du livre illustré, parvient à symboliser cette vision de manière ponctuelle. La « figure flottante », une version humanisée et singularisée de ce marginalium, sous-tend les divers motifs, évoquant l’infinitude du potentiel humain. / Between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, William Blake (1757-1827), a romantic artist and poet, produced various illuminated works which unite text, images, and decorations set in the margins of the page. This thesis considers the iconography of these works, attempting to understand their visual motifs through the theoretical standpoint of “alterity”, a composite notion uniting three meanings: infinitude, or a quality of limitlessness; distinction, or the difference of what is “other”; and extension, suggesting a motion outside the self. The different chapters exemplify how this notion of “alterity” relates to contemporary and romantic theoretical constructs. Among the subjects considered are: “alterity” in itself, the significance of Blakean visual form, the sublime and the experience of awe, the representation of the body and of gender, and the relationship to the natural world. The thesis considers the Blakean iconography as a reflection of the imagination, guiding the reader towards a heightened capacity for vision and subjectivity. The “marginalium”, the decorative marginal element of the illustrated books, symbolizes such vision by a punctual means. The “floating figure”, a humanized and singular marginalium, underlies the different motifs, evoking the infinitude of human potential.