En masteressä i form av ett egentillverkat fanzine. Ett collage av bilder från mitt konstnärliga arbete och text. Där text och bild samverkande reflekterar över vad jag faktiskt gör. Den gestaltande delen var en rumsinstallation med 4st videor, målat golv, målat papper och målade objekt. Det rörde bland annat ämnen som abjekt, moderskap, "kvinnoyrken", vardagsliv, och kropp. / <p>Anna-karins loop från examensutställningen finns tillgänglig i Kungl Konsthögskolans bibliotek.</p>

Kärlek har beskrivits som en estetisk och etisk grund i Sara Lidmans författarskap. Men vad står denna kärlek för och vad står den i relation till? Utifrån Lidmans roman Bära mistel (1960) undersöker uppsatsen bland annat denna fråga. Romanens formspråk präglas av söndersprängning och polyfoni, kategorier kopplade till den modern(istisk)a litteraturen. Därför blir analysen fördelad på tre perspektiv, vars minsta gemensamma nämnare är begär och dess funktion vid (jag)skapandet. Huvudpersonen Björn Ceders homosexualitet bryter mot den heterosexuella matrisen och genom Judith Butler blir det möjligt att påstå att han hotar att luckra upp en gräns mellan ett begär som är kopplat till kärlek och ett begär som hänger samman med identifikation. Den andra huvudpersonen Linda Ståhl går på sin vandring bakom Björn och därigenom kan Bära mistel kopplas till myten om Orfeus och Eurydike. I relation till Roland Barthes och Maurice Blanchots användning av myten visar uppsatsen att Bära mistel avviker från mytens traditionella förlopp. Detta sker genom att hon besjunger honom samt genom att han aldrig vänder sig om och ser på henne. Linda och Björn kläs i romanen av. Genom Giorgio Agambens teologiskt grundade teori om (skamfull) nakenhet fördjupas frågan om begärets roll i Bära mistel och det både i relation till skapandet och i relation till reproduktionen av ett patriarkalt (klass)samhälle.

Inledning: Julia Kristeva har utvecklat det teoretiska begreppet abjektet. Syftet med studien var att förstå mer av abjektet och vilken betydelse det kan ha för den psykodynamiska praktiken. Frågeställningar: Hur upplever terapeuter förtrogna med begreppet abjekt dess kliniska relevans och användbarhet? Vilka implikationer för, och vilka specifika intrapsykiska och/eller intersubjektiva kännetecken i, terapin beskrivs? Metod: Genom intervjuer med sex terapeuter förtrogna med Kristeva söktes abjektets relevans och användbarhet samt specifika intrapsykiska och intersubjektiva kännetecken i relation till det kliniska arbetet. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av deduktiv tematisk analys. Resultat: Abjektet som fenomen beskrevs visa sig som affektiva och kroppsliga symptom, där patienten visar föga förankring i språket, och där sammanblandade och gränslösa relationer framträder. Det präglas av att patienten agerar ut med syftet att fortsatt symbiotiskt sammanblandas eller i försök att differentiera och separera. Arbetet med det abjekta visade sig kliniskt innebära att en tillitsfull relation behöver upprättas; ett terapeutiskt sammanhang markerat av gränser, möjliggörande rörelse och benämning av tidigare osymboliserat material. Patienten kan i det ideala fallet upprättas som subjekt, sörja över separationen och bristen, ges tillträde till en plats i sin historia och förmå stå ensam och separat i relation till andra. Diskussion: Av analysen framkommer att de intervjuade terapeuterna antog positioner i olika grad längst en å ena sidan ickespråklig nivå av närvaro i terapirummet och en å andra sidan språkligt avgränsad nivå.  I analysen visar sig arbetet med det abjekta syfta till separation och subjektets tillblivelse. Ett arbete som i sin tur ses vara avgörande för att individen ska kunna ingå i relationer med andra. / Introduction: The aim of the study was to investigate the term Abject as developed by Julia Kristeva. Research questions: How do therapists familiar with the term Abject perceive its clinical relevance and usefulness? Which are the implications described concerning intrapsychic and/or intersubjective characteristics in therapy? Method: Interviewing six therapists, all familiar with Kristeva, the study sought to find how the Abject is relevant in psychodynamic therapy in Sweden today, as to understand its intrapsychic and intersubjective implications. The interviews were analysed using deductive thematic analysis. Results: The phenomenology of the Abject was described as presenting itself through affective and somatic symptoms, devoid of symbolic representation and relational boundaries. It was further described as characterized by patients acting out, seeking to symbiotically merge or to differentiate themselves as separate. The study showed that working clinically with the Abject requires the therapist to construct a relation based on trust, define borders and to help the patient to express formerly unspeakable experiences, thus enabling the patient, ideally, to establish themselves as subject, mourn the separation and develop the capacity to stand alone. Discussion: In working with the abject, the interviewed therapists appear to assume positions of varying degree along, on the one hand a non-verbal level of presence in the therapeutic room and on the other hand a verbally demarcated level. In every case the work with the Abject appear to aim for separation and the formation of the subject. This work appears to be crucial for the individual as to be able to relate to others.

In this essay I aim to examine how camp could be used as a method in the reading of camp as a theory. This will be followed by an analysis of how The Watermelon Woman (Cheryl Dunye, 1996) could be seen as an expression of camp. I am intending to do so by using camp as a method combined with queer phenomenology and theory about social abjection. By having a phenomenological base I hope to show how camp is contextual - and how its resistance is fluid. In my analysis I will look closer at the relationship between Dunye, the director, Cheryl, the protagonist - played by Dunye, and Fae - the actress who has been lost in the archives. Together, they show how camp becomes a method in the film itself, as a film, as well as a film within the film. Camp will be my method in the reading of The Watermelon Woman, claiming that the film as well uses camp as a method - both as an aesthetic expressions and as a (re)writer of history.

No description available.

Thesis Abstract The present thesis offers to read six plays by three contemporary British playwrights - Sarah Kane's Crave (1997) and 4.48 Psychosis (1999), Caryl Churchill's The Skriker (1994) and Far Away (2000), and Tim Crouch's ENGLAND (2007) and The Author (2009) through the lens of Julia Kristeva's essay on abjection, Powers of Horror (1982). Kristeva theorizes abjection as that which retains some resemblance to the subject or object, but is neither - or no longer belongs to the subject. Being confronted with the abject is unpleasant because it is threatening for the subject. It contains all that is habitually removed from life and does not belong in the symbolic order - corpses and excrements. Likewise, the maternal body needs to become abject for the infant to realize its own borders and bodily integrity. Kristeva proposes that the abject finds its way back into the symbolic order through literature, and reads a number of writers as being concerned with the abject. In the theatre, as well as in the visual arts, abjection has been a useful theoretical starting point, despite the fact that it is seen by a number of critics as something which cannot truly be grasped, and as resisting description and verbal imposition. Each playwright and each play includes a different aspect of the abject. Central to...

Med utgångspunkt i det konstnärliga konceptet knöl söker Heidi i den här uppsatsen bearbeta det djupa och komplicerade förhållandet mellan kaos och kontroll. Genom att röra sig fritt mellan sin personliga erfarenhet, och såväl historiska som samtida skildringar, målar hon här upp en större bild av den känsliga relationen mellan människans sökande efter rationell kunskap och den ständigt närvarande rädslan. Oron för att drabbas av olycka och katastrofer, sjukdom och död. Med stöd i sin egen process, andra konstnärer och relaterade koncept (så som Julea Kristevas abjekt och den gamla föreställningen om monstret) argumenterar Heidi för hur det som bryter av mot våra förväntningar om det rena, sanna och perfekta inte bara bör betraktas som något oönskat. Utan hur dessa avvikelser faktiskt skulle kunna utgöra själva förutsättningen för ett verkligt levande liv…

<p>This study researches fictional representations of dead bodies in two television series in which representations of dead bodies are prominent features. The study introduces a brief history of the  human body as a societal metaphor. The narrower theme of the study, the dead body as a cultural surface and carrier of meaning and ritual potential, is discussed through specific popular cultural television productions.</p><p>The two television series discussed in this study, <em>CSI: Miami </em>and <em>Six Feet Under</em>, are researched both through film analyses and focus group discussions. The film analyses have aimed<em> </em>to show to what use dead bodies are put in the narratives of the programs. The focus group discussions have sought to shed light on the audiences understanding of the meaning of the dead body, and also how this feature of the programs influence the audience and their experience of the programs.</p><p>The study shows that both series introduce and underline dead bodies as floating in-between subject and object status. A dead person is often introduced as a subject and then stripped of his or her cultural identity and reintroduced as an object or as having an uncertain cultural status which lies somewhere between object and subject. This borderline status of the body serves as a threat in the series, and the subject status of the body is reinstated in every case possible. Order is a central concept for the study and both series strive to reassert and maintain order, either in relationships or on a societal level. The reinstatement of order is reflected on the physical body as a metaphor and narrative device in both series. The reestablishment of the subject status of a dead body is part of this strive for order. The audience research concludes that all focus group members agree that the representations of dead bodies in the programs are important for their experience of the programs. Some find them unpleasant while others think they are interesting. The audience also listed several other themes of the programs which they found important. The representations of dead bodies strike the audience members both as “real” and material, and as metaphors.</p>

This study researches fictional representations of dead bodies in two television series in which representations of dead bodies are prominent features. The study introduces a brief history of the  human body as a societal metaphor. The narrower theme of the study, the dead body as a cultural surface and carrier of meaning and ritual potential, is discussed through specific popular cultural television productions. The two television series discussed in this study, CSI: Miami and Six Feet Under, are researched both through film analyses and focus group discussions. The film analyses have aimed to show to what use dead bodies are put in the narratives of the programs. The focus group discussions have sought to shed light on the audiences understanding of the meaning of the dead body, and also how this feature of the programs influence the audience and their experience of the programs. The study shows that both series introduce and underline dead bodies as floating in-between subject and object status. A dead person is often introduced as a subject and then stripped of his or her cultural identity and reintroduced as an object or as having an uncertain cultural status which lies somewhere between object and subject. This borderline status of the body serves as a threat in the series, and the subject status of the body is reinstated in every case possible. Order is a central concept for the study and both series strive to reassert and maintain order, either in relationships or on a societal level. The reinstatement of order is reflected on the physical body as a metaphor and narrative device in both series. The reestablishment of the subject status of a dead body is part of this strive for order. The audience research concludes that all focus group members agree that the representations of dead bodies in the programs are important for their experience of the programs. Some find them unpleasant while others think they are interesting. The audience also listed several other themes of the programs which they found important. The representations of dead bodies strike the audience members both as “real” and material, and as metaphors.

Within the field of cinema studies, the question of visual representation is a fundamental pillar. An immense volume of theoretical work has been written on the subject, with various academic approaches such as feministic, postcolonial and gay/lesbian. Yet there is a large social group that seems to have been overlooked within the representational discourse: the elderly. This group of people appears to be a blind spot on the multicultural retina, too often neglected within the area of cultural studies. But as the baby boomer generation, who has always redefined the different stages of life (youth, adulthood, middle age), is entering old age, things are slowly changing. Utilizing a post-structural framework, this essay investigates the visual representation of elderly within the cinematic landscape of the western world. Since the subject is somewhat uncharted territory, a broad interdisciplinary approach is necessary where modern social gerontology meets the field of cinema studies. In a cultural context, social grouping based on age implies a distinct position versus the normative, compare to other types of minorities. Changes of sex, skin colour or sexual preference are uncommon, whereas changing age is the fate of every human being. The elderly as the “the Other” is thus every man’s future destiny. This rather unique position carries an immanent paradox since the only way to avoid the periphery in question is death. As a philosophical counterpoint to this rather dystopian outlook, Gilles Deleuze’s theory of becoming is brought into the discussion. The theoretical part of the essay ends with the ontology of age, a historical review of the field of gerontology and the concept of ageism. After a descriptive section, where contemporary examples of film and other media with old age as a main theme are identified, the analytical part of the essay ensues. With the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu as a theoretical frame of reference, a close reading of the films Avalon (Axel Petersén, 2011), About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002) and RED (Robert Schwentke, 2010) are performed, emphasising aging identity and imposed age-normative behaviour. The semiotics of the aged body is discussed through Jacques Lacans mirror stage and Julia Kristevas abject theory, exemplified by the works of Donigan Cumming. The final part of the essay concerns the great eternal questions within film philosophy: life, death, time and memory, which for the elderly are not merely philosophical concerns but rather notable existential realities. Using Deleuze as a philosophical toolbox, these grand topics are illuminated with examples from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008), Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) and Ingmar Bergmans classical works, such as Smultronstället (1957), Saraband (2003) and Gycklarnas afton (1953).