In this dissertation, I identify a conspicuous shift in the formal articulation of time and space in modernist literature and film of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This “transformation of chronotopes,” I argue, has important historical, political, and aesthetic implications that have to do with a critical negotiation of our – and art’s – being-in-history in late modernity. In case studies on the work of Theo Angelopoulos, Heiner Müller and Alexander Kluge, I demonstrate that literary and cinematic time-space articulations function as both formal sedimentations of and antagonistic aesthetic responses to a transformed understanding of time, space and the historical process in the wake of the world-historical transformations around and after 1989 as well as in an age of globalization. All three authors are centrally concerned with the precarious status of modernity and futurity today – with the question, that is, of what happens to the constitutively modern promise about an “open future” amid a wide-spread exhaustion of the historical imagination in European societies, amid hyper-acceleration in the fields of technology and the economy, and amid manifold processes of systemic autonomization that undermine concepts of human praxis and self-determination. Interrogating the conditions of possibility for a contemporary political aesthetic – can there be a conjunction of art and politics today? – Angelopoulos, Müller and Kluge are informed by and draw on different forms of modernist political aesthetics of the early 20th century in their engagement with the present and thus also pose the question about the continued relevance, the legacy and timeliness of political modernism today.

A central concept for Plato is the kalon – often translated as the beautiful, fine, admirable, or noble. This dissertation shows that only by prioritizing dimensions of beauty in the concept can we understand the nature, use, and insights of the kalon in Plato. The concept of the kalon organizes aspirations to appear and be admired as beautiful for one’s virtue. We may consider beauty superficial and concern for it vain – but what if it were also indispensable to living well? By analyzing how Plato uses the concept of the kalon to contest cultural practices of shame and honour regulated by ideals of beauty, we come to see not only the tensions within the concept but also how attractions to beauty steer, but can subvert, our attempts to live well.

In recent decades, the pianism of Robert Schumann's compositions has increasingly gained recognition. What was previously seen as dense and mid-keyboard centric is now recognised as ground-breaking in terms of sonorous invention, informed by an intimate understanding of the instrument and its playing techniques. Yet, as pianist Schumann has received little credit, primarily due to a short-lived and relatively unsuccessful career. This thesis aims to explore this seeming paradox. I shall argue that Schumann developed rarely discussed concepts of imagined sound and tactile feedback during his days as aspiring pianist (1828-1831), and that these became integral to the pianistic style of his earliest published compositions. Following a general overview of the historical and biographical contexts for this study, I will trace Schumann's piano practice to establish his overall artistic aims and the primacy of sonority in this regard. This leads to an investigation of his ideals of tone to locate Schumann within prevailing schools of piano playing and of piano making around 1830. Acknowledging his comprehension of playing mechanics, I observe that during an 1831 crisis which preceded his much-debated hand injury, his technique suffered from a series of insurmountable issues relating to the right hand. Disabled as performer, Schumann realised his virtuoso aspirations in his capacity as composer. Two case studies featuring the Abegg Variations op. 1 and Papillons op. 2 demonstrate his use of sound-audible and imagined-to elevate the mechanical virtuosity of piano playing into a virtuosity of the imagination. Not only does this demonstrate a transfer of sound concepts from performance to composition; it offers a timely reassessment of Schumann's pianistic merits and presents new interpretational paths for future performances of his piano music.

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This thesis examines a model of subjectivity - the subtle body - and the aesthetic and ethical relations that emerge from its proposition. By drawing together a number of discourses from three religious and philosophical traditions - Eastern, Western and Esoteric - the thesis develops an innovative approach to the consideration of the dualisms at the heart of the dominant Western discourse : self-spirit; mind-body; reason-emotion; I-other. The research is broadly transdisciplinary and cross-cultural, tracing conceptual interrelations across the disciplines of religions, philosophy and art-history theory. The thesis structure reflects the radical extensivity of subtle bodies and is designed to accommodate the development of many interrelating arguments. This is achieved by building the argument in a syntagmatic fashion via subsequent chapters, as well as by utilising a paradigmatic development. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis aims to consider the potential for perception of the subtle exchanges of viewers and artwork; subject and object. This necessitates an examination of ontologies, concepts of the body, perceptive schemas and modes of consciousness that ultimately destabilise the assumed solidity and individuality of subject and object. Exchanges of subtle effects are continually taking place between viewer and object, and the space between subject and object is alive with interaction. Process philosophy is introduced as the basic ontological perspective underlying this reflection of subject-object relations. Three conceptualisations of subject-object interaction are considered: Western, Esoteric and Eastern, and three types of body-mind proposed by these investigations are discussed. The process and practice of cultivation required to activate intuition as a faculty able to perceive subtle effects are considered. This focuses mainly upon Eastern practices, with emphasis on the interrelation of cultivation and the creation/contemplation of visual art works. / Master of Arts (Hons)

The term `quality' is regularly used by those who produce, promote and consume wine. However, the nature and features of wine quality are rarely explained. This study was designed to explore what drinkers consider to be the nature of wine quality and what they believe its features to be. Focus groups and individual and small group interviews were used to explore the conceptualisation and dimensions of wine quality, how that quality is assessed, and what its relevance may be. There were 105 informants, sourced from three states across Australia primarily by utilising friends and acquaintances of the researcher. Informants included consumers with a wide background of consumption practices and involvement levels, and also producers and those involved generally in the marketing, selling and promotion of wine. The study viewed wine as an aesthetic or quasi-aesthetic object and therefore also investigated drinkers' more general perceptions of the links between wine and other aesthetic products, placing the understanding of quality within that context.

Twentieth century art in Viêt-Nam underwent immense changes due to the nation�s encounters with the West, through colonialism and two great wars. This thesis examines the significant impact of architecture, clothing painting and sculpture on the development of Vietnamese aesthetics. The very public nature of architecture and clothing will be used as a cultural backdrop for the changing aesthetic ideals in painting and sculpture. The thesis examines the aesthetic merits of Socialist Realism, introduced after reunification in 1975, in particular, its relationship to the art of the Republic of Vie�t- Nam (South Viêt-Nam) from 1954 to 1975. Vietnamese post-war art historians have consistently omitted the significant cultural developments of this period in their writings. A study of this distinctive era will clarify aesthetic changes in the last decades of the twentieth century. After a long period of isolation and ideological constraint, remarkable cultural changes occurred when Viêt-Nam re-established contact with the outside world. This thesis will present the subsequent changes in aesthetics, as an attempt to balance tradition and modernity, within the context of market reforms and the internationalisation of Vietnamese art. These events had a significant impact on the contemporary art market in Viêt-Nam. Through the changes that art history has noted, this thesis argues that the interactions with outsiders were either an impetus or a pressure for changes in Vie�t-Nam�s drive for modernity.

<p>Introduction: Aesthetic surgery becomes another option of beauty. Interested Patients seeking for choices offered outside their homeland for more benefits. Thailand maybe one of those choices people is now interested in. Thai aesthetic industry may prove to be one of the most wanted destinations because of its expertise and relatively low cost with impressive service.</p><p>Problem: “How should Thailand improve its Aesthetic service attractiveness to drive its potential to the level of internationalization?”</p><p>Purpose: This thesis aim to understand Thai aesthetic surgery business and expect to conduct the idea of how to improve the attractiveness of aesthetic service in Thailand by find out international demand then analyze advantages of Thai aesthetic surgery and what can be improve to serve international customers’ demand.</p><p>Method: Primary data gathered from interviews with two doctors, two former patients and eight interested in aesthetic surgery people from different countries. Secondary data mostly came from hospitals and clinics publications, medical articles and Societies of plastic surgeons in many countries. Business Newspaper gives idea about medical care situation and news in medical care field. The theories use to analyze information are Diamond of national advantage, 7Ps, and Total perceived quality model.</p><p>Analysis and</p><p>Conclusion: International demand of aesthetic surgery is high and people tend to go have operation abroad. Four factors of diamond national advantage show advantages and 7Ps show the capability of Thai aesthetic surgery service. Explication of Thai Marketing Mix (7Ps) clarified that Thai medical care service operate with qualified doctors and service team , well equipped instruments and luxury hospitals and clinics environment . Thai aesthetic surgery also gains high reputation from foreigners especially about lower cost of surgery. Despite the good image of this industry abroad there still are areas which the customers feel inferior ,for example the level of hospitals internationalization does not reach the high standard of international hospitals. The language barrier with hospital staff and difficulties to follow up patients</p>