Este projeto tem como objetivo investigar duas obras teatrais que poderiam ser pensadas como uma expressão do trágico no mundo contemporâneo. Tal investigação parte da tentativa de compreender o que seria essa tragicidade pesquisando o que haveria de intrínseco à tragédia na Grécia a partir de diferentes olhares filosóficos, e de que modo esse trágico poderia ainda existir hoje. Para delinear os parâmetros do que será chamado de trágico se partirá da conceituação do que é a tragédia feita pelos helenistas Vernant e Vidal-Naquet, para posteriormente entender como pensadores modernos olharam de modo particular para esta questão. Então se tomará como base a ideia de trágico definida por Steiner e os estudos filosóficos de Nietzsche e Agamben sobre tragédia e contemporaneidade. Paralelamente se investigará a teoria antropológica de René Girard sobre como a possibilidade da tragédia pode estar associada ao mecanismo da vítima expiatória. Em seguida será feita a análise das obras teatrais escolhidas justamente porque foram elaboradas a partir de uma pesquisa artística sobre o trágico e se terá como objetivo investigar como os seus criadores compreendem essa retomada da tragicidade e de que modo eles dialogam com os pensadores estudados. Os espetáculos contemporâneos escolhidos para análise são: Tragedia Endogonidia, uma série de episódios teatrais realizados pelo grupo Socìetas Rafaello Sanzio (2002-2004), e a peça Mantenha Fora do Alcance de Crianças, escrita em processo colaborativo com o coletivo [PH²] - estado de teatro (2009). / This project has as an objective investigates two theater works that might be thought like an expression of tragic in the contemporary world. That investigation begins with the tentative of understand what could be that tragic researching what have intrinsic in tragedy from Greece starting with different philosophical views, and how that tragic could still exist today. For outline the parameters that we will call tragic, we begins with the conceptualization of what is the tragedy made by Hellenists Vernant and Vidal-Naquet, for after understand how the modern theorists have a particular look for that question. So, we will build on the idea about tragic defended by Steiner and the philosophical studies from Nietzsche and Agamben about tragedy and contemporaneity. At the same time we will investigate the anthropological theory from René Girard of how the possibility of the tragedy could be associated with expiatory victim mechanism. After that, we will analyst the theatre plays chosen right because were created from an artistic research about tragic and we will have with objective investigate how yours creators understand that resumption of the tragic and how they talk with the theorists studied. The contemporary plays chosen for the analyze are: Tragedia Endogonidia, one series of theater episodes realized by the group Socìetas Rafaello Sanzio (2002-2004), and the play Mantenha Fora do Alcance de Crianças, written in collaborative process with the collective [PH²] - estado de teatro (2009).

In this dissertation, I argue that self-translators embody a borderline sense of hybridity, both linguistically and culturally, and that the act of translation, along with its innate in-betweenness, is the context in which self-translators negotiate their fragmented identities and cultures. I use the poetry of Urayoán Noel, Juan Gelman, and Yolanda Castaño to demonstrate that they each uniquely use the process of self-translation, in conjunction with a bilingual presentation, to articulate their modern, hybrid identities. In addition, I argue that as a result, the act of self-translation establishes an interliminal space of enunciation that not only reflects an intercultural exchange consistent with hybridity, but fosters further cultural and linguistic interaction. As a manifestation of their hybrid sensibilities, each of these three poets employs the process of self-translation as an extension of their poetic themes, including a critique and parody of postmodern globalization, reappropriation of language to combat forces of oppression and deterritorialization, or a socio-linguistic representation of bilingual life in a stateless nation from the perspective of a minority language. Self-translation highlights the interliminality between languages, establishing a “third space” of communication that transcends the incomplete communicative ability of each of the two languages. When presented bilingually, self-translation foregrounds the act of translation; the presence of both languages not only encourages interaction between the two languages, but also draws attention to the act of translation, instead of obscuring it in a layer of transparency. This brings the reader to ponder the act of translation and the relationship between languages, ultimately enabling the reader to more fully appreciate the generative qualities of translation.

My thesis on contemporary animated documentaries links new media aesthetics with the documentary turn in contemporary visual culture. Drawing from the fields of Contemporary Art, Animation, Film Studies and Gaming Theory, my aim has been to explore the development of animated documentaries in the context of animation's intersection with other visual fields in a very specific technological moment of the past two decades in order to broaden the scope within which animation is analysed and understood. The starting point of my research was the widely accepted divide assumed to exist between animation and documentary. I, however, claim that the supposedly contradictory nature of animated documentaries can no longer be considered a given. Despite the potentially challenging reception of animated documentaries, it is important to identify what it is that the animated image contributes to documentary, which is the visualisation of what is otherwise un-representable. My thesis investigates a new area of the intangible, focusing on the virtualisation of culture rather than on subjective or imaginary aspects of documentary works and visual interpretations. This cultural shift consequently requires new aesthetics of documentation that exceed the capacities of the photographic. My main argument is that due to contemporary technological changes, animation has permeated real contexts of daily life to the extent that it has become disassociated from the realm of fiction. Rather, in altering the way viewers are becoming accustomed to observing, learning about and connecting with reality, animation has brought about a constitutive change in ways of seeing one's world. This change can be described as animation’s impact on the relation between visual signification and believability. It is this which necessitates a reconsideration of what shapes a sense of realism in documentaries today. My research therefore culminates with new conceptualisations concerning the cultural role of animation, introducing what I argue is the formation of the "animated document" and "documentary animation". In these contexts, animation is no longer an interpretive visualisation substituting for photography but a direct capturing of animated realities. Animation thus expands what is considered to constitute reality and, as a result, also destabilises assumptions about the perceived conflict between animation and documentary, widening the sphere of documentary aesthetics.

Guilt, forgiveness, and reconciliation are fundamental themes in human musical life, and this thesis investigates how people articulate these experiences through musical performance in contemporary genres. I argue that by participating in performances, individuals enact social narratives that create and reinforce wider ideals of music’s roles in society. I assess the interpenetrations of music and guilt, forgiveness, and reconciliation through a number of case studies spanning different genres preceded by a brief introduction to my methodology. My analysis of Arnold Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw illustrates the themes (guilt, confession and memorialisation) and approach I adopt in the three main case studies. My examination of William Fitzsimmons’s indie folk album The Sparrow and the Crow, investigates how ideals of authenticity, self-revelation, and persona structure our understanding of the relationship between performer and audience in confessional indie music. Analyses of two contemporary choral settings of Psalm 51 by Arvo Pärt and James MacMillan examine the confessional relationship between human beings and God. I suggest that by transubstantiating the sacramental traditions of confession in pieces designed for the concert hall, these composers navigate the boundary between the aesthetic and the sacramental. Lastly, I contrast two pieces connected to reconciliation efforts in Australia and South Africa: I argue that the unified narrative of healing in Kerry Fletcher’s “Sorry Song” becomes a performative communal apology, whilst the fragmented, multi-vocal narrative of Philip Miller’s REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape and Testimony illustrates how reconciliation may be achieved through constructing a collective history that acknowledges the multiplicity of testimony in post-apartheid society. I conclude that these pieces provide a means for people to enact narratives of guilt, forgiveness, and reconciliation and point towards new areas of study on the multivalent relationship between contemporary music and memory.

O presente estudo busca compreender a poética do bailaor e coreógrafo espanhol Israel Galván (Sevilla, 1973) e sua importância nas transformações pelas quais a dança flamenca tem passado nas últimas décadas. A etnografia foi o método de pesquisa utilizado, tendo como instrumentos de coleta de dados a observação participante, entrevistas, análise de material audiovisual e fotográfico. A partir do exame desse material, e com ênfase na análise do vídeo de estreia do espetáculo ¡Mira! Los zapatos rojos, de 1998, identificam-se características presentes na citada obra, as quais foram desenvolvidas pelo artista ao longo de sua carreira. Entre as singularidades que emergiram dessa investigação podemos elencar: a presença de elementos autobiográficos; o corpo como centro da pesquisa; a ruptura da estrutura coreográfica do flamenco e a introdução de conceitos da dança e da arte contemporâneas. Galván desenvolveu uma linguagem única e, com suas inovações, enriqueceu o repertório do flamenco com novos movimentos e conceitos. É considerado um dos maiores revolucionários dessa dança. / This inquiry aims to comprehend the poetics of Spanish bailaor and choreographer Israel Galván (born in Sevilla, 1973) and its significance in the context of the transformations flamenco dance underwent for the last few decades. In the present work, ethnography is the elected method of research; accordingly, data gathering was carried out by means of participant observation, interviews, and the analysis of both audiovisual and photographic records. By going over the data –with analytic emphasis on the footage material from the opening night of ¡Mira! Los zapatos rojos, performed on stage in 1998– it is possible to isolate certain features of this particular work by Galván which were being cultivated by the artist throughout his career. From this investigation, the following can be singled out: the salience of subjectivity; the body, construed as the choreographic research’s very core; the artist’s own breaking free from flamenco’s choreographic structure, and, by doing so, his inception of concepts borrowed from contemporary dance and arts. Galván has developed a unique language and, with his innovations, has invigorated flamenco’s repertoire with new movements and ideas. For all these reasons, he stands as one of the most revolutionary choreographers in the genre.

Magister Artium - MA / The mbopo institution, popularly known as the “fattening room” is a cultural rite of passage for young virgins, who are being prepared for marriage among the Ibibio/Efik people of southern Nigeria. It is a complex cultural institution which marked the change of status from girlhood to nubile womanhood in Ibibio/Efik culture. This study examines the practice of mbopo ritual among the Ibibio/Efik people across the previous century. Through an engaged and detailed visual analysis, the study argues that in the first decade of the 20th century, the mbopo ritual had a degree of vibrancy with an attached sense of secrecy and spiritual mystery. But between 1920 and the present, this vibrancy and spiritual undertone has been subtly but progressively compromised. A buildup of tension on the ritual by modern forces, not only of the outside missionaries, but also indigenous converts set in motion a process that would eventually transform the ritual from a framework of an actual cultural practice into the realms of “cultural reinvention” and re-rendering. Feminist critiques of the 1980s and the 1990s led to the popular awareness of the damaging impact of clitoridectomy, just one core aspect of the ritual. As a direct result, clitoridectomy was outlawed across the country, leaving mbopo to be seen as a morally suspect practice. In recent year, the once vibrant, secret and spiritually grounded rite of seclusion for nubile women has been reimagined and reinvented through the public display in art, painting, cultural dance troupe, music and television shows.

L'Exposition a fait l'objet de nombreuses analyses et pourtant son rapport à la photographie est rarement évoqué. Considérée comme un procédé, elle développe de nombreux liens avec celui de la Photographie. Toutes les deux consistent à "montrer". Au-delà de leurs analogies, la Photographie et l'Exposition sont interdépendantes. L'étude de l'Exposition passe désormais inévitablement par la photographie. Les artistes et les commissaires utilisent aujourd'hui la photographie non pas comme une finalité mais comme un outil permettant de penser la mise en espace. Une photographie de vue d'exposition n'est jamais une reproduction, elle se détermine en fonction du temps et de l'espace. Elle est, avant, pendant et après l'exposition, à la fois un indicateur et un vérificateur. Les indices qu'elle fournit constituent des éléments de l'analyse critique de l'exposition. La mise en photographie dont l'exposition a toujours fait l'objet permet les "comparaisons", et "vérifications" qui influent, par voie de conséquence, sur sa conception.Car l’acte d’exposer, régulièrement remis en question, est en perpétuelle évolution. Parce qu'il s'est autonomisé, il est toujours plus difficile de l'appréhender. S’attacher à ses ambiguïtés, notamment celle de son "devenir-image", permet d'en mesurer toute la complexité. Ce qui ouvre certainement la voie à de nouvelles stratégies d’étude qui permettront progressivement une compréhension plus complète et mieux opératoire de son influence certainement décisive sur l’évolution à venir de l’art contemporain. / The Exhibition as format has been the object of numerous analyses and nevertheless its relationship with photography is rarely evoked. Considered as a process, it develops numerous links with the process of Photography. Both consist in "showing". Beyond their analogies, Photography and Exhibition are interdependent. The study of Exhibitions is now inevitably related to photography. Today artists and curators use photography not as an end but as a tool allowing them to think about space.An exhibition view is a photograph but it is never a reproduction, it is determined according to time and space. It indicates and verifies at the same time, before, during and after the exhibition. The indications it supplies establish elements for the critical analysis of the exhibition. The process of photography, to which exhibitions have always been submitted allows "comparisons", and "verifications" which influence, consequently, its conception.Because the act of exhibiting, regularly questioned, is in perpetual evolution. Because it is autonomous, it is always more difficult to comprehend. Focusing on its ambiguities, in particular its capacity to become an image, allows to measure its complexity. This probably opens the way to new strategies of study which will gradually allow a more complete and effective understanding of its certainly decisive influence on the future evolution of contemporary art.

Cette thèse a pour objet les dispositifs corporels sur la scène contemporaine traitant de l’irreprésentable. En effet, parmi les artistes contemporains, nombreux sont ceux qui reconnaissent que la représentation théâtrale ne peut saisir le réel de son objet, parce que ce réel est comme un traumatisme qui ne peut être réduit à la langue, ni traduit par elle. Cette notion esthétique de l’irreprésentable, qui recouvre un large champ d’expériences et de pratiques artistiques, sera donc étudiée ici à partir d’événements traumatiques. L’hypothèse essentielle est que l’irreprésentable en tant que traumatisme se rapporte intimement au corps. Renonçant à l’ambition de représenter l’irreprésentable, certains artistes créent et disposent divers dispositifs représentatifs qui s’avèrent corporels. Ils souhaitent que ceux-ci puissent toucher le corps des spectateurs et enclenchent une irruption du réel, pour que chaque spectateur puisse rencontrer son propre réel irreprésentable. La thèse vise d’abord à éclaircir les concepts cruciaux – l’irreprésentable, le dispositif (contrôle foucaldien et pulsion lyotardienne), le théâtre contemporain, le dispositif représentatif et artistique – puis à analyser le travail de trois metteurs en scène – Kim Hyuntak, Romeo Castellucci, Angélica Liddell – en interrogeant, pour chacun, le thème de l’irreprésentable, les dispositifs corporels qu’il conçoit, et sa manière d’interpeller des spectateurs / This dissertation examines the bodily “dispositifs” in the contemporary theatre performances that explore the concept of the “unrepresentable”. Many contemporary artists acknowledge that theatrical representation cannot grasp the Real of its object, because the Real is, as Lacan has argued, equivalent to the trauma that cannot be reduced to, or translated into, language. Therefore, this study considers the aesthetic notion of the unrepresentable, which encompasses a wide range of artistic experiences and practices, from the position of trauma. The central assumption is that the unrepresentable as trauma is intimately related to the body. Renouncing the ambition to represent the unrepresentable, some artists create and place various representative dispositifs that are corporeal in nature. Through the use of such dispositifs, they attempt to touch the bodies of the spectators and trigger an irruption of the Real, so that each spectator can meet one's own Real. This thesis begins by clarifying the crucial concepts—the unrepresentable, the dispositif (Foucault’s control and Lyotard’s drive), the contemporary theater, the representative and artistic dispositif—and proceeds to analyze the works of three directors—Kim Hyuntak, Romeo Castellucci, Angelica Liddell—by investigating the theme of the unrepresentable, the bodily dispositifs that they have conceived, and their ways of affecting spectators.

O objetivo da pesquisa é contribuir para o estabelecimento do campo de estudos teórico-críticos em dança contemporânea no Brasil. Pretende-se apresentar a discussão sobre uma parcela da produção contemporânea que faz da própria criação um exercício crítico, problematizando em suas obras algumas noções hegemônicas de dança. Para isso, propõe-se contextualizar o debate teórico acerca desta produção, bem como situá-lo em uma perspectiva mais ampla das artes contemporâneas. Por fim, pretende-se aproximar-se de algumas obras coreográficas que realizam este exercício crítico e localizar em suas configurações estéticas tais discussões. / The research aims to contribute to the establishment of the field of theoretical and critical studies in contemporary dance in Brazil. We intend to present a debate about a part of contemporary\'s dance scene that works the creation itself as a critical exercise, discussing in their works some hegemonic notions of dance. It is proposed to contextualize the theoretical debate about this production and put it in a broader perspective of contemporary arts. Finally, we intend to approach some choreographic works that perform this critical exercise and find such discussions in their aesthetics.

Children’s active outdoor play (AOP) is an unstructured physical activity that takes place outdoors during a child’s free time. Despite its association with health and well-being benefits (e.g. increases levels of physical activity, improves psychosocial skills), growing evidence suggests that children are playing less outdoors in comparison to previous generations (Clements, 2004; Witten et al., 2013). This trend is generating a number of studies aiming to examine its decline. Parents, especially mothers, are identified as significant actors in increasing children’s opportunities for AOP in order to prevent adverse health and developmental outcomes. Although parents have an important role in socializing children to leading healthy lifestyles, few studies have documented their difficulties in providing children with opportunities for AOP. Drawing on a Foucauldian approach, this qualitative study focuses on the social, cultural, and structural factors that shape children’s opportunities for AOP within the family context and examines the salient factors of contemporary motherhood that impact children’s AOP. Twenty-one mothers from the Ottawa-Gatineau region took part in an in-depth semistructured interview. The analysis shows that many aspects of contemporary mothering and the multiple roles occupied by mothers make it difficult to provide opportunities for AOP. A key finding is that mothers struggle to prioritize children’s AOP due to discursive conflicts that stem from their roles as risk managers, time managers, and screen time managers. Results provide crucial data for future initiatives aimed at increasing children’s levels of physical activity within a family setting. By focusing on the lived experiences of mothers, this study provides recommendations to promote AOP despite the challenges of contemporary family life.