Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Soemis Martinez Guzman.pdf: 565836 bytes, checksum: 38ae2b66e1ca23917b4056a15be17a91 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Ernest Becker targeted to understand the human condition by stating that the fear of death is the terror installation at the psychological base of man, from this realization he produced a work constituted by a synthesis of thoughts based on Kierkegaardian philosophy and psychoanalysis derived from Freud and his collaborators, with emphasis on Otto Rank, and a Darwinian evolution approach thus characterizing his interdisciplinarity. He believed it to be necessary the perception of being and society the true knowledge base in the description of the motivation that takes us to our condition. For this, he suggested that the fear of death and its denial are universal fundamental facts for every human activity and that the heroism product of this fear is the main human problem. As a starting point he uses the problem of heroism in contemporaneous society and shows the denial of finitude in modern culture. So, in its quest for transcendence, humanity creates symbols which further distances, from its perception of reality as species / Ernest Becker dedicou-se à compreensão da condição humana afirmando ser o medo da morte a instalação do terror nas bases psicológicas do homem. A partir dessa constatação, produziu um trabalho constituído por uma síntese de pensamentos com base na filosofia Kierkegaardiana, na psicanálise Freudiana e de seus colaboradores, destacando Otto Rank e a uma visão darwinista evolutiva caracterizando sua interdisciplinaridade. Acreditava ser necessária a percepção do ser e da sociedade para a base geradora de conhecimento verdadeiro na descrição da motivação que nos leva à nossa condição. Para tanto, sugeriu ser o medo da morte e a sua negação fatos fundamentais universais para toda atividade da vida humana, e o heroísmo produzido a partir desse medo, é o principal problema humano. Usa como ponto de partida a problemática do heroísmo na sociedade contemporânea e mostra a negação da finitude na cultura moderna. Assim, na busca pela transcendência, a humanidade cria símbolos que a distancia, cada vez mais, da percepção da sua realidade enquanto espécie. O mal aparece devido ao surgimento da violência e da aniquilação humanas, que nascem dessa dinâmica de negação da mortalidade

This paper examines the power and limitations of historical analysis in regards to explaining the Holocaust and in particular the widespread consent to the Nazi program. One of the primary limitations that emerges is an inability of historians to fully engage other social sciences to offer a more comprehensive explanation as to why so many Germans engaged in what we would consider an “evil” enterprise. In that regard, I offer the work of Ernest Becker, a social anthropologist, whose work provides a framework for understanding history as a succession of attempts by man to create societies that generate meaning through various heroic quests that defy man's finite existence, yet often result in carnage. Combining Becker's theoretical framework with the rich historical evidence specific to the Holocaust provides a much richer understanding of both Becker's work and why the Holocaust happened.

This dissertation examines rhetorics of heroism and immortality as they are negotiated through a variety of (new) media contexts. The dissertation demonstrates that media technologies in general, and videogames in particular, serve an existential or “death denying” function, which insulates individuals from the terror of mortality. The dissertation also discusses the hero as a rhetorical trope, and suggests that its relationship with immortality makes it a particularly powerful persuasive device. Chapter one provides a historical overview of the hero figure and its relationship with immortality, particularly within the context of ancient Greece. Chapter two examines the material means by which media technologies serve a death denying function, via “symbolic immortality” (inscription), and the McLuhanian concept of extension. Chapter three examines the prevalence of the hero and villain figures in propaganda, with particular attention paid to the use of visual propaganda in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Chapter four situates the videogame as an inherently heroic, death denying medium; videogames can extend the player’s sense of self, provide quantifiable victory criteria, and allow players to participate in “heroic” events. Chapter five examines the soldier-as-hero motif as it appears in two popular genres, the First Person Shooter, and Role-Playing Game. Particular attention is paid to the Call of Duty series and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Chapter six outlines an “epistemological exercise,” which attempts to empirically test the claims made in the previous chapters via Terror Management Theory, an experimental paradigm which examines the relationship between mortality, self-esteem, and ideology. The conclusion discusses how videogames can contest prevailing views of the heroic, and calls for a departure from contemporary game design practices.

This dissertation examines rhetorics of heroism and immortality as they are negotiated through a variety of (new) media contexts. The dissertation demonstrates that media technologies in general, and videogames in particular, serve an existential or “death denying” function, which insulates individuals from the terror of mortality. The dissertation also discusses the hero as a rhetorical trope, and suggests that its relationship with immortality makes it a particularly powerful persuasive device. Chapter one provides a historical overview of the hero figure and its relationship with immortality, particularly within the context of ancient Greece. Chapter two examines the material means by which media technologies serve a death denying function, via “symbolic immortality” (inscription), and the McLuhanian concept of extension. Chapter three examines the prevalence of the hero and villain figures in propaganda, with particular attention paid to the use of visual propaganda in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Chapter four situates the videogame as an inherently heroic, death denying medium; videogames can extend the player’s sense of self, provide quantifiable victory criteria, and allow players to participate in “heroic” events. Chapter five examines the soldier-as-hero motif as it appears in two popular genres, the First Person Shooter, and Role-Playing Game. Particular attention is paid to the Call of Duty series and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Chapter six outlines an “epistemological exercise,” which attempts to empirically test the claims made in the previous chapters via Terror Management Theory, an experimental paradigm which examines the relationship between mortality, self-esteem, and ideology. The conclusion discusses how videogames can contest prevailing views of the heroic, and calls for a departure from contemporary game design practices.

A study of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, particularly "The Sound of Her Wings" and "The Kindly Ones: Part 13," demonstrates its theological richness. The Sandman's ability to participate in theodicy becomes clear by framing that study within a framework provided by Ernest Becker's ideas about the terror of death and Karen Armstrong's observations of the historical utility of negative theology and compassion. The analysis of the formal characteristics of The Sandman shows the range of aesthetic possibility inherent in the comics form. Lastly, the study makes apparent the continued readerly desire for engagement with questions about God, transcendence, death, and evil.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jussara Trindade de Almeida.pdf: 2997922 bytes, checksum: 3b19c5030f23d612e8f6ff0e5198b0a1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation seeks to accomplish an analysis of the human condition in Ernest Becker (1924-1974) and the role of religion to sustain human beings in face of the fear of death and the precariousness of his creatureliness. The central object of research is his most important work, The Denial of Death. Initially, we present the main concepts of Becker used to describe the human existence: the creatureliness of human beings, torn between their animality and the self-consciousness that helped them to emerge from nature in comparison to all of the other animals; the existential paradox; the fear of life and fear of death which cause anxiety and the need to deny death; the twin ontological motives Eros and Agape that attract human beings in opposite directions; the basic need to feel a sense of self-worth and find meaning to human existence; the defense mechanisms used to repress from consciousness the fear of death and the reality of the creatureliness; the development of human character as a vital lie; the human dependence on and fascination with an external source power, related to the transference mechanism; and the oedipal transition that develops into the causa sui project, when the socialization of the individual occurs. Then we investigate Becker s view of religion and the reasons for considering it as one of the most effective ways of providing meaning to human life, as well as ideal forms of heroism that are not found in cultural hero systems and ways of transcending creatureliness symbolically. Finally, we present an outline of the heroic individual, the main reasons for Becker to glimpse the possibility of the fusion of psychology and religion, and a reflection on his expectations for this approach. It starts with the hypothesis that the possibility of heroism offered by religion is broader than the cultural forms, since religion takes into account the dimension of the invisible; also that the individuals can develop, with the support of religion, a greater strength to bear the contradictions of their human condition, together with a safer way to find meaning to their existences. We conclude that the Becker s heroic individual must have the courage that few possess to face anxiety, despite the support offered by religion and psychoanalysis / A presente dissertação busca realizar uma análise da condição humana em Ernest Becker (1924-1974) e o papel da religião para sustentar o ser humano diante do temor da morte e da precariedade de sua condição de criatura. O objeto central da pesquisa é sua mais importante obra, A Negação da Morte. Inicialmente, são apresentados os principais conceitos de Becker utilizados para descrever a existência humana: a condição de criatura do ser humano, dividido entre sua animalidade e a auto-consciência que o destacou dos outros animas na natureza; o paradoxo existencial; os temores da vida e da morte, que provocam angústia e necessidade de negar a morte; os dúplices motivos ontológicos Eros e Ágape que atraem o ser humano para direções opostas; a necessidade básica de sentir o próprio valor e encontrar sentido para a existência; os mecanismos de defesa utilizados para reprimir da consciência o temor da mortalidade e a realidade da condição de criatura; o desenvolvimento do caráter como mentira vital; a dependência e o fascínio por uma fonte de poder externo, relacionados ao mecanismo de transferência; e a transição edipiana que se desenvolve para o projeto causa sui, a partir da socialização do indivíduo. Em seguida, investiga-se a compreensão de Becker sobre a religião, e as razões para considerá-la como um dos meios mais eficientes para fornecer significado à vida humana, assim como: proporcionar formas de heroísmo ideal que não se encontram nos sistemas de heróís da cultura; e permitir uma transcendência simbólica da condição de criatura. Por último, é apresentado um esboço do indivíduo heróico, as principais razões de Becker para vislumbrar a possibilidade de uma aproximação entre psicologia e religião, e uma reflexão sobre suas expectativas em relação a essa aproximação. Parte-se da hipótese que, sendo a possibilidade de heroísmo oferecida pela religião mais abrangente que a cultural, ao levar em conta a dimensão do invisível, o ser humano pode desenvolver, com o auxílio da religião, uma maior resistência para suportar as contradições de sua condição e um meio mais seguro de encontrar significado para a existência. Conclui-se que o indivíduo heróico de Becker precisa possuir uma coragem que poucos possuem para enfrentar a angústia, apesar do suporte oferecido pela religião e pela psicanálise

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniele Batagin.pdf: 746792 bytes, checksum: 7a6dd9dd2fbea86e46fbd0f8fb149ff1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-01 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study follows the path of distress and human faith. Ernest Becker has a Ph. D in cultural anthropology, and ends up drawing in a differentiated perspective of his theory of the human animal. To find the path that explains the anxiety and faith, this study went through a journey which demonstrated who is the man in Becker s perspective? What are the features that form his structure as an individual? To do so, it discusses the anguish and faith, showing why you feel anguish, as the Beckerian Man uses defense mechanisms to face the terror of death and how these issues lead him to faith / Essa dissertação estuda o caminho da angústia e a fé humana, tomando como base a teoria de Ernest Becker, Ph.D em antropologia cultural, que desenha uma perspectiva diferenciada do animal humano. Para encontrar um possível caminho de compreensão da angústia e a fé, esta pesquisa percorreu um itinerário procurando demonstrar quem é o homem na visão beckeriana, quais são as faces que o estruturam enquanto indivíduo, para, assim, discutir a angústia e a fé, numa tentativa de entender o porquê da angústia, como o homem se utiliza de mecanismos de defesa para encarar o terror da morte e como essas questões o conduzem para fé

From the claims of punk rocker GG Allin aiming to shed his own blood for Rock ‘n’ Roll to the religiously tinted narratives of Bruce Springsteen we come to find artists using religious references to color their artistic medium. A question arises: Could these utterances and narratives show a deeper meaning behind Rock ‘n’ Roll such that it can give individuals a way to obtain religious experience? This thesis aims at arguing for the ability of Rock ‘n’ Roll as having a way to incite feelings of religious experience and communitas. Through the usage of auto-ethnography coupled with subsidiary sources from academic to pop culture writers this thesis will investigate if such a creative form helps to enable individuals to experience transcendence and feelings of community while immersed in Rock ‘n’ Roll.

From the claims of punk rocker GG Allin aiming to shed his own blood for Rock ‘n’ Roll to the religiously tinted narratives of Bruce Springsteen we come to find artists using religious references to color their artistic medium. A question arises: Could these utterances and narratives show a deeper meaning behind Rock ‘n’ Roll such that it can give individuals a way to obtain religious experience? This thesis aims at arguing for the ability of Rock ‘n’ Roll as having a way to incite feelings of religious experience and communitas. Through the usage of auto-ethnography coupled with subsidiary sources from academic to pop culture writers this thesis will investigate if such a creative form helps to enable individuals to experience transcendence and feelings of community while immersed in Rock ‘n’ Roll.