This thesis aims to bring to wider attention the work of the Parisian theologian and philosopher Jean-Yves Lacoste (part of the so-called ‘theological turn’ in French phenomenology). Lacoste (whose most recent work, Etre en Danger (2011), articulates what he describes as a ‘phenomenology of the spiritual life’), has previously published monographs in the phenomenology of liturgy (Expérience et l’absolu: Questions disputées sur l'humanité de l'homme, 1994; ET: Experience and the Absolute: Disputed Questions on the Humanity of Man, 2004); hope and eschatology (Note sur le temps: essai sur les raisons de la mémoire et de l'espérance, 1990); philosophy and aesthetics (Le monde et l'absence d'oeuvre, 2000); and phenomenology and theology (Présence et parousie, 2006; Phénoménalité de Dieu, 2008). As a phenomenologist Lacoste is concerned with investigating the human aptitude for experience; as theologian Lacoste is interested in humanity’s potential for a relationship with the divine, what he terms the ‘liturgical relationship’ (where ‘liturgical’ implies more than simply worship writ large but refers instead to a specific anthropology, that of an existence lived and conducted ‘before God’, coram Deo). Beginning from the proposition that prayer is a theme that occurs throughout Lacoste’s writing, the dissertation employs that as a heuristic through which to view, interpret and critique his thought by offering a thematic study of prayer as it appears in his published works. It will look at issues that impact upon the ‘spiritual life’ such as boredom and fatigue, and include the following topics: ambiguity, rumour and the absurd; utopia and fantasy; body, flesh and spirit; silence; time, anarchy and flux. The dissertation is, in part, also an answer to the question as to what kind of theology might be written in response to and in dialogue with Lacoste, by examining some previously overlooked themes in and influences upon his work.

This thesis describes the artwork of Max Bucaille (1906-1996), an obscure French artist who, as a professor of mathematics, had become famous mainly for his surrealistic collages. I am aiming to clarify the relationship of Bucaille to the Czech environment and the Czech artists. I am also focusing mainly on his imprisonment during WWII in prison camp Stalag IV C located in current Czech Republic; his activity in a group of Revolutionary Surrealists between 1947 and 1948, which also included members of Czech Group Ra; and his exhibitions in Czechoslovakia in the 1960's. His work had been introduced to our country thanks to the affiliation of Brno based surrealist group Lacoste along with the international group C.I.A.F.M.A. (Centre international d'actualité fantastique et magique) which was founded in 1958 in Brussels, Bucaille was also among the founders of this group. Considering the focus of this work it is also necessary to mention and to outline the situation of post war surrealism in the Czech countries. There are also comments regarding post war searches for Czech artists which were halted by the political event of February 1948, which completely ended free artwork as well as foreign connections. Then there is a description of the liberalization that happened toward the end of the 1950's...

This thesis is about how high level brands communicate their brands to the audience. The thesis consists of analyses of the identity and images of two luxury brands, Gucci and Burberry and two premium brands, Lacoste and Morris. The purpose is to clarify the identity of the brands, by carrying out analysis as well as interviews with key personnel. Furthermore there is an analysis of the advertisement images for the respective brands in order to clarify the brands images. Finally there is an analysis of the alleged conformity between identity and image and also a section about the luxury and premium brand differs, or rather not differ from each other in the identity-image connection. The methods used are Aakers identity system, to establish the respective brands identity. An image analysis with inspiration from Panfosky and leading semoticians are also used to scrutinize the advertising images from the Spring/Summer 2010 campaigns. The results show that there is indeed a good conformation among the brands when it comes to the identity-image connection. The brands identities are thorough and well articulated and the advertisement images are well executed with the identity well in mind which makes for that the campaigns are contributing in building a good brand image among the target audience. There are several areas where the premium brand advertising images congregate with the ones of the luxury brand. / Program: Magisterutbildning i fashion management med inriktning modemarknadsföring

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