Thèse--Faculté des lettres de Paris.

Thesis--Münster. / Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. iv-xxxi).

Diss.--Basel. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

In this article I will try to answer two basic questions concerning a selection of representative South African monuments erected by different groups adhering to various ideologies. Firstly, what truths and values did patrons and designers intend to express in the Rhodes Memorial (Cape Town), the Afrikaans Language Monument (Paarl), the Women's Monument (Bloemfontein), the Voortrekker Monument (Pretoria), the Samora Machel Monument (Mbuzini), the Heroes' Monument (Durban) and Freedom Park (Pretoria)? Secondly, how did their meaning change over time on various issues such as gender, language, ethics, site, historiographry, the dialectics between different monuments, the problematics of heroism, as well as ethnic difference, especially when viewed from a postcolonial vantage point? However, the notions of "truth" and "values" in the ideological context of monuments are ambiguous, as can be ascertained from a brief survey of the methodologies applied and conclusions drawn by researchers representing those disciplines that most often deal with the subject matter of monuments. These are: art history, architectural history, cultural history, history, postcolonial studies, and occasionally also practitioners of other disciplines such as philosophy and anthropology.

Kazimir Malevich and the Architectons as Monuments: Looking at Early Modernism examines Malevich' s 1919-1932 artistic exploration, architectons. Conventionally understood as early modern avant-garde art objects or as blueprints for a new urbanism, this thesis explores their function as monuments and as profound influences on how we now look at modernity. As monuments, I argue, they opened up a new way of expressing collective memory that has had a significant influence on avant-garde production and attitudes towards monuments.I develop this argument through an assessment of existing literature on the architectons and Malevich, the theoretical discourse on monuments contemporaneous with Malevich's artistic and intellectual development, including Alois Riegl and Soviet Commissariats, and late 20th century discussions on memory. There are three chapters to my thesis. In the first chapter I will introduce Malevich's theory of Suprematism and the philosophy of architectons. I will elaborate on the meaning, differing interpretations, and possible significance of Malevich's architectons. The second chapter is historical and biographical, retracing Malevich's movements in time and space. I will show how the social, philosophical, academic and artistic milieux of post-revolutionary Vitebsk affected his artistic thoughts about the monument. In addition to being current topics in art and philosophy at the time, both of these factors are related to Malevich in the way he lived, practiced art and conceived philosophy. The last part of the second chapter examines the position of monuments contemporary to Malevich's time in 1920s Russia. In the third chapter I will discuss the notion of "monument" and "memory." Here I will start with Alois Riegl (1903) and his systematic study of modern monuments. In this part, I will argue that the socio-political and cultural context of 1900 Vienna enabled the emergence of Riegl's theory of monuments, a study that was widely disseminated at the time and to which Malevich probably had access at the same time. I consider the cultural attitude towards the meaning of monuments just prior to Malevich's work in Vitebsk. I will use Riegl's theory of monuments to explore several monuments and highlight the importance of this theory to frame Malevich's architectons within the historical and present discourse on monuments. In this chapter I will articulate how Malevich's architectons can be translated as monuments of the twentieth century. Finally, in my conclusion, I argue that Malevich and his architectons in particular, had, and continue to have, a profound influence in the ways we look at modernity. I also provide a case study for my proposal that the architectons functioned as monument. The case studies examine the links that twentieth century art and architecture had with Malevich's ideas.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis analyses and defines the forms and ornament of the Welsh sculptured crosses and cross-slabs of the pre-Norman period and attempts to use the data thus assembled as historical evidence for the period in which they were made. The sculptural evidence confirms the historical evidence that there was very little artistic, exchange between Wales and England and virtually no direct contact between Wales and the continent c. 750-1100, but testifies to the existence of contacts between Wales and Ireland, Scotland (particularly Strathclyde) and the Isle of Man. Sixteen Welsh monuments are found to exhibit evidence of Scandinavian influence and these help to corroborate the literary place-name evidence for Scandinavian settlement on the coasts of Dyfed, South Glamorgan and Gwynedd in the pre-Norman period; the latter apparently associated with the trade route between the Scandinavian settlements of Dublin, the Isle of Man and Chester. The material reflects the existence of a settled society and economy in Wales in the early Medieval period in which craftsmen, some of whom were itinerant, others apparently associated with religious establishments, were patronised by kings and affluent laymen and churchmen whose wealth was in land. The distribution of the monuments demonstrates areas of contemporary settlement and the lines of communication between them and certain groups of monuments imply the existence of otherwise undocumented religious establishments. Although generally associated with religious sites, groups of monuments were not confined to the monastic aggregations but they were confined to the bounds of the known historic kingdoms. The Welsh sculptured crosses and cross-slabs were intimately associated with both the royal/aristocratic and ecclesiastical elements in society. Their production ceased when patronage was not continued by the new Norman landowners and churchmen.

No description available.

Kazimir Malevich and the Architectons as Monuments: Looking at Early Modernism examines Malevich' s 1919-1932 artistic exploration, architectons. Conventionally understood as early modern avant-garde art objects or as blueprints for a new urbanism, this thesis explores their function as monuments and as profound influences on how we now look at modernity. As monuments, I argue, they opened up a new way of expressing collective memory that has had a significant influence on avant-garde production and attitudes towards monuments.I develop this argument through an assessment of existing literature on the architectons and Malevich, the theoretical discourse on monuments contemporaneous with Malevich's artistic and intellectual development, including Alois Riegl and Soviet Commissariats, and late 20th century discussions on memory. There are three chapters to my thesis. In the first chapter I will introduce Malevich's theory of Suprematism and the philosophy of architectons. I will elaborate on the meaning, differing interpretations, and possible significance of Malevich's architectons. The second chapter is historical and biographical, retracing Malevich's movements in time and space. I will show how the social, philosophical, academic and artistic milieux of post-revolutionary Vitebsk affected his artistic thoughts about the monument. In addition to being current topics in art and philosophy at the time, both of these factors are related to Malevich in the way he lived, practiced art and conceived philosophy. The last part of the second chapter examines the position of monuments contemporary to Malevich's time in 1920s Russia. In the third chapter I will discuss the notion of "monument" and "memory." Here I will start with Alois Riegl (1903) and his systematic study of modern monuments. In this part, I will argue that the socio-political and cultural context of 1900 Vienna enabled the emergence of Riegl's theory of monuments, a study that was widely disseminated at the time and to which Malevich probably had access at the same time. I consider the cultural attitude towards the meaning of monuments just prior to Malevich's work in Vitebsk. I will use Riegl's theory of monuments to explore several monuments and highlight the importance of this theory to frame Malevich's architectons within the historical and present discourse on monuments. In this chapter I will articulate how Malevich's architectons can be translated as monuments of the twentieth century. Finally, in my conclusion, I argue that Malevich and his architectons in particular, had, and continue to have, a profound influence in the ways we look at modernity. I also provide a case study for my proposal that the architectons functioned as monument. The case studies examine the links that twentieth century art and architecture had with Malevich's ideas.