This is an ethnographic study of a television show titled Esra Erol’da Evlen Benimle (Marry Me on the Esra Erol Show), the most popular of the televised matchmaking formats in Turkey since it premiered in 2007. The marriage show is part of the daytime flow of television broadcasting in Turkey that, as an entertainment format, sets the everyday rhythms of life and provides content for debates/judgements on – as well as being an increasingly popular route to – marriage. I explore the marriage show as a reality show format, which is an outcome of the global flow of media images, narratives and genres. As such, it is a television show that translates the neoliberal imaginary of the self as an aspect of subjectivity in search of survival, security and happiness, into the Turkish context. What distinguishes the marriage show from other reality show formats is that it orients the self towards the desire and expectation to get married as a means of survival. To explore marriage as an orientation of the self through television, I contextualise the show within the contemporary practices, policies and debates of the family in Turkey. By deploying the concept of frame, I investigate how the format is produced by normatively framing the narratives of the participants as marriageable subjects, while also registering the show as a quality program which is seriously dedicated to marrying people within the norms and conventions of marriage in Turkey. Taking the production space of the marriage show as the field of research, and female subjectivity as the particular focus, this study is an endeavour to show how practices, tensions and sensibilities pertaining to marriage and family in Turkey produce female subjects, bodies, self-narratives and movements across the intense present of television production.

The adverse and lasting effects traumatic experiences can have on individuals pose significant challenges to psychotherapeutic treatments. This is due to the profound impact trauma has on the body and mind of survivors which can result in a wide range of posttraumatic symptoms, The unique nature of traumatic memories, and the extent to which they can become engrained, can further complicate treatment considerations. Relevant literature suggests that Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) can be useful for treating survivors of trauma, due to its emphasis on embodiment and creativity that this modality offers. However, research to support this notion is currently limited. Furthermore, not enough is known about how the therapeutic process with survivors of trauma unfolds in the context of DMP. This thesis, therefore, aimed to identify the components of the therapeutic processes used in trauma-informed DMP as a step towards improving understanding of therapeutic practice with this client group. This thesis used hermeneutic phenomenology as the underlying methodology and epistemological position from which all findings and understandings were derived. It encompassed the following two strands: the first involved semi-structured interviews with practitioners who were experienced in treating survivors of trauma. To ensure a sufficient amount of data were collected, and due to commonalities between the DMP and Body Psychotherapy (BP) modalities with regards to the role of the body in the therapeutic process, participants from both of these professions were interviewed for the first research component. The second strand comprised a heuristic inquiry that utilised embodied and creative practice to synthesise the findings from the first strand, and elucidate further the components of the therapeutic process. Findings suggest that the therapeutic process for treating trauma comprises of several identifiable therapeutic elements, some of which were grounded in embodiment and creativity and appeared to be specific to DMP. A relationship was found between the concepts of "narrative‟, "trauma-processing‟ and "ritual‟ while the notion of "joy‟ was identified as ii supporting and signifying positive change. Concepts of "witnessing‟ and "resourcing‟ were also identified. These were perceived by respondents to facilitate and support the therapeutic process with this client group. Applied embodiment and creativity were found to be empowering and seen to facilitate a manageable and paced access to traumatic material. The synthesised results of this thesis are presented as a map of the therapeutic process, and it is suggested that findings may potentially be transferable and useful for other treatment modalities. Overall, the results of this thesis enabled a fuller understanding of the role DMP can play in facilitating therapeutic processes with this client group. Furthermore, the current findings emphasise the contribution that DMP can make to the wider body of knowledge relating with psychotherapeutic treatment approaches to trauma.

This thesis examines the labour that is made visible by the individual on-screen performances of five distinct postfeminist identities from contemporary popular culture. Each chapter focuses on one of three texts: the English-language film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011); The Hunger Games film adaptations (2012-2015); and HBO’s cable-television series, Girls (2012-2017); as well as the girl figures at the centre of them: Lisbeth Salander; Katniss Everdeen/ Jennifer Lawrence; and Lena Dunham/Hannah Horvath. In these analyses I identify two marked strands of work acting as a conceptual thread that harnesses the potential of these gendered performances: firstly, the narrative, thematic, aesthetic, and representational work of the texts, which complicate current ideological and conceptual understandings of girlhood, feminism, and postfeminism; secondly, the cultural and ideological work of the magnetic identities of the girls at the centre of these texts, who help to bring these politics to the surface. The texts and the performances that inform my analyses are often associated with feminism, although the value of this work is often contradictory in nature, both questioned and reinforced by virtue of the performative, creative labour that underpins their authentic, yet commodified, representations. In the case of Lawrence and Dunham, this concerns their work as celebrities and how they mediate feminist ideas through their branded performance. The main objective of this thesis, then, is to demonstrate how each of the identities in this corpus effectively open out the tensions involved in performing feminism in twenty-first century culture, and thus to render the gendered labour attendant with this as politically imperative towards current understandings. This is an interdisciplinary study, drawing on scholarship from film, media, celebrity, gender, and cultural studies in order to grapple with the complexities and myriad meanings of contemporary feminism in the broader context of media culture.

This thesis examines for the first time the role of Sir Frederic William Burton (1816-1900) as director of the National Gallery, London, during the period 1874 to 1894. I argue that his directorship is important because it was followed by the second major administrative re-organisation in the Gallery’s history, namely the Rosebery Minute of 1894, which significantly reduced the authority of the director in making acquisitions. This power had been bestowed upon the director in 1855 after an in-depth parliamentary Select Committee examining the running of the Gallery, which had established the post for the first time. My thesis seeks to determine to what extent and how Burton’s tenure prompted this major reassessment of the Gallery’s management structure. The enquiry addresses the question from a variety of perspectives including Burton’s acquisitions, the display of the collection, his attitude to the social function of the Gallery and the relationship of the Gallery authorities with government departments and individuals. These topics are informed by a methodological approach that takes as its starting point the large volume of archival material and correspondence both at the National Gallery and in other gallery archives and libraries relating mainly to Burton and his trustees, chiefly Sir Austen Henry Layard and Sir William Gregory. Using these sources my thesis examines the background, interests, motivations and personal relationships of key individuals, assessing the impact of personal biography upon institutional history. The thesis also sets these case studies within the broader cultural context of the development of the discipline of the history of art and the challenges this posed to the identity of the Gallery. The final chapter reassesses the Rosebery Minute of 1894 in the light of this research, highlighting the importance of both a detailed ‘micro-historical’ approach and a broad contextualisation of developments at the National Gallery at the turn of the twentieth century.

This thesis provides an assessment of the Scottish television broadcasting landscape within a previously unexamined contemporary context. In particular, the work explores the impact of developments that have occurred since the Scottish Broadcasting Commission in 2007. Through a critical realist lens, it does so by using a combination of desk research, elite interviews and an online audience survey to answer the main research questions: how well does the current broadcasting landscape serve the television industry in Scotland; how well does the current broadcasting landscape serve the television audience in Scotland; to what extent is there an appetite for a new television service for Scotland and what type of service might be viable? By mapping the historical, political and economic terrain, the research also analyses the themes and theoretical concepts that underpin the specificity of the experience of Scottish television within the UK context. It demonstrates the way in which these dynamics interrelate creates a curious environment, whereby Scotland’s position in the UK-wide broadcasting framework is perceived to produce both indispensable advantages and debilitating disadvantages. Findings show there is a certainly a perception that the television broadcasting landscape currently falls short in serving both the industry and audience satisfactorily, and a latent demand was found for a supplementary television service for Scotland. This finding is now particularly significant due to the BBC’s recent announcement that a new television channel for Scotland will be launched in the Autumn of 2018.

This thesis explores changing curatorial strategies at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This is preceded by an assessment of the Museum of Modern Art’s earlier role in systematizing and defining this field throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Three exhibitions of art from Latin America and Latino art will illustrate how the MFAH contributed to shifts in this field proposing parallel and expanded readings to those first introduced at MoMA. Firstly, the Gulf-Caribbean Art Exhibition (1956) was a collaboration with the Pan American Union. This exhibition was framed by Cold War modernist approaches and a re-imagined geographical conception of the Gulf region. Secondly, Hispanic Art in the United States- Thirty Contemporary Painters and Sculptors (1987) sought to include Latino art and reflect the community in Houston within this mainstream institution. This lead to traditional museum practices emphasising the quality of artworks, while the criteria for selection was based on the ethnicity of the artists. Finally, Inverted Utopias- Avant-Garde Art in Latin America (2004) revised curatorial structures that were based upon the geographical and national survey format. Six constellations emphasising nodal connections between movements from Latin America disrupted established narratives of this field. The extensive use of archival documents further aided this historical review. I will answer how political, diplomatic, social, and art historical contexts have influenced the curation of these exhibitions and the outcomes of each. I will argue that through the location of the MFAH in the south of the United States, this institution is able to experiment with curatorial approaches and contribute to reviewed readings of art and art history in the United States.

Modern art owes a debt to Constructivism. In particular, Minimal art owes a debt to Russian Constructivism. In something akin to the suspension of Lenin’s embalmed body, Constructivism has been suspended since its demise. In this thesis I propose that the short-lived phenomenon of Russian Constructivism was revisited and further explored with the Minimal art moment in the West. Minimal artists in the United States were influenced by the works of the Constructivists, but due to the cold war this influence was suppressed. Constructivism in its original form ceased before the ideas and ideological urges of the Russian Constructivists were fulfilled. This form of art, that had a strong connection with a utopian social ideal, by 1932 was replaced by the officially decreed art of the Stalin era; Socialist Realism. The Constructivist moment did not lead into an artistic cul-de-sac because of the death of Lenin in 1924. The Constructivists have had an influence far beyond the years in which they first flourished and I intend to show that Constructivism has been unfairly misrepresented. From my research there is no question that Minimal art in the United States used Constructivist ideas. But the correlation between Minimal art and Constructivism was obscured by cold war politics, by many of the texts which have discussed Constructivism since, as well as by unconvincing curatorial decisions. This situation has led to an unacceptable degree of misrepresentation of the influence that Constructivism has had on Minimal art. Russian and Soviet Constructivism, rather than being seen as a cultural dead-end, should be viewed as a means by which the freedom to follow a non-representational path for abstract art was secured. Constructivism’s influence on Minimal art has been undervalued. This thesis aims to settle the debt.

This study attempts to explore and elucidate the nature of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes' production of Le Pas d'Acier, (1927). Its focus is the contribution of the Russian artist and scenic designer, George Jakulov. The thesis is accompanied by a model through which the study has undertaken a practical exploration of Jakulov's designs for Le Pas d'Acier, and the problems and possibilities of their reconstruction. Focussing on Jakulov's set design, this study explores the problems involved in the historiography of Le Pas d'Acier, producing a `natural history' of the research process. The study considers Jakulov's designs, concept and approach through locating and analysing primary source material. Presenting some previously unpublished materials, it explores the chronology of the design process and the nature of Jakulov's designs and concept. It identifies two distinct phases in the ballet's development; the production of the first scenario in 1925, (produced by Jakulov and Serge Prokofiev along with the music and designs), and the ballet's realisation in 1927. By comparing source materials relating to these two phases, the study identifies and explores the production's adaptations to the 1925 concept and designs. It then seeks to draw conclusions as to the significance of developments and departures. Locating, analysing and then using a variety of source materials, including contextual study of Jakulov's oeuvre and review descriptions, the study explores theoretically, and practically via the model, problems and possibilities in reconstructing the set design.

This dissertation seeks to explore how national identities were manifest in eighteenth-century Scottish art. Understanding national identity to be a cultural and political phenomena, it considers symbols of national identity and examines in aesthetic and economic terms how the fine arts were both implicated in, and capable of expressing, the significant changes in national identity apparent in Scotland following the ’Forty-Five. The first chapter concerns itself with the issue of art and identity in Scotland between cl750 and 1800, and surveys the relevant literature, before introducing other significant issues pertinent to this research: the Enlightenment and Improvement. Chapter two recognises that previous studies of Highland portraits have examined them from an ‘external’ perspective. It investigates the implications of this for the viewer, and proceeds to analyse them from an ‘internal’ perspective intended to reveal the sitters’ motivations, to conclude that they are aristocratic images of authority, and its loss. The construction of the myth of the Highlands is thus expounded visually. If these symbols offer little evidence for an identity in flux, it is questionable whether individuals’ portraits can express national identity. Yet such a claim, it will be argued in chapter three, can be made through the desire to collect and order portraits by nation, and its relation to the Enlightenment discourse of the role of the individual in forming civil society. In this context, in chapter four, the aesthetic qualities of Allan Ramsay’s 1753-4 portraits will be argued as having been of particular significance to their Scottish sitters, being formed by Ramsay’s participation in Enlightenment Edinburgh society. Evidence for this position will be adduced through his paintings and writings, though the influence of physical setting is also considered. Finally, in chapter five, a study of Edinburgh art markets in comparison with those of English provincial cities addresses the question of whether Scotland was a nation, or province of England. The synthesis of existing literature and an original survey of art-related newspaper advertising reveals the Edinburgh market to be distinctive, though increasingly reliant upon London. The co-existence of local and national culture is found to be an important dialectic in the market, just as the dialectic between Scottish and British culture was found to be so generally in this dissertation. In conclusion, chapter six argues that while Scottish art must be considered as part of the history of British art, the desire amongst Scots to be part of a British nation was a significant force in shaping Scottish visual culture.

This thesis examines the works of three ‘forgotten’ British artists, working from the late nineteenth century and well into the 1920s. In a period which saw momentous changes associated with the onset of modernity, artworks appeared to speak of revivalism, tradition, even nostalgia, rather than the new. Thomas Cooper Gotch, Robert Anning Bell and Frederick Cayley Robinson shared an interest in the spiritual, the unseen and immaterial, which they expressed through representations of women, placing faith, broadly, in ‘the feminine’ as synonymous with humanity’s neglected ‘spirit’ in the modern, materialistic world. The eclectic and contradictory nature of the artworks examined, their complex and ambiguous representations of womanhood and female spirituality were expressive of the condition of modernity in its rich, varied forms. These artworks are analysed in the context of an important historical moment for the feminist movement, since all three artists addressed the explosion in female agency related to contemporary feminism, the ‘gender crisis’ and the Suffragette movement. By placing artworks in this context, I have attempted to bring women, their presence in the public sphere and visual culture, their discovery of a ‘feminist voice’ in this period, into the frame. Women imagined invigorating movements, from the confines of the domestic interior into the airy heights of mountain tops, using languages of righteousness and joyous expectancy, and the artworks examined provide visual analogues and commentaries on these feminist possibilities and new imaginative aspirations. While all three artists mediated the visual ‘types’ of womanhood available within art languages, they created quite distinct images of women. Representations range from Gotch’s female Messiah, where woman’s spiritual power originates in her innocence and purity, Bell’s images of Amazonian strength allied with a closer female relationship with nature, to more occult versions in Cayley Robinson’s paintings, related to theosophy. The artworks participated in a tremendous moment of hope for women in their endeavours toward autonomy and fulfilment. In presenting women’s spiritual role as humanity’s redeemer, these paintings reveal how art may envisage intangible forms of spirituality and emancipatory possibilities.