The screen, as recent studies in a number of fields indicate, is a cultural object due for critical reappraisal. Work on the theoretical status of screen objects tends to focus upon the materialisation of surface; in other words, it attempts to rethink the relationship between the supposedly 'superficial' facade and the 'functional' object itself. I suggest that this work, while usefully chipping away at the dichotomy between the 'superficial' and the 'functional', can lead us to a more radical conclusion when read in the context of subjectivity. By rethinking the relationship between the surface and the obverse face of the screen as the terms of a dialectic, we can ‘read’ the screen as the vital component in a process which constitutes the Subject. In order to demonstrate this, I analyse productions of subjectivity in literary texts of the twenty-first century — in doing so, I assume the novel as nonpareil arena of the dramatisation of subjectivity — and I propose a reading of the work of Jacques Lacan as hitherto unacknowledged theorist par excellence of the form and function of the screen. Lacan describes, with the function of desire and the formation of the screen of fantasy, the primary position this ‘screen-form' inhabits in the constitution of the Subject. Lacan’s work forms a critical juncture through which we must proceed if we are to properly read and understand the chosen texts: The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber; The Tain by China Miéville; Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood; and Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald. In each text, I analyse the particular materialisations of the screen and interrogate the constitution of the subject and the locus of desire. By analysing the vicissitudes of subjectivity in these texts, I make a claim for the study of the screen as constituting a central question in the field of contemporary literature.

Die vorliegende Dissertation stellt eine Interpretation von Thomas Paines THE AGE OF REASON (1794) und Ralph Waldo Emersons NATURE (1836) als politiktheoretische Traktate vor, die normative Demokratiekonstrukte entwickeln. Diese Demokratiekonstrukte werden anhand ihrer Parameter vergleichend und historisierend gelesen. Die Annahme ist hierbei, dass sich die normativen Demokratieentwürfe beider Autoren mithilfe der Denkfigur des rhizomatischen Panoptizismus explizieren lassen. Die Dissertation leitet diese Denkfigur anhand von Texten des französischen Poststrukturalismus und auf Grundlage des soziologischen Ansatzes der Surveillance Studies her und erläutert seine Relevanz für das Verständnis und die Verhandlung von Demokratie in den Epochen der frühen Republik und des Antebellum in den USA. Ebenso findet eine Analyse der diskursiven Vermittlung dieser Denkfigur durch das religiöse Vokabular von Deismus, Unitarismus und Transzendentalismus in beiden Traktaten statt. Ein ausführliches close reading legt schließlich dar, wie einzelne Parameter eines rhizomatischen Panoptizismus in den Texten entwickelt, repräsentiert und diskutiert werden. / The present dissertation introduces an interpretation of Thomas Paine’s THE AGE OF REASON (1794) and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s NATURE (1836) as politico-theoretical tracts that develop normative constructions of democracy. At the core of the analysis lies a comparative and historicist reading of the parameters of these constructions. The thesis informing the analysis posits that both normative constructions of democracy can be made explicit with the aid of the concept of a rhizomatic panopticism. The dissertation develops this concept on the basis of French poststructuralist texts and with theoretical approaches from the sociological field of Surveillance Studies in mind, explaining its relevance for the understanding of democracy during the Early-Republic and Antebellum periods in the USA. Furthermore, the discursive mediation of the introduced concept through the religious vocabularies of Deism, Unitarianism, and Transcendentalism in both tracts receives attention. Finally, a close reading elucidates how the distinct parameters of a rhizomatic panopticism are developed, represented, and discussed in both texts.

ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS RE-IMAGINING THE VICTORIAN CLASSICS: POSTCOLONIAL FEMINIST REWRITINGS OF EMILY BRONTË by Yannel M. Celestrin Florida International University, 2018 Miami, Florida Professor Martha Schoolman, Major Professor Through a post-structural lens, I will focus on the Caribbean, specifically Cuba, Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, and Roseau, and how the history of colonialism impacted these islands. As the primary text of my thesis begins during the Cuban War of Independence of the 1890s, I will use this timeframe as the starting point of my analysis. In my thesis, I will compare Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heightsand Maryse Condé’s Windward Heights. Specifically, I will examine Condé’s processes of reimagining and rewriting Brontë’s narrative by deconstructing the notions of history, race, gender, and class. I will also explore ways in which Condé disrupts the hegemonic and linear notions of narrative temporality in an attempt to unsilence the voices of colonized subjects. I argue that Condé’s work is a significant contribution to the practice of rewriting as well as to the canon of Caribbean literary history. I argue that the very process of rewriting is a powerful mode of resistance against colonizing powers and hegemonic discourse.

<p>This dissertation explores ten teachers´ approaches to managing conflicts with/between pupils. The relevance of gender is analysed according to the strategies and representations chosen by the teachers. The methods used for data collection include ´rounds´, role-plays and ongoing reflexivity, mainly in single-sex groups. Three main strategies were identified in managing conflicts with/between pupils: challenging, confirming and physically touching. The strategy of challenging reveals that teachers have high expectations of how competent pupils ought to be. It is no longer enough to be competent and independent as a pupil (in Sweden); he or she is also expected to have an integrated ethic of caring. Values such as an ethic of caring are conventionally associated with femininity, and are usually invisible and/or low status; though they have now become the dominant norm for both female and male teachers. The strategy of confirming is used to give support to the pupil but there is a risk of confirming one individual “too much” which can lead to relational problems with other pupils. Physical touching as a strategy relates to dilemmas arising from gendered expectations of physicality in teacher-pupil interaction. Overall, difficulties were found in getting male teachers to discuss and ‘role-play’ conflicts with girls, which did not arise with female teachers concerning conflicts with boys. Also criticized were the demands on teachers’ workloads as a result of their social responsibility for pupils’ welfare, and also lack of institutional support. When the teachers had time to reflect together on their experiences, they seemed willing to criticize norms and representations. Four phases in the mode of talking were identified: (1) the telling of an experience; (2) interpretation of experience as a form of difference, either as deviance or according to gender; (3) narration of experience that contradicts the above dichotomy of difference; and (4) ongoing reflexivity resulting in motivation to change strategy or strengthen former strategies based on a wider awareness of work context.</p>

Within the field of cinema studies, the question of visual representation is a fundamental pillar. An immense volume of theoretical work has been written on the subject, with various academic approaches such as feministic, postcolonial and gay/lesbian. Yet there is a large social group that seems to have been overlooked within the representational discourse: the elderly. This group of people appears to be a blind spot on the multicultural retina, too often neglected within the area of cultural studies. But as the baby boomer generation, who has always redefined the different stages of life (youth, adulthood, middle age), is entering old age, things are slowly changing. Utilizing a post-structural framework, this essay investigates the visual representation of elderly within the cinematic landscape of the western world. Since the subject is somewhat uncharted territory, a broad interdisciplinary approach is necessary where modern social gerontology meets the field of cinema studies. In a cultural context, social grouping based on age implies a distinct position versus the normative, compare to other types of minorities. Changes of sex, skin colour or sexual preference are uncommon, whereas changing age is the fate of every human being. The elderly as the “the Other” is thus every man’s future destiny. This rather unique position carries an immanent paradox since the only way to avoid the periphery in question is death. As a philosophical counterpoint to this rather dystopian outlook, Gilles Deleuze’s theory of becoming is brought into the discussion. The theoretical part of the essay ends with the ontology of age, a historical review of the field of gerontology and the concept of ageism. After a descriptive section, where contemporary examples of film and other media with old age as a main theme are identified, the analytical part of the essay ensues. With the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu as a theoretical frame of reference, a close reading of the films Avalon (Axel Petersén, 2011), About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002) and RED (Robert Schwentke, 2010) are performed, emphasising aging identity and imposed age-normative behaviour. The semiotics of the aged body is discussed through Jacques Lacans mirror stage and Julia Kristevas abject theory, exemplified by the works of Donigan Cumming. The final part of the essay concerns the great eternal questions within film philosophy: life, death, time and memory, which for the elderly are not merely philosophical concerns but rather notable existential realities. Using Deleuze as a philosophical toolbox, these grand topics are illuminated with examples from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008), Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) and Ingmar Bergmans classical works, such as Smultronstället (1957), Saraband (2003) and Gycklarnas afton (1953).

This dissertation explores ten teachers' approaches to managing conflicts with/between pupils. The relevance of gender is analysed according to the strategies and representations chosen by the teachers. The methods used for data collection include 'rounds', role-plays and ongoing reflexivity, mainly in single-sex groups. Three main strategies were identified in managing conflicts with/between pupils: challenging, confirming and physically touching. The strategy of challenging reveals that teachers have high expectations of how competent pupils ought to be. It is no longer enough to be competent and independent as a pupil (in Sweden); he or she is also expected to have an integrated ethic of caring. Values such as an ethic of caring are conventionally associated with femininity, and are usually invisible and/or low status; though they have now become the dominant norm for both female and male teachers. The strategy of confirming is used to give support to the pupil but there is a risk of confirming one individual "too much" which can lead to relational problems with other pupils. Physical touching as a strategy relates to dilemmas arising from gendered expectations of physicality in teacher-pupil interaction. Overall, difficulties were found in getting male teachers to discuss and 'role-play' conflicts with girls, which did not arise with female teachers concerning conflicts with boys. Also criticized were the demands on teachers' workloads as a result of their social responsibility for pupils' welfare, and also lack of institutional support. When the teachers had time to reflect together on their experiences, they seemed willing to criticize norms and representations. Four phases in the mode of talking were identified: (1) the telling of an experience; (2) interpretation of experience as a form of difference, either as deviance or according to gender; (3) narration of experience that contradicts the above dichotomy of difference; and (4) ongoing reflexivity resulting in motivation to change strategy or strengthen former strategies based on a wider awareness of work context.

O presente estudo objetiva problematizar situações de violência em relacionamentos conjugais entre lésbicas numa perspectiva de gênero. O mito da mulher dócil e submissa em muito contribui para o aumento da vulnerabilidade e invisibilidade destes casais. Assim, resolvemos escutar os discursos de mulheres lésbicas envolvidas em relações de violência conjugal com suas companheiras, a partir dos seguintes passos orientadores: analisamos possíveis inter-relações entre as concepções das participantes acerca dos gêneros e suas performances em situações de violência e problematizando possíveis relações entre regulações da categoria gênero e suas vivências. Foi utilizada a entrevista em profundidade tendo como estímulo um álbum contendo imagens, livres e resgatadas da internet, que representam cenas de um relacionamento íntimo entre duas mulheres. A produção de dados foi realizada na Colônia Penal Feminina do Recife. Nossas quatro participantes afirmaram ser lésbicas, possuírem antes da detenção uma relação estável com outra mulher e terem se envolvido em situações de violência conjugal com suas companheiras, que geraram denúncias (violência física). Em suas falas o argumento binário das diferenças entre comportamentos atribuídos a homens e mulheres serve como base para uma série de explicações causais; no entre espaço estão seus desejos, vivências e fantasias. A posição lésbica é para elas uma composição de diferentes elementos daquilo que se associa a homens e mulheres, um híbrido, que demanda uma cartografia específica para sua compreensão. As expressões de dominação incorporadas por estas mulheres em suas relações, sejam estas manifestações públicas ou intimas, aparecem como uma reinterpretação de antigos personagens de uma mesma história. Compreender os jogos de poder e posicionamentos experienciados nos parece fundamental para ampliar o debate sobre como estas estratégias e mecanismos podem operar em qualquer relação. Nesta perspectiva a leitura das identidades forjadas pelas posições de gênero, enquanto dispositivo de poder, se apresenta com grande potencial analítico de um sem número de situações de violência e nos afasta de uma perspectiva essencialista sobre a subjetividade e o sexo e efeitos de dominação em diferentes níveis relacionais, sejam micro ou macrossociais. / This study aims to discuss situations of violence in conjugal relationships among lesbians from a gender perspective. The myth of docile and submissive woman contribute very much to the increasing of vulnerability and invisibility of these couples. Thus, we decided to listen to lesbian woman involved in situations of conjugal violence with their partners oriented by the following steps: we analyzed possible interrelations between the participants conceptions on gender and their performances in situations of violence and questioning possible interrelations between regulations of the category of gender and their experiences. This was used the depth interview, using was stimulus an album of images freely picked from internet, witch represent scenes of intimate relationship between two women. The production of data was conducts at the female prison Recife. The four participants affirmed themselves as lesbian, having stable relationship with women prior to the detention and being involved in situations of conjugal violence with their partners that led to denunciation (physical violence). In their speeches the binary argument of the differences attributed to men and woman serves as the base for plenty of causal explanations. In the inter space, there are their desires, experiences and fantasies. The lesbian position is, for them, a composition off different elements of what is associated to men and women, a hybrid, that demands a specific cartography for its understanding. The expressions of domination incorporated by these women in their relations, whet her in public or intimate manifestations seem to be a reinterpretations of old characters of the same story. His crucial to understanding the games of power and positions experienced in order to winder the debate on how these strategies and mechanisms can operate in any relation. In this sense, the identities created by gender positions as power devices, seems to have a great analytical potential regarding many situations of violence and keep us for from an essentialist perspective on subjectivity. The sex and the effects of domination in different relational levels, are micro or macro-socials.

This study addresses a tension in contemporary studies of public memory between ideology criticism and postmodern critique. Both strategies of reading public memory rely on a representational logic derived from the assumption that the source for comparison of a memory text occurs in a more fundamental text or event. Drawing heavily from Michel Foucault, the study proposes an alternative to a representational reading strategy based on the concepts of regularity, similitude, articulation, and cultural formation. The reading of Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Galveston County Vietnam Memorial serves as an example of a non-representational regularity enabled by the cultural formation of pastoral power.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:29:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 virginia_cavalcanti_pinto.pdf: 1069106 bytes, checksum: f6f00d97cd306ee345a04d5bb77a30f0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-08 / According to Foucault, sexuality is an historical device, which means that it has been composed through the history as a social invention of a particular time. The establishment of sexuality starts from the development in the discursive field about sex that includes the knowledge about it, as well its regulation through real productions. This work seeks to question the discourse of students, parents and teachers of high school, about the treatment of the issues of sexuality in school. The participants in this qualitative research study were mothers, teachers and students in a state public high school in Recife-PE, who were observed and interviewed. They received a visual stimulus with images of people and symbols, with different possibilities of interpretation on the theme sexuality and then heard a prompt question: how are the sexuality issues circulating in the school? Discussions were filmed only for analysis purposes, protecting the participant s identity. The construction of the data indicated, among other things, that the speeches about this topic surroundedbythe participants in the school environment prioritize a sexuality crossed by the medical discourse, especially regarding to the preventive aspects. In addition, sex is treated as something that brings predominantly negative consequences to the young people and not a healthy part of life, especially in adolescence discoveries period. Although the discussion about sexuality has been considered by the National Curriculum Parameters (PCNs) as a cross-cutting issue, when questioned about who should deal with the topic in schools, teachers tend to delegate this task to a professional outside the school environment, especially the psychologist. At school these discussions take place predominantly in Biology classes and students emphasize the importance of this space to ask questions. They state that they don t have the opportunity to talk about it at home openly. The low frequency of parents/guardians in this school initially hindered the composition of the groups. In addition, only the mothers participated in this study, although the invitation was made also to other guardians. The discussion about sexuality and its consequences at school aims to contribute to new perspectives on the topic, as well as closer the dialogue between parents, teachers and students. Therefore, their speeches would not present themselves as isolated truths of each group, but interact opening the debate to a field of possibilities that contribute positively to the experience of sexuality of the students. / Para Foucault a sexualidade é um dispositivo histórico , ou seja, se constitui no movimento da história, sendo uma invenção social de um determinado tempo. Sua constituição se dá a partir das construções no campo discursivo sobre o sexo que abarca os saberes sobre ele, bem como sua normatização e regulação social através das produções de verdade. Este trabalho busca problematizar os discursos de alunos, mães e professores do Ensino Médio, acerca do tratamento dado às questões de sexualidade na escola. Para isto, tomou para participantes mães, professores e alunos de uma escola pública da rede estadual de ensino de nível médio da cidade do Recife. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa que utiliza como técnicas a observação participante e a entrevista de grupo focal. Os grupos foram formados por professores, mães e alunos da referida escola. Os participantes receberam um estímulo visual de imagens, de pessoas e símbolos, com variadas possibilidades de interpretação sobre o tema sexualidade e em seguida ouviram uma pergunta disparadora: como as questões sobre sexualidade circulam na escola? As discussões foram filmadas apenas para fins de análise, resguardando-se o sigilo total sobre a identidade dos participantes. A riqueza da discussão desse grupo heterogêneo possibilitou a aproximação do assunto com a realidade vivenciada pelos participantes. A construção dos dados indicou, entre outras questões, que os discursos de saber sobre a temática que perpassam os participantes no ambiente escolar priorizam uma sexualidade atravessada pelo discurso médico biologizante, especialmente no que diz respeito aos aspectos preventivos. Além disto, o sexo é tratado como algo que traz consequências predominantemente nocivas ao jovem e não como algo saudável que faz parte da vida, sobretudo no período de descobertas da adolescência. Os participantes referem que os discursos que circulam na escola sobre a temática são contraditórios: ora são incentivadores de uma prática da sexualidade, pois entendem que falar sobre o assunto é estimular a prática sexual, ora visam apenas à prevenção de doenças. Apesar da discussão sobre sexualidade ser considerada pelos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCNs) como um tema transversal, quando questionados a respeito de quem deveria tratar o tema nas escolas, os professores tendem a delegar esta tarefa a um profissional exterior ao ambiente escolar, sobretudo ao psicólogo. Na escola estas discussões acontecem, predominantemente, nas aulas de biologia e os alunos reforçam a importância deste espaço para tirar dúvidas, pois afirmam não conseguir dialogar abertamente sobre o assunto em casa. Não é comum a frequência dos pais/responsáveis nesta escola, fato que dificultou inicialmente a composição dos grupos. Além disso, em sua formação, contamos apenas com a participação de mães, apesar do convite ter sido feito, também, aos pais. A discussão sobre a sexualidade e seus desdobramentos na escola visa contribuir para novas perspectivas de trato sobre o tema, além de aproximar o diálogo entre pais, professores e alunos de modo que seus discursos não se apresentem como verdades isoladas de cada grupo, mas que possam interagir abrindo o debate para um campo de possibilidades que contribua positivamente para a vivência da sexualidade dos alunos.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:29:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 jose_orlando_carneiro_campello_rabelo.pdf: 1040101 bytes, checksum: 75700cdae7983e1a948788e2371ba0e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-01 / This study aims to discuss situations of violence in conjugal relationships among lesbians from a gender perspective. The myth of docile and submissive woman contribute very much to the increasing of vulnerability and invisibility of these couples. Thus, we decided to listen to lesbian woman involved in situations of conjugal violence with their partners oriented by the following steps: we analyzed possible interrelations between the participants conceptions on gender and their performances in situations of violence and questioning possible interrelations between regulations of the category of gender and their experiences. This was used the depth interview, using was stimulus an album of images freely picked from internet, witch represent scenes of intimate relationship between two women. The production of data was conducts at the female prison Recife. The four participants affirmed themselves as lesbian, having stable relationship with women prior to the detention and being involved in situations of conjugal violence with their partners that led to denunciation (physical violence). In their speeches the binary argument of the differences attributed to men and woman serves as the base for plenty of causal explanations. In the inter space, there are their desires, experiences and fantasies. The lesbian position is, for them, a composition off different elements of what is associated to men and women, a hybrid, that demands a specific cartography for its understanding. The expressions of domination incorporated by these women in their relations, whet her in public or intimate manifestations seem to be a reinterpretations of old characters of the same story. His crucial to understanding the games of power and positions experienced in order to winder the debate on how these strategies and mechanisms can operate in any relation. In this sense, the identities created by gender positions as power devices, seems to have a great analytical potential regarding many situations of violence and keep us for from an essentialist perspective on subjectivity. The sex and the effects of domination in different relational levels, are micro or macro-socials. / O presente estudo objetiva problematizar situações de violência em relacionamentos conjugais entre lésbicas numa perspectiva de gênero. O mito da mulher dócil e submissa em muito contribui para o aumento da vulnerabilidade e invisibilidade destes casais. Assim, resolvemos escutar os discursos de mulheres lésbicas envolvidas em relações de violência conjugal com suas companheiras, a partir dos seguintes passos orientadores: analisamos possíveis inter-relações entre as concepções das participantes acerca dos gêneros e suas performances em situações de violência e problematizando possíveis relações entre regulações da categoria gênero e suas vivências. Foi utilizada a entrevista em profundidade tendo como estímulo um álbum contendo imagens, livres e resgatadas da internet, que representam cenas de um relacionamento íntimo entre duas mulheres. A produção de dados foi realizada na Colônia Penal Feminina do Recife. Nossas quatro participantes afirmaram ser lésbicas, possuírem antes da detenção uma relação estável com outra mulher e terem se envolvido em situações de violência conjugal com suas companheiras, que geraram denúncias (violência física). Em suas falas o argumento binário das diferenças entre comportamentos atribuídos a homens e mulheres serve como base para uma série de explicações causais; no entre espaço estão seus desejos, vivências e fantasias. A posição lésbica é para elas uma composição de diferentes elementos daquilo que se associa a homens e mulheres, um híbrido, que demanda uma cartografia específica para sua compreensão. As expressões de dominação incorporadas por estas mulheres em suas relações, sejam estas manifestações públicas ou intimas, aparecem como uma reinterpretação de antigos personagens de uma mesma história. Compreender os jogos de poder e posicionamentos experienciados nos parece fundamental para ampliar o debate sobre como estas estratégias e mecanismos podem operar em qualquer relação. Nesta perspectiva a leitura das identidades forjadas pelas posições de gênero, enquanto dispositivo de poder, se apresenta com grande potencial analítico de um sem número de situações de violência e nos afasta de uma perspectiva essencialista sobre a subjetividade e o sexo e efeitos de dominação em diferentes níveis relacionais, sejam micro ou macrossociais.