This dissertation makes the case that treating digitized corpora of literary works as cognitive artifacts can provide particular insight into how the reading mind apprehends events within an imagined world and, thereby, provide potentially useful functional models for event perception, emotional memory, and determining what’s “real.” Most essentially, it will make the case that the deepest feature of narrative cognition may involve an “information distribution” assessment, wherein the variation of information density over time cues the mind to attend to denser events with increased attention, potentially saving more of their content for long-term memory. This mimics what cognitive research has frequently established for real-world processing of emotionally stimulating events, wherein emotional memory tends to be better retained over time, with more detail, fewer conflations, and more resistance to fading, while neutral events tend to be relegated to gist or forgotten. Put together, this produces an ordering of autobiographical memory that resembles a glimmering string of pearls: densely detailed memories strung together over time, separated by thinner, looser memories and gist, with a particular cluster of these “pearls” towards the middle for the memory bump of the mid-teens to mid-twenties. While many have argued for larger schemas or socially influenced self-regard as the major driver for memory emphasis in one’s Life Story, if autobiographical memory is anything like a novel, it may prove a bit simpler: most of the bigger pearls mark where one’s sensory array “dilated” in moments of arousal, and their lustrous, persistent “shine” may be a matter of how likely it was that one returned to those memories over time. Chapter 1 examines what we do and don’t know about the reading mind, settling on a narrower definition of immersive narrative reading as an exceptional cognitive state which moves in and out of what cognitive psychologists call “flow” and a more passive, vivid “daydream.” This is an inherently unstable activity that requires a great deal of assistance from the text, thereby providing useful targets of analysis for researchers interested in perception, emotion, and memory, with a particular eye towards embodied cognition. It then discusses key gaps in the scientific literature and literary scholarship around event perception and narrative cognition, some of which this project aims to partially fill through quantitative analysis of literary texts. This chapter will also discuss the promise and perils of treating literary corpora like the novels in Project Gutenberg as cognitive artifacts: the known limitations of using “canon” texts as a representative sample of literature in general, the rarity of reading, and what it means to “backsolve” cognition through its artifacts. Chapter 2 describes a series of experiments conducted on a corpus of a few thousand novels and nonfiction narratives contained in Project Gutenberg and the Nickels and Dimes Project. Leaning on the “string of pearls” metaphor for autobiographical memory organization, this chapter will promote a model of long-form narrative’s fundamental mnemonics as something that mimics that organizational pattern: information density that varies over time, predicting not only the pace of in-narrative time passing, but which “moments” or features of the narrative will be important for the reader to remember over multiple reading events, while others will be forgotten or relegated to gist. This pattern closely mimics models of autobiographical memory in cognitive psychology, not only of so-called “flashbulb memory” or surprising, high-affect events, but also of Life Story in general: vast periods of fleeting detail, with dense memory clusters around events that were encoded in moments of arousal, with curious memory affects just before and after those events, possibility illustrating what Jefferey Zacks presents as a “gating” model of event perception. Drawing on the scientific literature on event segmentation, arousal and memory, and time perception, and likewise drawing on literary scholarship on time and stylistics in the novel, this chapter will explore the implications and limitations of using POS tagging to try and tease out quantifiable units of “information” from large corpora of novels utilizing one-way repeated measures MANOVA. Applications for these findings in literary scholarship will be discussed throughout—for instance, while scenes involving sex or violence are predictably information-dense in most texts in the corpus that were hand-scored for accuracy (and subsequently used as training texts for the algorithm), in-book variation from the norm and from nearby passages is more predictive than a raw density score alone. For example, when Stephen Dedalus has sex in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, imagistic detail goes down compared to nearby scenes and compared to the more detail-dense passages in the text, which seems to be typical of Joyce: while he does vary density according to temporality and that maps roughly to “significant” scenes, the most emotional scenes tend to be written more sparely (spare for that author, that is—Joyce is not Hemingway). That may be an authorial quirk, or it may be that he relies upon a second strategy to stimulate a reader’s emotional response: semantic content that’s normally cued to a strong negative or positive valence. Chapter 3 will attend to the ways some authors resist narrative’s “ease of use” in order to prompt their readers to interrogate what’s Real. This chapter zooms in on a specific period of American and British literature, and a genre within that brief time: the rise of Creative Nonfiction and/or New Journalism, with a close read or “case study” of George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia and James Agee’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. This chapter proposes that the authors set out to create narratives that would reflect the “real” lives of their subjects, with an objective of making those lives feel real to their readership. But were they successful? Drawing on cognitive psychology research in psychosis, metacognition, and temporal sense, this chapter aims to elucidate how literary narratives like these may “aim to fail” at certain features of deep narrative form (as discussed in the prior chapters) in order to “startle” their readers into a less passive state, in order to better mimic the qualia of witnessing something in the real world, and thereby produce a sense that the subjects within the text are Real. These embedded structural failures are often more subtle than anything Brechtian, but nevertheless can be found both quantitatively and in close reading, which may indicate that when a long-form narrative text purposefully aims to make a reader uncomfortably aware of Reality--especially when motivated by known, deep ethical concerns--it may “work” in ways that have less to do with the subject or content of the text and more to do with form.

Wer den Maler Joachim Heuer (1900‐1994) in seinem Atelier in Dresden besuchte, dem offenbarte sich im philosophierenden Gespräch mit ihm wie auch in dessen Werken der heuersche Kosmos. All die Gegenstände, die in seinen Zeichnungen und Gemälden zu entdecken sind, fanden sich als reale Objekte im unmittelbaren Lebensumfeld des Künstlers wieder. Heuer griff die Büsten und Bilder, die Stühle wie den Tisch als Motive auf, reduzierte sie auf Formen und verwandelte sie in seine eigene Bilderwelt.

This Bachelor’s Thesis discusses the Swedish artist and photographer Birger Gabriel Sjöberg. He was born in Varberg, Sweden in the year of 1835 and died 40 years later, in the year of 1875. During his short-lived life he accomplished creating both paintings and photographs connected to his hometown. These are now of value by culture-historical means. By answering question formulations regarding his living, education and esthetic production, the main purpose is to give a synoptic presentation of both his life and work. Since Sjöberg is not a part of the widely known context of art history, the thesis also strives to bring a light to a mostly unknown and unwritten artist. This study contains of two main parts, one biographical part, and one iconological part were a chosen number of his paintings and photographs are discussed. Throughout the iconological part, the works are analysed by means of Heinrich Wölfflin’s Principles of Art History. The introducing of the works is to give an overall apprehension about what he achieved concerning his creating in both work and private life.

Berlin-based Singaporean dance and multimedia artist Choy Ka Fai experiments with digital mapping, the storage and transmission of choreography and Asian spiritual dance practices. He has built a comprehensive and growing archive of recorded choreographies from artistic, spiritual, folkloric, and pop cultural contexts. It includes avatars of dancers, field and video recordings of dances and rituals and interviews with various protagonists. Choy Ka Fai explores altered and expanded corporeal states and the relationships between bodies and both worldly and spiritual phenomena. In his work, organic, material and data-based bodies appear side by side on an equal level and futuristic and queer potentials of human and digital bodies are made visible. In conversation with Lucie Ortmann Choy Ka Fai emphasises the fundamental importance of the practise of archiving for his work. He talks about his methods of showing and sharing his extensive, collected and created material in constantly new formats, ranging from performance, video installation, lecture to digital games, and how he continues to develop it further. He also reflects on the challenging processes of transferring and translating spiritual practises and dance cultures to different contexts and audiences.

Uppsatsen handlar om konstnären Stina Forssells (1906-1970) liv och konstnärskap. Då hon varit tämligen okänd ges en biografisk skildring av hennes liv, från uppväxten i Uddevalla och fortsatta liv och verksamhet i Stockholm. Fakta har främst inhämtats via intervjuer av barn och barnbarn till vänner och släktingar. Hennes konstnärskap skildras genom beskrivning och tolkning av hennes huvudsakliga motivbilder som bestod av porträtt, interiörer, stilleben och landskap. Tolkningar sker genom formalanalyser och kontextuella analyser. Vidare studeras på vad sätt Forssells personlighet och den konst- och samhälleliga kontexten påverkade hennes konstnärskap samt hur hennes konstnärskap värderats utifrån ett genusperspektiv.     Utöver att vara en biografisk och konstanalytisk studie har ett av uppsatsens viktigaste syften varit att analysera vilken konststil Forssells konst kan innefattas i. Resultatet har blivit att en stor del av hennes viktigaste verk kan införlivas i konstriktningen den nya sakligheten. Ännu en frågeställning har gällt vilken position Stina Forssell har, och har haft, i svensk konsthistoria, och varför hon blivit bortglömd. Var hon ännu en av dessa kvinnliga konstnärer som borde förtjänat en mer framskjuten position? Är det på tiden att hon placeras jämsides med till exempel Arvid Fougstedt inom den nya sakligheten? / This essay is about the life and artistry of the artist Stina Forssell (1906-1970). As she has been relatively unknown, a biographical accpount of her life from growing up in Uddevalla and continued life and activities in Stockholm is given. The facts have mainly been gathered through interviews of children and grandchildren of friends and relatives. Her artistry is depicted through the description and interpretation og her main subject imageswhich consisted of prtraits, interiors, still lifes and landscapes. Interpretations take place through formal analyses and contextual analyses. Furthermore it is studied in what way Forssell´s personality, and the art and social context influenced her artistry and how her artistry was valued from a gender perspective.    In addition to being a biographical and art study, one of the most important purposes of the essay has been to analyse the art style of Forssell´s art. The result has been that a large part of her most important works can be incorporated into the art direction of the new objectivity. Another important question concerns what position Stina Forssell has in Swedish art history, and why she has been forgotten. Was she yet another one of those woman artists who deserved a more prominent position? Is it about time that she should be placed alongside, for example, Arvid Fougstedt in the art style of the new objectivity?

The concept of art experience among beholders is well-known but lacks empirical studies on everyday art experiences among laypersons. In this bachelor thesis, the appearance of layperson beholders’ art experience is explored by a qualitative interview study method. Eleven chosen responders are individually interviewed at Härnösand Art Gallery beholding the same assorted visual artwork. Descriptions and narratives are compared to artists’ intentions as shown in a separate interview. The theoretical approach leans on psychology and perception in art, focusing on the aesthetics of reception. Although a small-scale investigation in a rather narrow context, the investigation shows interesting findings: It highlights the frequency and intensity of everyday art experience in laypersons and the easiness of defining pictorial art from other informative or commercial pictures. Further, it highlights that the process of art experience perception has a strong hold of autonomy and is perceived as very personal and part of own personality. It also shows the rapid perception and endurance of mood as response and interpretation in contrast to the continuous processing of details and meaning. Lastly, the comparison of the artist’s intention and the beholders’ experience shows concordance.These properties of everyday common art experience can be a causal factor for the general prevalence of art in society.

The aim of this study is to explore the complex system of sanctuary networks created to safeguard artists, journalists, publicists, and writers internationally. The two sanctuary networks included in the study are International Cities of Refuge Network and Artists at risk, both aimed to create sanctuaries and advocacy for freedom of speech but with different scopes and focus. The analytical methods used consists of system- and organizational theory tools, to map the components of the networks and contingency theory to analyze the external aspects that affect the networks. The mapping of the networks provides an overall picture of the organizational system structure containing permanent organization, cooperating actors, political actors, meeting points, funding and direction of process. The analysis show that the networks produce different types of safeguarding of artists, long-term and short-term. Both structures create pros and cons but complement each other in a complex system with a plurality of needs and solutions. Challenges that the networks face mostly consist of economic uncertainty and a need for flexibility towards external changes whilst needing structural stability to face challenges efficiently.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

No description available.

Cette thèse s’intéresse à l’action stratégique des artistes en arts visuels qui est dédiée à l’amélioration de leurs conditions de travail. Elle cherche à comprendre comment les centres d’artistes autogérés (CAA) situés à Montréal participent au développement, par les artistes, de stratégies visant à leur permettre de se maintenir dans des carrières marquées par la précarité. Cette recherche s’inscrit dans la problématique entourant l’émergence de nouvelles formes d’action collective qui visent à contrer la précarisation croissante des marchés du travail et de l’emploi. Sur le plan théorique, elle s’appuie sur trois grandes approches sociologiques : la sociologie interactionniste des mondes de l’art de H. S. Becker (1982), la sociologie structuraliste du champ de la production culturelle de P. Bourdieu (1993) et la socio-économie interactionniste des champs d’action stratégique de N. Fligstein et D. McAdam (2011). La posture épistémologique de cette recherche consiste à restituer la parole aux acteurs afin de cerner le sens qu’ils accordent à la précarité de leur travail et d’identifier les stratégies d’amélioration du travail dans lesquelles ils sont engagés. En nous appuyant sur des sources qualitatives, nous avons réalisé une étude de cas multiples correspondant à quatorze CAA situés à Montréal. Au total, cinquante-cinq personnes ont participé à cette recherche. Cette recherche souligne les effets structurants de l’encastrement du champ culturel dans le champ étatique sur les systèmes de distribution des ressources et des inégalités qui affectent les artistes intégré·e·s et les CAA. Elle montre aussi comment le passage du temps influence (1) le rapport que les artistes entretiennent face à la précarité de leur travail et (2) leurs stratégies d’amélioration du travail. Celles-ci revêtent généralement une nature spontanée et éphémère et elles mobilisent peu les outils formels de régulation prévus à cet effet, incluant la Loi sur le statut professionnel des artistes des arts visuels, des métiers d’art et de la littérature, ainsi que sur leurs contrats avec les diffuseurs (RLRQ, S-32.01). Leur impact sur l’amélioration durable et significative des conditions de travail des artistes apparaît limité. Cette recherche montre aussi que les CAA participent plus ou moins aux stratégies d’amélioration du travail des artistes. La nature et le degré de leur soutien varie notamment en fonction de leurs structures et de leurs politiques organisationnelles, ainsi que de la volonté des artistes de les impliquer dans ces processus. Plusieurs centres expérimentent cependant de nouvelles formes de soutien économiques et relationnelles aux artistes dans les limites de leurs contraintes organisationnelles. Au sein de ces CAA, on observe un recours croissant à des pratiques plus ou moins institutionnalisées qui relèvent de l’éthique féministe du soin. Les acteurs communautaires tels que les CAA, les associations professionnelles, les mouvements sociaux, etc., sont appelés à réfléchir à de nouvelles manières de générer des formes de solidarité et d’appartenance entre les artistes à partir des facteurs de précarité qui ont été identifiés dans cette recherche. Ce travail doit aussi prendre acte du fait que les artistes qui s’identifient à des groupes historiquement marginalisés rencontrent des enjeux de précarité spécifiques. Notre recherche révèle en effet la pertinence de procéder à la déconstruction des grandes catégories analytiques sur lesquelles se fonde l’analyse des mondes de l’art comme les « artistes intégré·e·s » (Becker, 1982), de manière à tenir compte de la manière dont les facteurs sociaux comme le genre, l’âge, la race, une situation de handicap, l’orientation sexuelle, etc., ont un impact sur les trajectoires de carrière des artistes en arts visuels. / This thesis investigates artists and art collectives’ strategic action aiming at the improvement of their working conditions. It studies how Montreal’s artist-run centres (ARCs) participate (or do not participate) in the development of « better work » strategies put in place by artists in order to persevere in their precarious careers. This research engages with the larger problem of increasingly precarious labour markets and employment, and with the new forms of collective action that are emerging in reaction to it. It draws on three theoretical approaches: the interactionist sociology of the art worlds (H. S. Becker, 1982), the structuralist sociology of the field of cultural production (P. Bourdieu, 1993) and the interactionist socio-economy of strategic action fields (N. Fligstein and D. McAdam, 2011). From an epistemological standpoint, our approach draws on pragmatism. It gives a voice to the actors to elevate their own perceptions of their precarity. This allows us to grasp its meaning and to identify the « better work » strategies in which they engage. This research draws on qualitative sources and corresponds to a multiple case study constituted of fourteen ARCs located in Montreal. A total of fifty-five persons participated in this research. This research highlights the structuring effects of the cultural field’s embeddedness in the state field on the distribution systems of resources and inequalities impacting artists and ARCs. It also reveals the importance of mobilizing a micro lens to study strategic action repertoires to consider the actors’ desires, values, and perceptions. Finally, it shows how the passage of time contributes to transforming how artists perceive their labour precarity. The prolonged experience of precarity shapes the « better work » strategies that are developed by artists. In general, these appear to be more of a spontaneous and ephemeral nature. Most of them do not draw on formal regulations such as the Act respecting the professional status of artists in the visual arts, arts and crafts and literature, and their contracts with promoters (RLRQ, S-32.01). Overall, their impact on a significative and sustainable improvement of artists’ working conditions appear to be limited. Our analysis also shows that ARCs participate in these strategies to various degrees. Their support depends on several factors, including ARCs’ organizational structure and politics, and the artists’ propensity to involve them in these processes. Several ARCs are experimenting with new forms of economic and relational support within the limits of their organizational constraints. Within those ARCs, we observe a increasing tendency to put in action more or less institutionalized practices associated with the feminist ethics of care. Community actors such as ARCs, professional associations, social movements, etc., are invited to (re)think about innovative ways to generate solidarity and belonging within artists by building on the precarity factors that have been in this research. This work should take into consideration that artists identifying to historically marginalized groups encounter specific forms of precarity to this day. This research also highlights the necessity to deconstruct the large analytical categories traditionally used to study the art worlds such as « integrated professionals » (Becker, 1982), to account for the influence of social factors such as gender, age, race, disability status, sexual orientation, etc., on visual artists’ career trajectories.