Return to search

How am I not myself? a semiotic analysis of images

There has been much debate in the history of philosophy aimed at determining what it is, exactly, that makes a person who and what she is. Varying theories have offered a wide range of concepts in pursuit of the answer to this question. Some thinkers, such as B.F. Skinner, have claimed that it is observable behavior patterns that determine who and what a person is. Yet other thinkers, such as Carl Jung, have attributed unconscious motivators as being determinative in deciphering who and what a person is. Jung claims that it is the conscious and unconscious working together that determines who and what a person is. The purpose of this thesis is to discover evidence that supports or disproves the theory of self in which the unconscious and conscious work together to determine who and/or what a person is. This is done by semiotically analyzing the Visual Products (VP) of Visual Product Producers (VPP) who were or are afflicted with Bipolar Disorder. This thesis consists of the semiotic analysis of selected works by Jackson Pollock, Virginia Woolf, Vincent Van Gogh, and myself (Michael Main). Semiotic analysis studies how meanings are generated as opposed to what meanings are generated. It should be noted that semiotics was used strictly as a method of analysis and not as a guiding philosophy. In examining how the works of the selected VPPs generate meaning, it is hoped that evidence is produced that proves or disproves the theory of who or what a person is as determined by the interaction of the conscious and unconscious.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-2152
Date01 May 2011
CreatorsMain, Michael G.
PublisherSTARS
Source SetsUniversity of Central Florida
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceHIM 1990-2015

Page generated in 0.0017 seconds