Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Visual sociology'

Ever since the camera was invented people have been using it as a tool to reflect and record the world around them. Photographic images have great potential to investigate different social practices and phenomena in the world. Photography, in its own right, is an extremely large area of study. Despite its relatively short history, photography has undergone a broad and complex evolution since it was invented in 1840. This paper does not aim to cover the comprehensive history of the development of photography in its many facets, it aims however to concentrate on a specific area of what has come to be termed visual sociology and the potential of the still photographic image as a primary tool within the field. Visual sociology is a marginal, experimental area of sociology, it is a field which has not been given due consideration by many sociologists due to its unscientific nature and one which remains unfamiliar to many social documentary photographers. This paper traces the history of visual sociology and explores its roots and links with social documentary photography. It explores the established methods of visual data collection that are utilised within the field of visual sociology. It also explores a further sub-discipline, urban sociology and the role of the image in investigation of urban phenomena. The resulting practical component of this research is an extensive urban photographic investigation shot over the period of one month in the city of Tokyo. The resulting series of images exist as a type of photographic visual map of ‘city creatures’ ubiquitous in the urban environment. The series aims to constitute as a visual, cultural survey about an aspect of social life within the Japanese urban context.

This thesis addresses theoretical and methodological concerns to embody sociology. It offers an account of the body, health and illness in everyday life that uses a sensorially attentive research practice to take the body seriously and make it audibly, visibly and viscerally present. The thesis is based on empirical research conducted over a year using a multi-method approach to unlock everyday bodily experiences. Thirteen participants aged between twenty-three and forty-three were interviewed about their experiences of living with a long-term physical or mental health condition (asthma, bi-polar disorder, chronic pain, depression, type 1 diabetes, epilepsy, joint hypermobility syndrome, muscular dystrophy, and rheumatoid arthritis) and asked to make a video diary and/or keep a journal to show and tell about their body and their condition. In addition Polaroids and hand-drawn questionnaires were used to add dimensionality. The accounts that were made are presented in this written thesis and in the film that accompanies this text, with the aim of conveying a sociological analysis of illness that keeps the vitality of bodies alive. In doing so, the thesis offers an account of illness that is not based on anguish, isolation and powerlessness but on the embodied activity of living.

This thesis is an ethnographic study of theatre audiences and the ways in which they experience community. It is positioned within current debates on the mediatization and globalization of society, and the ongoing discussion as to whether social change has an adverse effect on community experience. Methodologically it emphasizes the investigation of audience contexts and collaborative practices among actors and theatregoers and between researcher and respondents. Audiences’ own terminology is considered vital to understanding what community means to them. The thesis examines community experience across the whole trajectory of the theatregoing event, from theatregoers’ backgrounds, through interactions at theatre performances, to discussion outside the auditorium and in their everyday lives. It argues that while theatre audiences conform to the perception that they tend to be middle aged and predominantly female, there are modifications to Bourdieu’s findings that cultural consumption is closely related to social class gradations. In particular, mainstream theatregoers extend across the spectrum of the middle class and their tastes in theatre are eclectic. Similarly, the research finds that there are other ways than through habitus that theatregoers acquire cultural tastes and practices. A close consideration of interactions at theatre performances, and the physical contexts in which they take place, identifies features of interaction and auditoria that encourage or discourage community, and relates them to interaction in everyday life. An investigation of why theatregoers prefer live to mediatized performance, and an examination of changes in audience perception and how much they are shared with others, contribute to an assessment of the transformative power of theatre and of how far face-to-face community is perennial in society.

This research project investigated techniques for composing visual music and achieving balance in the relationship between sound and image. It comprises this thesis and a portfolio of compositions. The investigation began with an interest in the relationships between colour and sound and later expanded to include form and motion, the remaining factors of Thomas Wilfred’s lumia (1947). Working with a cohesive theme, such as lumia, proved to be an effective way of creating a coherent aesthetic in portfolio pieces. Other themes were therefore investigated including composing with visual and audio materials recorded from the single source of Thailand, the wave phenomena of refraction and diffraction and a filmed natural sunset interpreted in electroacoustic music. Two distinct compositional techniques were used, material transference, where qualities were transferred between sound and image, and compositional thinking, which assisted in creating audio-visual compositions that possessed musical qualities. Material transference proved to be the most productive technique during composing and it was discovered that effectuating it algorithmically created a strong bond between sound and image. Compositional thinking assisted in creating the form of the portfolio pieces and was found to apply to both video and music. Compositional thinking was found to be useful at the macro level, where structural form was designed, and material transference worked at a finer micro level, transferring individual qualities between sound and video objects.

The purpose of my study is to investigate the treatment of individuals with a visual impairment in their work and studies based on constructs of femininity and masculinity. The method used in this study is qualitative, and it is a study based on interviews in which 7 informants with a visual impairment who have been interviewed as it is their perceived experiences that are the focus area of the study. The results that I have obtained in my study are that people with a visual impairment are treated differently by the environment and it depends on the gender to which one belongs, and in this study I have also concluded that the environmental assessments of the ability to work and learning ability of the visually impaired vary depending on the gender. This study shows how people with a visual impairment are assessed on the basis of their visual impairment, and not on the basis of their qualifications or competences in the work they have applied for or are working with. However, as these people become marginalized in the labor market, it is difficult for them to become involved in society, based on the perspective of the visually impaired, you feel that the environment assesses one's ability to work or learning ability before you even have the opportunity to show what you are able to do. This is assessed on the basis of the ignorance, fears and misunderstandings that society likes to attach to people with a visual impairment.

2021-06-16

With the unprecedented rise in the use of visuals, and its undeniable omnipresence in organizational contexts, as well as in the individual's everyday life, organization and management science has recently started to pay closer attention to the to date under-theorized "visual mode" of discourse and meaning construction. Building primarily on insights from the phenomenological tradition in organization theory and from social semiotics, this article sets out to consolidate previous scholarly efforts and to sketch a fertile future research agenda. After briefly exploring the workings of visuals, we introduce the methodological and theoretical "roots" of visual studies in a number of disciplines that have a long-standing tradition of incorporating the visual. We then continue by extensively reviewing work in the field of organization and management studies: More specifically, we present five distinct approaches to feature visuals in research designs and to include the visual dimension in scholarly inquiry. Subsequently, we outline, in some detail, promising avenues for future research, and close with a reflection on the impact of visualization on scientific practice itself. (authors' abstract)

This thesis attempts to present a controlled sociological examination of Art Nouveau in Glasgow from the eighteen-nineties into the first decade of the twentieth century. The phenomenon of Glasgow Art Nouveau (its ideological groundings, its socio-cultural base, and the nature of its artistic production), provides a case-study of avant-gardism. The main intention is to illustrate, with historical exemplification, to what extent Art Nouveau can be interpreted as a radical social critique underpinned by specific theoretical and ideolgoical concerns. I begin by examining (a) the analytic means whereby statisfactory criteria are developed for the purpose of defining Art Nouveau as an artistic style; the specific manifestations of this style in a variety of European countries, and its transformation from organic/symbolic to abstract/geometric form-language; and (b) Art Nouveau as a distinctive cultural movement which was attempting to transform the public sphere in accordance with artistic principles. The second chapter has a dual purpose: firstly, it examines the status of Art Nouveau as an avant-garde movement, and, secondly, it attempts to construct the basis for a specifically sociological theory of Art Nouveau by bringing together the arguments of certain social theorists who have made significant reference to the phenomenon. Subsequently, it is demonstrated that, within the sphere of influence of the Glasgow School of Art, continental avant-gardiste trends at the end of the nineteenth century provided the frame of reference for the understanding of new artistic movements in Glasgow. This leads to an analysis of Mackintosh's extant writings in order that a reconstruction of the essentials of Scottish Art Nouveau's distinctive ideology can be presented. It is argued that Glasgow Art Nouveau had a coherent viewpoint in many respects deriving from the formulations of the Edinburgh sociologist and theorist Patrick Seddes. As well as demonstrating the closeness of Mackintosh's theorising to that of certain Viennese Art Nouveau exponents (Wagner, Hoffmann) with whom he had contact, it is shown to what extent Scottish Art Nouveau was attempting to transcend the traditional distinction between the utilitarian and the artistic, and address the issue of a social environment transformed in accordance with modern social needs. The remainder of the thesis substantively examines crucially related aspects of the Glasgow cultural context. Firstly, it focusses upon the Art School as institutional context within which Art Nouveau emerges, and demonstrates the relevance of the implementation of an experimental approach to art teaching there. Secondly, it examines the issue of the actual and potential production of goods manifesting the new form-language. Thirdly, the nature of the reception given to the new form-language is investigated: this invovles an analysis of relevant reportage in Glasgow. The reasons for the failure of the movement to gain ground in Glasgow are shown to be connected with a number of complex factors ranging from moral outrage at its `decadence' to the absence of the kind of technical expertise capable of consolidating its innovations for a mass society.

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The purpose is to write a reflection on the audiovisual production by the visually impaired. The starting point for this research was a documentary video production workshop offered by the Instituto de Educa??o e Reabilita??o de Cegos do Rio Grande do Norte - IERC / RN, with the participation of blind people with low vision and sighted employees of the institution. The research approach follows the precepts of complex thinking, where work is woven into the network, along with the researched. The theoretical framework is based on the theory of French sociologist Edgar Morin, and other important thinkers for this work, namely: Erving Goffman, Paulo Freire, Michel Foucault, Edward Said, Jacques Aumont, Phillpe Dubois, as well as scholars who think and theorize about his own condition and conduct discussions on the issue of blindness: Francisco Jose de Lima, Evgen Bavcar Jacques Lusseyran and Joana Belarmino. The research was formulated based on the statement in the interest of respondents to understand and produce visual images using video as a tool. In this sense, the methodology adopted approaches of action research in constructing the text and dialogue with the participation of those involved in the project. The technique of gathering the information was based on ethnographic description describing the dynamics of the workshop, the relationships between participants, relationship to the other that sees and the manner of operation of equipment. The main focus is the relationship based on dialogue of information, attitudes and ways of knowing from experience and capacity developed and obstacles for blind people to produce visual images using other benchmarks, such as touch, smell and time dimension and space, and add references that give new meaning to the guidelines based on visuality of ministering to the workshop. It is also held to discuss aspects related to the concept of image with sociological reflection about the audiovisual production made by blind people socially constructed and perpetuated by what Edgar Morin called cultural imprinting. Thus we attempted to walk the route with its obstacles and achievements in the production of new images that were seen
O prop?sito do trabalho ? fazer uma reflex?o sobre a produ??o audiovisual por deficientes visuais. O ponto de partida desta pesquisa foi uma Oficina de Produ??o de V?deodocument?rio oferecida pelo Instituto de Educa??o e Reabilita??o de Cegos do Rio Grande do Norte - IERC/RN, com a participa??o de pessoas cegas, com baixa vis?o e videntes colaboradores da institui??o. A abordagem da pesquisa segue os preceitos do pensamento complexo, no qual o trabalho ? tecido em rede, junto com os pesquisados. O referencial te?rico ? fundamentado na teoria do soci?logo franc?s Edgar Morin, al?m de outros pensadores importantes para este trabalho, a saber: Erving Goffman, Paulo Freire, Michel Foucault, Edward Said, Jacques Aumont, Phillpe Dubois, bem como estudiosos que pensam e teorizam sobre sua pr?pria condi??o e realizam discuss?es sobre a quest?o da cegueira: Francisco Jos? de Lima, Evgen Bavcar, Jacques Lusseyran e Joana Belarmino. A pesquisa foi formulada a partir da constata??o do interesse dos pesquisados em entender e produzir imagens visuais utilizando o v?deo como ferramenta. Nesse sentido, a metodologia adotada se aproxima da pesquisa-a??o construindo o texto em di?logo e com a participa??o dos envolvidos no projeto. A t?cnica de coleta das informa??es foi fundamentada na descri??o etnogr?fica descrevendo a din?mica da oficina, as rela??es entre os participantes, a rela??o com o outro que enxerga e a forma de operacionalidade dos equipamentos. O enfoque principal ? a rela??o fundamentada no di?logo de informa??es, posturas e formas de conhecer a partir da experi?ncia desenvolvida e a capacidade e os obst?culos das pessoas cegas para produzir imagens visuais utilizando outros referenciais, tais como: o tato, o olfato e a dimens?o de tempo e espa?o, referenciais que somam e d?o um novo significado ?s orienta??es fundamentadas na visualidade dos ministrantes da oficina. Tamb?m ? realizada a discuss?o de aspectos referentes ao conceito de imagem com reflex?o sociol?gica a respeito da produ??o audiovisual feita por pessoas cegas constru?da e perpetuada socialmente atrav?s do que Edgar Morin denominou de imprinting cultural. Desse modo buscou-se percorrer os percursos, com seus obst?culos e conquistas, na produ??o dessas novas imagens que se evidenciam

Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African society presents a complex and diverse environment to social scientists. Within immense economic stratification; a multitude of cultures and classes; languages and their dialects; and varied racial groups, researchers attempt to produce information that contributes constructively to policy, programs and a host of services. Beneath the surface also lay complex power issues informed by both political and cultural histories. Many contexts in which researchers find themselves continue to be marginalised and oppressed due to factors such as illiteracy and low-levels of education, age, gender and poverty. These groups often include women and children, in particular adolescents. Qualitative visual methods may provide researchers with a tool by which to address many of the concerns raised in the literature surrounding research carried out under such conditions. Visual methods may remove inherent power imbalances, as well as traditional barriers, such as culture and language, that stem from more 'conservative' research methods. Images may allow participants to vocalise the taken-for-granted in their lives in an empowering manner. The recognition and use of visual images in research with marginalised and oppressed groups is being increasingly recognised by the larger research community. A preliminary overview of the available literature highlights existing disagreement surrounding the theoretical underpinnings of visual methods. This is particularly seen in the various and confusing levels of abstraction presented in the literature. The primary aim of this study is therefore, to gain clarity and understanding as regards the methodological and epistemological underpinnings of visual research methods within the social sciences. As such, a comprehensive literature review has been conducted. A second aim of the study is to set out a typology of methods that would be relevant for use in marginalised communities. The third aim of the study is empirical in nature and aims to highlight the role and/or possibilities of visual research methods within the South African social sciences research context. This is achieved by means of a case study which explores how motherhood is experienced by five teenagers in a sub-economic community outside of Cape Town. It does this by providing participants cameras with which to visually express their understanding and experiences of motherhood. Processed photographs in this case study have been analysed by means of informal discussion, directed by the images, with the participants themselves. These discussions were recorded and transcribed. The results of the interviews were then analysed using grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The results emerging from this have been compared with relevant literature. In this way, results are also triangulated, adding to their reliability (Lucchinni, 1996). Consequently, results of this case study provide a comparative component by which to assess the applicability of visual methods in the South African research context. Both the literature review as well as experiences of the case study also form the basis of suggestions for further exploration.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskap bied 'n komplekse en diverse omgewing aan sosiale wetenskaplikes. Binne hewige ekonomiese stratifikasie; 'n verskeidenheid kulture en klasse; tale en dialekte en diverse rassegroepe, poog navorsers om inligting te verskaf om 'n konstruktiewe bydrae te maak aan riglyne, programme en 'n legio dienste. Onder die oppervlakte lê daar ook komplekse magstryde afkomstig van beide 'n kuitereie en politieke geskiedenis. Vele omstandighede waarin navorsers hulself vind word steeds oorheers deur marginalisasie en onderdrukking as gevolg van faktore soos ongeletterdheid, lae vlakke van opvoeding, ouderdom, geslag en armoede. Hierdie groepe bestaan dikwels uit, onder andere, vroue en kinders. Kwalitatiewe visuele tegnieke mag navorsers van die nodige metodes voorsien waarmee verskeie probleme wat in die literatuur uitgelig word aangaande hierdie navorsing, aangespreek kan word. Visuele tegnieke mag inherente magsongelykhede, sowel as tradisionele struikelblokke, soos kultuur en taal wat afkomstig is uit meer 'konserwatiewe' navorsingstegnieke, verwyder. Uitbeeldings mag deelnemers toelaat om die vanselfsprekende in hullewens in 'n opbouende wyse te vokaliseer. Die identifisering en gebruik van visuele uitbeeldings in navorsing met gemarganaliseerde en onderdrukte groepe word tot 'n toenemende mate erken deur die uitgebreide navorsingsgemeenskap. 'n Voorlopige oorsig van die beskikbare literatuur beklemtoon bestaande onenigheid met betrekking tot die teoretiese fondamente van visuele tegnieke. Dit is veral duidelik sigbaar in die uitgebreide en verwarde vlakke van abstraktheid wat in die literatuur voorgestel word. Die primêre doelwit van hierdie studie is dus om groter helderheid en insig met betrekking tot die metodologiese en epistemologiese grondbeginsels van visuele metodes, soos dit in die sosiale wetenskappe voorkom, te verkry. Met hierdie doel voor oë is 'n uitgebreide literatuurondersoek onderneem. 'n Tweede doel van die studie is om 'n tipologie van metodes uiteen te sit wat relevant kan wees in gemarginaliseerde gemeenskappe. 'n Derde doel van die studie is empiries van aard en beoog om die rol en/of moontlikhede van visuele tegnieke binne die Suid-Afrikaanse sosiale wetenskaplike navorsings konteks te beklemtoon. Dit word bereik deur middel van 'n studie wat ondersoek hoe moederskap ondervind word deur vyf tieners in 'n sub-ekonomiese gemeenskap in die buitewyke van Kaapstad. Dit word uitgevoer deur deelnemers te voorsien van kameras waarmee hul begrip en ondervindings van moederskap visueel uitbeeld. 'n Verdere analise van hierdie studie is deur middel van informele besprekings uitgevoer met die deelnemers, begelei deur die uitbeeldings. Sodanige besprekings is opgeneem en getranskribeer. Die resultate verkry vanuit die onderhoude is daarna geanaliseer deur middel van begronde teorie (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Die resultate wat hieruit afkomstig was, is vergelyk met relevante literatuur. Op hierdie wyse is resultate bevestig, wat ook verder tot hul betroubaarheid gespreek het (Lucchinni, 1996). Die gevolg is dat die resultate van hierdie studie 'n vergelykende komponent verskaf waarmee die toepaslikheid van visuele tegnieke in die Suid-Afrikaanse navorsingskonteks gemeet kan word. Beide die literatuurstudie, asook die ondervindings vanuit die gevallestudie vorm die basis vir aanbevelings vir verdere ondersoek.

Ten experiments examined the way that automatic processing of the visual perspectives and eye gaze of others affects adults‘ perception and encoding of the social world. I investigated the amount of flexibility that automatic visual perspective computation accommodates. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 demonstrate that automatic visual perspective-computation shows some flexibility for enumerating and representing perspective contents. Experiments 4 and 5 further indicate that automatic visual perspective-taking allows selection of relevant perspective information. I also examined whether observing others‘ eye gaze affects adults‘ visual working memory encoding. Experiments 6, 7, and 8 indicate that agents‘ object-oriented gaze does not lead to more efficient encoding of agent and object information. Experiments 9 and 10 demonstrate that observing others‘ participant-oriented gaze disrupts visual working memory encoding. I argue that although adults have minimal conscious control over the activation of visual perspective-computation and processing of participantoriented gaze, the efficient mindreading system shows some flexibility.

La migration économique en France des Marocains, Tunisiens, Algériens dans différentes phases historiques du XXe siècle est - et fut- l'objet de nombreuses études. En revanche, la migration dans le sens France-Maghreb n'a été que peu abordée, bien qu'elle constitue pour de plus en plus de retraités un choix mûrement consenti pour aborder cette période de l'existence.« Migration inversée » s'est focalisée sur les Français migrant au Maroc au moment de leur retraite, et dont la migration constitue soit un retour aux sources – puisque certains sont natifs de ce pays alors sous régime de protectorat –, soit une migration économique, devant la perte d'un pouvoir d'achat occasionné par le passage à ce nouveau statut. L'expression Migration inversée renvoie donc ici, par symétrie, à ces milliers de Maghrébins qui, pour des raisons économiques, avaient quitté leur territoire d'origine, leur famille, afin de migrer vers l'Europe.Toute migration interroge l'espace, l'économie et la société de référence tout autant que la société d'installation. Pourquoi, dans l'esprit d'un retour même symbolique vers leurs racines, certains retraités quittent la France, pays dont ils portent la nationalité, pour s'installer – ou se réinstaller dans un pays du Maghreb, culturellement et socialement différent de celui où il ont passé l'essentiel de leur existence. Première migration ou ré-émigration, ces deux situations seront abordées à partir de l'expérience des individus interrogés dans le cadre de cette étude.Par réflexivité, cette thèse en sociologie visuelle et filmique interroge les frontières entre le chercheur/ le réalisateur et l'apport d'un point de vue méthodologique de l'outil filmique dans le cadre d'une recherche
First and foremost the economical migration about Moroccan, Tunisian, Algerian is the items of various studies in France. Nonetheless the contrary is not much approach same if the migration France-Maghreb increase among pensioners. It s rational choice to come up to the senior. This thesis take place to reverse these migratory flows all migration accept area economy and the reference society juste as much the news society. Last but no least, this thesis is sociologie ask the border between the research and the producer

in many daily forms of media we see the nation being represented by or alongside images. These images of the nation inform the way we see both others and ourselves. This thesis attempts to understand the way the nation is visualized, a topic that has been largely overlooked by theorists of nationalism. The visualization of the nation is explored by researching two national tourism campaigns in Croatia. Croatia was chosen as a case study in which to examine the visualization of the nation due to its recent accession into the European Union alongside the country’s economic dependence on tourism and its current attempts at rebranding. In order to achieve the aims of this research I ask two main research questions: 1. How is the nation visualized in Croatia through tourism advertising and by whom?, 2. How is this visualization received by members of the nation? These questions were answered by combining three methodological steps which consisted of a visual analysis of the images of the campaigns, interviewing those involved in creating the campaigns and other members of the design or tourism community, and finally photo elicitation interviews with members of the Croatian public. This research found that Croatia is often peripheral within these tourism campaigns. The nation is represented passively with the main focus of the advertisements being the experience of tourism. Croatia is merely the backdrop that these tourism activities are being advertised through. This passive representation of Croatia is a consequence of an industry that is focused on increasing tourism numbers and that relies heavily on marketing data. The representation of Croatia is not the aim of these tourism campaigns. The passive image of the nation is additionally the consequence of Croatia’s uneasy relationship with presenting something as national. National pride is often equated with violent forms of nationalism and therefore visual representations of the nation are often eliminated from the positive marketing images of the tourism campaigns. Both members of the nation and the industry downplay the importance of tourism advertising arguing that these images are solely for the tourist and therefore they are largely insignificant. However, I use du Gay’s (1997) concept of the ‘circuit of culture’ to argue that tourism advertising is not just influenced by national identity but rather it is also influencing national identity. These tourism campaigns contribute to the construction of national identity. Therefore, this passive image of the nation is not just for tourists, it is part of a circuit of identity construction that reaches far beyond the target audience. Overall, these tourism images are simplistic and reductive imitations of the nation while national identity is complex, inconsistent, and often contradictory. Branding and design often aims to condense identity into easily recognizable and quickly communicated images making any attempt to brand the nation inherently lacking. While this reductive identity is useful when branding a company or product, when applied to the nation ethical questions emerge about who has the right to construct the nation’s image. I argue that this new phenomenon of commercialized branding that is now a responsibility of the nation is evidence of the changing role of the nation from a modern construction to a postmodern brander. This opens up questions about the democratic nature of these tourism images and consequences of nation branding efforts that continue to represent the nation in reductive and passive terms.

This thesis considers the processes of policy making and implementation of tall building development, as well as the management of visual impacts on regionally protected views in particular, in central London between 2000 and 2008, from the initiation of the Greater London Authority to the end of Ken Livingstone's era as Mayor of London. During this eight year period, more than forty tall building projects were processed through the planning system. Regional and local planning authorities, private developers and heritage groups have diverse interests in tall building planning and hence conflicts result regarding policy and implementation processes. The case study of No.1 Blackfriars Road—part of an emerging cluster of tall buildings at Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark—provides a useful exemplar. It is not located in an area that was designated as appropriate for tall buildings and is situated close to central London's historic monuments and conservation areas. I will argue that while a high degree of design quality in tall buildings has been achieved, a severe lack of conflict resolution has led to an upward spiralling of antagonistic interactions, uncertainty and the prolongation of the planning process. Moreover, emerging regional and local policy has strengthened the position of tall building supporters while gradually marginalising opposing heritage groups. Nor has planning policy and assessment methods provided a clear enough basis for decision making. The resulting ambiguity has been exploited by opposing camps which arrive at divergent conclusions regarding tall building projects. Furthermore, the involvement of private sector experts in governmental processes has led to perceptions by heritage groups of conflicts of interest. The thesis concludes by summarising the key aspects identified with regard to the translation of the urban renaissance agenda into tall building policies, the effectiveness of implementing these policies, and the impacts of planning processes on visual impact assessments.

This research was motivated by the sudden increase of hypermedia information (such as that found on CD-ROMs and on the World Wide Web), which was not initially accessible to blind people, although offered significant advantages over traditional braille and audiotape information. Existing non-visual information systems for blind people had very different designs and functionality, but none of them provided what was required according to user requirements studies: an easy-to-use non-visual interface to hypermedia material with a range of input devices for blind students. Furthermore, there was no single suitable design and evaluation methodology which could be used for the development of non-visual information systems. The aims of this research were therefore: (1) to develop a generic, iterative design and evaluation methodology consisting of a number of techniques suitable for formative evaluation of non-visual interfaces; (2) to explore non-visual interaction possibilities for a multimodal hypermedia browser for blind students based on user requirements; and (3) to apply the evaluation methodology to non-visual information systems at different stages of their development. The methodology developed and recommended consists of a range of complementary design and evaluation techniques, and successfully allowed the systematic development of prototype non-visual interfaces for blind users by identifying usability problems and developing solutions. Three prototype interfaces are described: the design and evaluation of two versions of a hypermedia browser; and an evaluation of a digital talking book. Recommendations made from the evaluations for an effective non-visual interface include the provision of a consistent multimodal interface, non-speech sounds for information and feedback, a range of simple and consistent commands for reading, navigation, orientation and output control, and support features. This research will inform developers of similar systems for blind users, and in addition, the methodology and design ideas are considered sufficiently generic, but also sufficiently detailed, that the findings could be applied successfully to the development of non-visual interfaces of any type.

Aziza's Friendship Compendium, 1st Edition is my illustrated textbook that is part-compendium, part-manifesto. It provides a social, cultural and political analysis of friendship as an inherently anti-oppression, radical tool of resistance.  This study of friendship investigates the form and function of friendship, as well as how neoliberalism and the patriarchy cause friction in its functioning, and the ultimate fantasy of friendship that is possible through its untangling of systems of oppression. The Annotated and Expanded version of the Compendium shared here details the process and outcomes surrounding this publication and my master's degree project as a whole. This project is an argument for friendship, a celebration of friendship, a dissection of friendship and a resurrection and recontextualisation of friendship.  ˜”*°•♥ I hope you & your friends enjoy it ♥•°*”˜

Technology innovations in visual, wireless communications have yet to be leveraged by law enforcement. These technologies have a future in law enforcement. This limited study has provided evidence that the addition of visual, wireless communication for tactical police commanders enhances situational awareness and speeds decision making. In addition, this study has established that the technology would be accepted for use by police tactical officers once utility is demonstrated. Several issues remain that may delay its widespread adoption. These include unfamiliarity, a police centric design that is rugged, reliable and without impaired vision, and liability and cost. In addition, there is not a current wireless, broadband backbone that could transmit the signals over a large distance. Once these limitations have been overcome this technology has the potential to revolutionize policing and tactical law enforcement.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The central theme of this thesis is to establish the use of visual art for community development. This is done within the context of South Africa in Kayamandi, a Black Township near Stellenbosch. This example has been chosen because one of South Africa's major developmental challenges lies in Black Townships, due to the previous government's negligence toward these areas. Since the thesis focuses on a Black Township, the history of Black visual art during the 20th century, under colonial and postcolonial regimes is analysed. Subsequently, the notion of community development and how visual art contributes to development is outlined. The important role that community arts and community arts centres play in the contribution of visual art to community development is also defined. To this end qualitative and quantitative research has been conducted in Kayamandi. Artists, visual art groups and possible community arts centres were identified. By way of the Kayamandi study, it is understood that visual art is an established practice in Kayamandi. Under specified circumstances, visual art practice in Kayamandi does lead to community development. The establishment of a community arts centre could further increase people's use of visual art for community development.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die sentrale doel van die tesis is om die gebruik van visuele kuns vir gemeenskapsontwikkeling vas te stel. Dit word vasgestel binne die Suid- Afrikaanse konteks met spesifieke verwysing na Kayamandi, 'n Swart woonbuurt naby Stellenbosch. Dié gemeenskap is gekies omdat Swart woonbuurte een van Suid-Afrika se grootste ontwikkelingsuitdagings vergestalt. Dié uitdaging is die gevolg van nalatigheid van die vorige apartheidsregering ten opsigte van die gebiede. Die geskiedenis van Swart visuele kuns gedurende die 20ste eeu tydens die koloniale en postkoloniale regimes word ondersoek. Gevolglik word gemeenskapsontwikkeling en hoe visuele kuns daartoe bydra uiteengesit en bespreek. Verder word die belangrikheid van gemeenskapskuns en - kunssentrums én hul bydrae tot visuele kuns vir gemeenskapsontwikkeling gedefiniëer. Vir dié doel is kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe navorsing in die verband in Kayamandi gedoen. Kunstenaars, visuele kuns groepe en moontlike gemeenskapskunssentrums is ge-identifiseer. Die Kayamandi studie bewys dat visuele kuns 'n gevestigde praktyk in Kayamandi is. In gespesifiseerde omstandighede dra visuele kuns wel tot gemeenskapsontwikkeling in Kayamandi by. Die ontwikkeling van 'n gemeenskapskunssentrum in Kayamandi sal die inwoners se gebruik van visuele kuns vir gemeenskapsontwikkeling vergroot.

El plan de trabajo que hemos llevado a cabo para elaborar esta investigación consta de dos partes diferenciadas entre sí: a) Exponer y justificar la interrelación que existe entre pintura, poema/objeto y música; y b) Analizar la conducta del público ante el estímulo artístico. La segunda se desprende de la primera ya que es el público el que aglutina y relaciona los tres códigos a través de diferentes niveles de percepción. Por tal motivo es imposible desligar una parte de otra ya que es a partir de ambas donde podemos desprender un resultado de investigación inédito hasta ahora en el campo de la comprensión artística, contemplada desde planteamientos estéticos diferentes.

Thesis (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The area of study is the notion of validity in image-based research, i.e. research approaches where visual images such as photographs or video recordings form an integral part of one or more of the methods used. In the literature investigation chapters of the study, (1) the notion of validity is reviewed with special reference to contributions by Cook and Campbell, Guba and Lincoln, Kvale, Lather and Morse; (2) the inherent properties of visual images are discussed from a semiotic perspective, and (3) following a discussion of reflexivity in image-based research, the various domains of image-based research practice are demarcated according to the unit of analysis, the data format, the researcher role (outsider, insider, participant) and the production of the visual material (ex ante or ex post with weak or strong researcher control). The literature investigation chapters were taken as the point of departure for the development of a conceptual framework for assessing validity in image-based research, the mechanics of which are illustrated with reference to selected aspects of image-based research projects by Lomax and Casey, Clark and Zimmer, Rich and Chalfen, DuFon and Chaplin. The conceptual framework was refined on the strength of a Delphi study. The Delphi procedure involved canvassing and pooling the opinions of experts in the field of image-based research about issues of validity with a view to ensure that the assumptions made during the development of the conceptual framework fit sufficiently with image-based research practice. Flowing from the literature investigation chapters as well as the Delphi procedure, the central thesis of the study is that the notion of validity is in the first instance contextdependent and that this is compounded in the case of image-based research by the relative instability of iconic codes and the strong drift towards 'unlimited' semiosis inherent in the visual communication process.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studieveld behels ‘n ondersoek na die gedagte van geldigheid soos van toepassing op beeldgebaseerde navorsing, d.w.s. navorsingsbenaderings waar visuele beelde soos foto’s of video-opnames ‘n integrale deel uitmaak maak een of meer van die metodes wat gebruik word. In die hoofstukke wat die literatuurstudie uitmaak, word (1) die gedagte van geldigheid onder die loep geneem met spesifieke verwysing na die bydraes van Cook en Campbell, Guba en Lincoln, Kvale, Lather en Morse, (2) word die inherente eienskappe van visuele beelde vanaf 'n semiotiese oogpunt bespreek, en (3) word die verskeie velde van beeldgebaseerde navorsingspraktyk afgebaken volgens die eenheid van ontleding, die dataformaat, die rol van die navorser (buitestaander, binnestaander, deelnemer) en die produksie van die visuele materiaal (ex ante of ex post met sterk of swak navorserkontrole). Die hoofstukke wat gemoeid is met die literatuurstudie is as vertrekpunt geneem vir die daarstelling van ‘n konsepsuele raamwerk vir geldigheid aangaande beeldgebaseerde navorsing, en die werking hiervan is geïllustreer met verwysing na geselekteerde aspekte van beeldgebaseerde navorsing deur Lomax en Casey, Clark en Zimmer, Rich en Chalfen, DuFon end Chaplin. Hierdie konsepsuele raamwerk is verder verfyn op grond van ‘n Delphi-prosedure. Die Delphi-prosedure het behels dat die opinies van deskundiges in die veld van beeldgebaseerde navorsing aangaande kwessies van geldigheid ingewin en saamgevoeg is met die oog om te verseker dat die aannames wat gemaak is ten tyde van die ontwikkeling van die konsepsuele raamwerk genoegsaam gepas is vir die praktyk van beeldgebaseerde navorsing. Die tesis van die studie, gebaseer op die uitkomste van die literatuurstudie en die Delphi-prosedure, is dat die gedagte van geldigheid konteks-afhanklik is, wat in die geval van beeldgebaseerde navorsing vererger word deur die feit dat ikoniese kodes relatiefonstabiel is en dat die proses van visuele kommunikasie 'n sterk tendens na 'eindelose' semiosis toon.

Man-made objects are an expression of both the social organisation in which they were produced and the communicative context in which they appear and are used. In this respect, they represent easily accessible material, which is highly suitable for and useful in reconstructing the social structures in organisations and opening up latent structures of meaning for analysis. Nevertheless the analysis of physical materials has tended to live a shadow existence. This paper presents a hermeneutic method of analysing artefacts in organisations. The basic concept centres on the reconstructing of the processes of meaning and organising in social systems. After providing a brief introduction to the methodological principles, the paper goes on to discuss this method in greater detail. Concrete examples of the study of specific materials in an organisational analysis context are used to ground the interpretation of artefacts in the overall organisational analysis context. The paper closes with a discussion of the possibilities and limitations of this kind of analysis. (authors' abstract)
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For over seven years I have worked within the Disability sector witnessing not only the daily challenges faced by individuals with a disability, but also the barriers placed by society. Throughout this period I have become acutely aware of the lack of representation of individuals with Down syndrome within the public domain of contemporary art. This is an area which I believe also creates barriers to society's acceptance and understanding of disability.
Master of Arts (Visual Arts)

This thesis explores the argument that inherent in medical treatment interventions for chronic hepatitis C, there are certain implicit ontological assumptions about the relationship between the body, disease, and society. Focusing primarily on biomedical practices, it is argued that these assumptions might have a profound effect on the world-views of patients undergoing them. This in turn, might have far-reaching sociological implications. Using a methodology specifically developed for the purpose of explicating the ontological assumptions inherent in medical treatment, the visual and narrative texts produced by thirteen hepatitis C positive participants are examined. A deconstructive analytical approach is then applied to these texts as they relate to the treatment interventions pursued by participants. An exploration of the way participants engage with, negotiate, and/or resist the discourses and assumptions inherent in biomedicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and to some extent naturopathy, is conducted. Two broad ways in which the participants visualise the relationship between disease and their bodies, relating to treatment undertaken, are identified. The possible social implications of these are then suggested. The first, and predominant view, is aligned with biomedicine. The relationship between disease and the body is antagonistic in this view. It is suggested that this way of seeing might naturalise xenophobic attitudes and perpetuate social conflict. The marginal view is related to non-biomedical treatments for hepatitis C. The relationship in this case is the result of a negotiated accommodation with the disease. It is suggested that such a view might allow for non-resistant social tolerance of that which is perceived of as new and different. This qualitative study contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of the sociology of health and illness in two ways: Firstly, it proposes a methodology that may be taken up or adapted for future sociological research, and secondly, it suggests something of the social and political nature of treatment decisions made by people living with chronic hepatitis C.

In the past few decades, parental involvement has increasingly become more noted in a child's educational journey. More administrators and teachers are recognizing the value of parental involvement. Parental involvement benefits include increased student achievement and stronger school-family partnerships. Implementing parental involvement practices is often required for schools to receive federal support such as Title I funds. Although there is supporting research that shows the positive effects of parental involvement in elementary school settings, there is limited research as to how it can affect students at the middle school level. In addition, other effects of parental involvement that stretch beyond student learning, such as multicultural awareness, have received much less attention.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not parental involvement at the middle school level has an impact on students' multicultural awareness and learning. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed to identify statistical significance and emerging themes to be used to enhance classroom practices at the middle school level. An instrument adapted from the Civil Rights Project (CRP) was used to collect data from middle school students to measure multicultural awareness. Four and five-point Likert scales were used to measure respondents' levels of awareness. A researcher-created summative assessment was used as an instrument to evaluate student learning. Additionally, qualitative questions were used to elicit students' perceptions regarding culture and family involvement.

Quantitative findings from this study did not reveal statistical significance between the control and parental involvement groups regarding student learning and multicultural awareness. Practical significance was shown in two of the survey questions, which indicated small to medium effects between group and time and small to medium effects of interactions. Practical significance was also evident in the interactions between groups based on grade level in three of the survey questions. Qualitatively, the majority of middle school students felt they were open to learning about cultures different from their own. Most students believed their parents would enjoy hearing about what they learn in visual arts classes. Other themes emerged including the misconception that culture is exclusively related to peoples of the past and the notion that cultural topics are only discussed in terms of the oppression of others. The majority of fifth and sixth grade respondents believed that art class was a venue for learning about different cultures and could recognize the benefits of learning about people from different parts of the world.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of learning and rehearsal on verbal and visual memory in 15 Native American students ranging in age from 9 to 16 years. Subjects were administered the Verbal Learning (VL) and Visual Learning (VIL) subtests of the WRAML. These subtests assess the ability to retain verbal (list of words) and visual (location of designs) information presented over 4 trials. A 5th trial assesses retention after a short delay. The study additionally aimed to relate scores on these tasks with overall scores on the WRAML, the WISC-III and the DAS. A description of mean standard/scaled scores for each of these measures is provided. Concurrent with previous research, mean Verbal IQ on the WISC-III was significantly below the normative mean while the Performance IQ was in the average range. Mean Verbal and Visual Memory Indexes on the WRAML reflected this pattern. Performance on all three subtests of the DAS (Arithmetic, Spelling, Word Reading) were significantly below average. Results of one-way repeated measures ANOVAs based on z scores indicate no significant difference from the norm in overall performance on both learning subtests. However, z scores on the VL subtest showed a significant difference across trials. While performance on the VL subtest was slightly below the normative average on trial 1, this difference appears to have been erased by trial 2. Performance on delayed recall trials for both subtests were comparable to the norm group. Correlation coefficients show a significant relation between the learning subtests and the Visual, Learning and General-Memory Index scores on the WRAML. They also show a significant relation between the VL subtest and the Verbal and Full Scale IQs on the WISC-III. Neither of the learning subtests shows a significant correlation with subtests on the DAS. Results argue against a verbal learning "weakness" in Native American children. Findings also suggest that instead of focusing on teaching to the Native Americans' "visual strength," the use of a multi-trial approach when presenting Native American children with verbal material in English would enhance learning and retention.

Vision has often been a central concern of feminist studies of science, medicine and technology. In cultural or social feminist analysis, the male gaze and the ways in which technoscience accommodates, and in effect organizes the watching of women, has been an important part of the feminist interrogation of the gender and power relations that produce the subjects and the objects of science. This attention is due to the intimate, and power-saturated, merge of processes of seeing and processes of knowing. Inherent in the notion of vision, there is always a politics to ways of seeing, ordering and observing, of organising the knowledge of the world. Historically, this can be exemplified by the eighteen-century Swedish “father” of biological classification, Linnaeus. Taking a leap away from Christian assumptions, Linnaeus placed human beings in a taxonomic order of nature together with other animals.

ISBN 91-87792-49-4 not valid for this book.

In the discipline of International Relations, scholars have recently drawn attention to how political actors use narratives to claim legitimacy for themselves, their actions, and their use of force. Whilst such work provides welcome insights, there has been little attention given to how these narratives are often told through visual media on digital social media sites. In light of this, this thesis argues that visual media are central to how political actors claim legitimacy for the use of force in the digital age. Theoretically informed by work on aesthetics, narrative, and visual global politics, this thesis provides an analytical framework for studying the visual politics of legitimation. This is then explored through two case studies of the British Army and the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces. In each case study I draw upon multiple methods to analyse the narrative and visual content of each actor’s official Facebook Page, as well as the contexts of media production and audience reception. This thesis contributes to studies of global politics by illustrating how each actor uses visual media to claim legitimacy for the use of force, and thereby provides the first empirical analysis of the visual politics of legitimation.

Scopo del contributo è descrivere la costruzione e rappresentazione dell’identità nel corso della transizione adolescenziale. Ipotizzata circolarità e reciproca determinazione tra individui e società, lo studio tratta il tema dell’identità come frutto di riflessività e di chances di vita offerte dal contesto. Il fuoco dell’attenzione è sugli adolescenti di origine straniera, scelti come oggetto di studio perché chiamati a vivere la transizione identitaria in maniera amplificata dall’esperienza migratoria ed esemplificativa di traiettorie di costruzione del Sé percorse anche dai pari italiani. L’analisi sottolinea dunque l’analogia generazionale tra adolescenti italiani e stranieri e la pluralità di definizioni identitarie, anche prescindendo dall’eventuale esperienza migratoria. Lo studio ha seguito l’approccio della sociologia visuale, sia nei riferimenti teorici ed analitici, sia sul piano della ricerca empirica. Sono stati intervistati 12 adolescenti, italiani e stranieri, che hanno narrato di sé presentando immagini e video. A partire da ciò sono state individuate 3 tipologie di costruzione identitaria, quella dei relazionali, quella dei progettisti e quella dei sognatori, e si è confermata la reciproca connessione tra individui e società e la pluralità di traiettorie nella transizione alla vita adulta.
The study’s aim is to describe the construction and representation of identity during the adolescent transition. Hypothesizing circularity and reciprocal determination between individuals and society, the study deals with the topic of identity as the result of reflexivity and lifetime chances which are offered by the context. Attention is focused on adolescents with foreign origins, chosen as the subject of study because they are called to experience identity transition in a way which is broadened due to their migratory experiences, and exemplified by paths involving Self-construction which their Italian peers also follow. The analysis thus underscores the generational analogy between Italian and foreign adolescents and the plurality of definitions of identity, also irrespective of any migratory experience. The study followed the visual sociology approach, both in theoretical and analytical terms as well as at the level of empirical research. The 12 Italian and foreign adolescents who were interviewed spoke about themselves through images and videos. 3 types of identity construction were identified thanks to these presentations: relational, planners and dreamers, and a reciprocal connection between individuals and society, and the plurality of paths in the transition to adult life were confirmed.

Scopo del contributo è descrivere la costruzione e rappresentazione dell’identità nel corso della transizione adolescenziale. Ipotizzata circolarità e reciproca determinazione tra individui e società, lo studio tratta il tema dell’identità come frutto di riflessività e di chances di vita offerte dal contesto. Il fuoco dell’attenzione è sugli adolescenti di origine straniera, scelti come oggetto di studio perché chiamati a vivere la transizione identitaria in maniera amplificata dall’esperienza migratoria ed esemplificativa di traiettorie di costruzione del Sé percorse anche dai pari italiani. L’analisi sottolinea dunque l’analogia generazionale tra adolescenti italiani e stranieri e la pluralità di definizioni identitarie, anche prescindendo dall’eventuale esperienza migratoria. Lo studio ha seguito l’approccio della sociologia visuale, sia nei riferimenti teorici ed analitici, sia sul piano della ricerca empirica. Sono stati intervistati 12 adolescenti, italiani e stranieri, che hanno narrato di sé presentando immagini e video. A partire da ciò sono state individuate 3 tipologie di costruzione identitaria, quella dei relazionali, quella dei progettisti e quella dei sognatori, e si è confermata la reciproca connessione tra individui e società e la pluralità di traiettorie nella transizione alla vita adulta.
The study’s aim is to describe the construction and representation of identity during the adolescent transition. Hypothesizing circularity and reciprocal determination between individuals and society, the study deals with the topic of identity as the result of reflexivity and lifetime chances which are offered by the context. Attention is focused on adolescents with foreign origins, chosen as the subject of study because they are called to experience identity transition in a way which is broadened due to their migratory experiences, and exemplified by paths involving Self-construction which their Italian peers also follow. The analysis thus underscores the generational analogy between Italian and foreign adolescents and the plurality of definitions of identity, also irrespective of any migratory experience. The study followed the visual sociology approach, both in theoretical and analytical terms as well as at the level of empirical research. The 12 Italian and foreign adolescents who were interviewed spoke about themselves through images and videos. 3 types of identity construction were identified thanks to these presentations: relational, planners and dreamers, and a reciprocal connection between individuals and society, and the plurality of paths in the transition to adult life were confirmed.

Walking in the countryside is an increasingly popular pursuit in Britain. Much previous research within the social sciences has tended to concentrate on the physiological benefits, barriers or facilitators to walking. This thesis explores particular walkers’ complex motivations for and modes of walking, their individual engagements with certain types of (northern) landscapes and the significance of specific kinds of visual images, traditions and wider practices of looking. Constructions and discourses of landscape are considered in relation to the persistence of certain ideas and aesthetic traditions as well as and in relation to current concerns about individual health and social well-being. The research is multi-disciplinary and engages with studies of art history and visual culture, cultural geography, anthropology and sociology. Visual studies research methods are used to explore individual interpretations and experiences of landscapes, and how the circulation and consumption of particular kinds of images might inform attitudes to walks and walking. Walkers’ views and attitudes have been investigated using an ethnographic approach. In-depth qualitative interviews (including photo elicitation) have been undertaken with walkers who regularly walked five or more miles in the countryside either in organised groups, on their own or with friends and family, in order to capture how walking is perceived, felt, and made sense of. A grounded theory approach has been used for the interviews, building on theories that emerged from systematic comparative analysis, and were grounded in the fieldwork. Overall the thesis observes a marked persistence of and some striking similarities between particular ideas, cultural traditions and interpretations of walking in and ways of looking at types of countryside from the Romantic period to the present day.

It is the fundamental insight of phenomenology that meaning is first and foremost - not something which we intellectually reflect on. It is not a product of the mind reworking raw, perceptual experiences. Rather meaning, and our connection to the world, are perceptual phenomena. Thus, to understand the ways in which children find meaning demands a turn toward perceptual experiences - how children see and feel. In this theoretical dissertation, I explore questions of perceptual experiences through a phenomenological framework that I refer to as the perceptual rite of passage (PRoP). The conceptual framework, which centers on attentiveness, labors to help us understand the ontology of perception for preadolescents and how meaning emerges through everyday encounters.

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This Master s thesis, which was developed in the Post-graduate Program in Education (FAE) at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas, in Pelotas, RS, Brazil, in the line of research named Written Culture: Languages and Learning, deals with the construction of new educative experiences in Sociology teaching based on some aspects of the cultural tradition in Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil. Studies carried out by the Research Group on the Imaginary, Education and Memory (GEPIEM) and theoretical references in the field of the imaginary, such as Gaston Bachelard s poetic phenomenology, Gilbert Durand s science of the man and tradition and Michel Maffesoli s Sociology of Everyday Life, have provided the basis for this research. This investigation aims at identifying how Sociology teaching can contribute to the process of (re)enthrallment with the world and Education. Therefore, I have used (self)development practices in immersive experiences - similar to teaching mysticism which take into account imaginative attention (Gaston Bachelard) in the production of visual narratives (photos) collected in Bagé. The study has been carried out in three methodological steps: estrangement, embedment and convergence. In the first stage, I have reflected upon the images of personal experiences that have led me to the theme of this research, i. e., I have shown symbolic and imaginary representations which have encouraged my task as a teacher-researcher and as a dweller in Bagé. In the second part, I have shown the construction of an educational project called Narradores de Bagé aimed at students who go to IFSul Campus Bagé; students have been stimulated to dive into the city s everyday life while they focus on themes and spaces of popular and ancestral culture found in traditional communities. The community that was chosen for the visual narratives which were constructed by me and by the students was the one in the Rincão do Inferno, located in the Quilombo de Palmas (Bagé, RS). Finally, the third methodological stage has represented the confluence of the previous steps towards the synthesis of the study in which the teacher-researcher puts into practice his/her own imaginative attention and the one found in his/her teaching, thus, believing in the fictionalization of Education and research itself towards world reenchantment. With the help of the phenomenological method, influenced by Gaston Bachelard, I have gotten symbolic cores which summarize the most common themes of every methodological step: Return, Rooting, Lasso and Tradition. Results have shown the importance of visual narratives and imaginative attention in the construction of mysticism in Sociology teaching, in agreement with the elements of world enchantment: rooting in time and surrounding space remythicalization, the power of rituals and spells , the intuition of the moment, everyday activities, community bonds, sharing moments, original enthusiasm and romanticism of ideas. Imaginative attention, which was awaken by the use of visual narratives, represented the bonds that students and the teacher-researcher constructed with the spaces in Bagé s tradition, thus, helping them to exercise Sociology of poetic imagination. On one hand, imaginative attention mitigated logical, rationalized and utilitarian elements in Sociology teaching. On the other hand, it enhanced ludic, indirect, oneiric and spontaneous aspects which are also indispensable for knowledge construction.
Esta pesquisa de mestrado, desenvolvida na linha de pesquisa Cultura Escrita: linguagens e aprendizagem, do Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação (FAE/UFPel), trata da construção de novas experiências educativas para o ensino da Sociologia, a partir do contato com alguns aspectos da tradição cultural do município de Bagé (Rio Grande do Sul). Com base nos trabalhos desenvolvidos no interior do Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas sobre Imaginário, Educação e Memória (GEPIEM), tomo como referencial teórico os estudos do campo do Imaginário, dentre eles a fenomenologia poética de Gaston Bachelard, a ciência do homem e da tradição de Gilbert Durand e a Sociologia do Cotidiano de Michel Maffesoli. A problemática desta investigação é identificar de que modo o ensino da Sociologia pode contribuir para o processo de reencantamento do mundo e da educação. Para isso, utilizo-me de práticas de (auto)formação em experiências imersivas, próximas de uma mística do ensino, que contemplem a atenção imaginante (Gaston Bachelard) na produção de narrativas visuais (fotografias) de Bagé. O trabalho se desenvolve em três etapas metodológicas: do estranhamento, do entranhamento e da convergência. Na primeira etapa, medito sobre as imagens de experiências pessoais que me levaram ao tema desta pesquisa. É o momento em que exponho as representações simbólicas e imaginárias que fomentam minha atividade como professor-pesquisador e como habitante da cidade de Bagé. Na segunda parte, apresento a construção de um projeto de formação voltado para os estudantes do IFSul Campus Bagé, chamado Narradores de Bagé. Nesse momento, os estudantes são estimulados a adentrarem o cotidiano do município a partir de temas e espaços da cultura popular e ancestral das comunidades tradicionais. A comunidade escolhida para apreciação das narrativas visuais, construídas por mim e por estudantes, é a da região do Rincão do Inferno, situada no Quilombo de Palmas (Bagé RS). Por fim, a terceira etapa metodológica representa a confluência das etapas anteriores, em direção à síntese do trabalho. Nesse momento, o professor-pesquisador coloca em prática a atenção imaginante de si e do seu próprio fazer docente, investindo na ficcionalização da educação e da própria pesquisa, em direção ao reencantamento do mundo. Com o auxílio do método fenomenológico, sob influência de Gaston Bachelard, extraí núcleos simbólicos que remetem aos temas mais recorrentes de cada uma das três etapas metodológicas: Retorno, Enraizamento, Laço e Tradição. O resultado aponta para a importância das narrativas visuais e da atenção imaginante para a construção de uma mística do ensino em Sociologia, em consonância com os elementos do reencantamento do mundo: enraizamento ao tempo e ao espaço circundante, remitologização, poder do ritual e do feitiço , intuição do instante, agir cotidiano, laços comunitários, momentos de partilha, entusiasmo primordial, romantismo das ideias. A atenção imaginante, despertada pelo uso das narrativas visuais, representou a adesão dos estudantes e do professor-pesquisador aos espaços da tradição bageense, ajudando a exercitar uma sociologia da imaginação poética. A atenção imaginante, portanto, reduziu os elementos lógicos, racionalizantes e utilitários do ensino da Sociologia e aumentou os aspectos lúdicos, indiretos, oníricos e espontâneos, indispensáveis também para a construção do conhecimento.

Cette thèse étudie la vie sociale des images à Sarcelles, ville située dans la banlieue nord de Paris. Elle porte sur les matériaux et les interactions photographiques qui définissent socialement cet espace. En partant d’une ethnographie visuelle menée entre 2015 et 2018, elle explore les pratiques imagées, ces activités qui encadrent la fabrication, le partage et l’accomplissement social des images. Le projet général de cette recherche est l’étude de ce que j’ai nommé une communauté imagée. Cette notion permet d’analyser l’écologie des pratiques visuelles à partir d’une démarche à la fois pragmatique et phénoménologique. Si la plupart des ethnographies emploient la photographie comme un moyen pour décrire ou illustrer des phénomènes sociaux, cette thèse propose un revirement méthodologique et épistémologique : c’est en photographiant qu’il est possible d’étudier les pratiques visuelles dans l’environnement social où elles se produisent. Dans cet esprit, il est question ici de proposer une ethnographie des images et par les images, c’est-à-dire une photo-ethnographie critique, réflexive et participative pour interroger la dimension sensible des expériences sociales. Au croisement de la sociologie, de l’anthropologie, des études urbaines et des études visuelles, cette recherche contribue au développement de l’ethnographie visuelle. Sur la base d’une phénoménologie des expériences visuelles, elle explore les multiples configurations des affects urbains en suivant une démarche non indicielle. Elle accorde ainsi une attention particulière aux processus de fabrication, d’échange, de publicisation et d’accomplissement des images sur le terrain. Cette thèse s’articule autour de cinq chapitres. Le premier étudie l’économie des images au niveau municipal. Il fait un état de l’art des productions photographiques sur Sarcelles et examine les stratégies institutionnelles et artistiques déployées dans la définition des récits portant sur cet espace. Le deuxième analyse l’écologie des échanges visuels au niveau local à partir des formes de résistance imagée des citoyen-ne-s sur les médias et les réseaux sociaux. Le troisième explore le rapport entre expérience spatiale et photographie sur la base d’une activité immersive, sensorielle et non indicielle. Le quatrième chapitre sonde la façon dont l’espace urbain est vu et vécu par les habitant-e-s à partir de méthodes participatives. Ces pratiques collaboratives permettent d’interroger les représentations de l’expérience en ville en problématisant la place de l’enquêteur et de l’enquêté-e sous un prisme intersectionnel. Enfin, le cinquième chapitre décrit les différents degrés de publicisation des récits photo-ethnographiques en explicitant l’accomplissement de ces derniers à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur de la ville, notamment dans le milieu photojournalistique. Il s’agit donc ici d’enquêter sur les modalités de réception ainsi que sur la définition publique et médiatique de la communauté imagée. En somme, cette thèse contribue au développement de l’anthropologie et de la sociologie visuelle en proposant une approche à la fois phénoménologique, pragmatique et critique fondée sur l’engagement photographique de l’ethnographe sur le terrain
The present dissertation explores the social life of pictures at Sarcelles, a city to the north of Paris. This research focuses on the materials and photographic interactions that socially define this place. Based on a visual ethnography conducted between 2015 and 2018, this research explores the “imaged practices” (pratiques imagées), those activities that define and frame the creation, publicization, and performance of visual materials. The main objective of this dissertation is to study what I have called an imaged community (communauté imagée). This concept is a means to study the visual ecology of imaged practices both from a pragmatic and phenomenological point of view. While most researches in the field use photography as a means to describe or illustrate social phenomena, the present one advocates for a critical, reflexive, and participatory photographic ethnography based on sensorial and participatory activities. Combining fruitfully sociology, anthropology, urban studies, and visual studies, this investigation contributes to the methodological and theoretical development of visual ethnography. Relying on non-indexical photographic practices, the present dissertation details the multiple definition of visual experiences in urban settings. It delves into the dynamics of creation, exchange, publicization, and accomplishment of visual materials in the field. This manuscript is structured into five chapters. The first one presents the visual economy of photographic materials on an urban scale. It reveals the existing photographic materials on Sarcelles and examines the institutional and artistic strategies locally deployed since years which have functioned at defining the imaged community. The second one analyzes the ecology of visual interactions on a local scale based on a series of civic resistances which took place in the digital spaces. The third one explores the relationship between spatial experience and photography based on immersive, sensory, and non-representational visual practices. The fourth chapter explores how urban space is seen and experienced by the inhabitants of Sarcelles through visual participatory methods. This last chapter raises theoretical and methodological awareness on power relationships in the field and reflexively reconsiders the photographic activity putting at the front line the relations between race, class, and gender. Finally, the fifth chapter describes the different degrees of publicization of the photo-ethnographic accounts by analyzing how these last ones accomplish by thoroughly explaining how these productions are made and published. In particular, I explore the social construction of Sarcelles in photojournalism based on the visual and media definition of the imaged community in this professional environment. In sum, this dissertation contributes to the development of visual anthropology and visual sociology. Based on the photographic engagement in the field, it advocates for a phenomenological, pragmatic, and critical approach of visual ethnography

I nodi concettuali analizzati nel presente lavoro sono stati fondamentalmente due: 1) le politiche dello sviluppo in area mediterranea; 2) l'importanza che assumono in questo quadro i temi legati all'appartenenza e all'identità. In questo senso il concetto di sviluppo sostenibile è un altro punto chiave di questa parte. Al percorso teorico ha fatto seguito uno studio di caso presso l'arcipelago maltese.
This thesis is focused on two aspects: 1) the politics of development in the Mediterranean area, 2) the crucial role played by identity. The theoretical part is followed by a case study in the Malta archipelago, where we studied the development processes along with the identity dynamics through a multimethod approach.

I nodi concettuali analizzati nel presente lavoro sono stati fondamentalmente due: 1) le politiche dello sviluppo in area mediterranea; 2) l'importanza che assumono in questo quadro i temi legati all'appartenenza e all'identità. In questo senso il concetto di sviluppo sostenibile è un altro punto chiave di questa parte. Al percorso teorico ha fatto seguito uno studio di caso presso l'arcipelago maltese.
This thesis is focused on two aspects: 1) the politics of development in the Mediterranean area, 2) the crucial role played by identity. The theoretical part is followed by a case study in the Malta archipelago, where we studied the development processes along with the identity dynamics through a multimethod approach.

This study reports the findings of a systematic visual content analysis of 356 randomly sampled images published about the Iraq War in Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report from 2003-2009. In comparison to a 1995 Gulf War study, published images in all three newsmagazines continued to be U.S.-centric, with the highest content frequencies reflected in the categories U.S. troops on combat patrol, Iraqi civilians, and U.S. political leaders respectively. These content categories do not resemble the results of the Gulf War study in which armaments garnered the largest share of the images with 23%.

This study concludes that embedding photojournalists, in addition to media economics, governance, and the media-organizational culture, restricted an accurate representation of the Iraq War and its consequences. Embedding allowed more access to both troops and civilians than the journalistic pool system of the Gulf War, which stationed the majority of journalists in Saudi Arabia and allowed only a few journalists into Iraq with the understanding they would share information. However, the perceived opportunity by journalists to more thoroughly cover the war through the policy of embedding was not realized to the extent they had hoped for. The embed protocols acted more as an indirect form of censorship.

This thesis analyses the representation of poverty in the charity programmes broadcast on Turkish television, namely Deniz Feneri, Kimse Yok mu, Yarinlar Umut Olsun and Yolcu. It examines the continuities, discontinuities and breaks in the representation of poor with reference to Turkish cinema, novel and media. Critical discourse analysis of the charity programmes indicates that poverty is legitimised and naturalised, being made no reference to social, economic and political context of poverty. The construction of the poor as &ldquo
objects of aid&rdquo
given by &ldquo
philanthropists&rdquo
is examined and it is argued that the poor become a means of salvation, self-realisation and self-fulfilment of &ldquo
philanthropist&rdquo
. It is here claimed that Islam and nationalist-conservative discourse serve the internalisation and tranquillisation of poverty in the programmes. The study also analyses the visual and aural representations of the poor in the programmes. The slow-motion, black and white photographs, close-up, limited motion, and the music accompanying the pictures are the most fundamental tools of dramatising poverty in the charity programmes
and they address to &ldquo
conscience&rdquo
of &ldquo
philanthropists&rdquo
. It is also argued that voiceover and subtitling efface the voice of the poor.

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008.
It has been said that anthropology operates in “liminal spaces” which can be defined as “spaces between disciplines”. This study will explore the space where the fields of art and anthropology meet in order to discover the epistemological and representational challenges that arise from this encounter. The common ground on which art and anthropology engage can be defined in terms of their observational and knowledge producing practices. Both art and anthropology rely on observational skills and varying forms of visual literacy to collect and represent data. Anthropologists represent their data mostly in written form by means of ethnographic accounts, and artists represent their findings by means of imaginative artistic mediums such as painting, sculpture, filmmaking and music. Following the so-called ‘ethnographic turn’, contemporary artists have adopted an ‘anthropological’ gaze, including methodologies, such as fieldwork, in their appropriation of other cultures. Anthropologists, on the other hand, in the wake of the ‘writing culture’ critique of the 1980s, are starting to explore new forms of visual research and representational practices that go beyond written texts.

La culture visuelle contemporaine ne peut pas être comprise sans avoir à l'esprit l'enjeu entre les conditions socio-économiques, les avancées technologiques et les opérations artistiques au cours des deux derniers siècles. C'est en considérant cet enjeu, qu'on s'interroge: Quels sont les rapports entre l'image technique, la parole et le réel? Quels sont les liens entre les différents dispositifs qui composent l'ensemble médiatique actuel? Comment peut-on décrire l'interaction entre les opérations de l'art, le commerce social des images et les valeurs fondatrices de l'institution esthétique (art / pas de l'art, haut / bas, auteur / récepteur, original / copie ...)? Ce questionnement prend une direction plus précise, par le biais de l'étude des images et des usages de la carte postale illustrée au cours des trois premières décennies du XXème siècle et des années 80, 90 et 2000. Concomitante à l'avènement de la photographie et à l'émergence d'un réseau postal de communication mondiale, la carte postale illustrée sera également analysée à partir d'une recollection de ses appropriations artistiques. Malgré l'étendue de l'archive scientifique dédiée à l'iconographie collective, notamment concernant des champs épistémologiques tels que la sociologie de l'imaginaire et les visual cultural studies, pour ne citer que deux exemples récents, il est à notre avis fort nécessaire de relire la théorie de l'image, tout en tenant compte des différents aspects du processus d'appareillement technique de l'image, qui s'ébauche au cours du siècle. XIX avec la photographie et le cinéma, et qui se poursuit aujourd'hui avec les réalités virtuelles et les ambiances numériques de la Web 2.0 ... La présente étude considère ce trajet à partir de deux notions fondamentales : l'idée de récréation et la conception de remédiation. L'image récréative traduit la reconnaissance de la nature paradoxale de l'image et de la technique : celles-ci seraient, d'une part, des entités douées d'"une sensibilité tirée à la manivelle" (Moisés Martins Lemos , 2011), qui se manifesterait sous les formes de l'aliénation et de l'automatisation ; d'autre part, l'image et la technique, une fois appropriées par des tactiques de réinvention, de recomposition et de réparation, deviendraient des instances favorables à l'expérience et à l'affirmation de notre condition historique. À son tour, la notion de remédiation, terminologie suggérée par Bolter et Grusin (2000), présuppose une affirmation de l'interdépendance des medias contemporains ; ceux-ci seraient un ensemble solidaire uni par des liens de collaboration non chronologiques, contraires au schéma séquentiel qui oppose les nouveaux aux vieux médias. Une culture traversée par la récréation et la remédiation est également, comme l'a constaté l'œuvre visionnaire de Walter Benjamin (1991, 1992), une culture où se troublent les frontières entre les statuts de l'auteur et du récepteur, de l'originel et de la copie, de l'high et du low, statuts normatifs artificiels destinés à légitimer le discours de l'institution esthétique. Absentes de notre traversée quotidienne et spontanée de la polymorphie des ambiances visuelles, les dichotomies mentionnées seraient l'objet de nombreuses dérisions artistiques, aujourd'hui paradoxalement assimilées par l'institution esthétique. La carte postale, autrefois protagoniste des grandes expositions universelles, et aujourd'hui omniprésente dans les espaces polyculturelles de l'art moderne et contemporain - dans leurs magasins, leurs salles d'exposition et leurs aires de loisir tels que les cafés, bars et restaurants -, revêt un intérêt particulier...

Tese doutoramento Ciências da Comunicação (área de especialização em Teoria da Cultura)
Compreendendo a cultura visual contemporânea como resultante do jogo vivido entre as condições socioeconómicas, os avanços tecnológicos e as operações artísticas ao longo dos últimos dois séculos, perguntamo-nos: Quais as relações entre a imagem, a palavra e o real daí decorrentes? Quais as ligações entre os diferentes dispositivos do atual contexto mediático? Como caraterizar a interação entre as operações artísticas, o comércio social de imagens e os valores fundadores da instituição estética (arte/não arte, high/low, autor/espetador, original/cópia...)? Esta problemática encontra uma direção mais precisa na análise das imagens e dos usos do postal ilustrado ao longo das três primeiras décadas do séc. XX e dos anos 80, 90 e 2000 e ainda na recoleção das apropriações artísticas deste média, inseparável do advento da fotografia e da instalação de uma rede postal de comunicação mundial. Consideramos que, embora o arquivo científico em torno da iconografia coletiva se torne progressivamente extenso, nomeadamente com a afirmação de domínios epistemológicos que vão da sociologia do imaginário aos visual cultural studies, para apenas citar dois recentes exemplos, este não dispensa e pelo contrário torna premente uma persistente revisão da teoria da imagem, que tenha em conta diferentes aspetos do processo de tecnologização da mesma, iniciado no séc. XIX com a fotografia e o cinema, e que prossegue hoje com as realidades digitais e os ambientes virtuais da Web 2.0.... A revisão deste trajeto é elaborada no nosso estudo a partir das ideias de recreação e de remediação. A imagem recreativa corresponde a uma conceção paradoxal da imagem e da técnica enquanto entidades que seriam, por um lado, vocacionadas para “uma sensibilidade puxada à manivela”, retomando a expressiva fórmula de Moisés de Lemos Martins (2011), através de formas de alienação e de automatização, e por outro lado, favoráveis ao exercício da experiência e à afirmação da condição histórica, através de táticas de reinvenção, de rearranjo e de conserto. A noção de remediação, terminologia sugerida por Bolter & Grusin (2000) pressupõe um entendimento do complexo mediático contemporâneo enquanto um todo interdependente, unido por relações de colaboração e de hibridação não cronológicas, que entra em rutura com o linear esquema sequencial que distingue novos e velhos média. Uma cultura atravessada por táticas de recreação e de remediação é ainda, como o entreviu o visionário pensamento de Walter Benjamin (1991, 1992), uma cultura onde se instabilizaram as fronteiras entre as posições de autor e de espetador, os estatutos de original e de cópia, de high e de low, categorias artificiais de caráter normativo que se destinariam a legitimar o discurso da instituição estética, mas que se manteriam ausentes no âmbito da nossa travessia espontânea e quotidiana de polimórficas atmosferas visuais e que seriam, de resto, alvo das mais heterogéneas derisões artísticas, paradoxalmente hoje assimiladas por essa mesma instituição estética. O postal ilustrado, outrora protagonista das exposições universais, hoje omnipresente nos grandes centros policulturais de arte moderna e contemporânea – nas suas lojas, nas suas salas e nos seus espaços de ócio, como cafetarias, bares e restaurantes – insere-se na nossa problemática de modo especialmente pertinente: objeto entre a arte e o comércio, com imagens e palavras, veículo da fotografia e parente próximo do cinema, o postal presta-se tanto à exploração de uma estereotipia dos afetos como se oferece às artimanhas, aos truques e às montagens dos seus usuários. Não obstante o mal-estar generalizado que paira sobre as ideias de cultura, de imagem e de arte desde o início do séc. XX com a crítica às indústrias culturais até à atualidade com os ataques à sociedade do espetáculo de Guy Debord e à sociedade do simulacro de Jean Baudrillard, propomo-nos seguir a simples mas trabalhosa máxima proposta por Michel Maffesoli (1998) de “dire oui à la vie”, mapeando os intervalos de ação, os fragmentos de experiência e os pedaços de história coletados pelos mais conhecidos e mais anónimos, pelos mais excepcionais e pelos mais banais recreadores da imagem e refazedores do real.
La culture visuelle contemporaine ne peut pas être comprise sans avoir à l’esprit l’enjeu entre les conditions socio-économiques, les avancées technologiques et les opérations artistiques au cours des deux derniers siècles. C’est en considérant cet enjeu, qu’on s’interroge: Quels sont les rapports entre l'image technique, la parole et le réel? Quels sont les liens entre les différents dispositifs qui composent l’ensemble médiatique actuel? Comment peut-on décrire l'interaction entre les opérations de l’art, le commerce social des images et les valeurs fondatrices de l’institution esthétique (art / pas de l'art, haut / bas, auteur / récepteur, original / copie ...)? Ce questionnement prend une direction plus précise, par le biais de l’étude des images et des usages de la carte postale illustrée au cours des trois premières décennies du XXème siècle et des années 80, 90 et 2000. Concomitante à l'avènement de la photographie et à l’émergence d'un réseau postal de communication mondiale, la carte postale illustrée sera également analysée à partir d’une recollection de ses appropriations artistiques. Malgré l’étendue de l’archive scientifique dédiée à l'iconographie collective, notamment concernant des champs épistémologiques tels que la sociologie de l'imaginaire et les visual cultural studies, pour ne citer que deux exemples récents, il est à notre avis fort nécessaire de relire la théorie de l'image, tout en tenant compte des différents aspects du processus d’appareillement technique de l’image, qui s’ébauche au cours du siècle. XIX avec la photographie et le cinéma, et qui se poursuit aujourd'hui avec les réalités virtuelles et les ambiances numériques de la Web 2.0 ... La présente étude considère ce trajet à partir de deux notions fondamentales : l’idée de récréation et la conception de remédiation. L'image récréative traduit la reconnaissance de la nature paradoxale de l’image et de la technique : celles-ci seraient, d’une part, des entités douées d’”une sensibilité tirée à la manivelle” (Moisés Martins Lemos , 2011), qui se manifesterait sous les formes de l'aliénation et de l'automatisation ; d'autre part, l’image et la technique, une fois appropriées par des tactiques de réinvention, de recomposition et de réparation, deviendraient des instances favorables à l'expérience et à l'affirmation de notre condition historique. À son tour, la notion de remédiation, terminologie suggérée par Bolter et Grusin (2000), présuppose une affirmation de l’interdépendance des medias contemporains ; ceux-ci seraient un ensemble solidaire uni par des liens de collaboration non chronologiques, contraires au schéma séquentiel qui oppose les nouveaux aux vieux médias. Une culture traversée par la récréation et la remédiation est également, comme l’a constaté l’oeuvre visionnaire de Walter Benjamin (1991, 1992), une culture où se troublent les frontières entre les statuts de l'auteur et du récepteur, de l’originel et de la copie, de l’high et du low, statuts normatifs artificiels destinés à légitimer le discours de l'institution esthétique. Absentes de notre traversée quotidienne et spontanée de la polymorphie des ambiances visuelles, les dichotomies mentionnées seraient l’objet de nombreuses dérisions artistiques, aujourd'hui paradoxalement assimilées par l’institution esthétique. La carte postale, autrefois protagoniste des grandes expositions universelles, et aujourd'hui omniprésente dans les espaces polyculturelles de l'art moderne et contemporain - dans leurs magasins, leurs salles d’exposition et leurs aires de loisir tels que les cafés, bars et restaurants -, revêt un intérêt particulier pour l’approfondissement de ce débat: objet entre l’art et le commerce, avec des images et des mots, vecteur de diffusion de la photographie et proche du cinéma, la carte postale illustrée se prête tantôt à l'exploration d'une stéréotypie d’affects tantôt à la concertation d’astuces et de ruses, à l’expérimentation de truquages et de montages de la part de ses utilisateurs. Nonobstant le malaise général qui pèse sur les idées de culture, d'art et d'image, depuis le début du XXème siècle avec les critiques qui visaient les industries culturelles, jusqu’à nos jours avec les attaques contre la société du spectacle de Guy Debord (2006) et la société du simulacre de Jean Baudrillard (1988), nous acceptons de suivre la maxime simple mais laborieuse proposée par Michel Maffesoli (1998) de “dire oui à la vie", en cartographiant les intervalles d'action, les fragments d'expérience et les morceaux d'histoire collectés par les plus connus et les plus anonymes, les plus rares et les plus banaux recréateurs de l’image et refaiseurs du réel.
Understanding contemporary visual culture as a result of the game between socio-economic conditions, technological advances and artistic operations over the past two centuries, we ask ourselves: What are the relationships between image, word and the reality? What are the connections between different devices of the current media context? and the interaction between operations artistic, images’ social commerce and the founding values of the aesthetic institution (art / non art, high / low, author / viewer, original / copy ...)? This broad issue finds a more accurate direction in the analysis of images and uses of the postcard over the first three decades of the century XX and 80, 90 and 2000 and also in the recollection of this artistic media appropriation, inseparable from the advent of photography and installation of a network of world postal communication. We believe that, although the scientific archive about the collective iconography progressively becomes more extensive, particularly with the affirmation of epistemological fields ranging from sociology of the imaginary to the visual cultural studies, just to mention two recent examples, this does not make it unnecessary, on the contrary, it makes it urgent to persistently review the theory of the image, which takes into account different aspects of the same technologization process, started in the century XIX with photography and film, and which continues today with the realities of digital and virtual environments web 2.0 ... The review of this path is drawn in our study with the support of the notions of recreation and remediation. The recreational image corresponds to a paradoxical conception of image and technique as entities that would be, on the one hand, aimed at "a sensitivity pulled by the crank," retaking the expressive formula of Moisés de Lemos Martins (2011), through forms of alienation and automation and, on the other hand, the favourable to the exercise of experience and the affirmation of the historical condition, through reinvention, rearrangement and repair tactics. The notion of remediation, terminology suggested by Bolter & Grusin (2000), requires an understanding of the complex contemporary media as an interdependent whole, united by non-chronological relationships of collaboration and hybridization, which rupture with the linear sequential scheme that distinguishes new and old media. A culture crossed by recreation and remediation tactics is also, as the visionary thought of Walter Benjamin (1991, 1992) glimpsed, a culture where the boundaries between the positions of author and viewer, the status of original and copy and high and low have been weakened, artificial normative categories that were intended to legitimize the discourse of aesthetic institution, but which would remain absent within our daily and spontaneous route of polymorphic visual atmospheres and would be, moreover, object of the most heterogeneous artistic derisions, paradoxically today assimilated by that aesthetics institution. The picture postcard, once the protagonist of universal expositions, today ubiquitous in major policultural centres of modern and contemporary art - in its stores, in their classrooms and in their leisure spaces, such as coffee shops, bars and restaurants - fits our problem in a very particular way: object between art and commerce, with pictures and words, photography vehicle, close relative of cinema, the postal lends itself both to the exploration of a stereotypy of affects and it also offers to tricks, the tricks and the assemblies of its users. Nevertheless the general malaise that hangs over the ideas of culture, art and picture from the beginning of the XX century with the critic to the cultural industries up to the present day with the attacks to the society of the spectacle of Guy Debord and the society of the simulacrum of Jean Baudrillard, we propose the following simple and laborious maximum suggested by Michel Maffesoli (1998), "dire oui à la vie", mapping the intervals of action, the fragments of experience and the pieces of history collected by the best known and most anonymous, for the most exceptional and the most banal recreators of the image and the remakers of the real.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)
Programa Operacional Potencial Humano (POPH)
Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The value of art is a critical concept in theoretical discourse. As a result, the high prices of artworks on auctions pose questions about the various processes of value construction and the status of art in these processes. This thesis adopts a sociological approach to the construction of value of art on South African auctions. This approach is situated within a socio-historical perspective, which introduces the various social structures and conditions of cultural production. The main premise of this approach is that a multiplicity of social and cultural influences permeates the art market, its processes and structures, and therefore the determination of value. This research therefore indicates that the value of art on auction is socially constructed. As such, the value of an artwork does not reside in itself, but is produced (and constantly reproduced) through processes that are subject to the codes and conventions of the art world. Within the context of the art market, artworks function as commodities for economic exchange. Since economic exchange is socially and culturally situated, the distinctive ways in which art auctions in South Africa (as a market intermediary) encompass certain social and cultural processes, is also explored. To asses the various factors that influence the value and exchange of artworks on auction, the study introduces the Components of Value Model. The Aesthetic and Historical Factors; the Supporting Documentation and Material Attributes of an artwork, as well as the Financial and Economic Factors collectively indicate that values are, first and foremost, social categories. The value of art on auction is therefore a socially constructed value.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die waarde van kuns is ‘n kritiese konesep in teoretiese gesprekvoering. Na aanleiding van die hoë pryse wat kunswerke op Suid-Afrikaanse veilings behaal, word verskeie vrae gevolglik gestel rondom die verskillende prosesse van waarde samestelling en die status van kuns in hierdie prosesse. Hierdie verhandeling neem ‘n sosiologiese benadering aan tot die samestelling van die waarde van kuns op veilings. Dié benadering is gesetel binne ‘n sosio-historiese perspektief wat verskeie sosiale strukture en voorwaardes van kulturele-produksie inlei. Die hoof premis van hierdie benadering is dat ‘n aantal sosiale en kulturele invloede die kunsmark se prosesse en trukture deurweek, en gevolglik ook die bepaling van waarde. Hierdie navorsing kom dus tot die gevolgtrekking dat die waarde van kuns op veilings sosiaal geskep word. Gevolglik is die waarde van kuns nie intrinsiek nie, maar word geproduseer (en aanhoudend geherproduseer) deur prosesse wat onderhewig is aan die kodes en konvensies van die kunswêreld. Binne die konteks van die kunsmark, funksioneer kunswerke bloot as kommoditeite vir ekonomiese verhandeling. Omdat ekonomiese vehandeling sosiaal en kultureel gesetel is, word die eiesoortige wyse van hoe kunsveilings (as ‘n marktussenganger) sekere sosiale en kulturele prosesse omvat, ook ondersoek. Om die veskeie faktore wat die waarde van kunswerke op veilings beïnvloed te ondersoek, word die ‘Komponente van Waarde Model’ ingebring. Gevolglik dui die Esteties- en Historiese Faktore; Ondersteunende Dokumentasie en Materiële Eienskappe van kunswerke asook die Finansiële en Ekonomiese Faktore gesamantlik aan dat waardes hoofsaaklik sosiale kategorieë is. Die waarde van kuns op veiling is gevolglik sosiaal gekonstrueer.

This thesis explores the intersection of age, gender and sexuality in representations of older lesbian characters in contemporary narrative film. Taking the 1990s as a benchmark of lesbian visibility, I explore the turn of the century representability by focusing on British and American film (1995 to 2009). I identify a hypervisibility paradox during this period of cinematic production where the presence of a multitude of young lesbian and bisexual characters can be seen to be in complete contrast with the invisibility of the older lesbian. Mainstream postfeminist culture censors the ageing female body, except in its ‘successfully aged’, youthful, heterosexualised form. Older lesbian characters are excluded from this frame of visibility and, instead, are represented through paradigms associated with the concept of ‘ageing as decline.’ There is little in existing age studies or lesbian film studies to articulate an understanding of the intersection of age, gender and sexuality in cinematic representation. I adopt an interdisciplinary cultural studies approach to make my contribution in what is an under-researched area and present a multifaceted approach to a complex cultural image. I investigate the continuity of the concept of the lesbian as ghostly (Castle, 1993) through narratives of illness, death and mourning. I argue that the narrative of ‘ageing as decline’ stands in for the process of ‘killing off’ lesbian characters (identified in 1960s and 1970s cinema). The intersection of the identity old with lesbian thus results in a double ghosting and ‘disappearance’ of the older lesbian character. Regarding Notes on a Scandal (Eyre, 2006), I pursue two particular readings. One emphasises the return of the lesbian as monstrous based on the construction of ageing and lesbian desire as abject (Kristeva, 1982). A second reading moves beyond the monstrous lesbian as a ‘negative’ stereotype and identifies the protagonist as a queer character who subverts heteronormativity. Finally, I turn to oppositional reading practices in order to optimise the possibilities of identifications across mainstream film texts. Based on Judi Dench’s various transgressive film roles, her role as M in the Bond franchise in particular, I explore this actress’ subversive potential to represent the older lesbian. I conclude that despite mainstream cinema’s hypervisibility paradox, characters who transgress age, gender and sexuality norms can provide opportunities for lesbian identification.