This thesis studies the connection between suffering and sentience in Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (1921) and the first season of Westworld (HBO, 2016). Both R.U.R. and Westworld present suffering as a...Show moreThis thesis studies the connection between suffering and sentience in Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (1921) and the first season of Westworld (HBO, 2016). Both R.U.R. and Westworld present suffering as a catalyst for the emergence of a human form of consciousness in artificial people. Initially, however, organic human characters in both texts are convinced that artificial people feel no pain and are unable to suffer. The organic human characters use this supposed inability to justify the inhumane treatment of the artificial characters. This thesis demonstrates how R.U.R. and Westworld reflect on the ways that theories about differences in sensitivity to pain were and continue to be used to justify the mistreatment of Others in real life. Additionally, the thesis shows how R.U.R. and Westworld offer illustrations of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, in which one’s suffering in response to the Other’s suffering is the foundation of becoming a fully human subject. The thesis shows how R.U.R. and Westworld interweave these opposite ways of responding to the suffering Other, and thereby contribute to a better understanding of the role of suffering in the ongoing negation of what it means to be human.Show less
This thesis examines the potency of film dialogue as an articulator of fear in Robert Eggers’ The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019). Using extant studies on film dialogue as its groundwork,...Show moreThis thesis examines the potency of film dialogue as an articulator of fear in Robert Eggers’ The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019). Using extant studies on film dialogue as its groundwork, this thesis employs a close reading of the dialogue in Robert Eggers’ films. Ultimately, it argues that Eggers’ films utilise dialogue in order to articulate their contextual fears, rather than the visual language that predominates the horror genre.Show less
In questo studio viene analizzata l’immagine nederlandese dal punto di vista italiano. Partendo dalla teoria dell’imagologia, in cui gli studiosi Leerssen et al. hanno dato un grande contributo,...Show moreIn questo studio viene analizzata l’immagine nederlandese dal punto di vista italiano. Partendo dalla teoria dell’imagologia, in cui gli studiosi Leerssen et al. hanno dato un grande contributo, vengono confrontate e analizzate diverse fonti secondarie che contengono immagini nederlandesi. Dagli studi di Van Gorp e Béneker (2007), Krol (2009) e Verheul (2014) emergono alcuni degli stereotipi nederlandesi che insieme formano un’immagine della cultura, della nazione e dei suoi abitanti. Queste immagini vengono elencate e analizzate e viene fatto un confronto con le immagini che si trovano nell’analisi di altre fonti (primarie e secondarie) italiane, nonché con un dataset tratto da un questionario a cui hanno risposto quasi 500 italiani. Il questionario è stato creato e diffuso espressamente per questa tesi. Si cercherà di rispondere alla domanda se vi è una differenza tra l’immagine nederlandese dal punto di vista degli italiani che vivono nei Paesi Bassi rispetto all’immagine nederlandese dal punto di vista degli italiani che non sono mai stati nei Paesi Bassi.Show less
An analysis of the way serial murders are constructed in common society and culture, as applied in Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho. Silence comments on and applies these constructs...Show moreAn analysis of the way serial murders are constructed in common society and culture, as applied in Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho. Silence comments on and applies these constructs directly, but ultimately reinforces them all the same. American Psycho deconstructs them by satirizing the culture they stem from.Show less
To linger between two worlds; to perceive the doorway to another reality and to cross — voluntarily or not — the threshold is often the destiny of the literary hero or heroine. This thesis...Show moreTo linger between two worlds; to perceive the doorway to another reality and to cross — voluntarily or not — the threshold is often the destiny of the literary hero or heroine. This thesis critically examines the function of portals in such fiction and analyses the extent to which moving between the different realities facilitates character transformation for the protagonist. Over the past decades, Neil Gaiman has become one of the most successful authors of portal-fantasy; therefore, this thesis will focus on three of Gaiman’s novels to determine the nature of the portals operating within them. Chapter 1 will discuss the themes of escapism, alienation, and the desire to cross boundaries into unrealistic settings. Another concept to examine is the notion of liminality. Liminality is the state of being in between two worlds and belonging to neither, or belonging to both. The following three chapters will aim their attention at the portals that lead to liminal spaces in Neverwhere (1996), The Graveyard Book (2008) and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013). Each chapter contains three sections, which examine the nature of the portal that leads to the other world, the alien beings and concepts that the protagonist encounters in the secondary world, and the transformation that the protagonist undergoes during their experience of crossing into the these worlds. The thesis investigates the extent to which this transformation relates to the two worlds that the protagonist moves between. Another aim of the thesis, relating to transformation, is to show whether the portals in these narratives lead into a literal and metaphoric darkness, where the protagonist is forced to confront a trauma or hardship, or into light, serving as a domain of consolation, or relief from anguish. The conclusion will show that the ability to traverse between two worlds through a portal in these novels reshapes the protagonists’ understanding of the world around them in very different ways.Show less
The history of mankind is intrinsically linked to the history of narrative, since it is in our very being to communicate, and to produce narratives. In earlier times, people sat around the campfire...Show moreThe history of mankind is intrinsically linked to the history of narrative, since it is in our very being to communicate, and to produce narratives. In earlier times, people sat around the campfire or in the banquet hall to partake in the telling and hearing of stories about the world, about gods and higher powers, about heroes or extraordinary events, and so on. In the late 20th century, this oral tradition made a mainstream resurgence of sorts in western culture, with the rise of the (tabletop) Role Playing Game or ‘TTRPG’. These games, while not exact replications of oral tradition, are heavily reliant on its orality and collaborative storytelling elements, and its gameplay owes much to the narrative features and typescenes of oral tradition, especially medieval oral tradition, since the original TTRPG’s were inspired mainly by the medieval period. While scholars such as Walter J. Ong (Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, 1982) have already discussed oral tradition in detail, its link to the relatively new medium of the TTRPG has yet to be touched upon in scholarship. This thesis will attempt to close this gap to a degree, by investigating to what extent the non-linear narrative structure of the TTRPG Dungeons and Dragons resembles that of medieval oral tradition. First, this thesis will define what exactly constitutes medieval orality, by presenting (among others) Walter J. Ong’s theory pertaining to the “Psychodynamics of Orality,” and illustrating the presence of his characteristics in extant historical sources of medieval oral tradition, such as the Old English Beowulf and the Norse sagas. Second, an overview will be provided of the popular TTRPG Dungeons & Dragons, detailing its content, gameplay mechanics, history, and development. Finally, this thesis will demonstrate the relation between Dungeons & Dragons and medieval orality, by applying Walter J. Ong’s theory on oral characteristics to the TTRPG. In so doing, this thesis will demonstrate that (TT)RPG’s can provide valuable contributions to the scholarly fields wherein the topic is otherwise overlooked.Show less
This thesis explores the themes of family, loss and belonging in Wes Anderson's Rushmore (1998), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), and Moonrise Kingdom (2012). The thesis connects objects and places...Show moreThis thesis explores the themes of family, loss and belonging in Wes Anderson's Rushmore (1998), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), and Moonrise Kingdom (2012). The thesis connects objects and places within these films to the abovementioned themes, and shows parallels between the use of objects in these films and the way in which objects are used in George Eliot's novel The Mill on the Floss (1860) - objects have a multiplicity of functions in both. Key to Anderson's films are relations between characters, and objects and places in the films signify these bonds. In the end, the characters in the films find a place to belong in the other.Show less
