Research master thesis | Arts and Culture (research) (MA)
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Neoliberalism has altered the way in which the subject consumes and subsequently reflects upon media. A popular media genre on the internet nowadays is instruction videos, which can be consumed for...Show moreNeoliberalism has altered the way in which the subject consumes and subsequently reflects upon media. A popular media genre on the internet nowadays is instruction videos, which can be consumed for various reasons, but usually rely on the notion of conveying to the viewer a certain set of skills. Since these media are therefore consumed for a specific purpose intended, the viewer already pre-establishes a certain attitude and understanding, and furthermore gains a reflective understanding of this phenomenon itself. This thesis aims to reconsider the notion of spectatorship through a lens of phenomenology, in order to reevaluate the idea of a spectator's own understanding of their experience of a medium, which this thesis names "cognitive spectatorship," and shows how the genre of instruction videos and this new viewing attitude play into the Neoliberal ideology.Show less
The present thesis analyzes two works: Les Hommes centre l'human from Gabriel Marcel (1951) and Maus II from Art Spiegelmann (1991). The first one is a philosophical essay, very representative of...Show moreThe present thesis analyzes two works: Les Hommes centre l'human from Gabriel Marcel (1951) and Maus II from Art Spiegelmann (1991). The first one is a philosophical essay, very representative of the post-war French existentialist thoughts. The second one is a graphic novel about the Holocaust. Gabriel Marcel's philosophy is used in order to elucidate and get a better understanding of Spiegelman's interpretation of the Nazi crimes against the Jewish people. This thesis can also be situated in the larger framework of linking visual arts and philosophical texts, which is a developing but still not common process.Show less
