Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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In this text, I conduct a historical exploration of the theoretical evolution of both the reader in literary studies and viewer in film studies. Spanning from Antiquities right up to contemporary...Show moreIn this text, I conduct a historical exploration of the theoretical evolution of both the reader in literary studies and viewer in film studies. Spanning from Antiquities right up to contemporary criticism, I illuminate their parallel, yet differing, transformations. In both disciplines, the theoretical reader or viewer are initially hypothetical, static, passive entities in object-centric, meaning film or text focused, modes of study. The theory of both film and literary studies eventually evolves to reverse that initial perspective of, and approach to, the relationship of the film or text to its viewer or reader, respectively. Both disciplines follow alternative paths which results in varying nuances and repercussions for their unique conceptions of the reading or viewing subject, the textual or filmic object, and their relation to each other. This work not only explores the evolutions of these disciplines regarding their subject, object, and the relationship thereof, but also examines said variations, nuances, and repercussions encountered to highlight that their greatest divergences stem from their political anchorages. In the end, we achieve a means by which we may draw comparisons between both these two disciplines regarding various conceptions of the reader, viewer, film, and text; enriching the field of Reader(ship), Viewer(ship), and Audience studies by approaching them from a combined perspective.Show less
This thesis makes explicit how the viewer’s interpretation of a photograph of the American road trip is affected when the car is used as an explicit impact on the photograph’s frame or blurredness....Show moreThis thesis makes explicit how the viewer’s interpretation of a photograph of the American road trip is affected when the car is used as an explicit impact on the photograph’s frame or blurredness. The thesis focuses on photographs of the American road trip specifically as the road trip carries particular significance in American culture, as do both the car and the road. The research done establishes that the viewer’s relationship with (a) the photographer, and (b) the photograph can be affected by the use of the car. In each case, the photographic styles discussed link the road and the car, as two connecting and connected objects that are important for the American road trip. By using the car to either create an additional frame, or to create two contrasting images within the photograph, the viewer, among others, becomes more aware of the presence of the photographer. By using the car to blur the surface of the photograph, the viewer can no longer look through the photograph, but looks at it before he/she can consider the object photographed, the American road.Show less
