The underlying claim of the investigation is that images don’t act as just mnemonic or decorating devices for the text but are instead an integral part of the philosophical knowledge disseminated...Show moreThe underlying claim of the investigation is that images don’t act as just mnemonic or decorating devices for the text but are instead an integral part of the philosophical knowledge disseminated through the text. By denying the auxiliary or even decorative role of images and viewing them as an integral part of a philosophical system, the thesis challenges the common-sensical view that image doesn’t have a place within the philosophical text which is seen as closer and more connected to thinking. As it can be noticed, the investigation relies on a historical account, an analysis of seventeenth-century accounts on the conception and role of images in thinking, followed by a contemporary phenomenological and embodied analysis, informed by neuroscientific finds, to give an answer to the main research question. Namely, what is the role that printed images have within an early modern philosophical publication for thinking and understanding?Show less
This paper is the first in-depth analysis of the digital artwork ‘Humanoid’ (2021) by Jennie Feyen. By utilizing primarily the theoretical frameworks of Laura Mulvey and Kai Baldwin in order to...Show moreThis paper is the first in-depth analysis of the digital artwork ‘Humanoid’ (2021) by Jennie Feyen. By utilizing primarily the theoretical frameworks of Laura Mulvey and Kai Baldwin in order to unpack the bodily portrayal of the figure in the name of ‘Humanoid’, this paper offers a distinctive reading of the artwork in relation to male gaze theory and the notion of digitized body. Through the multi-sensory analysis, the problematic representation of the female body and also an ideal representation of the genderless body in ‘Humanoid’ will be revealed. This paper will demonstrate the dualism of the digital space by referring to its power dynamics and also proposing an alternative body for representing the self.Show less
Starting around the twentieth century, technological innovations and shifting ideas in self-portraiture resulted in more body-focused self-representations, because access to every aspect of the...Show moreStarting around the twentieth century, technological innovations and shifting ideas in self-portraiture resulted in more body-focused self-representations, because access to every aspect of the body has become significantly easier. The relationship between the material self and social self has changed since artists started to incorporate medical procedures in their artistic practices, which allowed them to represent themselves through their internal body. Three self-portrait series that have been produced by incorporating medical procedures in the creating process will be discussed. These concern Body of Work (2019) by Itamar Gilboa, Self (1991-current) by Marc Quinn, and Self-Portraits (2012) by Angela Palmer. These artists have used the representation of their bodies as a starting point to produce sculptural self-portraits. The incorporation of medical procedures comes with its implications. By discussing these series, it will be demonstrated how the use of medical procedures goes hand in hand with a more scientific, transparent and malleable view on the body and the manners in which this challenges the notion of the self in self-portraiture. To get to a deeper understanding of the artworks, an analysis is performed using theoretical sources that reflect upon the intersection between the fields of art history and (medical) science. This analysis will provide a deeper understanding of how contemporary artists make use of procedures that derive from the medical field, how these explore the boundaries of self-portraiture, and how a new domain is opened up within the genre that challenges more traditional modes of representing the self.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
The Corded Ware culture (c. 2900-2450 BCE; CWC) was a prehistoric phenomenon encountered throughout Europe, characterized by standardized material culture and burial practices. Recent studies...Show moreThe Corded Ware culture (c. 2900-2450 BCE; CWC) was a prehistoric phenomenon encountered throughout Europe, characterized by standardized material culture and burial practices. Recent studies incorporating new scientific methods such as ancient DNA and stable isotopes suggest that this phenomenon was the result of mass migrations from the Pontic Caspian steppe, thus confirming traditional hypotheses regarding the origin and fast spread of this archaeological culture. Moreover, the grand narrative of this period includes a notion of a strict binary gender symbolism and even of a ‘male-dominant’, patriarchal society. Such an interpretation of CW gender is however largely rooted in andro- and ethnocentric, Western assumptions, in which biological sex is equated with gender, and weapons (i.e. the CW ‘battle-axe’) are associated with masculinity. This thesis aims to investigate to which extent the CWC indeed had a notion of binary gender, and to better understand how CW gender was expressed through material culture and its selective deposition in different contexts. A practical methodology with a comparative and multi-contextual approach is developed in order to study CW gender. Two case studies have been selected: the Danish administrative region of Southern Jutland, known for its very typical Single Grave practices, and the state of Bavaria in Germany, which is expected to be a focal point in the mobility of people and the exchange of raw materials. The emphasis is placed on the co-occurrences between different object categories and their ‘embodiment’, and different depositional contexts: the funerary context as well as depositions (i.e. buried objects without a body) and single finds. Strikingly, CW gender appears to have been constructed through an interplay of supra-regional and local burial styles and artefacts. The binary dichotomy seen in the funerary context is more likely the result of normative ideas regarding a supra-regional CW identity and – more idiosyncratic – local identities, although gender clearly played a role in these norms. The prehistoric reality of CW gender may thus have been more locally variable than the grand narrative would suggest.Show less
Jonathan Edwards’ “Personal Narrative” is a chronological, retrospective account of Edwards’ spiritual life interposed with comments and reflections on his experiences with the Divine. He describes...Show moreJonathan Edwards’ “Personal Narrative” is a chronological, retrospective account of Edwards’ spiritual life interposed with comments and reflections on his experiences with the Divine. He describes multiple powerful, highly emotional encounters as he recounts his religious development from his childhood to the present. It stands as a central text of eighteenth-century spirituality, a touchstone of religious thinking in this period. This thesis argues that concerns with the fallibility of language are central to Jonathan Edwards’ “Personal Narrative” (c.1740), as he struggles adequately to describe spiritual experience in words even as that experience is said to go beyond language, including in its emotional and bodily effects.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
closed access
Om in het huidige technologische tijdperk onderzoek te doen naar de herdefiniëring van het mens-zijn zullen in dit eindwerkstuk verschillende vormen van interactie tussen de mens en technologie...Show moreOm in het huidige technologische tijdperk onderzoek te doen naar de herdefiniëring van het mens-zijn zullen in dit eindwerkstuk verschillende vormen van interactie tussen de mens en technologie worden verkend en daarnaast geanalyseerd worden aan de hand van verschillende culturele objecten. Het onderzoek zal geleid worden door de volgende onderzoeksvraag: op welke manier bevragen de roman The Circle en de films Her en Ex Machina de relatie tussen de mens en technologie, met als effect de lezer en kijker aan te sporen om na te denken over de herdefiniëring van het mens-zijn in het posthumanistisch tijdperk?Show less
