The ruin and the circular narrative

The written component submitted to the University Research Degree Committee in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERS BY RESEARCH in Fine ArtThis study constitutes the written component of a practice based Masters by Research in Fine Art. The research arises from my practice as an artist working in film and video in which I have come across links between the representation of ruins and aspects of narrative structure that have suggested the possibility that the ruin represents a nodal point in the work. Ruins have tended to be treated thematically by art historians and theorists and I will demonstrate that there are very few attempts to take the subject beyond the role of metaphor or allegory. However, Jacques Derrida has taken the idea of ruins into the idea of origin and it is this insight that lies at the core of this study. This leads to the idea of the ruin as a condensation of the end and beginning thereby giving it an important role in relation to narrative structure. The circular narrative is a form in which the end and beginning are stitched together at the same theoretical point as the ruin. In terms of practice the circular structure is explored in the form of film and video loops in which the circle structures the way the works physical production, its contextual background, its content and the ways in which it can be interpreted. Underlining this is Derrida's idea that the ruin is always already present at the origin of the work. These ideas are also combined with Freud's theory of the Death Instinct which is rooted in the compulsion to repeat. I have extended Peter Brooks' linking of the Death Instinct with linear narrative structure to include the circular narrative and tested this against my studio practice and the work of another artists, a writer and a film maker. In combining this link between the Death Instinct and the circular narrative with the ruin I have used the Freudian Theory of Primal Phantasies. This was also done to resolve the link with fantasy that was identified at the beginning of the project. My argument ends with the consolidation of these strands with Elisabeth Bronfen's use of the navel as a symbolic intervention into the conventional structures of psychoanalysis. In conclusion the identification of this nodal point in the structure of the work is shown to present an example of the ways in which theory and practice in contemporary art can be dynamically combined. In this way the art work is not only the result of the context from which it has emerged but also provides the means of interrogating that context

A Cultural Criminology of ‘New’ Jihad: Insights from Propaganda Magazines

The backgrounds and modus operandi of more recent jihadi terrorists tend to share factors and characteristics more typically associated with non-political violence such as mass- killings and gang violence. Their attacks, moreover, seem to have been precipitated not by the direct instructions of a formal hierarchy but by the encouragement of propaganda produced and disseminated by networked, media-savvy terrorist groups. It is necessary to explain how these ‘recruitment’ efforts work. Cultural criminology with its understanding of the relationship between mediated meaning and individual experience, can provide such an analysis. The paper presents a qualitative document analysis of 32 propaganda magazines produced by the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. It demonstrates that they contain significantly more than religious rhetoric and military strategy. Rather, they are part of a process that crystalizes a jihadi subculture that appeals to disaffected and/or marginalized, excitement- seeking youths. The magazines cultivate violence by constructing a militarized style that celebrates outlaw status, where violence is eroticized and aestheticized. They idealize the notion of a jihadi terrorist that is tough and willing to commit brutal violence. The lifestyle portrayed offers the possibility of heroism, excitement, belonging and imminent fame, themes often espoused by conventional, Western consumer culture. The magazines occasionally draw on street jargon, urban music, fashion, films and video games. The subcultural model of jihadi propaganda we explicate provides a novel way of understanding terrorist recruiting tactics and motivations that are not necessarily in opposition to contemporary conventional criminal and ‘mainstream’ cultures, but in resonance with them

Freud on the Court: Re-interpreting Sexting & Child Pornography Laws

Although many developments in child pornography law are troubling, perhaps the most disconcerting is the growing number of cases in which children are being charged with violating child pornography laws for engaging in “sexting,” or sending sexually explicit photographs via cellular phones or over the Internet. Although the law implicitly considers children the victims of child pornography and the photographer and audience as punishable perpetrators, this logic is challenged by sexting cases. Yet in many instances, children who take and send “lascivious” pictures of themselves have been charged with violating the very law designed to protect them from the harms associated with child pornography. As a result, many scholars have recently decried the law as unjust and questioned its confusing motives. Existing scholarship has roundly criticized the situation’s ostensible absurdity, but little work has been done to understand the legal motives for charging juveniles in sexting cases. This Article endeavors to better understand the motivation behind the law’s perplexing stance on teenage sexting. A close analysis of recent sexting cases reveals a remarkable correlation between Freud’s theory of sexuality and sexting jurisprudence. Beginning with the first Supreme Court decision on child pornography, New York v. Ferber, subsequent Supreme Court and District Court decisions on child pornography and sexting have been based on a strikingly Freudian logic. Perhaps fittingly, the alignment with Freud is subconscious: no court has acknowledged that its decision rests on a reading of Freud. Yet, as this article shows, Freud offers an extraordinarily accurate theoretical account of what judges have done in recent sexting cases. Understanding sexting cases in light of Freud does more than just explain the bewildering decisions of state and federal courts to uphold convictions against children for violating child pornography laws. In light of this unexpected finding, this article also provides a new basis from which to assess the goals of the law. As prosecutors continue to bring charges against teenagers for sexting, this article offers judges an alternate model for thinking about these difficult cases. Moreover, as more state legislatures draft new rules governing teenage sexting—in 2012 thirteen states considered resolutions aimed at sexting—this article proposes that lawmakers either abandon or correct their subconscious Freudianism in sexting cases, offering suggestions about how better to deal with teenagers who sext

Comics und der myopische Blick : Strafen für unerwartete und wirkungsvolle Texte

A remarkable indictment and conviction following the sale of an ‘obscene’ comic book invites us to examine arguments brought forth to describe a specifically childlike reception of new media, as usually suggested by those who would motivate legal restrictions for such media. Trying to explain some perceived contradictions on the surface of these arguments, we discuss whether it is the failure or rather the extreme success of texts that is marked as ‘dangerous’ in such contexts

Freud on the Court: Re-interpreting Sexting & Child Pornography Laws

Although many developments in child pornography law are troubling, perhaps the most disconcerting is the growing number of cases in which children are being charged with violating child pornography laws for engaging in “sexting,” or sending sexually explicit photographs via cellular phones or over the Internet. Although the law implicitly considers children the victims of child pornography and the photographer and audience as punishable perpetrators, this logic is challenged by sexting cases. Yet in many instances, children who take and send “lascivious” pictures of themselves have been charged with violating the very law designed to protect them from the harms associated with child pornography. As a result, many scholars have recently decried the law as unjust and questioned its confusing motives. Existing scholarship has roundly criticized the situation’s ostensible absurdity, but little work has been done to understand the legal motives for charging juveniles in sexting cases. This Article endeavors to better understand the motivation behind the law’s perplexing stance on teenage sexting. A close analysis of recent sexting cases reveals a remarkable correlation between Freud’s theory of sexuality and sexting jurisprudence. Beginning with the first Supreme Court decision on child pornography, New York v. Ferber, subsequent Supreme Court and District Court decisions on child pornography and sexting have been based on a strikingly Freudian logic. Perhaps fittingly, the alignment with Freud is subconscious: no court has acknowledged that its decision rests on a reading of Freud. Yet, as this article shows, Freud offers an extraordinarily accurate theoretical account of what judges have done in recent sexting cases. Understanding sexting cases in light of Freud does more than just explain the bewildering decisions of state and federal courts to uphold convictions against children for violating child pornography laws. In light of this unexpected finding, this article also provides a new basis from which to assess the goals of the law. As prosecutors continue to bring charges against teenagers for sexting, this article offers judges an alternate model for thinking about these difficult cases. Moreover, as more state legislatures draft new rules governing teenage sexting—in 2012 thirteen states considered resolutions aimed at sexting—this article proposes that lawmakers either abandon or correct their subconscious Freudianism in sexting cases, offering suggestions about how better to deal with teenagers who sext