A schizoanalytic reading of paradise lost and the waste land

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.[À l'origine dans / Was originally part of : Thèses et mémoires - FAS - Département d'études anglaises

Noise poetics: A flow of cuts

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The motivation of this research is to explore the potential and (dis)functionality of noise in experimental language practice. In this, my task has been to expand on more highly developed noise-discourses, such as music and philosophy, and their corollaries to language – but also to seek an original conception of what noise can, and does, produce in an experimental language context; along with the political, philosophical and artistic implications arising from it. Following Charles Bernstein’s affirmation that ‘one might be able to read novels or letters or scientific treatises in terms of their poetic qualities’ (Bernstein, 1992, p. 151), I seek the implication of poetics in the works of major theorists and philosophers who inform ideas of noise, including Julia Kristeva, Fredrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze and Roland Barthes. In tune with the nature of the subject, I have chosen to make some radical gestures within the formal submission, infesting the text itself with cross-references, strike-throughs, syntactic and layout glitches, which add a kind of visual and cognitive noise to the reading. The resulting thesis is an example and an interrogation of practice-as-research, making use of the tension between its formal qualities, and a non-linear imperative. Findings include a rich network arising from integral terminology, such as ambiguity, glitch and abundance which are explored for their relational productivity as part of a complex milieu around noise and poetics. In my live performance and print work, as with the thesis itself, I seek to affirm that these notions can be deployed in an affecting and original poetic – producing an active and performative document which enacts a fission of dichotomies, particularly, the flow of cuts invoked in the title

Design Ideation: The Conceptual Sketch in a Digital Design Culture

Design ideation, or the generating and developing of design ideas is central to designing in both education and practice. But what is the impact of digital technology on conceptual tools, notably the traditional pen and paper sketch? Initial research, in the Introduction highlights how freehand drawing is under pressure from digital technology both in design schools and industry yet educators and practitioners alike seem uncertain how best to deal with the digital challenge. The Literature review, in which the investigation is likened to a sprawling rhizome, covers both practical and philosophical concerns about conceptual tools thereby extending the notion of sketching beyond pen and paper, to what is called sketcherly ways of designing. To find out how to capture designers' use of conceptual tools, the spectrum of Design methodology was explored in which the case study method combined with protocol study emerged as the research strategy to be tested in a Pilot study. The pilot outcome set the scene for a protocol study with first-year design students which, through a series of Ideation workshops, illuminates how sketching together with verbalisation is a powerful combination for conceptualisation. In this, the workshop format emerged as an effective means for encouraging novice designers to develop ideation skills. The pilot was also instrumental for conducting a Multiple case study comprising five second year design students and five recent design graduates working in industry in the domains of fashion, architecture, graphics, product and general design. Using self-reporting and interviews the cases illuminate real uses of conceptual tools situated in everyday designing that reveal the multifaceted yet unpredictable character of ideation. The Summary and Conclusion discuss the future role of the conceptual sketch in digital design environments and suggest how scholarship in the context of teaching and learning design can bridge the worlds of design schools and professional practice. In this, computer-aided ideation, CAI, emerged as a promising research field

The age of interactivity: An historical analysis of public discourses on interactivity in Ireland 1995 - 2009.

Interactivity is integral to media and communications and yet is a contested concept in the literature. There is little agreement on its meaning not least because of its multidisciplinary nature. Previous research, concerned with finding a single definition of interactivity, has focused narrowly on specific contexts of communication using limited methodologies. This thesis argues that several meanings of interactivity are in circulation and that the search for one bounded definition constrains understanding of its role and fails to recognise its analytical potential. The study makes an original contribution to research by presenting findings from an analysis of public discourses on interactivity, a valuable source of material neglected in research to date. It shows that at least nine thematic representations of interactivity are in circulation representing different aspects of its role in communicative events. These are identified as the Empowering, Commercial, Pedagogical, Aesthetic, Ludological, Futuropia, Hula-hoop, Sceptical and Information Society themes. The results are based on a longitudinal content and discourse analysis of fifteen years of newspaper coverage in Ireland, an original methodological addition to research, reflecting both a unique national perspective on the concept and the flow of influential international discourses within a small state. The content analysis draws a detailed quantitative picture of how and where interactivity arises in news coverage while the discourse analysis examines qualitative aspects of the dominant, overlapping and conflicting discourses around interactivity and the discourse communities operating behind the talk. The analysis illustrates how thematic representations of interactivity coexist both in discourse and in individual communicative events, suggesting the potential for layered interactivities in communication. The ‘age of interactivity’ describes a wide range of discourses from hype and myths around interactivity to its potentially transformative role in communication. Overall this thesis highlights the value of interactivity as a communication concept and analytical tool with rich research potential

World in a text, words in context: enhancing the role of literature in language learning

This thesis aims to provide a qualitative analysis of the different ways in which students perceive, approach, and learn from literary texts in a non native language (L2). The thesis situates the research in the context of the debate concerning the possible roles of L2 literature by outlining the main arguments, approaches and descriptions of Ll and L2 literature. Barely touched by this literature, however, are L2 learners' experiences of L2 literature and L2 learning models and methods for analysing students' perceptions and approaches to the study of literature. This forms the focus of the research reported here. For the research I conducted as both researcher and educator at the Australian National University I adopted a cross-sectional design. This allowed me to undertake the research in stages, with different groups of students of Italian, to investigate: 1) what students are actually thinking about and doing with L2 literary texts; and 2) ways of improving learning for all L2 students studying L2 literature. Following a preliminary investigation into students' perceptions of literature in 1998, I conducted two main studies in 1999 and 2000. In 1998 I had found that many students perceived literature in general as entertainment and, vice versa, L2 literature mainly as difficult language learning. Study 1 (1999) therefore investigated further students' perceptions of L2 literature and also their approaches to the study of literature. The major finding of study 1 was an association between perceptions of literature and approaches to the study of L2 literary texts and learning. Complex perceptions of literature and favourable attitudes towards L2 literature were related to integrated deep study approaches which led to advanced learning achievements. Conversely, more limited learning achievements were linked to less complex perceptions of literature, less favourable views of L2 literature and surface approaches to study. Study 2 (2000) investigated a novel pedagogic approach based on key principles of phenomenography (awareness; reflective variation; change)and hermeneutics (the class as a learning community), and a repeated reading method designed to elicit complex understandings of L2 literary texts. Findings from study 2 are that students' awareness of their approach to reading literature, introduction of repeated readings of the same literature,and class reflection on variation in students' response to literature are key elements in expanding students' abilities and learning. These findings highlight that students' experiences of subject matter are a crucial factor in literature and language education. Therefore, the role of L2 literature can be enhanced only if students' learning experiences of L2 literature are enhanced, and this can only happen if we,the educators and researchers, become aware of them and include them in our research and pedagogical practice