Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Building Empathy And Unveiling Reality: The Role Of Metaphor And Simile In Max Havelaar, Barbara Elisabeth Lucia Pesulima

International Review of Humanities Studies

In Indonesia Multatuli's Max Havelaar is regarded as a powerful indictment of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia. Extensive research has explored the novel's historical context, social critique, and its influence on Indonesian nationalism, but less attention has been paid to the literary devices that give the novel its enduring emotional power. This paper fills this gap by examining how metaphor and simile presented in the dialogs found in the novel function as key instruments in shaping the reader's experience. Existing studies of Max Havelaar often delve into the novel's historical background, its scathing critique of Dutch colonial practices, and its role …

Phylogenetic Analysis Of Anthropomorphic Rock Art: A Study Of Material Culture Evolution, Muhammad Faisal Chair, Ali Akbar

International Review of Humanities Studies

This paper provides an explanation of the application of phylogenetic analysis, derived from biology, to be applied in archaeology with the aim of observing evolutionary phenomena, the development of ideas, and the dissemination of ideas from material culture. Phylogenetics will be applied to data on anthropomorphic motifs at five rock art sites in West Sumatra: Gua Lidah Air, Gua Runjo, Ngalau Tompok Syohiah, Batu Basurek, and Gua Basurek. The main stages in this analysis involve collecting representative data in the category of distinctive values from each rock art site. Distinctive values data is obtained through observation and identification of morphological …

The Philosophy Of Spirits Purification In The Ritual Entas-Entas In Wonotoro Village As The Identity Of The Tengger Community, Turita Indah Setyani, Titik Pudjiastuti, Rias Suharjo, Mamlahatun Buduroh, Mu’Jizah Mu’Jizah, Dwi Rahmawanto

International Review of Humanities Studies

This paper examines the Ritual Entas-entas as a purification ceremony for spirits in Wonotoro Village, Tengger. The ritual originates from a manuscript believed to aid in purifying the spirits of deceased family members. This ritual has been passed down orally. However, the manuscript serving as the reference for the ritual can no longer be traced. The issue is, how the sustainability of the Ritual Entas-entas in Wonotoro Village, Tengger? The research aims to demonstrate that the Tengger community possesses a collective memory strength and high adherence to traditional rules as part of everyday religious practice. The research utilizes ethnographic methodology …

'We Only Want To Plant Oil Palm": An Ethnohistory Of Illegal Peasant’S Oil Palm Plantations In Muaro Jambi, Jambi Province, Indonesia, Yudi Bachrioktora

International Review of Humanities Studies

The increasing global demand for vegetable oils and biofuels is a determining factor in increasing oil palm expansion in Indonesia. The current studies of Indonesia's oil palm expansion focus on companies' large-scale land acquisition. In this process, often called land grabbing, small peasants are excluded from the acceleration of oil palm expansion. This research focuses on the rarely discussed topic of the participation of small peasants in the palm oil production chain. Employing ethnohistory, this research unfolds the impact of oil palm expansion on small peasants and indigenous people, especially those who expand their plantations into the forest in Jambi …

The Strategy Of Featuring The Game Honor Of Kings Through Characterization In The Drama Series You Are My Glory (2021), Bella Homario, Adi Kristina Wulandari

International Review of Humanities Studies

The drama series You Are My Glory (Nǐ shì wǒ de róngyào你是我的荣耀), directed by Wang Zhi (王之), aired in 2021 and consists of 32 episodes. This research focuses on the first 14 episodes, which showcase the popularity of the game Honor of Kings-HoK (Wángzhě róngyào王者荣耀) through the interactions and dialogue between the two main characters, Yu Tu (于途) and Qiao Jingjing (乔晶晶). The integration of the popular online game HoK with the drama, starring top actors and actresses, represents a novel strategy that warrants further study. The analysis is conducted intrinsically by examining the characterizations of …

Winter Solstice, Jingwen Cao

Masters Theses

For a long time, I have been thinking about what contemporary photography is, what its position is, and what the relationship is between artists and audiences. At the same time, I was developing my concepts and photographic directions and trying to make my work and my perspective on photography relevant. Winter Solstice includes a series of essays that locate my thinking and my work. Its title references the longest night of the year.

The position of photography has changed significantly over the past few decades. The way people read photos is also changing. Perhaps because of reverence for art and …

Embodied Abstractions: Identity And Representation In The Digital Era, Srikar Hari

Masters Theses

The digital image is a copy in motion. As it accelerates, it deteriorates.

It is a ghost of an image, a preview, a thumbnail, squeezed through

digital connections, resized, uploaded, downloaded, reformatted

and re-edited.

- Adapted from “In defense of the Poor Image” by Hito Steryel

With today’s digital technology, the image is no longer a stable

representation of the world, but a programmable database that

is updated in real time. It is not only part of a program, but it

contains its own operating code: the image is a program in itself.

Consequently, the image’s rhetoric has taken on …

Queerform/Ing, Matthew Solon-Lee Weimer

Art Theses and Dissertations

My artwork is situated within and around vessels and the Queer Homoerotic World and explores sexuality as a Demisexual within them. This is accomplished through the two processes of my creation, Minivague and Queerform/ing: balancing sexual tension and explicit expression, while subverting traditional norms and stereotypes with queerness to distance oneself from stereotypical Gay Art. Altering/emphasizing makes the artwork more romantic, lighter, whimsical, softer, and tender than the figure/s and the situations actually are. The process is also emphasizing what one sees or wants to be seen. The Pink Boy becomes a celebration of intimacy of any form. I discuss …

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

Seeing Is Believing: Observing Trans Spirituality Through The Smith-Waite Tarot, Phoebe Santalla

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

In 1909 the Rider Company published the Smith-Waite Tarot deck which featured 78 illustrated cards by Pamela Colman Smith. With heavy use of appropriated and ambiguous symbology, the Smith-Waite deck became a meditation tool for realizing alternative realities. By observing the history of the deck, analyzing Smith’s approach to illustration, and retracing the counterculture occult explosion in the 1970s, this essay argues that the Smith-Waite deck is an object the reflects the queered body and self. The modern, trans-contentious, Western political climate creates an environment that obscures the fact that transgender people exist beyond the medicalization of their bodies. To …

A Taste For The Distasteful: The Aesthetics Of Gore In The Giallo And Horror Films Of Mario Bava, Thais Casado Bignardi-Engstrom

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the Italian experience with horror in cinema in both psychoanalytic feminist and cognitive Marxist critical film theories through a study of visual renderings of excessive violence and sex in gothic and thrillers known as giallo films created by the film director Mario Bava. This is an art historical study that looks at Bava’s work against the Italian cultural landscape in the post war period.

Aguaaaa!!!, Cory Villegas

Theses and Dissertations

“AGUA” is a call for new models of learning and sharing, celebrating the diasporic as a place of global revolution. Salsa, rooted in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean histories, is choreographer Cory Villegas’s expression of cultural legacy. As an Afro-diasporic dance, Salsa carries the wealth and variety of African and Indigenous roots. Villegas contextualizes her thesis event “Las Leyendas: An Afro Cuban Suite,” presenting herself and her troupe Soul Dance Co. as evidence that contradicts the erasure of Latin & Caribbean Culture in US dance history. The paper uses English and Spanish, written, visual, and oral materials with an accompanying webpage.

Container Film, Dena Kopolovich

Theses and Dissertations

Container Film is an experimental nonfiction short film that explores the theme of carrying. Drawing inspiration from a blend of anthropological, religious, and artistic sources, the film is guided by an unknown narrator who contemplates the origins of humanity. Unlike conventional storytelling, the narrator’s uncertainty and inner dialogue punctuate the narrative, challenging a traditional linear structure. Jumping between diverse thoughts, she resists depicting human history with a singular hero or linear trajectory. Visually, the film unfolds through vivid tableaux vivants, dance sequences, and curious object arrangements, illustrating the subtle relationship between human cognition and materiality. Through its nuanced, tactile approach, …

間, Lele Dai

Theses and Dissertations

LeLe Dai makes contingent participatory public interventions using sensory materials such as sound, flickering light, and water. This paper examines their works through the lens of Chinese character Jian (間), meaning “gap/slit/incision,” to investigate the concept of “in-betweenness.”

40 Years Of Koyaanisqatsi: The Greatest Experimental Film Ever Made, Brian Thomas

Honors Program: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The 1983 experimental film Koyaanisqatsi remains a visionary artistic work 40 years after it was initially released, because it continues to resonate in contemporary society by vividly depicting the intersection of human life and technology, prompting viewers to contemplate "life out of balance" and its implications. The film makes us question where life is headed and the ways in which we "live technology" today.

Cinema's Poetic Function: Creating An Amorous Distance, William Yonts

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine how cinema can embrace its poetic function to avoid its assimilation into preexisting hermeneutic structures, which would leave it vulnerable to myth as defined by Roland Barthes, and instead be a generative force, encouraging its viewer to engage with the full potential of the text. This mode of spectatorship is termed the “amorous distance,” which Barthes describes as his simultaneous fascination with the film and that which exceeds it. The amorous distance finds further articulation through the work of Roman Jakobson and Julia Kristeva. Jakobson’s schema of six language functions describes the …

Embracing The Wound Of Contingency: Transcribing Reality In Supernatural Horror And Found Footage, Mason Dax Dickerson

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

To counter both the form of critical thought first outlined by Kant that dispels absolute knowledge, as well as the dogmatic necessitarianism that asserts the universe must be one way for an absolute originary reason, Quentin Meillassoux argues for the “non-facticity of facticity” to implicate an absolute contingency or unreason structuring reality: in effect, anything could happen for no reason at all. Meillassoux suggests the trauma of the contingent event and the sudden impossibility of inductive science in its wake may be explored in an “Extro-Science Fiction” text (XSF) – but limits his examples to science fiction literature. Framing the …

The Phygital Design Process: Using Emerging Technologies To Create A Phygital Fashion Brand Rooted In Nostalgia, Madeline M. Mcdaniel

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This Master's Project is a comprehensive exploration of the intersection of digital fashion design, nostalgia, and sustainable practices. Its primary objective is to create 'project CYBERBAE,' a phygital fashion collection that draws inspiration from early 2000s video game characters, trends, and aesthetics. The project utilizes advanced digital tools like Clo3D to demonstrate a comprehensive digital fashion design process that emphasizes inclusivity and sustainability. It also pioneers the development of a 3D virtual world, providing users with an immersive environment to interact with and experience digital fashion. This virtual space serves as a platform for a community of fashion, technology, and …

Paradoks Determinisme Dalam Film Tenet (2020) Sebagai Refleksi Kesadaran Manusia Akan Waktu, Farobi Fatkhurridho, Suma Riella Rusdiarti

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Time is a complicated object of study because understanding time is closely related to periodization, history, and memory. Film is a medium for presenting manifestations of motion and time in visual products that can be captured by human senses. Tenet (2020) is a film that displays temporal dimensions in terms of both creative ideas and packaging through its cinematography and narrative structure. Tenet presents the idea of overlapping time consciousness of the past, present, and future. A revolving door machine in the film is used to signify the paradox of determinism or the condition of characters suffocated in a time …

Spiritual Cinema: Agel, Merleau-Ponty And The Cinematic Real, Patrick O'Connor Dr

Journal of Religion & Film

This article seeks to retrieve the work of Henri Agel, and his collaborator Amédée Ayfre, for our theoretical understanding of film-philosophy. I explore their distinctive contribution to thinking philosophically about film and assess the relative merits of their work for the phenomenology of film. While exceptionally valuable for religious and theological interpretations of film I proceed to argue that Agel and Ayfre’s work needs to be supplemented with the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s film-phenomenology to adequately express the temporal and motional nature of film. Merleau-Ponty’s work I contend while exceptionally valuable is brief and underdeveloped, and therefore does not fully …

From Displacement To Intersubjectivity: A Phenomenology Of Sound In Classic Film Noir, Thomas Goodchild

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes the use of sounds displaced from their sources in classic filmsnoir. Noir is often understood as a dark and solipsistic moment in American cinema. Interpretations of noir frequently emphasize isolated individuals who are physically, psychologically, and socially displaced from their environments. Although scholarship on noir has examined this alienation through various sonic motifs such as music and voice-over, I investigate how several noirs draw attention to the act of listening through acousmatic sound—that is, sound heard without a visible source. Far from being an ephemeral auditory experience, I argue that the separation between sound and image invites …

Sauron: Weirdly Sexy, Robert T. Tally Jr.

Journal of Tolkien Research

A popular meme depict Galadriel and Frodo admitting that Sauron is "weirdly sexy," a humorous allusion to The Rings of Power’s Halbrand. The show's controversial revelation of Halbrand as Sauron highlights the differences between Tolkien’s construction of Second and Third Age Sauron as an attractive or admirable leader compared to Peter Jackson’s portrayal of him as a monster or disembodied fiery eyeball. This, in turn, has implications for the geopolitical order of Middle-earth in which many people legitimately might wish to be on Sauron’s side. Acknowledging Sauron's "sexiness" may allow us to see Tolkien's world system in a new …

Algorithmic Love: Twenty-First Century Organizations Of The Romantic, Sandra Moyano Ariza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigates the highly computed and accelerated experiences of digital love as well as their cultural and artistic representations in order to shed light on the human and more-than-human entanglements producing the algorithmic love experience. The recent turn to love in critical theory and cultural studies examines how love circulates in neoliberal societies and in the subjective processes of the users, foregrounding the control of populations and the very much lamented “end of love” (Illouz 2019). My study of love supplements the neoliberalist critique of algorithmic love with a posthuman and media theory approach that attends to the material …

Cultural Diplomacy And Global Challenges In G20 Indonesia 2022, Poppy Setiawati Nurisnaeny, Hendra Kaprisma, Suwedi Suwedi

International Review of Humanities Studies

Indonesia has been chosen to host the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022. Indonesia has prepared many agendas ahead of the execution of this summit. This preparation concerns the technical implementation of multilateral relations, which have undergone significant changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Indonesia needs help hosting the G20 due to the fractured multilateral relations of several G20 member countries caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict in early 2022. As a result, Indonesia must mediate between the disputing parties to resolve this issue by selecting appropriate communication methods. Cultural diplomacy is one approach. Cultural diplomacy is a non-coercive …

The Semantic Field Of “Love” In Javanese Language, Larasati Mauli Amane Hendryanto, Widhyasmaramurti Widhyasmaramurti

International Review of Humanities Studies

This research delves into the extensive lexicon of the Javanese language, specifically focusing on expressions related to feelings of love. The presence of multiple Javanese lexicons denoting love poses a significant challenge, prompting the central question: What are the semantic nuances that distinguish each lexicon, given the absence of absolute synonyms? The research aims to elucidate the semantic fields that differentiate each love-related lexicon in Javanese. Data for this research is drawn from four distinct Javanese dictionaries, spanning various publication periods. Additionally, the study incorporates diverse data sources, including a book titled "Antologi Cerita Pendek Bahasa Jawa di Yogyakarta …

The Manifestation Of Misogyny In The Pick Me Boy Trend On Tiktok Indonesia, Ying Wang, Mina Elfira

International Review of Humanities Studies

Misogyny is hatred, contempt, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism used to keep women in a lower social status than men, thereby maintaining patriarchal social roles. Hegemonic masculinity is the most exalted configuration of gender practices that legitimizes patriarchy. This article draws on the framework of Raewyn Connell's theory of masculinity and Kate Manne's concept of misogyny to discuss the phenomenon of Indonesian TikTok videos with the hashtag “Pick Me Boy” or #Pick Me Boy. Pick Me Boy challenge traditional masculinity to gain women's attention, and then demean women if rejected. This article uses …

Debating Migrants In Korean Multiculturalism, Amelia Burhan, Ph.D

International Review of Humanities Studies

The concept of multiculturalism has become a keyword of contemporary Korean society. The influx of migrants has made Korea could not escape becoming an ethnically diverse nation and a multicultural society. This study aims to understand the concept of Korean multiculturalism through migrant workers and marriage migrants by examining their life in Korea including what kind of issues the migrants have been encountered and how was the effort of Korean government in tackling those issues. It found that the government occupied an important position in leading multiculturalism in Korea as it was the one who promoted Korea's moving towards multiculturalism …

Absent But Present: Propaganda Strategies Of The Japanese Occupation In Indonesia As Narrated In Kamishibai In Djawa Baroe Magazine, Rouli Esther Pasaribu

International Review of Humanities Studies

This paper investigated the propaganda strategies in kamishibai (a paper play) story telling in Djawa Baroe Magazine. This study employed text analysis methods and propaganda theories from Jowett and Donnell on the seven kamishibai and found the following propaganda strategies. First, Western powers were portrayed negatively. Second, Japan was not explicitly featured in kamishibai stories. Third, local cultural elements in Javanese culture were used to convey propaganda messages. These findings indicate that entertainment media, such as kamishibai, can be used as propaganda media and subtly inserted using specific trivial strategies.

The Concept Of The Devarāja In Leadership At The Royal Palace Of Yogyakarta, Ghilman Assilmi

International Review of Humanities Studies

The Yogyakarta Palace is one of the Islamic sultanates that still exists in Indonesia. Even though the Yogyakarta Palace has an Islamic style and has been influenced by modernization which has penetrated aspects of state and society, the embodiment of the God-King concept from ancient Hindu eras remains embedded in the power of the king, state life, and the obedience of the surrounding community to the palace system. This paper has a problem regarding how to apply the concept of politics and power in the Yogyakarta Palace. A historical approach is used to reveal the meaning of the palace in …

The Impact Of Regional Tourism Development On The Food Tourism Industry: Case Study Of Tourism Village Assistance Policy In Indonesia And The Influence Of Regional Disparity On Its Effectiveness, Uliannisa Rozdianda, Yohanna M. L. Gultom

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study aims to identify the impact of the development of tourist areas on culinary businesses by taking the case of the program for the construction of facilities and infrastructure supporting tourism villages which was implemented starting in 2017 and looking at the influence of regional disparities on the effectiveness of assistance which is then compared between the regions of Java-Bali and outside Java-Bali. Using the Difference-In-Differences (DID), the study analyzed the impact of the support program on 115 tourism villages, comparing them to other tourism villages in the same sub-district that did not receive support. The results show that, …