At the Limits of Presentation : Coming-into-Presence and its Aesthetic Relevance in Jean-Luc Nancy's Philosophy

This study investigates the significance of art in Jean-Luc Nancy s philosophy. I argue that the notion of art contributes to some of Nancy s central ontological ideas. Therefore, I consider art s importance in its own right whether art does have ontological significance, and if so, how one should describe this with respect to the theme of presentation. According to my central argument, with his thinking on art Nancy attempts to give one viewpoint to what is called the metaphysics of presence and to its deconstruction. On which grounds, as I propose, may one say that art is not reducible to philosophy? The thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part, Presentation as a Philosophical Theme, is a historical genesis of the central concepts associated with the birth of presentation in Nancy s philosophy. I examine this from the viewpoint of the differentiation between the ontological notions of presentation and representation by concentrating on the influence of Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida, as well as of Hegel and Kant. I give an overview of the way in which being or sense for Nancy is to be described as a coming-into-presence or presentation . Therefore, being takes place in its singular plurality. I argue that Nancy redevelops Heidegger s account of being in two principal ways: first, in rethinking the ontico-ontological difference, and secondly, by striving to radicalize the Heideggerian concept of Mitsein, being-with . I equally wish to show the importance of Derrida s notion of différance and its inherence in Nancy s questioning of being that rests on the unfoundedness of existence. The second part, From Ontology to Art, draws on the importance of art and the aesthetic. If, in Nancy, the question of art touches upon its own limit as the limit of nothingness, how is art able to open its own strangeness and our exposure to this strangeness? My aim is to investigate how Nancy s thinking on art finds its place within the conceptual realm of its inherent difference and interval. My central concern is the thought of originary ungroundedness and the plurality of art and of the arts. As for the question of the difference between art and philosophy, I wish to show that what differentiates art from thought is the fact that art exposes what is obvious but not apparent, if apparent is understood in the sense of givenness. As for art s ability to deconstruct Nancy s ontological notions, I suggest that in question in art is its original heterogeneity and diversity. Art is a matter of differing art occurs singularly, as a local difference. With this in mind, I point out that in reflecting on art in terms of spacing and interval, as a thinker of difference Nancy comes closer to Derrida and his idea of différance than to the structure of Heidegger s ontological difference.

Socialist Realism instead of Formalism : the Formation and Development of the Soviet Music Control System 1932-1950

Whereas it has been widely assumed in the public that the Soviet music policy system had a “top-down” structure of control and command that directly affected musical creativity, in fact my research shows that the relations between the different levels of the music policy system were vague, and the viewpoints of its representatives differed from each other. Because the representatives of the party and government organs controlling operas could not define which kind of music represented Socialist Realism, the system as it developed during the 1930s and 1940s did not function effectively enough in order to create such a centralised control of Soviet music, still less could Soviet operas fulfil the highly ambiguous aesthetics of Socialist Realism. I show that musical discussions developed as bureaucratic ritualistic arenas, where it became more important to reveal the heretical composers, making scapegoats of them, and requiring them to perform self-criticism, than to give directions on how to reach the artistic goals of Socialist Realism. When one opera was found to be unacceptable, this lead to a strengthening of control by the party leadership, which lead to more operas, one after the other, to be revealed as failures. I have studied the control of the composition, staging and reception of the opera case-studies, which remain obscure in the West despite a growing scholarly interest in them, and have created a detailed picture of the foundation and development of the Soviet music control system in 1932-1950. My detailed discussion of such case-studies as Ivan Dzerzhinskii’s The Quiet Don, Dmitrii Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District, Vano Muradeli’s The Great Friendship, Sergei Prokofiev’s Story of a Real Man, Tikhon Khrennikov’s Frol Skobeev and Evgenii Zhukovskii’s From All One’s Heart backs with documentary precision the historically revisionist model of the development of Soviet music. In February 1948, composers belonging to the elite of the Union of Soviet Composers, e.g. Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, were accused in a Central Committee Resolution of formalism, as been under the influence of western modernism. Accusations of formalism were connected to the criticism of the conciderable financial, material and social privileges these composers enjoyed in the leadership of the Union. With my new archival findings I give a more detailed picture of the financial background for the 1948 campaign. The independent position of the music funding organization of the Union of Soviet Composers (Muzfond) to decide on its finances was an exceptional phenomenon in the Soviet Union and contradicted the strivings to strengthen the control of Soviet music. The financial audits of the Union of Soviet Composers did not, however, change the elite status of some of its composers, except for maybe a short duration in some cases. At the same time the independence of the significal financial authorities of Soviet theatres was restricted. The cuts in the governmental funding allocated to Soviet theatres contradicted the intensified ideological demands for Soviet operas.

Les fleuves dans l'œuvre romanesque de Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio

Relying on Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception and on Mircea Eliade's works on the Sacred and the Profane, this study explores the river as a perceptual space and as the sacred Center in a cosmic vision of the world in twelve of Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio's fictional works, from The Interrogation (1963) to Revolutions (2003). In the first chapter, after introducing the field of study, I discuss the relation between the radical subjectivity and the evasiveness of perceiving subjects in Le Clézio's fiction. Next are some thoughts on the relation between Merleau-Ponty's and Le Clézio's ideas. The second chapter studies the river as an experience in the text, first as a topographical space, then as a sound world. The investigations move on to its water as a visual and a tactile phenomenon. Then follows the human use of the river, the (absence of) baths, and the river as a traveling space. The chapter closes with the study of the metaphorical use of the word, occurring mainly in urban space and for phenomena in the sky. The third chapter is organized around the river as the Center of the world in a religious cosmogony, where the river represents the origin of the world and of the human race. The core analysis shows how the middle of the river is a symbolic space of a new beginning. As a sacred space, the river abolishes time as the object of contemplation and as relative immobility from the point of view of a person drifting downstream. The functions of a new beginning and of abolition of time are combined in the symbolic immersions in the water. Finally, the dissertation explores other symbolical spaces, such as the unknown destination of the drift, and the river as the Center of a utopia. The chapter closes with the existential agony as a result of the elimination of the Center in the urban environment. In the final chapter, the river is compared to other watercourses : the creek, the brook and the rapids. The river is more of a spatial entity, whereas the actual water is more important in the smaller watercourses. The river is more common than the other watercourses as a topographical element in the landscape, whereas the minor watercourses invite the characters to a closer contact with their element, in immersions and in drinking their water. Finally, the work situates the rivers in a broader context of different fictional spaces in Le Clézio's text.

Jean Sibelius -viulukilpailun näkyvyys, argumentointi ja viihteellisyys valtakunnallisessa lehdistössä 1965 ja 2005

Kansainvälinen Jean Sibelius -viulukilpailu on j��rjestetty Suomessa kymmenen kertaa vuodesta 1965 lähtien, ja se on vakiinnuttanut asemansa musiikki-instituutiona niin Suomen kulttuurielämässä kuin valtakunnallisessa mediassa. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitetään kilpailun reseptiota, eli millaista näkyvyyttä Sibelius-viulukilpailu on saanut valtakunnallisissa viestintävälineissä vuosina 1965 ja 2005. Journalistisesta aineistosta poimitaan esiin niitä teemoja ja ilmaisun tapoja, jotka ovat korostuneet kilpailuun liittyvissä teksteissä. Tutkimuksessa pohditaan, onko toimittajien kirjoittamien tekstien argumentointi muuttunut nelj��nkymmenen vuoden aikana, ja kuinka internet sekä median viihteellistyminen ovat muuttaneet journalistista kilpailua eri viestinten kesken. Tutkimusongelmia lähestytään kvalitatiivisesti viestinnän oppiaineen tutkimusmenetelmiä hyödyntäen. Ensin sisällönanalyysin avulla hahmotetaan kokonaiskäsitys aineistosta, minkä j��lkeen yksittäisiin teksteihin pureudutaan argumenttianalyysin keinoin. Tutkimusaineisto on rajattu valtakunnallisiin viestintävälineisiin, joita ovat suurimmat sanoma- ja aikakauslehdet, Yleisradion kilpailuaiheiset televisio- ja radio-ohjelmat sekä viulukilpailun internet-sivut. Sanomalehdissä julkaistu aineisto on laajuutensa ja monipuolisuutensa vuoksi tarkimpana analyysikohteena; muu tutkimusaineisto täydentää lehtitekstien perusteella tehtyj�� havaintoja. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että Sibelius-viulukilpailu on ollut näkyvästi esillä valtakunnallisessa lehdistössä niin vuonna 1965 kuin 2005. Molempina vuosina kilpailun näkyvyys pohjautui hyvin vahvasti painettuun sanomalehteen. Lehdistöaineistosta erottuivat selvästi kansallisuuden, rodun ja sukupuolen käsittelyn näkökulmat, vaikka kielellinen ilmaisu onkin ajan mittaan neutraloitunut. Sisällönanalyyttinen tarkastelu ja argumenttianalyysit osoittavat, että toimittajien käyttämä argumentointi on muuttunut nelj��n vuosikymmenen aikana. Toimittajien työnkuva on monipuolistunut, ja viihteellisyys on vähitellen soluttautunut iltapäivälehdistä niin sanottuihin laatumedioihin . Internet on tehnyt kilpailun reaaliaikaisesta seuraamisesta entistä nopeampaa ja helpompaa.

Ukrainan vuosien 1932-33 nälänhädän historiapolitiikka

Ukrainan presidentiksi nousi ns. oranssin vallankumouksen nosteessa Viktor Justsenko. Hänen presidenttikaudellaan (2005-2010) vuosien 1932-33 nälänhätä (holodomor) nousi keskeiseksi sekä sisä-, että ulkopolitiikan teemaksi. Holodomor, joka viittaa nälällä aiheutettuun tuhoon, pyrittiin tuomaan osaksi ukrainalaista kollektiivista muistia. Justsenkon aloitteesta säädettiin laki, jonka mukaan holodomor oli ukrainalaisten kansanmurha. Vuosina 1932-33 ympäri Neuvostoliittoa vallitsi nälänhätä. Ukrainalainen maaseutu kärsi pahoin nälänhädän seurauksista, sillä eri arvioiden mukaan 3,5-10 miljoonaa ukrainalaista menehtyi joko suoranaisesti tai välillisesti nälänhädän seurauksena. Ukrainan itsenäistyttyä nälänhätä, jota oli diasporassa alettu kutsua holodomoriksi (nälkätuho), nousi kansallisen historian keskeiseksi teemaksi. Ukrainalainen historioitsija Georgi Kasjanov on nimittänyt tätä uutta vaihetta historian kansallistamiseksi. Tässä työssä pohditaan sitä, miksi holodomor nostettiin keskeiseen asemaan presidentti Viktor Justsenkon valtakaudella. Keskeinen vastakkainasettelun lähtökohta on ollut itsenäisen Ukrainan ja Neuvostoliiton seuraajavaltion Venäj��n suhtautuminen nälänhätään 1932-33. Ukrainalaisissa näkökulmissa on painottunut stalinistisen j��rjestelmän kritiikki, mikä toisaalta on saatettu tulkita myös koko kommunistisen aikakauden tuomitsemiseksi. Venäj��llä taas nälänhätä on tulkittu useimmiten yleisneuvostoliittolaiseksi tragediaksi, joka ei kohdistunut erityisesti mitään tiettyä kansallisuutta vastaan. Tutkimuksen keskeinen lähtökohta on tarkastella ukrainalaisten ja venäläisten tulkintojen eroja ja sitä, millä tavoin holodomorilla on tehty politiikkaa. Tutkimusaineistona on käytetty ukrainalaisten osalta presidentti Justsenkon puheita, lakialoitteita ja muita julkilausumia, sekä eräiden yhteiskunnallisten toimijoiden ja historioitsijoiden kannanottoja. Venäläisen osapuolen tulkintoja on pyritty luomaan muutamien tutkimusten ja yhteiskunnallisten toimijoiden, sekä poliitikkojen lausumien pohjalta. Suurin osa aineistosta on kerätty venäj��nkielisistä verkkolehdistä. Presidentti Justsenkolle vuosien 1932-1933 historiasta muodostui ase, jolla hän kävi omaa poliittista taisteluaan lännen puolesta itää vastaan. Välit Venäj��än olivat viileät koko hänen presidenttikautensa ajan. Lähimmäksi presidentin kantaa holodomor-kysymyksessä tulivat diasporaukrainalaiset. Venäj��llä kritisoitiin ankarasti Justsenkon tanssia haudoilla eli hänen tapaansa käyttää nälänhädän uhreja oman politiikkansa välineenä. Venäläiset korostivat nälänhädän tragediaa kaikkien Neuvostoliiton kansojen tragediana. Holodomor oli osa kansallisen historian uudelleenkirjoitusta ja kansakunnan rakentamisen prosessia. Justsenkon päämääränä oli lähentää Ukrainaa länteen, jolloin ukrainalaisen kansakunnan uhriasema antoi oikeutuksen sanoutua irti neuvostoajasta. Tietyssä mielessä holodomor-projekti oli venäläisvastainen, sillä se implisiittisesti tuki käsitystä venäläisistä rikollisina, kansanmurhan toimeenpanijoina.

Kansan raittiudeksi ja kotien onneksi : Naisten kieltolakimielipiteet ja toiminta kieltolain puolesta ja sitä vastaan 1919 - 1932

It is often maintained that the Prohibition Act (in force from 1 June 1919 to 5 April 1932) still influences both the Finnish alcohol policy and notions about alcohol. This study focuses on the development of women s opinions concerning Prohibition in Finland. What role did the formulation and expression of women s opinions and women's actions play in the final outcome of the Prohibition Act? What do the debate on Prohibition and women s activities for and against the legislation tell us about the status and possibilities of women to exert influence in the Finnish society of the Prohibition era? Women s opinions are particularly interesting since they deviated radically from what has generally been assumed. It was expected that the referendum of 1931 would result in a resounding vote of 100% in favour of Prohibition, but the outcome was a majority vote against it. Over 65% of the women who cast their vote in the referendum wanted a full repeal of Prohibition. The study approaches the history of Prohibition by combining methods and theories of the history of mentalities and social history with gender history. Women are examined as a heterogeneous group with dissimilar objectives and differing ways of acting and thinking. The research material consists of press materials, archival materials from organisations, personal materials and statistics from the Prohibition period. Both discourses and practices are examined; the object of the research is best described by Michel Foucault's concept of dispositif. When participating in the public debate on Prohibition, women based their right to express their opinions and take part in action on an ideological continuum spanning a hundred years, according to which home and family were central areas of women s interest. This idea was linked to questions of morality and social policy. On the other hand, women presented themselves as working taxpayers, voters and equal citizens. The most crucial issue in women's discussions was whether Prohibition improved or worsened the temperance of fathers, husbands and sons. The dichotomies town dweller - countryside dweller, Swedish-speaking Finnish-speaking, and middle class - working class were highly significant backgrounds both as factors dividing women and in public discussions regarding Prohibition. The 1931 referendum showed that the lines of demarcation drawn during the preceding debate did not materialise in political action in line with these dichotomies: the dispositif did not correspond to the discourse. Contrary to what was expressed in public, a great number of women among the labour and rural classes, among inland inhabitants and among Finnish-speakers were also against Prohibition. The media and organisations defended temperance and Prohibition almost until the end of the Prohibition era. This discourse was in conflict with the discourse of everyday conversations and practices in which alcohol was present.