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Modernity in Context: Looking at Visual Representations of Modernity in Hangzhou

Baird, Timothy L.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1414748203

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Communication Studies (Communication).
This project engages with how visual modes of communication interact, are shaped by, and help to shape what it means to be modern in a given cultural context. Moving away from definitions of modernity put forward by Modernism, this study uses Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of dialogue found in meaning-making processes to explore how Fredric Jameson’s claim that modernity functions as a type of rhetorical trope is put into practice in the specific cultural context of Hangzhou, China. The fieldwork was carried out in three steps. Initial interviews led to the identification of key concepts. Photographs as key visual markers of modernity indicated in the initial interviews were a part of the field record. Lastly, a round of interviews that used the photos to further unpack the visual representations of modernity. This project also engages with the relationship between global and local forces within the cultural contexts found in Hangzhou. Building off the work of Arjun Appadurai, Homi Bhaba, and Yi-Fu Tuan, the role of the space, and the shared nature of constructing and reconstructing a culture are explored through the visuals accessed in conversations with participants in their spaces of living, work, and areas where they grew up in the city of Hanzhou.
Devika Chawla, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Lee Judith, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Miller Jerry, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Lee Marion, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
224 p.
Communication; Rhetoric
Modernity; visual rhetoric; visual representations of modernity; Hangzhou; visuals; modernity as a rhetorical trope;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Baird, T. L. (2014). Modernity in Context: Looking at Visual Representations of Modernity in Hangzhou [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1414748203

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Baird, Timothy. Modernity in Context: Looking at Visual Representations of Modernity in Hangzhou. 2014. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1414748203.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Baird, Timothy. "Modernity in Context: Looking at Visual Representations of Modernity in Hangzhou." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1414748203

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1414748203
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© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.