Master of Arts in Humanities Capstone Project

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Browsing Master of Arts in Humanities Capstone Project by Author "Blouin, Michael"

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    From the Romani to the Other: How Literature Created the “Gypsy” and its influence on the public perception of the Romani
    (2024-04-16) Stockley, William; Blouin, Michael
    The Western World is currently experiencing a cultural effort to shed light on the racial prejudice faced by marginalized groups. However, while the world is undergoing a positive cultural evolution in challenging common misperceptions and society’s subconscious biases, many of the Romani feel as if this is a conversation they are not privy to. Often depicted as exotic, mysterious, and connected to the supernatural, the Romani people have come to epitomize the idea of Otherness through the literary creation of the "Gypsy." A diverse group of people the average person knows very little about, the Romani occupy a space of blissful ignorance where society can live out their deepest desires without fear of consequence A belief that has led to many non-Romani co-opting what they believe to be “Gypsy” culture based mostly upon falsely perpetuated stereotypes. With an extraordinary number of references in Western Literature unaccounted for, the field of literary criticism lacks appropriate scope in understanding the depiction of the Romani. The unnoticed depiction of Romani characters in Western Literature has allowed for numerous anti-Romani sentiments to infiltrate society’s beliefs without as much as a second thought.
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    Longing and Belonging: Anxiety and Absence in Domestic Photography
    (2020-05) Hawley, Collin; Blouin, Michael
    Photography has transformed the idea of the self through a reconstruction of memory. How we use the static representations of media to reproduce the “real” world is inextricably connected to how we see and understand ourselves and the world around us. A central symbol of the American life is the domestic, a metonym for “normal.” Our ideas of “home” are shaped by the commodification of every aspect of social life. The idea of home has shifted from a literal location to an inward and individual sense. Memory is the primary source of identity; however, photographs have supplanted memory’s role in the creation of self. Domestic photographs represent the illusory stability of human space through a complication of “inside” and “outside.” The “outside” represents unstructured, destructive forces of nature and time that threaten to dismantle the natural order. Late capitalism’s “inside” is an inhumane architecture of efficiency and profit inverting inside and outside. “Home” consists of an alienating constellation of commodified discontent. The personal style of photographic snapshots masks a dubious reproduction of reality. The practice of photography unconsciously attempts to quell anxiety over the disappearance of what we understand as “me” but rather supplants any sense of reality.