I have an idea for a PhD that I think is very relevant to today’s world and could make a genuine contribution to knowledge.
My idea is multi-disciplined involving English Literature, Art, Photography, The Moving Image, Politics, History, Globalization, Technology and Commerce.
Below is a rough outline of my PhD idea so far and the possible direction I could take with it: -
The working title I have at the moment is “The exploitation of the image:- A historical context of George Orwell’s 1984 and it’s place in the digital age”
Every day we are bombarded by imagery to the point where it has become part of our everyday lives.
The use of still and moving imagery in recent history such the American elections and the Brexit referendum got me thinking about some of the parallels with George Orwell’s novel “1984”. Their use to expose & exploit the fears and predigests of people for political advantage brought the novel very much to the forefront of my thoughts.
A very recent and ongoing example of what I am talking about is the use of imagery by the anti-vaccination movement(s) as a “scare” tactic to further their agenda as well as in the USA Trump followers have used the same tactics to further their political agenda that the election was “stolen”. The reality of the world is being assaulted, twisted, distorted by the manipulation and mass dissemination of imagery on a daily basis and I wish to address this through my thesis.
What I would be proposing is a PhD thesis on George Orwell’s novel 1984 in the context of the exploitation of both the moving and still image throughout history and its relevance to the digital world we live in.
At this early stage I envisage there being three distinct sections to the thesis though this could change.
1. The first part would be a historical narrative of the exploitation of the still & moving image before and up to the publication of the novel and where/how it fits into the book’s context.
2. The second part would be the developments that came after the novel up to the digital age so that would include subjects such as the mass expansion of television, consumerism & the acceleration of globalization.
3. The third would deal specifically with the digital age we are in and the novels relevance to this era, areas such as Big Data, Social Media, Home Computers, The Internet, Digital Media.
The potential research threads for this thesis includes:- The history & development of both photography and the moving image, the emergence of mass media, publications (magazines & newspapers), journalism, advertising, technology, social media, citizen journalism, propaganda, media manipulation, government control, politics, international relations, trade. I’m sure there is more I haven’t thought of but as you can see there’s plenty to start with which is why I see it as a multi-disciplined thesis covering several different subject areas.
George Orwell’s 1984 has been my favourite book ever sine I first read it as a teenager thirty years ago and I have continued to re-read it over the years since. It wasn’t discovered until I was twelve that I was Dyslexic, up until that point I hated reading mainly because of the difficulties I had, however my parents sent me to a private school that catered for children like me and soon I started to catch up. George Orwell’s 1984 was the first time in my life I had enjoyed reading and it has made a lasting impression on me, this is part of the reason why I would like to do a PhD involving this book. Being a very visual person photography and the moving image has also been a large part of my life, so it also seems quite natural to me to want to bring together two major influences in my life for my PhD.