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Visualizing the Invisible: An Exploration of the Radioactive Image within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Baden, Fannie Frederikke LU (2020) KOVM12 20201
Division of Art History and Visual Studies
Abstract
This thesis explores the radioactive image and poses the multi-layered question: ‘(how) can radioactivity exist as an image, when it cannot be seen, heard or felt?’. By having no sensorial qualities, radioactivity is often narrated in popular media by metaphoric association. Through close analyses of selected scenes from HBO’s tv-series Chernobyl (2019) the study suggests that a variety of tropes create a visual language for describing radioactivity. Subsequently these tropes affect tourist images of Pripyat (a town near the Chernobyl power plant) by conforming the visual representation of the area. The thesis further relates the fascination with the area to the concept of the sublime. By way of the conducted analyses, this suggest that... (More)
This thesis explores the radioactive image and poses the multi-layered question: ‘(how) can radioactivity exist as an image, when it cannot be seen, heard or felt?’. By having no sensorial qualities, radioactivity is often narrated in popular media by metaphoric association. Through close analyses of selected scenes from HBO’s tv-series Chernobyl (2019) the study suggests that a variety of tropes create a visual language for describing radioactivity. Subsequently these tropes affect tourist images of Pripyat (a town near the Chernobyl power plant) by conforming the visual representation of the area. The thesis further relates the fascination with the area to the concept of the sublime. By way of the conducted analyses, this suggest that the radioactive image can exist only when it is contextualized by linguistic guidance. (Less)
Popular Abstract
This thesis explores the radioactive image and poses the multi-layered question: ‘(how) can radioactivity exist as an image, when it cannot be seen, heard or felt?’. By having no sensorial qualities, radioactivity is often narrated in popular media by metaphoric association. By way of the conducted analyses, this suggest that the radioactive image can exist only when contextualized by linguistic guidance.
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author
Baden, Fannie Frederikke LU
supervisor
organization
course
KOVM12 20201
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Radioactive Image, Nuclear Disaster, Nuclear power, Chernobyl, Disaster Tourism, Visual tropes, radioactivity, semiotics, visualized natural phenomena
language
English
id
9015283
date added to LUP
2020-09-14 08:20:01
date last changed
2020-09-14 08:20:01
@misc{9015283,
  abstract     = {{This thesis explores the radioactive image and poses the multi-layered question: ‘(how) can radioactivity exist as an image, when it cannot be seen, heard or felt?’. By having no sensorial qualities, radioactivity is often narrated in popular media by metaphoric association. Through close analyses of selected scenes from HBO’s tv-series Chernobyl (2019) the study suggests that a variety of tropes create a visual language for describing radioactivity. Subsequently these tropes affect tourist images of Pripyat (a town near the Chernobyl power plant) by conforming the visual representation of the area. The thesis further relates the fascination with the area to the concept of the sublime. By way of the conducted analyses, this suggest that the radioactive image can exist only when it is contextualized by linguistic guidance.}},
  author       = {{Baden, Fannie Frederikke}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Visualizing the Invisible: An Exploration of the Radioactive Image within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}