Visual Activism and the Twenty-First Century Prosthetic Limb

TL;DRAbstract

The introduction of this thesis provides a brief history of prosthetic limb technology, introduces a Deleuzian and Groszian critical framework, and coins a new critical term-- the "phantom-phantom limb," defined as the phantom one creates when projecting his or her own insecurities towards his or her personal `temporary able-body' onto an amputee's site of amputation. Viewing prosthetic limbs from a Deleuzian critical framework highlights an amputee's ability to actively and publically engage with the "phantom-phantom limb" in two specific ways-- by wearing an "industrial prosthetic limb" and/or an "aesthetic prosthetic limb." The former, discussed in "Chapter One: The Industrial Prosthetic Limb," is a tool with which the amputee engages with his or her material surroundings based on a Deleuzian "desire," thus inspiring a gazing public to think creatively about how they may do the same. The latter, discussed in "Chapter Two: The Aesthetic Prosthetic Limb," is a tool with which the ampu

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