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Thanks to new media, many new careers and communities as well as an abundance of new content for the masses to entertain themselves with has been created. The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate how much of the new media content is created via being unscripted or the use of improvisation and what kind of impact it has created. The focus will be centered on video streaming and content that is available on the internet. To prove this thesis, I have used various methods. I read books about advertising and marketing using videos as well as a book about dramatic improvisation. I studied the analytics of various channels on different video streaming sites like YouTube and Twitch.tv. I also studied different channels for how the content creators communicate with each other and their audience with their dialogue as well as how they edit their video content. I was also lucky enough to be able to interview a few professional improvisors about the subject. There were online articles that were utilized to prove the point. The first chapter of the four main chapters is consisting of the history of improvisation. I will discuss how improvisation is used and taught and then I will briefly discuss the very beginnings of improvisation to elaborating on how improvisation is being used today. The other three chapters are about improvisation utilization in the different mediums of video content creation. Within each of these chapters, I will discuss each of the websites and cellular applications’ history as well. The second chapter is about YouTube, the largest video content website, and other video streaming sites. On YouTube, anyone can post pretty much anything they please as a video into many categories. I will be mentioning the gaming, vlogs, and tutorial video categories. I will enumerate the most popular channels in each of these categories and their analytics of subscribers, views and videos. In this chapter, I will also talk about the online content creating company, Rooster Teeth, as well as vines and podcasts. Due to much of the videos being a “commentary” style video, I will be elaborating on how commentary is a form of improvisation. The third chapter will be comprised of live streaming sites and cellular applications. I will be talking about Twitch.tv and its claim to fame and well as Periscope and Facebook live. The last chapter is about social media applications that primarily use video content as their main content. Instagram and Snapchat only use pictures and videos that users send to each other.

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This thesis reviews the self-identity transformation process of the main character of Tokyo Fiancée whose name is Amelie; she was born in Japan but grew up in Belgium. Based on Lacan’s Mirror stage theory, the thesis discusses the conflicted feeling between the original belief and the changing status. Since Lacan said that establishing self-identity is everlasting, the thesis will focus on the whole transformation processes but not the ending. Under the premise of finding a permanent self-identity must be a failure, the transformation will be analyzed through Lacanian psychoanalysis theory, semiotic of film, and liminality theory. All the theories will be explained before they are applied on the examples of Tokyo Fiancée. The first chapter supports the mental status transformation via psychoanalysis theories; the second chapter will use semiotic theories to analyze the storyline diachronically and synchronically; and the third chapter applies liminality theory as a conclusion of the phenomenon of Amelie’s self-identity transformation. The conclusion of the self-identity transformation is affirmative in that people can always be trapped in a chaos of identity issues, and the stable identity is relatively steady but not forever. The example of Amelie is not just about her national identity issue, but about how she defines herself. She and the other characters reflect the self-identity issue as actually belonging to everyone, and not just for cross-culture people. Self-identity is confusing for everyone, and chasing self-identity is always in process.

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This study will consider the historical definitions and practices in place since the 1950’s: a significant post World War Two decade that marked the beginning of independence though decolonization. The transmogrification of colonization into decolonization resulting in development and modern views of aid to achieve it are necessary for understanding the approaches in place by governments and stakeholders in the quest to increase resiliency on the part of local people. Specifically, in the face of post-genocide development, the current Government of Rwanda has made massive strides in bringing the country to peace and stability, namely through sweeping reforms in the economic sector, government infrastructure, and promotion of local culture. To stimulate job creation for international market competition, they specifically promote cultural heritage as a means for economic gains within the creative arts industry. Agaseke, traditional handwoven baskets, are key cultural symbols and earmarked for development on the international, local, and personal levels. Various policies from international development organizations such as the United Nations, The World Bank, and UNESCO advocate the use of culture and arts for development in so-called Third World countries; their policies as well as Government of Rwanda documents and policies that focus on development do so through the growth of the economic sector, tapping into the traditional arts, cultural tourism, and cultural education as means to indoctrinate the youth for entrepreneurial endeavors and economic stability. The Government of Rwanda policies include the Ministry of Sports and Culture’s National Culture Heritage Policy which delineates the importance and use of local culture; Vision 2020 which acts as a road map for the country in achieving growth and development through the year 2020; and Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy I and II, a detailed guide connecting all sectors to international development ideals for local stability. These policy documents were created with the theories proffered by international development agencies, so this research discusses the outcomes of cultural heritage promotion: both the ideal and the reality on the international, local, and personal echelons. The findings show that the economic stability, job growth, psychosocial support, and socioeconomic benefits promised through the use of cultural heritage in the creative industries are not always the truth of the matter. As local people engage in the cultural and creative arts industries, few are better off than when they started and are actually subjected to the whims of powers and organizations larger than them: whether that be market demand, local government, or international aid organizations. The findings further show that while there is progress in Rwanda, it is from a Western perspective and not necessarily connected to the arts in development which stems from a neocolonial market system meant to further subjugate the people rather than liberate them.

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In order to determine the value of the Idea in cultural output the analysis is aimed towards three main components embedded in the thesis title. It addresses a main hypothesis stating that the value of the Idea supersedes external influences. The idea of the Idea is the first component where questions regarding the nature of ideas are addressed by examining thinkers such as Réne Descartes, Gilles Deleuze, who is the single largest contributor to the entire theoretical baseline, and Plato. It is established that the possibility of the Idea is one of its main characteristics, which is promoted by its referential nature. The origins of ideas, whether they are self-standing or self-created all lead to the same point, relies on the ability to become one way or the other. This becomes more apparent in the component where Value becomes the main focus of inspection. Gilles Deleuze and Benedict Spinoza play a large part in establishing the parameters of the ethical applications of the referential and becoming ideas, and the question whether economic possibility can influence judgement drawn from personal identity. Both the Idea and Value are then examined in an actual setting where commodity constructs seen in Output are examined from the perspective of production and a perceived quality in modern society, namely by looking at research on creativity such as by Teresa Amabile and Adam Grant, and Deleuze. The main conclusion is alignment with the main hypothesis as both the Idea and Value are primary to the secondary application of the Output, the referential nature of the Idea protects it from subjugation of a predefined format. The theoretical baseline is tested through a quantitative survey carried out in order to determine its actual applicability. This is done in the context of students in the cultural studies programme of KU Leuven. In the absence of identifiable similar research, the survey attempted to establish correlates and comparison between students and supervisors and their perception of idea value in the context of written and submitted Master’s theses. The results of the Survey are discussed in the final chapter but proved inconclusive as regards the correlate or predictive capacity. The study did, however, highlight differences between the two groups within the sample frame which illustrates the difference in perception based on the realities in which the judgment takes place. The execution of the survey further highlights the alignment with the hypothesis when it comes to modification to fit within a given form. The disregard for a relative success from a measurable external value not only aligns with the theoretical framework but also the limited actualisation provided by the survey data.

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Avant-garde is a very complex term that can be used in a variety of connotations. The phenomenon of avant-garde has been often misinterpreted, studied, forgotten and resurrected again. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the main distinctive characteristics of contemporary art practices that attempt to integrate art into the praxis of life. While establishing this link between art and everyday life these practices bring new innovative and sometimes even radical ideas into the society. Contemporary art does not simplify these ideas in order for the society to understand them, but motivates people to think and reinterpret them. The author will provide several contemporary examples of these practices explaining how artists operate in the social and political domains and what results they achieve. This thesis is, first and foremost, an attempt to determine which characteristics make it possible for these practices to be called avant-garde.