Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Bachelor of Creative Industries Honours

School

School of Communications and Arts

Faculty

Faculty of Education and Arts

First Supervisor

Dr Stuart Medley

Abstract

Australia’s current social and political climate takes us back to a time when there was a strongly perceived fear of the other. This fear is heavily reflected by the monsters which we, as a society, create. This research unearths the constructed monsters of the 20th Century for a critical assessment of what makes a monster. More specifically, it focuses on depictions of monsters within political and horror poster designs. The purpose of this research is to identify and respond to the rhetoric apparent within and between poster images, specifically concerning the cultivation of fear of the other through the metaphor of the monster. A Kristevean theoretical perspective is employed to explore the monster as an abject other and also the rhetorical con­nections between these monstrous others. Creative work, in the form of poster design and production, is undertaken towards the end of this project, as a way to practically engage the results of the research, and apply this knowledge to contemporary Australian rhetoric. I will be making one propaganda poster and one horror poster, for presentation as the final creative works of this study. Through this design work, I propose that the poster’s role as a means of entertainment and persuasion is key to visually interpreting the propagandistic discourse present today

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