View Item 
        •   Utrecht University Student Theses Repository Home
        • UU Theses Repository
        • Theses
        • View Item
        •   Utrecht University Student Theses Repository Home
        • UU Theses Repository
        • Theses
        • View Item
        JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

        Browse

        All of UU Student Theses RepositoryBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

        In the Eye of the Beholder: The Magnus Archives and Panopticon Surveillance

        Thumbnail
        View/Open
        MA Thesis Ronan J Maat.docx (123.4Kb)
        Publication date
        2024
        Author
        Maat, Ronan
        Metadata
        Show full item record
        Summary
        Bentham’s panopticon and Foucault’s concepts of surveillance have often been depicted in media, most notably in works such as George Orwell’s 1984. One text that also deals with these themes but has seen little to no academic attention is the audio fiction podcast The Magnus Archives (2016-21) by Jonathan Sims, which uses its paranormal setting to portray surveillance in its extreme. This thesis investigates the podcast's portrayal of surveillance and its interaction with theories regarding surveillance, arguing that The Magnus Archives depicts surveillance as a power that is centralised and internalised. Those in its system possess relative autonomy; the institute perpetuates panoptic surveillance, the head of the institute employs his own panoptic powers to manipulate and incite fear, the Archivist’s own autonomy in his use of surveillance powers is similarly problematised, and the audience is made to be complicit in the narrative as an observer.
        URI
        https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/46743
        Collections
        • Theses
        Utrecht university logo