A Methodology In The Becoming: Examining The Possibilities Of Diffractive Watching Through A Feminist New Materialist Lens

Abstract: In this Thesis, influenced by Geert’s and van der Tuin’s (2016) diffractive reading of Beauvoir and Irigaray, I propose the methodology of  diffractive watching and watching diffractively as another tool for film analysis while engaging in an exploration of the potentials and limitations presented in the process. I find the concept of diffraction to be of significant merit within feminist new materialist research and to that end, I am interested in assessing the concept’s versatility and in verifying its methodological value.  Therefore, in my analysis,  I aspire to explore  diffractive watching  as a set intention and methodology and watching diffractively as an active process and the different implications that will result  if diffractive watching is  applied as a lens and/or employed as a tool. Moreover, I consider the mapping of the films’ cartographical account to be a constituent part of diffractive watching which in this case functioned as the starting point for the analysis.  To illustrate the becoming of this methodology, I take two films, i.e., Bladerunner (1982) and Bladerunner 2049 (2017) as my case study.