Author, Institution: Viktorija Lankauskaitė, Kaunas University of Technology
Science area, field of science: Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003
Research Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Dario Martinelli (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Dissertation Defence Board of History and Theory of Arts Science Field:
Prof. Dr. Šarūnas Paunksnis (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003) – chairperson
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saulutė Juzelėnienė (Vilnius University, Humanities, Philology, H004)
Prof. Dr. Saulius Keturakis (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, Philosophy, H001)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bruno Surace (University of Turin, Italy, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Dissertation defence meeting will be at Rectorate Hall of Kaunas University of Technology (K. Donelaičio 73-402, Kaunas)
The doctoral dissertation is available at the library of Kaunas University of Technology (Gedimino 50, Kaunas) and on the internet: V. Lankauskaitė el. dissertation.pdf
© V. Lastauskaitė, 2026 “The text of the thesis may not be copied, distributed, published, made public, including by making it publicly available on computer networks (Internet), reproduced in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical or other means. Pursuant to Article 25(1) of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights of the Republic of Lithuania, a person with a disability who has difficulties in reading a document of a thesis published on the Internet, and insofar as this is justified by a particular disability, shall request that the document be made available in an alternative form by e-mail to doktorantura@ktu.lt.”
Annotation: This dissertation brings together the ideas of human and non-human animal relationships, empathy to understand those relationships, anthrozoomorphism as an epitome of visual consumption of animals, and fantasy and science fiction genres as genres for anthrozoomorphism. The aim ofthis dissertation is to investigate the role of film grammar in eliciting empathy for anthrozoomorphism. Since anthrozoomorphism – a hybrid metaphor for a combination of humanity and animality that carries different animal depictions and meanings influenced by the human gaze – can question the human and non-human animal relationships in a more obvious, visual way, the genres of fantasy and science fiction can be convenient for their depiction. The method of research is qualitative content analysis, done by systematically coding the audiovisual content of four films. David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986) and Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom (2023) represent the genre of science fiction, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017) represent the fantasy genre. The results show how film grammar helps to elicit empathy. Frame size brings attention the morphological features of the anthrozoomorph, character behaviour, and helps to build connection between characters. Focus acts as a guide in many compositions, as well as helps to emphasise character transformations or character relationships. Camera angle informs about the power dynamic between characters. Movement helps to depict internal creature states and their environment. Montage builds connection between characters, introduces their internal states, or adds horror. Some aspects of film grammar are better suited for some cues for empathy than others.