Thesis (Ph.D)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Walker, Bruce; Committee Member: Bonebright, Terri; Committee Member: Catrambone, Richard; Committee Member: Corso, Gregory; Committee Member: Rogers, Wendy. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

[pt] A presente tese analisa as representações de viagens no tempo em um conjunto de produções da indústria cinematográfica dos Estados Unidos. O objetivo do estudo é compreender as concepções sobre o tempo elaboradas nos filmes selecionados e como estas se relacionam com o pensamento e as práticas do Ocidente moderno-contemporâneo. Especificamente, a investigação foca em filmes nos quais personagens rompem com a cronologia de uma sequência de eventos ou vivenciam determinados momentos repetidas vezes. A expressão viagem no tempo envolve significados diversos. Portanto, o esforço de pesquisa começa por entender suas possíveis definições. O primeiro capítulo faz uma revisão de algumas das vertentes teóricas sobre o tempo na tradição filosófica-científica ocidental. Já o segundo capítulo explora interpretações sobre o fenômeno do mito e, além disso, examina o histórico da ficção científica. Após delimitar e detalhar o material selecionado no terceiro capítulo, a tese se volta para a análise textual dos filmes. O exame do conjunto indica três grandes questões atreladas às viagens no tempo: as cosmologias e imagens do fim do mundo; a demarcação e conexão de diferentes tempos por meio de objetos; e a problematização das relações sociais, sobretudo, o parentesco. Cada uma dessas questões é analisada no quarto capítulo. A tese demonstra como os filmes traduzem o tempo em termos concretos através das trajetórias dos personagens e seus artefatos, que, ao desconhecerem a ordem histórica, geram paradoxos, encontros e desencontros na vida social. / [en] This thesis analyzes representations of time travel in an ensemble of productions from the United States film industry. The purpose of this study is to understand the notions of time portrayed in the selected films and how these are related to modern-contemporary Western thought and practices. Specifically, the investigation focuses on movie pictures in which characters break from the chronology of a sequence of events or experience the same moment repeatedly. The term time travel involves diverse meanings. Therefore, the research effort begins by understanding its possible definitions. The first chapter reviews some of the theoretical strands about time in Western philosophical and scientific traditions. The second chapter explores interpretations about the phenomenon of myth and the history of science fiction. After delimiting and describing the selected material in the third chapter, the thesis proceeds to the textual analysis of films. The examination of the ensemble indicates three main issues related to time travel: cosmologies and images of the end of the world; objects as markers of and connections between different temporalities, and the questioning of social relations, above all, kinship. Each one of these issues is analyzed in the fourth chapter. The thesis demonstrates how films translate time in concrete terms through the trajectories of characters and their artifacts that, unbounded by the historical order, engender paradoxes, meetings, and mismatches in social life.

The diploma thesis The White House Presents: The Media Image of Barack Obama examines the media presentation of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, through the official media channel of the White House. Five video recordings of President Obama's speeches are analyzed with a focus on linguistic, visual and auditory sign systems with the use of the qualitative semiotic content analysis. Before the analysis itself, an explanation of theoretical terms related mostly to the representation of reality is provided. On these grounds the analysis is then approached as a description of different means of achieving media construction of reality, to which both the President himself and the White House Office of Communications contribute. This Office is in charge of the content of the above-mentioned channel. To broaden the context, general information about the functioning of the President's media communication is included. The aim of this thesis is an interpretation of the communication tools presented by the White House media channel and the analysis of their symbolic meaning in order to explicate the process of a specific media image of the President coming into existence. The approach to the analyzed content from the perspective of intercultural communication is also of importance. It must be...