In this thesis, I’m working from the premise that postmodernism hitherto has been associated with the left. The next line of argument is, however, that this relation is contingent and that there is no necessity in postmodernisms association with left-wing ideas and political ambitions. To challenge this assumption, I intend to demonstrate that the Alt-Right, a far-right movement, at least in some respects can be considered as postmodern. If there is indeed cause to think of the Alt-Right as postmodern, then we would have to rethink postmodernisms political inclination. I intend to operationalize this by looking at the Alt-Right’s views on the changeability of politics and the social world, and pop culture, through the lens of a set of postmodern ideas. In particular, postmodern ideas concerning language, discourse and culture, and in doing so get a grip on whether it is correct to view the Alt-Right as postmodern or not. If a connection between the Alt-Right and postmodernism indeed exists, then we would have to rethink the necessity in the left-wing nature of postmodernism.

This thesis examines the pop cultural representation of white-collar migrant women (WCMW) through the popular Chinese TV series Ode to Joy. Focusing on various aspects of their lives, this TV series raises many issues about the experiences of WCMW, including perceptions of them as “outsiders” in the megacity, gender inequality, and the tensions between female migrant identity and urban status. This study analyzes those issues by drawing on intersectional theories which examine structural inequalities from the perspective of the interactions of multiple axes of social categories. This thesis asks three major questions: In what way does Ode to Joy represent the experiences of WCMW?; To what extent do issues raised in Ode to Joy impact the wellbeing of WCMW in large cities?, and; What are the “joys” in Ode to Joy for WCMW? In addition to collecting data from the TV series, this study interviewed WCMW informants to provide first-hand accounts of their experiences in an urban culture. By critically analyzing the representation of WCMW characters’ experiences in Ode to Joy, this thesis provides insights on understanding the status of those women in a contemporary Chinese urban setting, thereby filling a gap in academic literature on the pop cultural representation of China’s white-collar migrant women in a Chinese megacity. / Graduate

Archaeological communication often seeks avenues to take in order to convey information to a public. One of these is video games, yet many articles do not delve into the effect that games have on people, taking for granted that people will learn something. This text aims to understand a group’s view on the past after it has gone through a transformative state such as a video game adaptation. With the web page Twitter offering a digital place of discussion, posts and comments will be analyzed in relation to the aim. The literary theory death of the author, interpretation and authority will help understand how the important aspect of accuracy is utilized amongst Twitter users. The findings conclude that accuracy is an important aspect of recreation amongst twitter users. It is to be employed in authentic portrayal of the past, meaning that the users seek to see a true representation, in contrast to a story taking liberties. Twitter users seek a definitive past, or a correct past, that should seek to emulate archaeological information in detail.

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The relationship between monstrosity and homosexuality is complex, interwoven, and essential to 21st century understandings of horror and pop culture. Yet, not enough work has been done to disentangle these narratives. While the LGBT community has recently made tremendous strides in national acceptance and legalized marriage, queer individuals still feel like the monsters of both media and real life. This thesis seeks to explore the relationship between monstrosity and queerness, developing both a lens for understanding monstrosity, and understanding pop culture monsters through that lens. This thesis seeks to dismember these cultural narratives––much as these narratives have dismembered queer communities. By dismantling and reconstructing monstrosity through verse, this thesis hopes to shed light towards the struggles queer men (and non-fictional monsters) face.

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Over the past fifty years, Christian contemporary music has joined hymnody and psalmody as a major form of evangelical liturgical and devotional song. While the production and content of this genre have been explored by scholars, few studies have attended to the devotional use of the genre and its role in shaping the religious lives of American evangelicals. This project draws from several sets of data to address this matter: analysis of church-created worship music albums, listener testimonials on Christian radio websites, and focus group interviews of laity and clergy at four South Carolina churches. The data revealed that music is significant to their religious lives outside of church as a means of encountering God, managing emotions, and displaying spiritual capital. Inside churches, the music is used to create a sense of corporate identity that reinforces social bonds within the community and attracts newcomers. Drawing on the methodological framework of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice and his work on social distinction, I argue that American evangelicals who listen to Christian contemporary music are engaged in aural piety, a set of practices, attitudes, and ideas invested in music that structure and evoke the experience of the sacred. / Religion

This study aims to explain the incentives and travel patterns for people who have consumed popculture tourism. Pop-culture refers to popular products such as video-games, comic-books, literature, film and t.v-shows. Pop-culture tourism refers to destinations and attractions based on popular culture products such as conventions, events, exhibitions, theme parks and destinations. This study takes on a qualitative approach in order to do so. The results were then analyzed through four different theories; Bourdieu’s theory on different capitals, his theory on habitus, his theory on fields and Lundberg & Lexhagen’s figure: Pop-culture Tourism: A Research Model. The results showed that the respondents social upbringing and (social) media consumption plays a central role in order for individuals to consume and partake in pop-culture tourism. Results did also show that cultural capital and social capitals was prominent for individuals who consume and partake in popculture tourism. / Denna studie har som syfte att belysa individers motiv och val att besöka pop-kultursrelaterade attraktioner och destinationer. Pop-kultur i denna uppsats syftar till populära produkter såsom tvspel, serietidningar, litteratur, film och tv-serier. Pop-kultursturism syftar till destinationer och attraktioner som är baserade på de sistnämnda vilket kan vara konventioner, event, utställningar, temaparker eller destinationer. Till denna studie har en kvalitativ ansats tillämpats för att besvara uppsatsens syfte och frågeställningar genom att utföra semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna analyserades sedan genom fyra olika teorier; Bourdieu’s teorier om kapital, fält och habitus samt Lundberg och Lexhagens modell “Pop-culture Tourism: A Research model”. Resultaten visade att exponering av pop-kultur i respondenternas uppväxt, sociala umgängen och (sociala) mediekonsumtion spelade en central roll i konsumtionen och deltagandet av pop-kultursturism. Resultaten visade även att kulturellt kapital (ett intresse av en viss pop-kulturell produkt) och socialt kapital (individens habitus) var betydande för individer som deltar i pop-kultursturism.