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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
151

The politics of blogging in China

Tang, Hai January 2016 (has links)
This thesis aims to conceptualize the growing use of the blog as socio-political practice in an emerging Chinese public sphere. It is built on the study of three key blogs that, for different reasons, are held to be important in the recent history of blogging in China: a sexual blog (Muzi Mei's Love Letters Left, 2003), a journalist's blog (Lian Yue's Lian Yue's Eighth Continent, 2007), and a satirical blog (Wang Xiaofeng's No Guess, 2006-2011). I say they are important because the three blogs support my central argument of this thesis: blogging can be seen as a new form of political expression/participation in China. Such expression/participation is embedded in its creative challenges and negotiations pushing the political boundaries of tolerance subsequently operating within an authoritarian media system. Through a combination of analyses, I explore how Chinese ‘intellectuals' (loosely defined as educated, urban and middle-class netizens) use their professional skills, expertise and cultural capital in the public space of the Chinese blogosphere, how their blogs reshape the form of China's political culture, and how the blogosphere, through such interventions, proceeds in the development of political communications. Through these analyses I address three key issues, all of which arise in these cases, and were drawn attention in the Chinese blogosphere from 2003 to 2011. Firstly, the rise of individualism in China, and the rise of peer-to-peer media means that bloggers who pursue self-expression simultaneously engage in political discourse through such self-expression. The three examples given in this study demonstrate that individual opinions across the blogosphere have significantly reflected public consensus and implicitly challenged orthodox political discourse. My chapter on Muzi Mei's sexual diary, for instance, explores this theme – a young woman's sexual life, I argue, works as a controversy challenging to Chinese gender politics – and perhaps translates also to become political in other ways too. Secondly, drawing on the concept of ‘blogging culture', I argue that blogging has potentially reconfigured political information (taking people's everyday lives as a starting point), increasing the visibility of political struggle and offering alternative modes of ‘public talk'. This can be seen in both the case of Lian Yue and Wang Xiaofeng – the former writes about a well-known government project – Xiamen PX event in 2007, presenting a radical practice of news reporting that has challenged the legitimacy of traditional sense of journalism in China. The latter uses satire to make fun of the State, Party leaders, mainstream media, policies and established ideologies, improving a previously restricted communicative environment towards more open. Thirdly, the Chinese blogosphere has arguably created a new generation of elites – these ‘new' elites are ‘ambiguous' or ‘dissident' elites in contrast to the older, more traditional understanding of an ‘establishment' elite. In other words, even though the orthodox elite culture promoted by politicians, celebrities and cultural elites is still the mainstream in the blogosphere, such a ‘mainstream' is gradually questioned, criticized and challenged by the commonly shared ideas, beliefs and values disseminated by Chinese radical bloggers such as Muzi Mei, Lian Yue and Wang Xiaofeng who are aware of new cultural, social and political contexts. However, as this thesis suggests, political or political-based expression in China still has to constantly negotiate with ongoing censorship, along with an unstable discursive space and thus, can only enjoy a limited success. Therefore, the Chinese blogosphere, as a public space for political communication, still has a long way to go.
152

Northern Industrial Scratch : the history and contexts of a visual music practice

Cope, Nicholas January 2012 (has links)
The critical commentary presents and contextualizes a film and video making practice spanning three decades. It locates a contemporary visual music practice within current and emerging critical and theoretical contexts and tracks back the history of this practice to the artist’s initial screenings of work as part of the 1980’s British Scratch video art movement. At the heart of the body of work presented here is an exploration and examination of methods and working practices in the encounter of music, sound and moving image. Central to this is an examination of the affective levels that sound and image can operate on, in a transsensorial fusion, and political and cultural applications of such encounters, whilst examining the epistemological regimes such work operates in. A combination of factors has meant that work such as this, arising in the UK provinces, can fall below the historicizing and critical radar – these include the ephemeral and transitory nature of live performance work; the difficulties of documenting such work; the fragility and degeneration of emerging and quickly obsolescent formats; and a predominance of a London–centric focus on curating, screening and historicizing of experimental film and video art practices. My film and video practice has been screened nationally and internationally over three decades, and has been recognized as exemplary practice both in the early 1980s at the inception of the Scratch movement and in more recent retrospectives. The critical commentary argues that this work contributes new knowledge of the history, contexts and practices of film and video art and audiovisual and visual music practices.
153

Democratising print? : the field and practices of radical and community printshops in Britain, 1968-98

Baines, Jessica January 2016 (has links)
Alternative media studies is a rapidly expanding field, particularly since the emergence and uptake of digital technologies and their potential to facilitate the articulation of alternative and contestatory voices. As previous scholarship has shown, aspirations to this end, deploying various communication technologies are not new. However the histories of these earlier activities can be elusive. This thesis examines one such case, typically absent from litanies of pre-digital attempts in democratising media/cultural production; Britain’s late 20th century radical and community printshops, particularly but not exclusively those in London. Field theory approaches (Bourdieu 1994, Crossley 2006, Fligstein & McAdam 2012) are used to map and analyse the trajectory of this heterogeneous field of printshops; from its emergence in the 1970s to its dissipation by the 1990s. The thesis identifies the combinations of material, cultural and political conditions, internal and external to their fields of operation (fields of movement and civil society activity), that variously enabled and challenged their growth and survival. The field approach is linked with Shove et al.’s (2012) synthesised practice theory to analyse how the printshops democratised internal organisation and production, and the challenges in doing so. The methods undertaken to conduct the study are a combination of archival research, the instigation of a ‘radical printshops’ open wiki and 55 in-depth interviews with printshop members. The research demonstrates how the printshops activities did not exist in isolation but as part of, and dependent upon, wider webs of culture, politics and influence. It shows how their participatory practices were contingent on wider field recognition of their value, and how ‘habitus’ can play a role in their uptake. The research also found that the heterogeneity of printshop memberships kept them open to diverse movement struggles and internal selfcriticism, but how this could also be a source of internal instability and conflicts about aims. Lastly, the thesis reveals how the influence of the alternative left field on municipal socialist policy of the 1980s both enabled and undermined the activity of the printshops. Generally the thesis contributes to alternative media studies by bringing the printshops to attention and connecting them into a larger history of democratic experiments in the amplification of contestatory ideas and marginalised voices.
154

Media personality and fan community : a study in modern communication and culture

Roberts, Catherine January 2000 (has links)
This study examines the relations between the media personalities and their audiences. Its broad interest is with the implications for contemporary social experience of the fact that modern communication and culture involve mediated interaction. Its focus is on broadcasting's use of personality presenters to interact with viewers and listeners and on audiences' experiences of this. This thesis explains that broadcasting has developed a personality system to relate to audiences and discusses the characteristics of this system. It considers the importance of genre in determining the type of presenter used and the significance of their personality. It is argued that an awareness of the construction of personae has undermined broadcasting's traditional personality system where sincerity is crucial. The fact that nowadays professional personalities operate as commodities in a competitive marketplace is highlighted and the role played by management companies in their careers is explored. This research project provides a case study of the media personality Phillip Schofield. His role as a presenter and his place within popular culture are elaborated. His persona is examined in detail and shown to be consistent with the discourses of broadcasting's personality system. This study proceeds to investigate the consumption of the personality system. It reviews the existing literature on para-social interaction and the mediated relationships of intimacy at a distance that develop between persenters and their audiences. It contributes to this knowledge by presenting the findings from qualitative research into viewers' relationships with a media personality. This empirical study involved conducting in-depth interviews with four of Phillip Schofield's fans and spending time with the fan community these interviewees belong to. The formation of this group is outlined and the fact that sociability is an important aspect of fandom is stressed. Concentrating on the subjects' responses to Schofield, this research demonstrates that one form of fandom is rooted in the intensive cultivation of a para-social relationship.
155

Webfilm theory

Kurtzke, Simone January 2007 (has links)
Since its inception in 1989, the World Wide Web has grown as a medium for publishing first text, then images, audio, and finally, moving images including short films. While most new media forms, in particular, hypertext, have received scholarly attention, research into moving image on the Internet had been limited. The thesis therefore set out to investigate webfilms, a form of short film on the WWW and the Internet, over a period of 9 years (1997-2005). The thesis was theoretically embedded in questions regarding new media as new field of research, since the increasing visibility of new media had resulted in the emergence of the discipline of ‘new media studies’. This context raised issues regarding the configuration of new media studies within the existing academic disciplines of media and cultural studies, which were explored in depth in the literature review. The case studies of the thesis explored and analysed webfilms from a vantage point of actor-network theory, since this was arguably the most appropriate methodology to a research object considerably influenced by technological factors. The focus was on the conditions of webfilm production, distribution, and exhibition, and the evolution of webfilm discourse and culture. The aim was to seek answers to the question ‘How didwebfilm arise as (new) form of film?’ In the process of research, a number of issues were raised including the changing definition and changing forms of webfilms, the convergence of media, and the complex interdependency of humans and their computers. The research re-evaluates the relationship between human and non-human factors in media production and presents a fresh approach by focusing on the network as unit of analysis. The thesis as a whole not only provides new information on the evolution of webfilm as a form of film, but also illustrates how the network interaction of humans and nonhumans lies at the heart of contemporary new media and convergence culture.
156

Understanding the problem of cultural non-participation : discursive structures, articulatory practice and cultural domination

Stevenson, David John January 2016 (has links)
This thesis employs a discursive methodology to analyse the policy problem of cultural non-participation. In so doing it seeks to answer the questions of what the problem is, why a problem exists, and what the existence of the problem does ‘in the real’ (Bacchi, 2009). The study draws on primary data generated in the form of policy texts, speeches and 42 in-depth qualitative interviews with individuals working in or for publicly funded cultural organisations in Scotland. Employing the methodological approach of problematisation (Foucault, 2003a [1981]), the study offers a close analysis of the discursive logics upon which the construction of the problem relies. In so doing it is asserted that the problem construction functions as an articulatory practice (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985) that not only constitutes and organizes social relations but also supports asymmetric relations of power and allows inequality in society to be represented as both inevitable and sensible (Rancière, 2004). Beginning with a discussion of how cultural participation has been constructed as an object of enquiry, the thesis moves on to consider how cultural non-participation is constructed as a problem across the discursive planes of politics and professional practice. Having made visible the discursive logics of the problem construction, the discussion then examines the contingent historical conditions under which the existence of certain subjects, objects, and the intelligible relations between them became possible. Arguing that the Arts should be understood as a discursive institution, it is proposed that the subject identity of the non-participant is not only a necessary part of the discursive logic of this institution, but also provided the ideal boundary object (Star and Griesemer, 1989) around which the legitimacy of the relationship between the Arts and the state could, in part, be based. Drawing on the work of Jacques Rancière (1991; 2004; 2004), it is argued that the manner in which those labelled as non-participants are subjectified obscures their agency and in so doing suppresses their capacity to speak within the field of cultural policy. As such, the field of cultural policy remains characterized by asymmetric relations of power and dominated by those who lay claim to the discursive identity of cultural professionals. The result is state subsidised practices that while doing little to influence individual patterns of behavior, through performing inclusion and equality contribute to the maintenance of a status-quo in which state support will only be provided to individuals who accept the values of those who exercise the most power in the field.
157

National culinary capital : how the state and TV shape the 'taste of the nation' to create distinction

Buscemi, Francesco January 2014 (has links)
This interdisciplinary thesis breaks new ground in the fields of food and media studies, in the specific areas of culinary capital and food TV. On food studies, this thesis theorises that the state plays the role of meta-tastemaker, legitimising some foods as a source of social distinction in order to support national ideologies and beliefs. The social prestige that citizens accumulate thanks to these foods is what this thesis defines as national culinary capital. On media studies, this thesis analyses how national culinary capital is represented on television, and how the media and the nation negotiate it. Only by merging the two disciplines has this thesis been able to catch the sense of the complex power relationships between the nation and the media. Through the analysis of two national TV food travelogues, the Italian Ti Ci Porto Io and the British Jamie's Great Britain, this work draws on Bourdieu's concepts of statist and cultural capital, and on Naccarato and LeBesco's theorisation of culinary capital. Cultural studies views of national culture and television, and theories on nation-building contribute to the theoretical framework. Methodologically, this study applies political economy and Bourdieu's field analysis to Italian and British TV and food TV, and to the broadcasters and production companies of the shows. In addition, moving image and semiotic analysis of the travelogues clarify how the two shows represent national culinary capital. An interview with the Italian producer, and a failed interview with the British one shed further light on the national ideologies represented by the shows and linked to food. The results show how, in the two countries, national culinary capital supports different ideologies with similar aims. Moreover, while in Italy the state exerts its power over the media in a stronger way, in Britain the media prove to be powerful enough to shape an independent form of national culinary capital, embodied by the media invention of the celebrity chef.
158

The moral dilemmas of journalism in Kenya's politics of belonging

Benequista, Nicholas January 2016 (has links)
This thesis explores the strategies pursued by Kenyan journalists as they contend with “the politics of belonging” in their work, arguing that the choices journalists make in the micro-processes of news production can be understood and guided from a moral perspective. The study addresses lingering questions about how journalists experience and respond to social divisions that can be created in the dynamic interaction between ethnic identity, personal networks and competitive party politics that characterizes a politics of belonging. Theoretically, it builds on an interpretation of Roger Silverstone’s normative theory of morality in the mediapolis and on the concepts of autonomy and agency developed within the sociology of journalism. A participatory and action-oriented methodology is employed to examine journalism practice: 10 journalists were engaged through a series of participatory workshops and interviews, and participant observation was undertaken through collaborations with these journalists on a variety of news experiments. Additional formal and informal interviews were conducted with other stakeholders who have an interest in news production. The thematic analysis of the resulting corpus of field notes and interview transcripts suggests that the Kenyan journalists who participated in the research experience the politics of belonging as a complex set of social pressures in their professional relationships, which create a series of challenges, trade-offs and dilemmas that they strategically negotiate in their daily practices and in the discourse of their news reports. The empirical analysis argues that the theoretical framing of journalism practice ― as envisaged by Francis Nyamnjoh and other scholars seeking to formulate African alternatives to Western traditions of journalism ― can be strengthened by integrating the concepts of journalistic autonomy and moral agency as developed in this thesis. The dissertation also offers insights into how such theoretical framings can be developed and implemented in the context of journalistic practice.
159

Between media and politics : can government press officers hold the line in the age of 'political spin'? : the case of the UK after 1997

Garland, Ruth January 2016 (has links)
The aim of this study is to use the concept of ‘mediatization’ to inform a critical, grounded and fine-grained empirical analysis of the institutional dynamics that operate at the interface between government and the media in a liberal democracy. This thesis applies a novel theoretical and empirical approach to the familiar narrative of ‘political spin’, challenging the common assumption that government communications is either a neutral professional function, or an inherently unethical form of distorted communication. In May 1997, Labour came into power on a landslide, bringing into government its 24/7 strategic communications operation, determined to neutralise what it saw as the default right-wing bias of the national media. In the process, the rules of engagement between government and the media were transformed, undermining the resilience of government communications and unleashing a wave of resistance and response. Much academic attention to date has focused on party political news management, while the larger but less visible civil service media operation remains relatively un-examined and undertheorised, although some northern European scholars are exploring mediatization from within public bureaucracies. This study takes a qualitative approach to analyzing change between 1997 and 2014, through 16 in-depth interviews with former, largely middle-ranking, departmental government communicators, most of whom had performed media relations roles. This was a group of civil servants that had spent their working lives in close proximity to ministers during a time of rapidly increasing media scrutiny. These witness accounts were augmented by interviews with six journalists and three politically-appointed special advisers, together with a systematic analysis of key contemporary and archival documents. The aim was to provide insights into change over time within a shared policy and representational space that is theorised here as the ‘cross-field’, where media act as a catalyst for the concentration of political power. What can and does government communication in its current form contribute to the democratic ideal of the informed citizen?
160

The production of digital public space(s)

Salinas, Lara January 2016 (has links)
Digital media are noticeably changing the qualities of urban public spaces, which can no longer be considered a purely physical construct. Yet, the extent to which contemporary digital media can be used to promote other forms of spatial agency remains a critical issue. Whereas the impact of technology from a macro perspective offers a globalizing and homogenizing image, its role in the production of space at a local scale is less clear (Kirsch 1995). The aim of this study is to argue for digital public spaces as a concrete programme to support the articulation of a third notion of public space that emerges at the interface of physical–digital hybrid spaces (Stikker 2013). The project for digital public spaces is posed as one that pursues enabling citizens’ rights to participation and appropriation (Purcell 2002) of physical–digital hybrid spaces. It is argued that while physical and digital spaces do not stand in opposition, their operational models do not fit seamlessly either. Therefore, the research is particularly concerned with how to design for the conditions that allow a dialogical relation between physical and digital features of space, and enable citizens to actively participate in the production of physical–digital hybrid spaces, and for which a dialectical mode of analysis is required. Following a cumulative narrative, the study explores different characterizations of digital public spaces, which have been articulated through design-led action research projects conducted in collaboration with academia, creative industries, citizens and public authorities. The study accomplishes a novel application of the unitary theory of space proposed by the Marxist French philosopher and sociologist, Henri Lefebvre (1992), which is revisited to develop a novel framework to reveal the social production of physical–digital hybrid spaces. The framework is developed through practice, and extensively applied throughout the thesis illustrating three distinctive dominating perspectives of physical–digital hybrid spaces: substitution, co-evolution and recombination (Graham 1998). The framework has proved to be a flexible and insightful method of analysis that: enables approaching the social production of physical and digital spaces individually and in relation to one another; to understand how different spatial configurations allow for participation and appropriation; and in turn, to re-contextualize the right to the city (Lefebvre 1996) in digital public spaces.

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