從來「美貌」即是女性最為關注的課題之一，而傳播媒體的推波助瀾，更助長了美貌意識的盛行，尤以標榜女性為「唯一閱聽人」的女性雜誌為最。本研究即以女性主義精神為本，試圖以兩種不同的理論觀點來解讀女性雜誌：一是以批判理論觀點來分析女性雜誌建構的「美貌」，一是用後現代理論觀點來解析女性讀者使用女性雜誌所得到的愉悅。本研究採取質性研究方法，分別採用符號學分析法來分析女性雜誌文本，以及深度訪談法對十位讀者進行讀者研究。 根據文本分析的結果，研究者將女性雜誌所象徵的美貌意涵歸類為三大項，即（一）高級出眾的時尚品味（二）完美無瑕的身體髮膚和（三）撩動人心的性感風情。女性雜誌成功地運用各種符號，交織出一個面貌單一且為男性所喜的美貌形象，並強說這一切是女性之所欲，用以召喚女性讀者。而從讀者訪談的結果發現，女性雜誌確實在其生活中扮演重要角色，帶給她們許多愉悅，是她們理想自我和生活的投射；她們也多認同女性雜誌披露的美貌論述，並身體力行，為美貌付出諸多心力。然而，她們不免落入了某些美貌迷思，而這些迷思似乎正和女性雜誌的論調如出一轍。 在後現代的氛圍中，愉悅的享受被正當化了，女人的愉悅更不再受到壓抑，擁抱愉悅，展現自我，正是時下女性致力追求的。本研究願以開放的態度來看待女性愛美的心理，也樂見女性享受閱讀女性雜誌的種種樂趣，只是在資本主義和父權體制的層層重圍之下，女性如何能活得更自在快樂，或許還有很長的一段路要走。 / "Beauty" is always one of the topics that women are most concerned with. Mass media, especially women's magazines focussing on a "women-only" audience, adds to the push for beauty consciousness. The thesis is based on the spirit of feminism, and attempts to decode women's maganizes with two different theories: first, to analyse the construction of "beauty" in women's magazines by critical theory; second, to interpret female readers' pleasure from using women's magazines by applying postmodem theory. Qualitative research methods are applied in this study by using Semiology to analyze text language in women's maganizes, and the "in-depth interview" method to research 10 readers. According to the results of text analysis, the researcher classifies the meaning of beauty in women's magazines into three categories. They are: (1) haute coutre and upscale fashion (2) perfect body (3) sensual pleasure and exquisite taste. Various signs are well exercised in women's magazines. They attract women readers by portraying a simple yet beautiful image that men prefer and advocate that this is the image that women have long pursued. From the interviews by the 10 readers, we found that female magazines play a key role and gives women pleasure in their daily lives. These magazines put up an ideal image that they can strive for. The readers are able to identify with the images created by the women's magazines and are devoted to working towards it. However, they are also inevitably sucker into a beauty myth that magazines try to paint. Amid post-modern context, pursuing pleasure is justified. Women are no more being suppressed in pursuing pleasure and engaging in self-development, which are what modern female have long endeavoured. The thesis attempts to look at the psychological aspect of what women expect from their beauty consciousness and the pleasure they derive from female magazines. However, under pressure from capitalism and patriarchy, there might be still a long way to go before women can live a free and happy life.

<p>The implied reader of a novel is the person that the author writes for. In the case of Åsa Larsson’s Swedish detective novel Solstorm, the implied reader is familiar with Swedish politics, history, and geography but also with biblical references and Swedish customs. When the novel is translated into English, The Savage Altar: Innocence will be Sacrificed, there is a new implied reader, the translator’s implied reader. When culture-specific material is either omitted or misunderstood, or a cultural filter changes the material to suit the new target audience, the context of the novel is also changed. The result is a loss of context.</p>

<p>In what ways and under what circumstances can a movie be a resource for individuals and their thoughts about existential matters? This central research question has been investigated using a both quantitative and qualitative approach. First, a questionnaire was distributed amongst 179 Swedish students to provide a preliminary overview of film habits. The questionnaire was also used as a tool for selecting respondents to individual interviews. Second, thirteen interviews were conducted, with viewers choosing their favourite movie of all time. In the study socio-cognitive theory and a schema-based theoretical tool is adopted to analyze how different viewers make use of movies as cultural products in an interplay between culture and cognition in three contexts; a socio-historic process, a socio-cultural interaction with the world and inner psychological processes. Summarizing the interviews some existential matters dominated. Matters of immanent orientation were in the foreground. Transcendental questions received much less attention. Summarizing the schema-based theoretical question, assessing which cognitive schema structures the narratives were processed through, the study found an emphasis on a combination of two main cognitive structures, person schema and self schema. Detailed person schematic cognitive processes about fictitious characters on the screen and their role model behaviour were combined by the respondents with dynamic cross-references to detailed self schematic introspections about their own characteristics, related to existential matters at some very specific moments in their lives. The viewers in the study seem to be inspired by movies as a mediated cultural resource, promoting the development of a personal moral framework with references to values deeply fostered by a humanistic tradition. It is argued that these findings support theories discussing individualised meaning making, developing ‘self-expression values’ and ‘altruistic individualism’ in contemporary western society.</p>

The Batman media franchise (comics, movies, novels, television, and cartoons) is unique because no other form of written or visual texts has as many artists, audiences, and forms of expression. Understanding the various artists and audiences and what Batman means to them is to understand changing trends and thinking in American culture. The character of Batman has developed into a symbol with relevant characteristics that develop and evolve with each new story and new author. The Batman canon has become so large and contains so many different audiences that it has become a franchise that can morph to fit any group of viewers/readers. Our understanding of Batman and the many readings of him gives us insight into ourselves as a culture in our particular place in history.

Commercial music festivals in the United States have been growing in popularity since the 1960s. Today, many weekend-long music festivals are annual events spanning a variety of genres and often occur at the same locations each year. My research compares and contrasts how jamband music festivals are marketed as sustainable events and attempts to determine how the advertised sustainable practices are implemented and utilized at selected jamband music venues. The jamband genre of music emphasizes musical improvisation and borrows from other styles of music: rock, electronic, jazz, blues, folk, and bluegrass. In addition, any impacts these festivals have upon the local environment are evaluated. Sustainability is a topic often used as a marketing strategy when promoting summer jamband music festivals. Fans of this genre are identified with a culture that is similar to the environmentally conscious hippie culture of the 1960s and 1970s. The data for this research were obtained through field observations, interviews, surveys, and content analyses of promotional materials. It is my hypothesis that the festivals’ sustainable practices will be adopted by local communities as the festivals leave both a physical and cultural imprint upon the local landscapes, which is determined through attendee surveys and interviews with local decision makers and festival promoters. I also hypothesize that the geographic location of each will have an influence on the participation in such practices by the festival attendees, as I believe those in attendance at the High Sierra Music Festival in California will be more likely to have green lifestyles as California has been a leader in environmentally conscious innovations and attitudes, whereas other states, Illinois and Tennessee, lag behind. The data collected were mapped and analyzed to determine the effectiveness of environmental sustainability promotions and practices at the fan level as well as the local level. This research fills a gap within the geographic literature as no research exists examining the spatial relationship between music festivals and sustainability. Additionally, my research highlights that popular cultural events can be opportunities to engage in meaningful environmental education on issues such as recycling, and environmental sustainability.

The work of my MFA thesis exhibition comes directly out of the physical processes that constitute my studio practice. It is work that embodies the labour of my hands and the decisions that guided them in their struggle with unfamiliar materials. Drawing inspiration from subjects as diverse as physics and fiction to create a sculptural arrangement, the work is intended to engage with its audience in an active way through acoustic appropriation and physical presence. As an artist, I set up an environment to be explored, establishing boundaries and also possibilities.

The work of my MFA thesis exhibition comes directly out of the physical processes that constitute my studio practice. It is work that embodies the labour of my hands and the decisions that guided them in their struggle with unfamiliar materials. Drawing inspiration from subjects as diverse as physics and fiction to create a sculptural arrangement, the work is intended to engage with its audience in an active way through acoustic appropriation and physical presence. As an artist, I set up an environment to be explored, establishing boundaries and also possibilities.

The purpose of this study is to approach the understanding of viewing of reality television with the intention to explore emotional responses in the reception since emotions are crucial part in the emotionalized television genre of reality television. The German adaption of the format The Farmer Wants a Wife was chosen for this case study to examine tendencies of portraying contestants in unpleasant situations. Humiliation, embarrassment or discrediting the contestants creates a balancing act between fun and ridicule. The protagonists are located between the status of (temporary) cult figures and/or figures of fun. The thesis’ main aim is to find out which emotions are perceived and addressed in the watching experience of the format being named in the context of ‘fremdschämen’. The winged German word for vicarious or empathic embarrassment was thereby addressed beyond its descriptive metaphor for current programs. Emotional responses in connection with shame and embarrassment were previously predominantly neglected in research on reality television. Its relevance and occurrence in media is insofar important, as the concept of ‘fremdschämen’ found the way into German mainstream language use. The thesis delivers qualitative approaches to capture the mediation of emotions in reality TV: In a narrative analysis, the question on how emotions actually are staged was approached. Subsequently, four focus group discussions with overall 18 German-speaking discussants were conducted to understand individual and social watching preferences, emotional involvement, attachment styles and positioning in the reception. The study’s findings suggest that the contestants’ ordinariness is challenged by mainly focusing on extraordinarity in the docusoap. Thereby, new opportunities of audience positioning, identification and anti-identification and constructions of appealing figures are encouraged. Gentle mockery in the style of presentation contains furthermore self-criticism of the genre and expresses a critical stance of viewing. Emotions are performed on different levels to increase entertaining values in the program. Especially embarrassment can be connected to its function of ridicule and the maintenance of social order.

The H.R. MacMillan Space Centre is a multi-faceted organization whose mission is to educate, inspire and evoke a sense of wonder about the universe, our planet and space exploration. As a popular, Vancouver science centre, it faces the same range of challenges and issues as other major attractions: how does the Space Centre maintain a healthy public attendance in an increasingly competitive market where visitors continue to be presented with an increasingly rich range of choices for their leisure spending and entertainment dollars?This front-end study investigated visitor attitudes, thoughts and preconceptions on the topic of space and astronomy. It also examined visitors’ motivations for coming to a space science centre. Useful insights were obtained which will be applied to improve future programme content and exhibit development.

Abstract Culture Creative Products have created economical value for cultural industries; they are the vehicle to pass on the cultural connotations, moreover, the integrated marketing communication are the best way to push culture creative products to achieve synergy. The marketer not only must develop good products, offer best service, set reasonable price, choose appropriate channels, but also must make all kinds of effective communication with the customers, wholesalers, and general public through all kinds of communication tools. There are various communication tools with different advantages and disadvantages and characteristics, one of the main purposes of this research is how marketers apply different communication tools under different circumstances to get the most effective integration so as to give the customers precise and consistent information and to achieve the maximum marketing communication effects. This research has taken Anping Sword-Lion Square as object to investigate the application of the marketing communication tools on culture creative products; also, through the in-depth interview with professionals and the first-hand data collected from marketing communication tools on the past with the theory and steps of integrated marketing communication: IMC to find out that there had no overall marketing plan and marketing steps, neither the target audiences. After many years of operation, they not only did not strengthen up the existed relationships with the customers on execution of marketing, but also ignored the unlimited effects of Internet on marketing promotion as well as the impact of developing the potential customers, nor did they set up the budget and the assessment of communication effects afterwards. Therefore, this study has aimed at the various finding on above to offer the following suggestions to Anping Sword-Lion Square: 1. To integrate all kinds of communication tools to strengthen up information integration and consistency. 2. To make sure the target audience and the market. 3. To establish a financial budget. 4. The marketing personnel must get involved in IMC. 5. To build up the customer awareness value and to create product differentiation and brand image. As for the future research direction, it is hoped to promote the Anping Sword-Lion as a symbol of guardian of Taiwan to cover a wider and diversified range of study. To achieve the goal, it not only must increase the visibility on international market, but also to coordinate between the tourism and culture creative industries, and to integrate them with all kinds of marketing communication tools to get the consistency and clear synergy.