Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar a produção fílmica do cineasta norte-americano Michael Moore, tendo como questão central a relação que se estabelece entre arte e política num momento histórico que, de um lado, aponta para a crise do capitalismo e, de outro, para a fragmentação política da classe trabalhadora. A partir da análise formal de dois de seus filmes, estabelecemos uma relação com os momentos históricos que lhes deram condições de produção, a fim de compreender o método desenvolvido pelo cineasta para lidar com a crise de representação e comunicação vivida pela arte política nas últimas décadas. Os dois filmes escolhidos para tal análise são Roger e Eu (Roger & Me, 1989) e Capitalismo: uma história de amor (Capitalism: a love story, 2009). Ambos os filmes possuem diagnósticos de momentos distintos da crise do capitalismo, juntamente com a constatação de que existe um desmonte da classe trabalhadora, fruto de uma série de mudanças econômicas, políticas e culturais, especialmente ao longo da segunda metade do século XX e início do XXI. Este trabalho faz um estudo comparativo dos dois filmes, traçando as continuidades e mudanças estéticas e políticas ocorridas na obra de Michael Moore num intervalo de duas décadas, bem como sua relação com as condições de representação da luta de classes dentro da cultura norte-americana. Esta pesquisa reflete sobre o surgimento do fenômeno Michael Moore como parte de um processo de construção e desconstrução de uma tradição da classe trabalhadora norte-americana. / This research aims to analyze the film production of the American filmmaker Michael Moore, proposing as a central question the relationship established between art and politics in a historical moment which, on one side, points to the crisis of capitalism and, on the other side, to the political fragmentation of the working class. Starting from the formal analysis of two of his films, we have established a relationship with the historical moments which gave conditions of production to them, in order to understand the method developed by the filmmaker to deal with the crisis of representation and communication experienced by political art in the last decades. The two films chosen for this analysis are Roger & Me (1989) and Capitalism: a love story (2009). Both films have different diagnoses of the distinct moments of the capitalist crisis, along with the realization of the fact there is a dismantling of the working class, result of a series of economic, political and cultural chances, especially during the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century. This research makes a comparison between the two films, tracing the aesthetic and political continuities and changes in the work of Michael Moore which happened throughout two decades, as well as its relation to the conditions of representation of class struggle in American culture. This work reflects on the rise of the Michael Moore phenomenon as part of a process of construction and deconstruction of a tradition of the American working class.

This thesis gives, for the first time, a clear exposition of the activities of the Arundel Society (1848-1897). Founded to 'collect diligently and with discrimination the highest and best examples of Art and to bring them before hundreds of English minds' the presence of Aubrey Bezzi, Lord Lindsay, Edmund Oldfield, Samuel Rogers and John Ruskin on the Society's first council meant that the initial publication of engravings after two early Italian artists, Fra Angelico and Giotto, was unsurprising. After 1856, under the guidance of Henry Layard, the archaeologist and politician, the Society became even more firmly committed to copying and publishing frescoes of the early Renaissance. The council's aim in recording and publishing these endangered works of art was to educate the taste of the public and inspire artists to embark on programmes of mural decoration. The water-colours executed for the Society are discussed with particular reference to the reactions of the council, and of members and the press to the problem of their verisimilitude. About two-thirds of these copies were published as chromolithographs and the gains and liabilities of this initially very popular method of reproduction are examined. Other methods employed by the Society to publish fac-similies of classical and medieval ivories and reduced copies of the Elgin marbles are also discussed with general reference to Victorian attitudes towards reproductions. The penultimate chapter attempts to relate the prints and monographs published by the Society to the art historical scholarship of the period. It is shown that the council's publication of decorative quattrocento, provincial cinquecento and early Flemish and German artists was influenced by Henry Layard's preferences. His monographs for the Society are discussed and compared with the more scholarly, if diverse, contributions made by, among others, G. W. Kitchin, John Ruskin, George Scharf and Ralph Wornum. In the final chapter it is argued that the Society's loyalty to the tastes of the mid-century and to the process of chromolithography led to its dissolution.

Les images qui représentent le Mexicain le montrent habituellement sous les traits d’un être extrêmement mélancolique qui fait face à un destin tragique. Les nombreux mythes entourant le Mexicain, issus de la culture même, sont effectivement reliés de près ou de loin à la peur et la tristesse, soit deux composantes essentielles de la mélancolie. L’anthropologue Roger Bartra dans La jaula de la melancolía: identidad y metamorfosis del mexicano analyse ces éléments clés qui constitueraient la personnalité du Mexicain. L’objectif de cette recherche est de démontrer que Atlántida d’Oscar Villegas est l’œuvre par excellence qui représente cette mélancolie toute mexicaine. Dans sa pièce de théâtre, Villegas raconte l’histoire d’une jeune artiste de cabaret qui vit de nombreuses désillusions dans un monde vulgaire et pervers où les valeurs humaines font défaut. Le dramaturge met en scène le Mexico urbain des années quarante et montre le désespoir et l’impossibilité pour les habitants de ses quartiers pauvres de changer le cours de leur vie. En plus d’être une pièce de théâtre qui, tant au niveau de son contenu que de sa forme, porte en elle les marques de la mélancolie, Atlántida met en relief ces caractéristiques devenues au fil du temps représentatives de l’image nationale du Mexicain. L’étude de cette œuvre s’appuie sur les théories d’analyse du texte théâtral d’Anne Ubersfeld qui propose une approche centrée sur l’action et les conditions de communication contenues dans les dialogues. Faire le pont entre la pièce de théâtre de Villegas et l’essai de Bartra permet d’explorer le lien intrinsèque qui semble s’établir entre Mexicain et mélancolie. / Mexican men and women are commonly depicted as extremely melancholic beings bound to a tragic fate. Numerous myths about them, direct products of their own culture, are linked to sadness and fear which are the two basic components of melancholy. The anthropologist Roger Bartra, in his work La jaula de la melancolia; identidad y metamorfosis del Mexicano, analyses these culturally acquired elements of the personality of Mexicans. The objective of this investigation is to demonstrate that Oscar Villegas' Atlántida is an exemplary representation of Mexican melancholy. In this play, Villegas tells the story of a young cabaret exotic dancer who lives constant disillusions in a vulgar and perverted world where human values are lacking. The playwright takes us to the poor neighbourhoods of Mexico City in the Forties to portray people in despair who are unable to change the course of their lives. Besides being a theatre play about melancholy, Atlántida outlines the very caracteristics that have become the national feature of Mexicans throughout time. The study of this work is based on Anne Ubersfeld's theories of theatrical text analysis, suggesting an approach that centers on the line of action and contexts of communication found in the dialogues. The study of both Villegas' play and Bartra's essay allows us to explore the intrinsic correlation that seems to exist between Mexicans and melancholy. / Las imágenes que representan al mexicano suelen mostrarlo bajo los rasgos de un ser sumamente melancólico que sufre un destino despiadado. Los mitos que la propia cultura ha creado en torno al mexicano tienen una relación directa con la tristeza y el miedo, ambos componentes de la melancolía. El antropólogo Roger Bartra en La jaula de la melancolía: identidad y metamorfosis del mexicano analiza esos elementos centrales de la personalidad del mexicano. El objetivo de esta investigación es demostrar que Atlántida de Oscar Villegas es la obra por excelencia de esa melancolía mexicana. En su obra de teatro, Villegas relata la historia de una joven cabaretera que vive desilusiones aplastantes dentro de un mundo bajo y vulgar que carece de valores humanos. El dramaturgo pone en el escenario el México urbano de los años cuarenta y enseña la desesperación y la imposibilidad de cambiar la vida en sus colonias pobres. Además de ser una obra teatral que, tanto en su contenido como en su forma, lleva matices explícitos de la melancolía, Atlántida retrata de manera muy clara esas características que se volvieron con el tiempo representativas del “carácter nacional mexicano”. El estudio de esta obra se apoya en las teorías del análisis del texto teatral de Anne Ubersfeld que propone concentrar la atención en las acciones y las condiciones de comunicación contenidas en los diálogos. Al hacer el puente entre la obra de teatro de Villegas y el ensayo de Bartra, se explora el vínculo que parece establecerse entre mexicano y melancolía.

<p>While the number of graduate students from different parts of the world in the United States is decreasing, the trend in Latin American populations is the opposite. Nonetheless, the current lack of information regarding the reasons behind this tendency, in terms of English language proficiency and cultural aspects, affects all parts involved: graduate students do not know what type of opportunities they can make use of; American universities do not have enough information to provide Latin American students with a sheltering environment; and Latin American governments are unable to make policies that encourage the application and facilitate admission to graduate school in American universities.</p> <p>The aim of this study is to establish a starting point for understanding the linguistic and cultural complexities of the Latin American population in graduate school in the United States. To do so, surveys and interviews were carried out to explore academic experiences, cultural influences and socioeconomic patterns that influenced the admission of Latin American students to graduate school. Mixed methods were used to describe the patterns of the survey responses quantitatively while leaving room for confirmatory quantitative analysis using the information of the interviews. The participants of this study were graduate students from Purdue University, one of the American universities with the highest number of Latin American graduate students. </p> <p>The results of this study underscore the importance of effective English language instruction during college years for reaching the graduate school admission scores, especially in cases when English language training during school was not possible or had little impact on the functional proficiency of the learner. Also, there is a large body of evidence indicating that undergraduate research internships could be one of the opportunities with the highest potential to recruit graduate Latin American students, regardless of their socioeconomic background.</p>

Les images qui représentent le Mexicain le montrent habituellement sous les traits d’un être extrêmement mélancolique qui fait face à un destin tragique. Les nombreux mythes entourant le Mexicain, issus de la culture même, sont effectivement reliés de près ou de loin à la peur et la tristesse, soit deux composantes essentielles de la mélancolie. L’anthropologue Roger Bartra dans La jaula de la melancolía: identidad y metamorfosis del mexicano analyse ces éléments clés qui constitueraient la personnalité du Mexicain. L’objectif de cette recherche est de démontrer que Atlántida d’Oscar Villegas est l’œuvre par excellence qui représente cette mélancolie toute mexicaine. Dans sa pièce de théâtre, Villegas raconte l’histoire d’une jeune artiste de cabaret qui vit de nombreuses désillusions dans un monde vulgaire et pervers où les valeurs humaines font défaut. Le dramaturge met en scène le Mexico urbain des années quarante et montre le désespoir et l’impossibilité pour les habitants de ses quartiers pauvres de changer le cours de leur vie. En plus d’être une pièce de théâtre qui, tant au niveau de son contenu que de sa forme, porte en elle les marques de la mélancolie, Atlántida met en relief ces caractéristiques devenues au fil du temps représentatives de l’image nationale du Mexicain. L’étude de cette œuvre s’appuie sur les théories d’analyse du texte théâtral d’Anne Ubersfeld qui propose une approche centrée sur l’action et les conditions de communication contenues dans les dialogues. Faire le pont entre la pièce de théâtre de Villegas et l’essai de Bartra permet d’explorer le lien intrinsèque qui semble s’établir entre Mexicain et mélancolie. / Mexican men and women are commonly depicted as extremely melancholic beings bound to a tragic fate. Numerous myths about them, direct products of their own culture, are linked to sadness and fear which are the two basic components of melancholy. The anthropologist Roger Bartra, in his work La jaula de la melancolia; identidad y metamorfosis del Mexicano, analyses these culturally acquired elements of the personality of Mexicans. The objective of this investigation is to demonstrate that Oscar Villegas' Atlántida is an exemplary representation of Mexican melancholy. In this play, Villegas tells the story of a young cabaret exotic dancer who lives constant disillusions in a vulgar and perverted world where human values are lacking. The playwright takes us to the poor neighbourhoods of Mexico City in the Forties to portray people in despair who are unable to change the course of their lives. Besides being a theatre play about melancholy, Atlántida outlines the very caracteristics that have become the national feature of Mexicans throughout time. The study of this work is based on Anne Ubersfeld's theories of theatrical text analysis, suggesting an approach that centers on the line of action and contexts of communication found in the dialogues. The study of both Villegas' play and Bartra's essay allows us to explore the intrinsic correlation that seems to exist between Mexicans and melancholy. / Las imágenes que representan al mexicano suelen mostrarlo bajo los rasgos de un ser sumamente melancólico que sufre un destino despiadado. Los mitos que la propia cultura ha creado en torno al mexicano tienen una relación directa con la tristeza y el miedo, ambos componentes de la melancolía. El antropólogo Roger Bartra en La jaula de la melancolía: identidad y metamorfosis del mexicano analiza esos elementos centrales de la personalidad del mexicano. El objetivo de esta investigación es demostrar que Atlántida de Oscar Villegas es la obra por excelencia de esa melancolía mexicana. En su obra de teatro, Villegas relata la historia de una joven cabaretera que vive desilusiones aplastantes dentro de un mundo bajo y vulgar que carece de valores humanos. El dramaturgo pone en el escenario el México urbano de los años cuarenta y enseña la desesperación y la imposibilidad de cambiar la vida en sus colonias pobres. Además de ser una obra teatral que, tanto en su contenido como en su forma, lleva matices explícitos de la melancolía, Atlántida retrata de manera muy clara esas características que se volvieron con el tiempo representativas del “carácter nacional mexicano”. El estudio de esta obra se apoya en las teorías del análisis del texto teatral de Anne Ubersfeld que propone concentrar la atención en las acciones y las condiciones de comunicación contenidas en los diálogos. Al hacer el puente entre la obra de teatro de Villegas y el ensayo de Bartra, se explora el vínculo que parece establecerse entre mexicano y melancolía.

This thesis presents a history of the Saltire Society Literary Awards and examines their status and role within Scotland’s literary and publishing culture. The Society was founded at a critical inter-war period during which Scottish writers, artists and cultural commentators were re-imagining Scotland’s political and cultural identity. The Society, therefore, was a product of this reformative era in Scotland’s modern history. The Society’s identity and position within this inter- and post-war reformation is reflected in the Literary Awards, which are a means by which the Society attempts to accomplish some of its constitutional aims. The purpose of this thesis is three-fold. Firstly, it has filled a conspicuous gap in modern Scottish cultural history by offering a historically accurate description of the founding of the Saltire Society in 1936 and the development of the Society’s Literary Awards up until 2015. Secondly, this thesis demonstrates how the Society’s Literary Awards function in relation to key critical discourses pertinent to contemporary book award culture, such as forms of capital, national identity and gender. Finally, this thesis proffers an in-depth analysis of book award judgment culture. Through an analysis of the linguistic and social interactions between Saltire Society Literary Award judges, this thesis is the first study of its kind which considers exactly how literary award judging panels facilitate the judgement process. What this thesis reveals is how, despite often being plagued by problems regarding finances and personnel, the Society’s Literary Awards have endured as a key feature of Scottish literary and publishing culture, so much so that they are now the only series of awards dedicated to awarding Scottish fiction, non-fiction, poetry and first books, as well as academic history and research books. Due to the persistence and enthusiasm of the Society’s administrators and literary award judges the awards have continued to thrive and evolve to accommodate developments and demands within Scottish literary culture.

<p>The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to portray a complex picture of Mexican origin immigrants living in the United States. This study portrays their lives, their experiences, and their thought processes from the moment they made their life-changing decision to immigrate to the USA until their current realities of life in the American Midwest. The stories discussed and the interpretations made are the result of oral interviews with four families conducted in their native language of Spanish. The personal experiences of the seven participants are familiar to thousands of immigrants who arrive to the USA daily. Although these immigrants experience a great deal of hardship, they also develop a strong layer of resilience and solidarity with each other. The study also provides an in-depth analysis of key works of literature written by, and about, Mexican and Hispanic immigrants. These books are: <i>Con Respeto: Bridging the Distances Between Culturally Diverse Families and Schools, An Ethnographic Portrait </i>(Valdés, 1996); <i>Of Borders and Dreams: A Mexican-American Experience of Urban Education </i>(Carger, 1996)<i>; The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child </i>(Jiménez, 1997)<i>; The Undocumented Americans</i> (Cornejo Villavicencio, 2020)<i>; </i>and <i>The House on Mango Street</i> (Cisneros, 1984). The experiences portrayed within these masterful works are then connected to those of the participants of this narrative inquiry. Additionally, connections are made by the researcher, a scholar of Mexican origin living in the American Midwest. This work illustrates why people choose to emigrate, their family and gender roles, their focus on educating the next generation, and their strong religious faith. It also depicts their challenges, fears, and resilience as they navigate living “between two worlds.”<br></p><p></p>

<p>Today’s highly globalized and mobile society can be characterized by constant interaction between dominant and minority groups in one space, where migrant communities manage multiple cultural and linguistic contexts, while remaining connected to their society of origin. While the field of transnationalism addresses both the behavioral (i.e., physical) and symbolic (i.e., emotional) ties to the origin community, the role that language plays in establishing and maintaining such transnational practices, and specifically symbolic transnationalism, is not well understood. Addressing this gap, the current project aims to investigate the interconnection between heritage language use and symbolic transnationalism through the analysis of 1.5 and 2^nd generation Cubans in Miami. </p> <p>The Cuban community in the US, and more specifically, in Miami-Dade County, Florida, represents a relevant case for in-depth investigation. While this population is comparable to other Hispanic groups in the US on many levels (Duany, 2011), the long-standing political opposition between the U.S. and Cuba have largely limited behavioral transnational practices (e.g., visits to the country of origin, sending goods and remittances) of the Cuban population. This broad lack of behavioral transnationalism in the Miami Cuban community provides a unique opportunity to examine symbolic transnational practices, effectively isolating two concepts that are traditionally combined in the literature (Duff, 2015; Reynolds, 2006).</p> <p>To investigate the relations between language use and symbolic transnationalism, a mixed methods study was conducted with 75 young adults of Cuban origin (1.5 and 2^nd generation), combining a quantitative questionnaire with face-to-face sociolinguistic interviews. Quantitatively, data analysis centered on the analysis of the degree of symbolic transnationalism and language use among 1.5 and 2^nd generation groups, as well as statistical correlations between sub-components of language use (history, proficiency, choice, and value) and symbolic transnationalism (ways of doing and ways of belonging). Qualitatively, a thematic analysis was conducted to distinguish the most prominent external factors in the process of symbolic transnationalism maintenance or development that surfaced in the discourse of the participants. Finally, discourse analysis was used to investigate how symbolic transnationalism was reflected in linguistic structures, such as deixis (i.e., terms indicating distance) and stance (i.e., expression of feelings, judgement, and appreciation). </p> <p>The analysis of the data provides strong evidence for overarching links between the level of symbolic transnationalism and language, such that greater affiliation with the culture of origin is related to a greater use and importance of the heritage language. In addition, qualitative results show that the external factors of the family domain, the Miami environment and ethnic community, and the use of the Spanish language in Miami, are among the most important for the maintenance and development of symbolic transnationalism. Finally, discourse analysis revealed that both 1.5 and 2^nd generation groups use deictic and stance markers to express personal and metaphorical proximity, as well as affect and appreciation of the ethnic community, Cuba as a land, Cuba of the past, and Cuban culture. In contrast, they express temporal and spatial distance as well as markers of judgement with respect to Cuba of the present and its current politics. </p> <p>This study systematically isolates the concept of symbolic transnationalism via a quantitative approach and investigates its connection with language. Their direct correlation, confirmed by the results, highlights symbolic transnationalism as a significant variable to consider in sociolinguistic research with migrant communities, and thus provides a solid theoretical base for bridging the disciplines of linguistics and transnationalism. Moreover, this work employs a structural linguistic approach (i.e., deixis and stance) to demonstrate how transnational ties may be represented through linguistic structures, and thus it provides new tools for understanding how minority communities express their transnational connections. </p> <p>On a practical level, this work emphasizes the importance of the context and cross-cultural awareness in language pedagogy. For heritage language learners, it underlines the bi-directional relationship: language maintenance for sustaining transnational ties, as well as development of heritage culture appreciation for more effective heritage language development. Moreover, the findings with respect to the interconnection between symbolic transnationalism and heritage language use, emphasize the role of such aspects as sense of belonging, ethnic community, family history and attitudes towards the country of origin on the process of heritage language maintenance and self-identification with the country and culture of origin. Finally, the findings of this work may be applicable to second language students as well, emphasizing the importance of a context-based approach to language acquisition, which plays a significant role in developing productive cross-cultural communication.</p>

Reviewing literature on the histories of and the attitude studies about transgender people, the use of ‘they’ as a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun, prescriptive grammar ideology, and aversive prejudice theory provides insight into how these topics are interrelated and relevant to current issues surrounding nonbinary transgender people. This review inspired my research study. My participants (n = 722) completed an online survey in which they reported demographic variables and answered scales that measured ‘they’ attitudes in generic and queer contexts, attitudes toward trans people, and prescriptive grammar ideology. I found that the majority of participants approved of using the singular ‘they’. Regression analyses revealed that in a queer context, negative attitudes toward 'they' were best predicted by trans prejudice, while in a generic context, both valuing prescriptive grammar and anti-trans prejudice similarly predicted 'they' attitudes. This indicates that negative attitudes toward the singular 'they' are not merely an issue of taking a principled stance against "improper grammar". Additionally, both sexual orientation and gender (trans vs. cisgender) moderate the relationship between prescriptive grammar ideology and 'they' attitudes. Age, sexual orientation, and education level also influenced my pattern of results such that older participants, queer people, and more highly educated individuals were more likely to have positive attitudes toward the singular ‘they’. These findings have implications for LGBTQ+ individuals’ relationships with cisgender and heterosexual people as well as for theories of prejudice, particularly with regard to the increasingly important area of attitudes toward people with diverse gender identities.

This dissertation conducts in-depth inquiries into the practices, nature and theory of post-industrial cultural work and the humanities- and arts-based civic dialogues which cultural work promotes. Given the broad neglect of utopian thinking in the mainstream of critical social science and in an attempt to sketch out a vision of an alternative future, the aim of this thesis is to outline an “epistemology” for post-industrial cultural work as well as to reflect upon the outlook for educational cultural work practices and their function as a catalyst for civic dialogue and cultural change. The main concerns are the signification, interests and aims embodied in cultural production touching on issues of cultural and scientific learning, alternative modes of democratic governance of science and technology (Felt, Wynne et al. 2007), industrial society’s logic of accumulation and market rationality, the primacy of contemporary instrumental and capitalist values, neoliberalism, globalization and cosmopolitanism. With a view to addressing elementary questions regarding the future of cultural work, which are explored and theorised alongside future perspectives of a new form of knowledge work for the humanities and the arts, the actual challenges of cultural work are considered from within the wider context of the risk society (Beck 1986) and the threats which affect everybody today. In relying on Beck’s (2009) conceptualization of the world risk society as a “non-knowledge society” characterised by the global existence of incalculable risks/threats and non-knowing, the thesis addresses the problem of non-knowledge and unrecognised contingencies as a challenge for cultural work to design processes of (un)learning in civic dialogues. In exploring the social, cultural and political relevance of three empirical case studies, the thesis ventures into the prospects of a new socio-epistemological perspective for cultural work and workspaces for knowledge. The studies investigate three different (techno-)socio-cultural spaces of knowledge: a public exhibition about the new Gotthard Base Tunnel currently under construction in the Swiss Alps, Jennifer Baichwal’s film Manufactured Landscapes (2006) about the Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky and China’s industrial revolution, and the living intervention Fairytale at Documenta 12, 2007, which brought 1,001 Chinese citizens to Kassel, Germany. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is employed as a tool for the analysis of the material-semiotic properties of differing knowledges, the heterogeneous relations of socio-economic networks, and the global and uncertain conditions of the post-industrial world in which cultural work is embedded. What is colloquially referred to as post-industrial cultural knowledge work in this thesis is elaborated in the context of a propositional socio-epistemological second-order framework (Von Foerster 1984; Pakman 2003) for cultural work and its entanglements with ethics, aesthetics, pragmatics, politics—and biopolitical production (Hardt and Negri 2000; 2009). In order to build “third spaces” of knowledge (Turnbull 2000) and to nurture uncertainty-oriented approaches and contingencies, the findings propose the development of more open, (self-)reflexive and anticipating forms of thinking and acting in cultural production fields with the aim to catalyse societal developments, to foster intrinsic values and to create cultural workplace identities with a moral-ecological-political awareness (cf. Banks 2006; 2007) invoking new interactions between viewers, audiences and the environment.