0400169A Tonyterah@yahoo.com Faculty of Humanities Master of Arts 2005 Dr Ebrahim. H haseenahe@artworks.wits.ac.za / This study analyses the role of the media generally, and the documentary mode specifically, in the construction of national identity. It focuses on the Project 10 documentary series in South Africa. Chapter one, lays the foundation for the study by discussing the concepts, theories and debates on the notion of ‘the nation’, ‘national identity’, ‘nation building’ and the documentary mode. Chapter two argues that nations are in a constant state of (re)birth, (re)definition and (re)invention and interrogates how the documentary mode attempts to sustain what Benedict Anderson (1991) calls a sense of ‘imagined community’. Chapter three focuses on the role and position of an individual citizen vis-à-vis ‘nation’ and ‘nation building’, and how the documentaries in the Project 10 series explore this concern. Chapter four examines the effects and manifestations of previous leadership regimes in the present-day South Africa and how this affects the process of building contemporary South Africa.

The aim of this study is to, from a rhetorical perspective, contribute to the ecolinguistic discipline. This is done by demonstrating which and how underlying narratives are constructed in two Swedish documentary series with the theme "life on a farm". By setting these narratives against an ecosophy and using the concept rhetorical agency, this study thereafter highlights how these narratives can be understood as means of influence. The research questions guiding the study are: “Which underlying narratives are constructed and conveyed in selected Swedish documentary series with the theme "life on the farm"?”, “How are these underlying narratives constructed?”, and “How can these underlying narratives, in the long run, be seen as means of influence?”. The theoretical frame is based on Arran Stibbes take on Ecolingustics. The method used is Rhetorical criticism based on Kenneth Burke's pentadic analysis. The study shows, among other things, that both series can be seen as means of influence because of identification possibilities. Through the knowledge conveyed to the viewer, there are also opportunities to expand their rhetorical agency. From an ecolinguistic perspective "Mandelmanns gård" can be a beneficial story to build on.

The thesis "The documentary series Kmeny from the perspective of creators and viewers" addresses the audience reception and notions of culture documentary series producer strains. Kmeny are unique documentary series that aired on Česká televize from March 2015 to June 2015. The aim is to describe the primary intention of producers representing various urban subcultures and this plan will be confronted with the reception of the audience. The theoretical part focuses on the documentary, his conception of the role and film-maker. Further describes several approaches to research audiences and influence of media messages to the audience. Research will be presented to representatives of the main concepts of cultural studies - Stuart Hall and John Fiske. The last part will focus on the aesthetics receptionist kostnická škola. The research part will be done through interviews with viewers and creators. Secondary research method will be in-depth interviews with viewers within an ethnographic approach.

This diploma thesis focuses on the qualitative analysis of selected episodes of the documentary series Kronika našeho života, which is considered to be one of the greatest propaganda television works at that time of producing. Its forty episodes were originally broadcasted on the first channel of the Czechoslovak Television from April until June 1985. Due to the significant extent of all the episodes, this thesis only focuses on ten. Namely the episodes about the following years: 1945, 1948, 1953, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1977, 1982 and 1984. The objective of this thesis is to find out which propaganda techniques were used and how they differed in the selected episodes. The analysis works with nine propaganda techniques drawn out by an American sociologist Alfred McClung Lee and maps them in the selected episodes. Furthermore, in order to describe the media image of the series at the time of its broadcasting, the thesis focuses on the analysis of selected Czechoslovakian periodicals. Specifically on the weekly newspaper Týdeník Československá televize and three daily newspapers - Rudé právo, Lidová demokracie and Svobodné slovo. Moreover, the analysis is accompanied by an interview with a Czech director and screenwriter Miloslav Kučera, who studied Kronika našeho života in the past. The theoretical...

This diploma thesis deals with the attitude of the Z generation to Czech documentary films and series. The aim of the work is to describe the common tendencies of the whole generation Z or its subgroups within their attitude to Czech documentary production. The research method for determining the attitude of this generational cohort is a questionnaire survey. In the beginning the Z generation is characterized, its formants and basic characteristics are analyzed. One of the subchapters also focuses especially on the Czech generation Z. In the theoretical part space is also devoted to documentary production, specifically its characteristics, typology and history of documents. The genre of the document is presented both in the global context and also in the Czech environment in the work. The practical part describes the research which has the form of a questionnaire survey. The results are presented for each evaluated question separately while at the end there is a collective summary with the most important and interesting findings from the research.

The representation of new religious movements in documentaries and mainstream media affects our understanding of and attitude toward new religious movements. Scholars argue that media shapes our knowledge of new religious movements and that we most often trust this information as truthful. This study aims to investigate and analyze the representation of Heaven’s Gate in HBO’s documentary series Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults and whether this representation can be useful in a classroom context. The data was retrieved by closely watching the four episodes of the documentary series while taking notes and rewatching the documentary series until relevant information and quotes were retrieved. The research method employed was a movie analysis, more specifically a qualitative content analysis. The theoretical framework used is drawn from Joseph Laycock and his three identified narratives in which media tend to portray new religious movements: medicalization, deviance amplification, and convergence. The results reveal that the documentary series uses these narrative features in various ways, but it also challenges and contrasts them. Furthermore, the conclusion of the representation is complex and nuanced. The documentary series presents a respectful, informative, and somewhat equitable representation, but also reinforces stereotypical and negative societal discourses. Additionally, this study suggests further study in the field of documentaries and new religious movements to explore the representation of other new religious movements.