This thesis examines the use of video technology as an alternative communication medium within a dialogic framework. It explores multiple dialogic encounters and different meanings of dialogue. It analyses dialogues within and around video technology and dialogues with contemporary events in Mexican history. The author argues that these dialogic encounters are contributing to an ongoing process of transformation in Mexican consciousness. The thesis’s theoretical framework draws on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism and employs a dialogic method that emphasises diversity. The author conducts an in-depth analysis of multiple series of dialogues between key people, events and discourses. The author examines the lives and work of a sample of the most significant independent video-makers producing work on the indigenous Zapatista rebellion that began in Chiapas, Mexico, on 1 January 1994.The author focuses on the discourses of independent video-makers looking at the indigenous Zapatista rebels and considers the indigenous uprising to be both a ‘political catalytic event’ and a ‘multi-catalytic event.’ The different dialogues looked at throughout the thesis reveal various processes of consciousness-raising which act in diverse, unexpected and unprecedented ways. The author argues that these dialogues have contributed to a crisis of legitimacy for the hegemonic power in Mexico and have also influenced the way the mainstream media operate, and their power within Mexican society. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

My argument is that documentary texts can be transformed into artworks via the processes of intertextuality and detournement, when they are exhibited as video installations. I argue that early 1920s modernist avant-garde painter-filmmakers shared with contemporary documentary video installation painter-filmmakers particular tendencies, characteristics and interests. The bodies of work in each period explore the generic properties of documentary through (primarily) abstract visual associations, rather than through a conventional linear space. Important 1920s modernist avant-garde films by Dziga Vertov, Luis Bunuel, Salvador Dali, Joris Ivens, Man Ray and others will be considered in highlighting the relationship between documentary and avant-garde cinema. I use this discussion as a basis for examining my own work: for the creative component of this thesis, I filmed and edited a three screen video installation. I interviewed 67 Australian Muslims and used these interviews to explore the use of documentary in video installation. The theoretical framework I used is based on the following: Julia Kristeva?s notion of intertextuality, derived from Mikhail Bahktin?s work on dialogism, to interpret how documentary texts take on conventions appropriate to other genres; Guy Debord?s concept of d鴯urnement to provide a theory for the reuse of pre-existing artistic elements found in documentary film; genre theory to interpret interactions between documentary texts; Ludwig Wittgenstein?s notion of ?family resemblance? to explore the indistinct boundaries of documentary; and Pascal Beausse?s analysis of how artists have hijacked documentary. I also draw on Bill Nichols?s analytical framework of documentary modes (poetic, expository, observational, participatory, performative, reflexive) to explore documentary in cinema and installation art. The documentary genre is not habitually discussed outside film, television, photography or the web. My research demonstrates that the genre has found its place in other areas of artistic practice and can also apply to medium of video installation.

The areas of investigation are the portrait, the gaze, the American filmmaker Errol Morris, representation of reality and subcultures. These are discussed within an historical, technical, cultural and social framework. Colour, the film theorist Bill Nichols, the filmmaker Errol Morris are discussed with reference to the central gaze and what constitutes reality. Taking on another identity, the role of subcultures and my influences as a photographer are explored within this context. Work for Examination Other Lives is a photographic work consisting of portraits including: civil war re-enactors who believe that the war between the northern and southern states of America still exist Elvis Presley impersonators and fans who believe that Elvis Presley still lives people who take on another identity as scarecrows in the context of a local festival people who take on another identity as medieval knights.

<p>The purpose of this study was to analyze the reconstruction in two short-documentaries by Arne Sucksdorff. The films are analyzed both in a stylistic and symbolical way.</p>

This thesis deals with export payment. Different payment methods that can be used in order to receive and secure payment when conducting international trade are analysed, and relevant risks and problems are examined. Particular focus is given to export trade with China. International trade offers great possibilities for companies, but also risks. There are several risks that should be taken into consideration, for instance the political risk, the exchange risk and the commercial risk. The commercial risk is the seller’s risk of non-payment or late payment and the buyer’s risk of non-delivery or faulty delivery Over the last decades the Chinese market has gone through considerable changes and today it is one of the world’s most important markets. The commercial risk is sometimes feared when doing business in China. This is because statements have been made claiming that Chinese buyers are somewhat untrustworthy payers. Payment is an essential part of all trade transactions. There are a number of payment methods that can be used in order to receive and secure international payment. Which payment method that should be used depends on the circumstances of the transaction. The documentary credit is a frequently used payment method in interna-tional trade. It offers the exporter security of payment because at least one bank adds its promises to pay. / Denna uppsats behandlar betalning vid export. Olika betalningsmetoder som kan användas för att erhålla och säkerställa betalning analyseras, och relevanta risker och problem studeras. Uppsatsen är särskilt inriktad på Kina. Internationell handel medför många möjligheter för företag, men också en ökad risk. Hänsyn måste tas till bland annat den politiska risken, valutarisken och den kommersiella risken. Den kommersiella risken är risken att betalning eller leverans inte sker i enlighet med vad som har avtalats. Den kinesiska marknaden har under de senaste årtiondena genomgått en omfattande förändring, och idag är den en av världens viktigaste marknader. Den kommersiella risken är ibland befarad vid kinesisk handel. Detta beror på att det finns en uppfattning att kinesiska köpare ibland kan vara osäkra betalare. Betalning är en viktig del av alla handelstransaktioner. Det finns ett antal betalningsmetoder som kan användas för att erhålla och säkerställa internationell betalning. Vilken metod som bör användas beror på omständigheterna vid handelstransaktionen. Remburs är en betalningsmetod som är vanligt förekommande vid internationell handel. Metoden ger exportören betalningssäkerhet eftersom minst en bank garanterar betalningen.

Reality television has inundated the networks, eliciting some of the highest viewership in the United States; therefore, it is important to understand why people watch these shows and what they gain from doing so. This study replicates and expands on the study by Barton (2009), which examined how difference in content in competition-based reality shows influenced viewer gratifications. The present study explored the effect of content on viewer gratifications in documentary-based reality television shows. Participants (n = 257) completed surveys asking about their television viewing habits, general reasons for watching reality programming and reasons for watching specific reality shows (Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo). Some results contradicted those found by Barton with no effect of content on viewer gratifications. However, consistent with Barton’s findings, gender differences were found in levels of gratifications obtained from these two shows with women reporting higher levels. In addition, when extreme levels of income were compared, greater gratification was found only for the Vicarious Participation factor. Video content positively correlated with amount of downward social comparison (schadenfreude) but there was no correlation between downward social comparison and participants’ income.

The Culinary Browns is an experimental documentary that traces four generations of the Brown family beginning with Bob Brown, my great-grandfather, a writer of pulp fiction, modern poetry, cookbooks and social commentary. This documentary is not a linear history or purely factual document, but instead, uses personal experience as a means to generate more universal connections to the inherently dysfunctional dynamics of family, the fragmentary quality of memory, and to ultimately remind the viewer that history is relative.

The Culinary Browns is an experimental documentary that traces four generations of the Brown family beginning with Bob Brown, my great-grandfather, a writer of pulp fiction, modern poetry, cookbooks and social commentary. This documentary is not a linear history or purely factual document, but instead, uses personal experience as a means to generate more universal connections to the inherently dysfunctional dynamics of family, the fragmentary quality of memory, and to ultimately remind the viewer that history is relative.

This research is intended to contribute to critical discussion concerning the development of independent visual culture initiatives giving voice to human justice concerns within the context of globalized, corporate-controlled media. The problem is how to devise visual strategies for effective cultural production that addresses contemporary social and political issues. This thesis examines two case studies of activist art, one American and the other Canadian, that utilize documentary modes to intervene in hegemonic discourses of neo-colonialism and new forms of imperialism: Michael Moores documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11 and Liz Canners digital video public art project Bridges. Analyzing the artists background, the political context, the intentions behind the project, the visual strategies, and the effectiveness of the work, the thesis concludes that there are barriers to creating works that function catalytically in service of social change. The limits of discourse in democratic societies, the difficulties of developing participatory audiences, the challenges of transforming the projection site into a democratic arena of discourse--these are some of the general factors that inhibit a works effectiveness. The case studies also show that strategies of political subjectivity are needed to counter the official narratives of power, while performance as an activist tactic, particularly if combined with technologies of mass media, engages audiences and helps to break down a separation between entertainment and activism.

This research is intended to contribute to critical discussion concerning the development of independent visual culture initiatives giving voice to human justice concerns within the context of globalized, corporate-controlled media. The problem is how to devise visual strategies for effective cultural production that addresses contemporary social and political issues. This thesis examines two case studies of activist art, one American and the other Canadian, that utilize documentary modes to intervene in hegemonic discourses of neo-colonialism and new forms of imperialism: Michael Moores documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11 and Liz Canners digital video public art project Bridges. Analyzing the artists background, the political context, the intentions behind the project, the visual strategies, and the effectiveness of the work, the thesis concludes that there are barriers to creating works that function catalytically in service of social change. The limits of discourse in democratic societies, the difficulties of developing participatory audiences, the challenges of transforming the projection site into a democratic arena of discourse--these are some of the general factors that inhibit a works effectiveness. The case studies also show that strategies of political subjectivity are needed to counter the official narratives of power, while performance as an activist tactic, particularly if combined with technologies of mass media, engages audiences and helps to break down a separation between entertainment and activism.