The music of He Yong and Zhang Chu, two of the Three Heroes of Magic Stone, has played an integral part in the development of Chinese rock. Often relegated to footnotes in the music’s history, this thesis aims to prove their cultural and musical significance during the late-eighties and early-nineties of China’s Reform and Opening period. The term “voices against an era” was chosen to define He Yong and Zhang Chu’s role as rock musicians with alternative voices during this historical period, with an investigation of the term’s role in creating an alternate dialogue. To do this, I first define what it means to be a “voice of a generation” and “cultural hero” and the mythicizing of these terms as a method of crafting a dominant discourse supporting the illusion of economic reform and globalization. He Yong and Zhang Chu’s implication in the myth is explored through their record company’s promotion of them as “heroes.” I follow this up by establishing the artists as alternative voices utilizing the tools of “noise” and “poetry” to present an alternative depiction of China’s Reform and Opening. Chinese societal issues such as identity loss, alienation, the negative effects of modernity, nature, freedom, and social pressure are then identified and analyzed as central themes in six of the artists’ songs. Lastly, I examine how He Yong and Zhang Chu navigated the paradox of fame to influence subsequent generations of rock musicians and fans through their musical legacy. By following a holistic approach that includes analysis of historical and cultural contexts, biographical information, artist interviews, music, lyrics, promotional material, music videos, and scholarly articles, this study proposes that the role of these two rockers was vital in shaping Chinese popular music and providing alternative interpretations of Reform and Opening.

Comic book superheroes have become adopted into American popular culture, and yet few have considered why these characters resonate with Americans. The first comic book superhero premiered in 1938 when Superman appeared on the cover of the first issue of Action Comics. For almost seventy years his adventures and the adventures of other costumed heroes have been continually published. Batman soon joined Superman as a popular costumed crime-fighter, and the early 1960s saw another generation of superheroes created that would be embraced in American culture. Among this new group of heroes were Spider-Man and the X-Men, who have proved as popular as Superman and Batman. The never-ending narratives of comic book characters provide a unique opportunity to analyze how superheroes have evolved across the decades to remain relevant for new generations of Americans. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and the X-Men are the most popular heroes, not only in comic books, but in other media adaptations. An exploration of why these specific characters have such resonance with Americans will provide insights into American mindsets, ideologies, and philosophies. Furthermore, comic books are uniquely positioned to allow a new historicist reading, as the characters' adventures have been published on a monthly schedule for decades. A consideration of the alterations made in the narratives to reflect the time periods is inherently enlightening.

Historical narratives and anecdotes concerning Captain John Smith have been told and retold throughout the entire history the United States of America, and they have proved to be sacred, influential, and contested elements in the construction of the individual, sectional, regional, and national identity of many. In this thesis, I first outline some of the history of how narratives and discourses surrounding Captain John Smith were directly connected with the identity of many Americans during the 18th and 19th century, especially Virginians and Southerners. Then I outline how these narratives and discourses from the 18th and 19th centuries have continued and evolved in the 20th and 21st centuries in American scholarship and popular culture. I demonstrate how Captain John Smith went from being used as a symbol for regional and sectional identity to a symbol for broader national American identity, and how he has anachronistically come to be considered an American. I then show how Captain John Smith has continued to be constructed, to a seemingly larger degree than previous centuries, as a hero of almost mythic proportions. Finally I demonstrate how this constructed American hero is used as a posterchild for various interest groups and ideologies in order to legitimize the places of certain discourses and behavior within constructed and contested American identities.

League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009) and Valorant (Riot Games, 2020) are both team-based competitive multiplayer games that do not feature any form of story-based game mode, but both feature a large cast of fleshed-out playable characters, each with their own design, backstory, and set of abilities. This study focuses on comparing both games’ approaches to characterization to understand how they incorporate elements of characterization in theircharacter design. This was done with the hope of informing future developers of multiplayer hero games, as well as identifying similarities in their character design despite how different both games are. This study compared two sets of two characters, one from each game, which featured similarities with each other. These similarities served as this study’s starting point to analyze, and then compare both games’ approach to characterization. Many similarities were found between both games in their approach to characterization, despite their core gameplay differences. But it also found many differences, both gameplay-dependent, and dependent on other factors.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The author turns to the genre of the domestic film fairy tale, since it is the genre that becomes the leader of Russian box office in the 20s of the 21st century, which actualizes the study of this modern phenomenon. The author proceeds from the thesis that despite all the colorfulness, tricks and computer graphics of the film spectacle, the bright images of the heroes and the thorny path they have passed to victory, to the triumph of good and justice leave a special emotional impact on the mass viewer. The focus of the study is the dramaturgy of the modern domestic film fairy tale on the examples of the films "The Last Knight" (2017), "The Little Humpbacked Horse" (2021) and "By the Pike's Command" (2023), as a basic component of the film's success. Using the method of determining similar elements of the dramatic film structure of the stated fairy tales and relying on the works of V. Propp, as well as the universal structure of plot construction of the film by Blake Snyder, the author attempts to identify the most effective dramatic techniques for creating a modern version of the Russian film fairy tale. The results of the dissertation work are tested in creating the author's synopsis of the film adaptation of the folk tale "The Frog Princess". / Автор обращается к жанру отечественной киносказки, поскольку именно он становится лидером российского проката в 20-х годах 21 века, что актуализирует изучение этого современного феномена. Автор исходит из тезиса, что несмотря на всю красочность, трюки и компьютерную графику кинозрелища, особое эмоциональное воздействие на массового зрителя оставляют яркие образы героев и пройденный ими тернистый путь к победе, к торжеству добра и справедливости. В фокусе внимания исследования – драматургия современной отечественной киносказки на примерах фильмов «Последний богатырь» (2017), «Конек-Горбунок» (2021) и «По щучьему велению» (2023), как базовый компонент успеха фильма. Используя метод определения схожих элементов драматургической киноструктуры заявленных сказок и опираясь на работы В. Проппа, а также универсальную структуру построения сюжетов фильма Блейка Снайдера, автор предпринимает попытку выделить наиболее эффективные драматургические приемы создания современной версии российской киносказки. Полученные результаты диссертационной работы апробируются при создании авторского синопсиса экранизации народной сказки «Царевна-лягушка».

The master's thesis is devoted to the study and analysis of the image of the hero in Russian films that received the highest award "Golden St. George" at the Moscow International Film Festival in the period from 2000 to 2024. The purpose of the work is to study the evolution of the image of the hero in Russian cinema of the 21st century using the example of the winning films of the Moscow International Film Festival, to identify the main trends and patterns of this process, to determine the image of the modern hero and to predict the image of the hero of the future. The work uses the analysis of archetypes using the theory of Carl Jung and the Pearson-Marru model. As a result of the work, the concept of "hero" was updated, the typologies of the image of the hero were studied, an analysis of changes in the images of heroes in the period from 2000 to 2024 was carried out, the connection between the images of heroes and the historical cultural context was revealed; An analysis of the heroes was conducted and the type of hero in the films that won the Moscow International Film Festival was determined, a table was compiled - a comparative analysis of the heroes of the Moscow International Film Festival, on the basis of which the image of the hero of the future was predicted. / Магистерская диссертация посвящена исследованию и анализу образа героя в отечественных фильмах, получивших высшую награду «Золотой Георгий» на Московском международном кинофестивале в период с 2000 по 2024 годы. Цель работы — изучить эволюцию образа героя в отечественном кинематографе XXI века на примере фильмов-победителей ММКФ, выявить основные тенденции и закономерности этого процесса, определить образ современного героя и спрогнозировать образ героя будущего. В работе используется анализ архетипов с использованием теории Карла Юнга и модели Пирсон-Марру. В результате работы было актуализировано понятие «герой», изучены типологии образа героя, проведён анализ изменений в образах героев в период с 2000 по 2024 годы, выявлена связь между образами героев и историческим культурным контекстом; проведён анализ героев и определён тип героя в фильмах-победителях ММКФ, составлена таблица — сравнительный анализ киногероев ММКФ, на основании которого спрогнозирован образа героя будущего.

This thesis studies the clash between the hero and the First World War in the works of Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. It explores the impact on their poetry and attitude towards the concept of the hero as it applied to them as people and poets. The study shows that over prolonged contact with the horrors of the First World War, it is evident in both literary sources and their poetry that both Sassoon and Owen changed their attitudes negatively towards both the idea of heroes and heroism, as well as the War as a just and glorious cause.  However, the myth of the hero was still a core belief of their society, and in order to not be branded cowards and discarded along with their warnings, they had to become heroes in the eyes of their society, to openly attack the concept and the war it fueled. This thesis then studies how and why First World War poetry and literature should be utilized within the subject of English in the Swedish School System, as a means to provide a multicultural and critical education.