This thesis takes as its subject the superficial nature of the normative masculine gender role. To investigate the creation of this role I have attempted to bring some understanding of recent theorisation of the postmodern, and of gendered identity, to readings of selected contemporary fiction. I have chosen to focus on several contemporary American texts. In a bid to avoid essentialising masculinity ever further I attempt to embrace the self-reflexive way in which these novels are written in conjunction with the various postmodernisms posited by Fredric Jameson, Jean-Francois Lyotard, John Frow and Jean Baudrillard. Despite differing in significant ways, these critics all explore the idea of multiple identities. The lack of fixity this multiplicity fosters ensures that masculinity as an intrinsic given becomes disputed. 'The dialogues this creates reveal a category that is insecure, mobile and fluctuating, regardless of attempts to present it as otherwise. 'The first novel looked at is 'Thomas Pynchon's Vineland. This narrative encourages the questioning of the 'standard' masculinity adopted in patriarchal society by displaying men vulnerable to Post Traumatic Stress disorder, hysteria and madness, due to the war in Vietnam and governmental law enforcement. Masculinity is portrayed as tentative, provisional and impossible to maintain to society's exacting requirements. Psychotherapy is shown to confusingly both offer a fixed and stable 'self, whilst also promoting the encouragement of potential multiple other' selves' . Don DeLillo's White Noise continues the search for these 'selves'. Jack Gladney's debilitating fear of death compromises his mental and physical health. His strivings to deal with this, whilst also fulfilling various strands of the desired male stereotype, are explored through life-threatening disasters, usually pre-empted by rapidly developing technology. Jack's career in academia raises questions about the circulation of knowledge and information. Like Vineland, White Noise also examines the role of the family unit as an inherent part of the enforcement of standardised identities. 'The Family', both in its domestic format and via its more violent reincarnation as The Mafia, plays a vital role in all of these texts. Within DeLillo's Underworld (Section Three), the protagonist's therapy brings him away from the influence of The Mob, transforming him from murderer to upstanding citizen. His career in Waste Management provides a metaphor for the text's exploration of the manner in which abject matter is expulsed as part of a bid to conform to societal requirements. I draw upon Julia Kristeva's work on abjection in this section. The ritualistic nature of what is discarded and what revered is further explored in the fourth novel, Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho. This text offers an extreme picture of the potential results of stereotypical containment, with a protagonist who is determined to hyper-conform. Patrick Bateman not only espouses the thorough commodification of society, he also strives to exceed every stipulation pertaining to consummate masculinity. Bret Easton Ellis's Glamorama, provides the material for the final chapter, it offers a chilling portrayal of surface-obsessed society. Mediated images of celebrities provide role models for the characters' identity formation. Postmodernity's purported lack of depth is explored in the light of Baudrillard's theories. The potentialities of the cybernetic post-human are raised and discussed via the theorisation of Lyotard and Donna Haroway. The texts were selected for their usefulness in demonstrating a developing notion that rather than forming a new or extended sense of masculinity, men are acknowledging a growing awareness of the self-conscious, performative, indeed 'hyper', nature of any masculine identity. Contemporary films and television programmes are examined alongside the novels.

nÃo hà / A pesquisa partiu da hipÃtese de que a identidade do webuniversitÃrio teria a dimensÃo indivi- dual como a chave de sua interpretaÃÃo, marcadamente descomprometida: embora esteja em uma comunidade, a ela pouco ou em nada quer estar ligado. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa analÃtica, indutiva e qualitativa, cujos procedimentos e tÃcnicas foram os levantamentos bibliogrÃfico e documental, e as observaÃÃes participante e nÃo participante em campo ou on-line, tanto na modalidade lucker quanto na modalidade insider. O primeiro momento da pesquisa foi a observaÃÃo direta extensiva, entre setembro de 2014 e junho de 2015, com questionÃrio de trinta e duas questÃes, construÃdo na ferramenta virtual google forms, encaminhado aos alunos via e-mail. A amostragem da observaÃÃo extensiva foi nÃo probabilÃstica, arbitrÃria e por conveniÃncia: aproximadamente 4,1 mil alunos foram estimulados à participaÃÃo, tendo respondido 256. O dados foram tabulados pelo google forms e tambÃm importados em excel. O segundo momento da pesquisa de campo foi a observaÃÃo direta intensiva com 13 sujeitos. Na pesquisa, a hipÃtese inicial foi confirmada: o webuniversitÃrio pesquisado nÃo toma como relevantes ou essenciais as interaÃÃes com seus tutores ou colegas: nÃo hà o ânÃsâ em sua fala; tambÃm nÃo percebe como relevantes ou essenciais as prÃticas nos lugares presenciais da cibereducaÃÃo, disponibilizados em seu polo; o webuniversitÃrio privilegia o AVA, as interaÃÃes estritamente virtuais. O principal monumento da cibereducaÃÃo està fora dela: o diploma; o lugar à o AVA e o nÃo lugar mais importante à a fila para realizar as provas. O pÃblico mapeado foi composto predominantemente por ânativo digitalâ, portanto, por jovem que possui familiaridade com o mundo virtual; ele escolheu a EaD por se adaptar à sua rotina, Ãs suas obrigaÃÃes familiares ou de trabalho; ele nÃo se và como um âcomprador de diplomasâ e se defende como um estudante, elegendo a disciplina, a determinaÃÃo e a dedicaÃÃo como virtudes essenciais para aqueles que querem aprender a distÃncia; embora nÃo se sinta integrado à comunidade acadÃmica, nÃo se sente desvalorizado diante do aluno presencial, mas de igual valor, porque sua relaÃÃo à âde consumoâ; ele indica, jà indicou, pretende fazer novos cursos em EaD e nÃo pretende trocar pela educaÃÃo presencial; ele està em constantes interaÃÃes com simulacros de professores, simulacros de coordenadores, simulacros de colegas, pois nÃo lhe sÃo reais, mas projeÃÃes de imagens idealizadas de personagens reais, cujo distanciamento resulta no ensimesmamento: fortalece-se a identidade-eu em detrimento de uma percepÃÃo coletiva da identidade-nÃs. Observou-se ainda importante receio de ter sua condiÃÃo de portador de um diploma em EaD descoberta, pairando sobre ele o estigma do âdiploma simulacroâ. Os desafios da empregabilidade do diploma em EaD foram compreendidos a partir do espaÃo da formaÃÃo profissional, marcado por um complexo jogo de lutas ou interesses entre organizaÃÃes de classe, compradores de trabalho, sistemas formais de ensino e poder pÃblico, ou seja, entre os que defendem, os que compram, os que produzem e os que regulam os diplomas. / The research started from the hypothesis that the identity of the web-university student would have the individual dimension as the key of their interpretation, thoroughly uncompromised: despite being in a community, they hardly want to be connected to it. It was an analytical, inductive and qualitative research, whose procedures and techniques included bibliographic and documentary surveys, and observations were participant and nonparticipant in campus or online, both for lucker and insider modes. The first moment of the research was the extensive direct observation between September 2014 and June 2015, with a questionnaire of 32 questions, virtually available as a tool on google forms, sent to students via e-mail. Extensive observation sampling was probabilistic, not arbitrary and by convenience: approximately 4100 students were encouraged to participate, 256 having answered. The data was tabulated by google forms and also imported into Excel. The second moment of the field research was the intensive direct observation with 13 people. In the survey, the initial hypothesis was confirmed: the web-university student approached does not take as relevant or essential interactions with their mentors or colleagues: there is no "us" in their speech; also, they do not consider as relevant or essential practices in the classroom of ciber-education, available in their campus; the web-university student highlights the AVA (Student Virtual Environment), the strictly virtual interactions. The main monument of cyber-education is out of it: the diploma; AVA is the place and the most important non-place is in the queue to take the tests. The audience was composed predominantly by "virtual-native peopleâ, that is to say, by young people who are familiar with the virtual world; they have chosen Distant Learning once it adjusts to their routine, their family or work obligations. They donât see themselves as a "buyer of diplomas" and defend themselves as a student, with discipline, determination and dedication as essential virtues for those who want to learn online, although they do not feel integrated in the academic community, not feeling devalued before the student who attends classes, but of equal value, because their relationship is that of "consumption". They recommend, have already recommended and intend to take other E-learning courses and do not intend to change the classroom education profile. They are constantly interacting with simulacra of teachers and coordinators, simulacra of their colleagues, for they are not real to them, but projections of idealized images of real characters, whose distance results in self-absorbed reaction: the I-identity is strengthened at the expense of a collective perception of the we-identity. Another relevant aspect noticed was the fear of having people discovering that they had a diploma from a distant learning course, hovering over them the stigma of possessing a "simulacrum" of a diploma. The challenges of employability of the diploma from adistant learning course were understood from the professional training environment, marked by a complex game of fights or interest among organizations of class, work buyers, formal teaching systems and public authorities, i.e. among those who defend, those who buy, those who produce and those who regulate the diplomas.

The aim of my thesis was to find out how people behave on social networks. My focus was to highlight the advantages and disadvantages that come out with moving into the cyberspace. As I discovered while writing, social networks can be used for good purposes, for example the charity. At the same time, I concluded that any advantage can be abused. The use of social networks is very tricky. I made up a survey to determine how people use social networks, and which are the most popular. I've created five hypotheses, two got confirmed and three did not. I believe that the results of this survey brought out quite valuable information. The questionnaires revealed that the most popular social networking site was Facebook. It was also confirmed that social networks became a real part of daily life. I wanted to draw attention to the actual topic. I think social work is important to deal with this issue more, because a lot of problems with children and adolescents takes place on the Internet today. Ignorance of this environment can lead to misunderstanding or ignorance of problems and it prevents resolving them. This topic has many more angles to describe from. I can see the importance of kids getting informed at schools by teachers and also instruction of their parents what to take care about.