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This dissertation explores how representations of women in the media function as heterodesignations in response to the current socio-economic cultural complex of globalization. In its merger with reality, the media has become the dominant discourse and the means through which prevailing modes of self-understanding are made available in postmodern society, of which the simulacrum is a key feature. Representations of women in the media in general, and in television advertisements in particular, are not, in any way, subversive of hegemonic discourse and, despite the prevalent ambiguity of these images, construct women in conformity with traditional gender stereotypes. Through practices of deconstruction, such as feminist counter-cinema, of which the film Female Perversions is an example, feminism has an important role to play in liberating women from the oppressive effects of these representations, even if these efforts are not, in themselves, free from ambiguity. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

The purpose of this thesis was to analyse the interactive movie Bandersnatch, which is part of the media critical series Black Mirror. The main questions were focused on what Bandersnatch communicate about the power relationship between media and audience, the function of the interactive aspect, and media criticism. A multimodal method and film analysis were used to investigate this. The analysis and discussion were based on several media and communication theories regarding hegemony, mediatization and media criticism. The result showed that Bandersnatch communicate that the audience, and members of a mediatized society, are controlled by the media and the government and therefore does not have free will. This hegemony is upheld by the media that is used to create a false consciousness amongst the public. The interactive aspect of Bandersnatch reinforces this message. Although this is heavily communicated within the film, Black Mirror is not seeking actual reform of the hegemony which leaves the media criticism questionable. / <p>Mats Hyvönen är examinator för den aktuella uppsatsen medan Per Vesterlund är examinator för hela kursen.</p>

Our society has become increasingly digitized, and all around us information flows constantly. Knowledge about valuing different sources of information, and not least the information itself, are becoming increasingly important. Media and information have come to play a big role in our society, and knowledge of media and information literacy becomes important to learn in school. High school students are at the beginning of their adult lives as educated citizens. In this study, we measured high school students experience of media and information literacy, during their three years in high school. Students answered a questionnaire, with questions based upon theoretical concepts in media and information literacy. We chose to focus on high school students as a homogeneous group and not make comparisons between different programs. Everyone is equal before the Education Act. We had preconceived ideas about the outcome, we thought it would turn out that school education regarding media and information literacy had been insufficient, but in many cases those ideas proved to be incorrect. It turned out that high school students may have considerably more knowledge in media and information literacy than we first thought.

Media criticism is studied as a concept, as critical expression and as a force for social change. The concept of media criticism is developed in relation to different forms of critical practice, theory about criticism and critique and as a part of theories about media accountability. Media criticism as a force of social change is approached by exploring concepts for the analysis of social and cultural forms of media criticism. Four kinds of media texts published in Sweden between 1998 and 2013 were analysed to investigate critical expression: television columns, reflective books on journalism written by journalists, debate articles and letters to the editor. They were studied in terms of how they address actors, content and forms of critique and responsiveness. The methodology used was reflexive interpretation mainly driven by insight, but also with an emancipative intention. Qualitative text analysis was the major method used, combined with quantitative content analysis. The concept of media criticism is developed on three levels as normative and institutional, focused on established norms and values, norm shaping and formative, focused on establishing new norms and values and openness and practice, making it possible for many people to contribute to critique. Media criticism can further be specified in three dimensions comprising its intentions, the object of critique and the process of critique. Taken together they establish different forms of criticality in which a communicative intention is seen as essential.  The dissertation shows that media criticism should be given a more independent role in relation to the media accountability frame. Critical cultures and practices should be analysed in their relations to accountability cultures and practices. The concepts of institution, formative and formation were used for analysing the social and cultural forms of media criticism, where institutions are understood as the stable forms of media criticism, formatives as the changeable forms and formations as the combination of the two. Criticism and critical practice potentially have an important role to play for change in the media, journalism and society by addressing issues in an open and reflexive way. The approach to media criticism developed in the dissertation is termed critical institutionalism and aims to bridge the gap between critical social science, the sociology of critique and institutional analysis as applied in media studies.

This dissertation explores how representations of women in the media function as heterodesignations in response to the current socio-economic cultural complex of globalization. In its merger with reality, the media has become the dominant discourse and the means through which prevailing modes of self-understanding are made available in postmodern society, of which the simulacrum is a key feature. Representations of women in the media in general, and in television advertisements in particular, are not, in any way, subversive of hegemonic discourse and, despite the prevalent ambiguity of these images, construct women in conformity with traditional gender stereotypes. Through practices of deconstruction, such as feminist counter-cinema, of which the film Female Perversions is an example, feminism has an important role to play in liberating women from the oppressive effects of these representations, even if these efforts are not, in themselves, free from ambiguity. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Submitted by William Justo Figueiro (williamjf) on 2015-07-06T23:09:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 07a.pdf: 5075358 bytes, checksum: 640f9fcaba4a96eeb68d736271cba338 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-06T23:09:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 07a.pdf: 5075358 bytes, checksum: 640f9fcaba4a96eeb68d736271cba338 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-04 / CNPQ – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Este trabalho apresenta como tema as relações entre midiatização, tecnologias digitais, interações e crítica de mídia. O objeto de estudo apreendido é constituído das mudanças realizadas no site Observatório da Imprensa (OI), a partir do início do mês de junho de 2011, as quais constituíram reconfigurações na formação da crítica de mídia, devido à ampliação do circuito de circulação intermidiática e intramidiática. Os objetivos são examinar os movimentos ocasionados nessa circulação, buscando as relações entre as dimensões semiointeracional e tecno-tecnológica, nas processualidades dos debates e compartilhamentos entre os indivíduos midiáticos na internet. Analisamos as modalidades de interações realizadas no site do OI, em relação aos seus modos semio-tecno-tecnológicos, como forma de articulação entre midiatização e crítica de mídia, articulando à visão de sistemas autofortificados por autopoieses, onde ocorrem autorreferencialidades e heterorreferencialidades (LUHMANN, 2005). A perspectiva metodológica está ancorada no Movimento Ascendente, Descendente e Circular da Construção do Objeto Empírico de Pesquisa (FERREIRA, 2010), no intuito de valorizar o contato com os observáveis durante a seleção de indícios para a construção de uma coleção pertinente, considerando um ângulo determinado. Os corpora foram constituídos em diversos momentos da pesquisa, em torno de temáticas mais relevantes quantitativamente para análises do objeto em construção. Basicamente, trata-se de artigos e os comentários produzidos em torno dos mesmos, em situações tecnológicas diferenciadas e/ou respondendo a movimentos metodológicos atualizados no desenvolvimento da investigação. As análises nos mostraram que no espaço do OI há processos autonomizados, elaborados pelos próprios participantes da interação, com potencial de estímulo ao debate. Verificamos em contraposição a Luhmann, que a autonomia desse processo autopoiético não se encerra na diferença e irritação do sistema com o ambiente. A autonomia está na não determinação do ambiente no sistema, porém, são principalmente nas irritações/acoplamentos estruturais, que depois se tornam fragmentos reflexivos, onde ocorrem transformações importantes de construção social. / This work has as its theme the relationship between mediatization, digital technologies, interactions and critical media. The study object seized consists of changes to the website of the Observatório da Imprensa (OI), from the beginning of june 2011, which constituted reconfigurations in the formation of critical media, due to expansion of the circulation loop intermedia and intramedia. The objectives are to examine the movements caused this circulation, seeking relationships between the dimensions semiointeractional and techno-technological procedurals in the discussions and shares media between individuals media on the internet. We analyze the modalities of interactions conducted at the site of OI, in relation to their modes semio-tech-technology, as an articulation between mediatization and criticism of media, articulating the vision system self fortified by autopoiesis, where they occur self referentiality and straight referentiality (LUHMANN, 2005). The methodological perspective is anchored in the Movement Ascending, Descending and Construction of Circular Object Empirical Research (FERREIRA, 2010), in order to make contact with those observed during the selection of evidence to build a collection relevant, considering an angle determined. The corpora were made at various times of the research around topics most relevant for quantitative analysis of the object under construction. Basically, it's articles and their comments around the same in different technological situations and /or responding to movements in the development of updated methodological research.The analyzes showed that in the space of OI there is ring-fenced processes, prepared by the participants of the interaction with the potential to stimulate debate. We found in contrast to Luhmann, the autonomy of this autopoietic process does not end with difference and irritation of the environment. Autonomy is not the environment in determining the system, however, are mainly in irritation / structural couplings, which then become reflective fragments, where important changes occur in social construction.

I analyze comedian Stephen Colbert's performances as the bloviating "fake" pundit, "Stephen Colbert." Colbert's work reflects the progression of personality-driven media and performance-driven society. His frequent shifts and blending of characters – from actor and entertainer to pundit and politician – call attention to the similarly character-driven nature of "real" figures in politics and media. Using Kenneth Burke's theory of tragic and comic frames of acceptance, I analyze three sets of Colbert's performances – hosting The Colbert Report, speaking at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, and running for president – as well as the conventional situations and discourses he complicates. I argue that Colbert's comic critique provides perspective by incongruity about the processes of production, mediation, and persuasion in the business of news punditry – and the literal staging of politics performed as entertainment.

Les formes d'aparellament i els episodis de contagi entre la pràctica artística i l'audiovisual i el multimèdia en el context de canvi de la societat cultural dels darrers trenta anys són els objectius d'aquesta tesi. La seva gènesi es troba en la formalització hipermèdia (textos, imatges, sons i vídeos) d'aquesta i en la voluntat d'articular, organitzar i regular el marc referencial i metodològic, així com el corpus epistemològic, de manera ramificada.Sota una ordenació sincrònica i interactiva dels procediments d'interrogar-se pel què (detecció), de veure on i què ha suposat (anàlisi) i de conèixer com i de quina manera (descripció), s'extreu una valoració del conjunt complex de les aportacions fetes per l'art a la comunicació.Les etzibades, sense estrèpits, en l'estructura rígida de la comunicació encoratjades per l'art; les conseqüències de l'exercici d'un sentit crític envers la mediació i d'una conscienciació de l'ecologia dels mitjans; les influències en la renovació de la percepció d'espai i de temps mediàtic, formen part del plec de conclusions. La contribució de l'art a l'aparició de noves tipologies de l'expressió audiovisual i multimèdia; la inferència d'elements provinents de l'art en la configuració d'una sensibilitat post en la comunicació actual són descrits en aquesta tesi no lineal (versió original hipermèdia) que ara teniu a l'abast en forma lineal (versió textual en PDF). / Las formas de aparejamiento y los episodios de contagio entre la práctica artística y el audiovisual y el multimedia en el contexto de cambio de la sociedad cultural de los últimos treinta años son los objetivos de esta tesis. Su génesis se encuentra en la formalización hipermedia (textos, imágenes, sonidos y vídeos) de la misma y en la volundad de articular, organizar y regular el marco referencial y metodológico, así como el corpus epistemológico, de manera ramificada.Bajo una ordenación sincrónica e interactiva de los procedimientos de interrogarse por el qué (detección), de ver dónde y qué ha supuesto (análisis) y de conocer cómo y de qué manera (descripción), se extrae una valoración del conjunto complejo de las aportaciones realizadas por el arte a la comunicación.Los golpes, sin estrépitos, en la estructura rígida de la comunicación, alentados por el arte; las consecuencias del ejercicio de un sentido crítico para con la mediación y de una concienciación de la ecología de los medios; las influencias en la renovación de la percepción de espacio y de tiempo mediático, forman parte del conjunto de conclusiones. La contribución del arte a la aparición de nuevas tipologías de la expresión audiovisual y multimedia; la inferencia de elementos procedentes del arte en la configuración de una sensibilidad post en la comunicación actual son descritos en esta tesis no lineal (versión original hipermedia) que ahora tienen a su alcance en forma lineal (versión textual en PDF). / "From artistic practice to audiovisual and multimedia communication"The mating of forms and episodes of contagion between artistic practice and audiovisual and multimedia in the context of change in the society of culture over the last thirty years are the subject of this dissertation. Its genesis lies in the hypermedia formalization (texts, images, sounds, and videos) of the latter and in the desire to give structure, organization and rules to the referential and methodological framework, as well as the epistemological corpus, in a ramified fashion.Under a synchronic, interactive ordering of procedures of asking about what (detection), seeing where and what it has involved (analysis), and learning how and in what way (description), we extract an assessment of the complex set of contributions made by art to communication.The blows, noiseless, to the rigid structures of communication, encouraged by art; the consequences of the exercise of a critical sense toward mediation and of an increased awareness of the ecology of the media; the influences on the renewal of the perception of media space and time make up part of the set of conclusions. Art's contribution to the appearance of new typologies of audiovisual and multimedia expression; the effect of elements originating in art on the shape of a post sensibility in present-day communication are described in this non-linear dissertation (original hypermedia version), now available in linear form (PDF text version).

Contrary to earlier beliefs and media theories such as the hypodermic needle or magic bullet, the audience of public communication is not a passive homogenous mass that easily succumbs to media influence. The audience is active, that is, it makes an effort to interpret media content. Depending on predisposing cultural, political, religious, or economic factors the audience makes different meanings from media texts. Media messages are not wholly controlled by producers, although the producers have their preferred and expected readings. Using qualitative research techniques associated with ethnographic and cultural studies (notably focus group discussions), this study sought to explore the meanings rural people in Malawi make out of human rights and gender messages broadcast on radio and through music. Interpreted against Stuart Hall's (1974b) Encoding and Decoding model, the study concludes that while rural communities understand and appreciate the new sociopolitical discourse, they take a negotiated stance because they have their own doubts and fears. They fear losing their cultural identity. Additionally, men, in particular, negotiate the messages because they fear losing their social power over land, property and family.