In the autumn of 2015 a huge amount of refugees were on the run to Sweden. The news media described the situation as a refugee crisis and border controls were initiated. The aim of this study was to examine how two Swedish newspapers, one national and one local, portrayed refugees at the time when the border controls were initiated in Sweden. The questions examined were: How are the refugees portrayed, what are the similarities and differences between Dagens Nyheter and Sydsvenskan’s portrayal of the refugees? To approach this we made two different analysis of reports from each newspaper, three from Dagens Nyheter and two from Sydsvenskan. We did a framing analysis on the text and a semiotic analysis on the pictures. Findings show that the portrayal of refugees are very similar in both newspapers. The refugees are described as inferior, but at the same time brave, well-educated and hopeful. We also found that refugees often are portrayed as “the others” and the citizens of Sweden are portrayed as “we”. Although the similarities outweighs, we found some interesting differences in the newspapers portrayal of the refugees. For example, in Dagens Nyheter the hopefulness is combined with a positive and joyful approach, while Sydsvenskan describes the hope with an uncertainty and concern about the future.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the teacher as represented through characters in successful American commercial drama.

This thesis The Portrayal of women in Slovak print media advertising 1992-2012 addresses the way women are depicted in advertising in three selected Slovak magazines, at three points in time; 1992, 2002 and 2012. The work aims to discover in what direction the portrayal of women in magazine advertisements has evolved during this period when advertising occupies more and more space in the media. This work deals with gender issues and focuses mainly on the roles in which women are represented in advertising. Their passivity or activity and sexual objectification are examined through content and semiotic analysis. The dual mode of analysis will allow us to better understand the mechanisms of the depiction of women in advertising and compare the different ways women are portrayed in the media depending on the target audience.

This diploma thesis named "Journalists and source protection in motion pictures" focuses on investigative journalists pictured in movies that have originated in Anglo-American language and cultural area. Analyzed are such movies that either have been filmed or have had their opening night in last three decades of the twentieth century or the first decade of twenty first century. From 1970s decade there is one movie analyzed while from all the other decades there are always two movies were being taken into analysis. Theoretical part of this thesis consists first of all of all necessary terms followed by several chapters about history of investigative journalism in English speaking countries. Several important personas and events from the area of investigative journalism from the twentieth century are also mentioned. Political movies from 1960s and 1970s are also briefly mentioned at this point. Briefly discussed are also principles of qualitative analysis method and necessary assumptions. Within the practical part of this thesis every movie is described and analyzed. Specific qualitative analysis method is the same in case of all the analyzed movies and results are discussed in specific subchapters by the same structure so all movies can be easily compared and cross-analyzed. Detailed descriptions...

Esse trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar e discutir a concepção de Georg Lukács sobre realismo artístico exposta numa seleção de textos estético-literários produzidos durante a década de 1930. Seguimos o percurso de aquisição da teoria do realismo durante o decênio, enfocando o processo de apropriação da ação como elemento literário central, em sua orgânica relação com o típico. Uma vez que o caminho em direção à perspectiva artística do realismo tem início com a sua guinada marxista, de cunho ontológico, em fim dos anos vinte, buscamos apreender as relações entre esse caminho e o processo de sua aproximação a Marx, isto é, às determinações fundantes do ser social descobertas pelo grande revolucionário alemão. O trabalho aborda o significado da guinada marxista e os primeiros desenvolvimentos estéticos de sua concepção madura. Assim, adentra a questão da objetividade do reflexo artístico, a objetividade da forma, o partidarismo, a centralidade da ação e da tipicidade, a defesa da herança literária da burguesia em ascensão, da figuração e da narração. Estende-se também, no contexto das discussões positivas sobre a teoria do realismo, à crítica dos romances de reportagem, da arte de tendência e do naturalismo, bem como à explicitação da decadência ideológica da burguesia e as condições do triunfo do realismo. / This research aims to analyze and discuss Georg Lukács account on artistic realism as presented in selected aesthetical-literary writings from the thirties. It pursues the course of his acquisition of theory of realism during the decade focusing on the process of appropriation of action as a chief literary element, in its organic relation to the typical. Once the course toward the artistic perspective of realism starts in the end of the twenties with his turn to Marxism, ontologically marked, this work seeks to disclose the connections between this course and the process of his apprehension of Marxian thought, that is, the founding determinations of social being brought out by the great German revolutionary. This study concerns the meaning of Lukács Marxist turn and the first aesthetical developments of his mature writings. Therefore, it examines the objectivity of artistic reflection, the objectivity of form, partisanship, the centrality of action and typicality, the defense of ascendant bourgeoisie literary heritage, portrayal and narration. In the context of positive debate on the theory of realism, this research also approaches the critique of reportage novels, tendency art and naturalism, as well as aspects of ideological decay of bourgeoisie and the triumph of realism.

Thesis (M.A. (English) -- University of Limpopo, 2010 / This dissertation examines the way in which two South African novelists, Zakes Mda and J.M. Coetzee, portray the sexual abuse of women during the apartheid and post-apartheid eras. The two selected novels used in this research are The Madonna of Excelsior (2002) by Mda and Disgrace (2000) by Coetzee. The research, furthermore, analyses the attitudes of the sexual abusers and their victims in both eras as well as examines the effects of socio-economic imbalances that might have prompted the men to sexually abuse women whom they should be offering protection against any form of violence and abuse. The study furthermore identifies and analyses the factors that hinder victims from reporting their sexual abuse to the police. Finally, this dissertation also presents a comparative study of the differences and the similarities between the way the two novelists portray sexual abuse.

This study aims to find out how gender roles are portrayed in the series The Walking Dead. Using a quantitative content analysis where every episode of The Walking Dead was analyzed the study shows gender role portrayal in the everyday activities done by the characters. A qualitative study based on a semiotic analysis was also executed where focus lies on analyzing the characters attributes and their trait of character. The result shows that the series maintains a stereotypical representation of men and women. The men take on the typical “manly” work and the women do the majority of the domestic work. The killing of zombier and humans are mostly done by the men in the series. Their trait of character also shows a stereotypical gender role representation where the men are portrayed as tough, fighters, protectors and providers. The women on the other hand are more weak, sensitive and dependent.

By conducting a text analysis this study analyzes possible similarities in the portrayal of story characters between historical Norse myths and contemporary film productions. The chosen historical texts are two stories from Norse mythology which render a myth about Thor and a giant named Hrunge as well as the myth Trymskvädet. The selected movies are two of the comic company Marvel’s productions about super heroes – Thor and The Avengers. Different categories that this study compares are how the characters are defined by their possessions or artefacts, the actions and the choices which the characters make, and also how their relations, roles and origins are being portrayed. As the result of study shows, there are some similarities between the historical texts and the movies with regard to how the stories portray the characters.      According to cognitive theories, a story becomes more memorable if there is a balance between what readers intuitively expect and does not expect from the story while it unfolds in texts or multimedia productions. The reason for these similarities between textual and visual material created in different times may not only be that historical texts serve as the inspirational base for contemporary productions, but also relates to how myths have some unforgettable characters by striking a balance between intuitiveness and counter-intuitiveness features, and that the movies use character portrayals with a similar balance between the features.

Online Self-portrayal has been attracting attention since the rise of social networks and their integration into everyday life. Social media have been said to support the idea of an “endlessly constructed self,” transporting culture and shaping people’s online experiences. Research often focused on the if and why when mostly college students portrayed themselves on social networks and in online communities. The aim of this study is to deepen the understanding of how a certain demographic of women uses Facebook and Instagram for self-portrayal and what it means to them. The focus is on interesting but seldom studied personalities: well-educated, urban women in their late 20’s up to their late 30’s that are well integrated into the labor market. A combination of netnographic study and semi-standardized interviews of Facebook and Instagram activities are conducted within the framework of Erwin Goffman’s "representation of the self in everyday life." Results show a high appreciation of Instagram in order to present a curated portrayal of one’s life and a communication through 'likes'. Interestingly, the women, although highly skilled, often successful and living in one of the most appreciated urban centers of the world, occasionally feel pressure and insecurity to live up to the expectations of their networks.

Cette thèse, qui conjugue des approches historiques et communicationnelles, se propose d’interroger les représentations de la vieillesse dans la société française contemporaine. Qu’on analyse les discours politiques, les messages publicitaires, les personnages cinématographiques ou littéraires, on perçoit une réelle cohérence dans les stéréotypes caractérisant la vieillesse. Cette recherche doctorale s’attache à démontrer en quoi ces représentations résultent d’une évolution historique, d’une idéologie – le « jeunisme » – autant qu’elles sont l’expression de « l’air du temps ». L’hypothèse étayée tout au long de ces pages est que la société occidentale occulte une vieillesse peu « montrable » et donc cachée au grand public. Ce sont ainsi des millions de personnes âgées qui sont ignorées par les discours sociaux et les images médiatiques. Nous prouverons que les raisons sont à rechercher d’une part dans « la peur moderne de vieillir » et d’autre part, dialectiquement, dans le « jeunisme », idéologie prônant des valeurs individualistes et volontaristes et des citoyens avant tout consommateurs. Nous évoquerons plus largement l’évolution historique des politiques de la vieillesse et les notions de stigmatisation, d’institution soignante, de « dépendance » et de « maltraitance ». / This doctoral thesis combines historical and communication approaches, focusing on how old age is portrayed in contemporary French society. Whether through the analysis of political speeches, commercials, or by studying cinematic and literary characters, we discover that there is a consistent approach in the portrayal of old age. This doctoral research demonstrates why these portrayals result in an historical evolution, in an ideology of « youthism », as well as reflecting current society’s views. The assumption elaborated in this paper is that Western society conceals old age, which it deems unpleasant to look at, and which is therefore hidden from the general public. In doing so, millions of elderly individuals are ignored by social speeches and the media. We will prove that the reason for this lies, on the one hand with the “modern fear of ageing”, and on the other, dialectically, in “youthism”, an ideology advocating an individualist and proactive values, and above all the idea of citizens as consumers. We will raise more broadly the historical evolution of old age policy, and the notions of stigma, of « care giving centres », of « dependance » and of abuse.