by Wan, Rosa. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-127). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Table of Contents --- p.v / Acknowledgments --- p.vi / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction: The Empire of the Serial Killers --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Stereotyping in Serial Killer Movies and Bestsellers --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Inter-serial-textuality --- p.68 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Controversies --- p.103 / Conclusion --- p.113 / Works Cited --- p.118 / Appendix --- p.128

This thesis considers the representation of madness in popular film, in the main from the Western canon and English speaking, and argues that madness is seen and represented as an extreme of human experience, a form of Otherness, which throws into relief notions of ontology, sanity and personal and cultural identity. It progresses from a consideration of the historical representations of madness and sanity in art and literature to a review of the pertinent literature on cinema and representation, and uses seminal examples from throughout cinematic history mostly from English language films, from 1906-1996, to illustrate the argument. Alternative methodological approaches are considered for the insights they may provide, and also for the contribution they make to the development of the thesis, in particular the influence of semiotics. A number of stereotypical portrayals of madness, such as the 'mad scientist', the 'crazed murderer', and the 'doomed heroic outsider' are examined in detail. Finally, the thesis proposes the way madness, and mad people, are represented in popular film is reflective and indicative of social and cultural concerns over what can be known, how identity can be established and what it means to live in the contemporary world fraught with uncertainty, anxiety and change / Doctor of Philosophy (Hons)

Throughout film history, the female body has been gazed upon, lusted after, protected, admired, and murdered. A sampling of post-modern films, including Kill Bill; Vol. I, The Swimming Pool, Boys Don’t Cry, Orlando, The Piano, The Ballad of Little Jo and Hedwig and the Angry Inch divulge new and complex views of the female body, including gender transformation. The maternal body, the clothed body, and the psychological and cultural body display the evolving female psyche. The female protagonists in the films, whether rewriting their own stories (Swimming Pool), finding methods to transform their sex within a patriarchy (The Piano), or altering their femininity (Orlando, Boys Don’t cry, The Ballad of little Jo, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch) redefine their gender. In doing so, the postmodern female body surpasses her assigned gender role. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of English. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 35-38).

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In today's world of communication technology, film and television more than ever inform and persuade us about our world through a wealth of images. The purpose of this study is to explore "the various way that film narratives function to construct the social reality that constitutes the lived world of social actors" (Mumby, 1993:5). The thesis argues that film narratives and video productions are historical social/political artifacts incorporating important social and political issues through the use of ideology, rhetoric and genre in the "politics of representation." The study examines a number of theoretical positions proposed by adult educators in relation to five poststructural perspectives chosen for this research. The analysis begins with a Lacanian interpretation of subjectivity in the complexities of female bonding with the Other, then follows with Foucault's concepts of knowledge and power, Derrida's perspective on differance, Baudrillard's thesis on "simulacra" and closes with Lyotard's philosophy on the "postmodern condition." The study argues that objects of knowledge are locally and historically specific, and that they become available for human understanding only within certain "language games," "paradigms" and "discursive formations." Following the lead of these French thinkers, the study investigates the central role language plays in the process of socialization while questioning simultaneously, the ideological processes forming our subjectivities. Also the study challenges the foundational basis for historical knowledge and the existing state of cultural power, one that structures identities of Self and Other within societal forms of domination and exploitation. The research concludes with reasons why a postmodern position extends the imaginary spaces for cultural narratives and offers alternative models for adult education. These positions are "necessary illusions" grounded upon our understanding of cultural identities, and focus upon a new engagement of adult education through a "politics of difference." The thesis attempts to help adult learners comprehend their own cultural situation through an explicit understanding of how narrative discourses operate within the "politics of representation" on two levels: one, as a communication phenomenon that pedagogically and culturally constructs human identities through role-playing, and two, as a social phenomenon that both reinforces and challenges the social order.

This thesis investigates the cultural and social production of AIDS in popular discourse, particularly film and mass media, and offers a critical consideration of the ways in which the proliferation and dispersion of these discourses function in our current episteme to rearticulate and reinscribe traditional value systems of sexuality, familialism, and nationalism. Taking the lead of the work of Michel Foucault on the body in various historical regimes, the author here will posit a theoretical analysis of the "discursive formation" of AIDS, how the body of AIDS is put into discourse, to provide a matrix for establishing the various disciplinary and regulatory apparatuses structuring the epidemic--that is, the affirmation of certain kinds of pleasures and bodies and the strategic circumvention of other pleasures and bodies. Under what the author refers to as the cultural logic of dis-ease, the investigations that follow will be animated by the central question: Whose pleasure and/or power is served by these representations and discourses of the body of AIDS in popular cultural practices?

People are constantly bombarded with the latest technology, the latest fashion, the latest ‘must have’ item. We are encouraged to buy things that promise to change our lives and give us satisfaction or even create happiness. Interestingly we often succumb to the temptation of these material things, which is not always a negative reaction; however it does become negative when our lives are controlled by material possessions and we give up certain aspects of who we are to enable us to obtain these possessions. Further more it becomes problematic when we start to rely on material possessions to define us in terms of our identity or to help us fit into particular groups within society. With the media playing such a large role in societies at present it is almost inevitable that the phenomenon of materialist consumerism will make its way into the media. The media however holds control, to an extent, over whether or not materialist consumerism is viewed in a negative or affirmative light. An analysis of the representation of materialist consumerism in selected instances of mainstream cinema will be the aim of my proposed study. The study will look at the representation of materialist consumerism in so far as it offers viewers a place to ‘fit’ into a particular group within society. The group I am referring to can be categorised as the upper-middle class of contemporary western society. I have thus selected films that represent this group specifically. For the purpose of the treatise ‘materialist consumerism’ is understood as a way of life, or alternatively, an ideology, which assumes that the accumulation of material wealth through consumption imparts meaning to human lives. The treatise will analyse both sides of the coin, or in other words films that support or promote materialist consumerism and those that either revolt against or criticise this form of consumerism. The study will explore different aspects of consumerism in so far as these are represented in the films, with an identifiable axiological bias.

In today's world of communication technology, film and television more than ever inform and persuade us about our world through a wealth of images. The purpose of this study is to explore "the various way that film narratives function to construct the social reality that constitutes the lived world of social actors" (Mumby, 1993:5). The thesis argues that film narratives and video productions are historical social/political artifacts incorporating important social and political issues through the use of ideology, rhetoric and genre in the "politics of representation." The study examines a number of theoretical positions proposed by adult educators in relation to five poststructural perspectives chosen for this research. The analysis begins with a Lacanian interpretation of subjectivity in the complexities of female bonding with the Other, then follows with Foucault's concepts of knowledge and power, Derrida's perspective on differance, Baudrillard's thesis on "simulacra" and closes with Lyotard's philosophy on the "postmodern condition." The study argues that objects of knowledge are locally and historically specific, and that they become available for human understanding only within certain "language games," "paradigms" and "discursive formations." Following the lead of these French thinkers, the study investigates the central role language plays in the process of socialization while questioning simultaneously, the ideological processes forming our subjectivities. Also the study challenges the foundational basis for historical knowledge and the existing state of cultural power, one that structures identities of Self and Other within societal forms of domination and exploitation. The research concludes with reasons why a postmodern position extends the imaginary spaces for cultural narratives and offers alternative models for adult education. These positions are "necessary illusions" grounded upon our understanding of cultural identities, and focus upon a new engagement of adult education through a "politics of difference." The thesis attempts to help adult learners comprehend their own cultural situation through an explicit understanding of how narrative discourses operate within the "politics of representation" on two levels: one, as a communication phenomenon that pedagogically and culturally constructs human identities through role-playing, and two, as a social phenomenon that both reinforces and challenges the social order. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

This thesis examines the representation of the lives and performances of tawa'if and rudali in South Asian cinema to understand their marginalization as performers, and their significance in the collective consciousness of the producers and consumers of Indian cultural artifacts. The critical textual analysis of six South Asian films reveals these women as caste-amorphous within the system of social stratification in India, and therefore captivating in the potential they present to achieve a complex and multi-faceted definition of culture. Qualitative interviews with 4 Indian classical dance instructors in Portland, Oregon and performative observations of dance events indicate the importance of these performers in perpetuating and developing Indian cultural artifacts, and illustrate the value of a multi-layered, performative methodological approach. These findings suggest that marginality in performance is a useful and dynamic site from which to investigate the processes of cultural communication, producing findings that augment sole textual analysis.