CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Islamic terrorism in US film: how we construct our own enemies Master's thesis Author: Bc. Anna Kotvalová Study programme: International Relations Supervisor: Mgr. Jakub Záhora, Ph.D. Year of the defense: 2019 ABSTRACT The presented diploma thesis is concerned with the discourse and narratives of the phenomenon of terrorism in the American cinema, produced after 9/11 and its reflection on the events within the War on Terror. This thesis rests on two major theoretical realms, Critical terrorism studies and the interconnection between popular culture and the world of politics. This thesis addresses three American mainstream films produced after 9/11, Zero Dark Thirty, Lone Survivor and American Sniper in order to analyse the discourse and narratives which refer to the antagonists in these movies (more specifically, the discourse and narratives which portrays justification for the American behaviour within the War on Terror) and to address the political consequences of this kind of discourse. This thesis defines four major repetitive patterns in the discourse: humanization of the "American side", dehumanization of the antagonists, depiction of torture and violence and lack of context and concludes...

The aim of this study was to identify the possible changes in the public discourse in Western Europe on multiculturalism, integration and assimilation after the European migrant crisis started in 2015. This study has been conducted by combining corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis to analyze newspaper articles of newspapers in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden in 2010, 2015 and 2019. The results show that there is indeed a shift visible from an integration approach towards an assimilation approach. This shift is however not visible in the words being used, but rather in the approach that the word integration is being used to refer to.

The aim of this research is to analyze ethnic topics of Lithuanian press. The objective of the research is to examine in what forms and how ethnic intolerance is constructed in printed and Internet media texts through representation of topics, problems, named causers of the problems and their causality (i.e. by introducing/presenting explanations of causes of the problems). Therefore, the main problem of this study is the assessment of the concept of ethnic intolerance and measurement of ethnic intolerance in media discourse. The main body of empirical data was collected during the qualitative research of printed and Internet media, which consisted of two parts: (1) media content analysis and (2) structured interviews with experts (politicians, officials, representatives of ethnic minorities, and journalists). The findings of the research of ethnic intolerance content in Lithuanian media reveals that topics (problems) of interethnic relations in Lithuanian press are mostly interrelated with economical and political issues and less with cultural and psychological causality aspects. Each ethnic or religious group – Roma, Jews, Polish, Russians, Muslims and immigrants – is associated with specific problems in the Lithuanian press. No aggressive forms of ethnic intolerance (incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence) were found in the content of Lithuanian press. The most common manifestations of ethnic intolerance in Lithuanian press were hate speech, harassment, subtle... [to full text] / Šis darbas skirtas Lietuvos spaudos turinio etnine tematika analizei. Atliekamo Lietuvos spaudos turinio tyrimo tikslas - atskleisti, kokiomis problemomis, temomis, problemų įvardijamais sukėlėjais, bei jų priežastingumu ir kokiomis apraiškų formomis Lietuvos spaudos turinyje yra konstruojamas etninis nepakantumas. Darbo problema - etninio nepakantumo sąvokos įvertinimas ir etninio nepakantumo matavimas spaudos tekstuose. Pagrindinį darbo empirinių duomenų masyvą sudaro spaudos kokybinio tyrimo (spaudos ir interneto dienraščių tekstų turinio ir kokybinio ekspertų tyrimo) duomenys. Etninio nepakantumo Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje tyrimo duomenų analizė leidžia teigti, kad: Lietuvos spaudoje tarpetninių santykių problematika dažniausiai siejama su ekonominiais ir politiniais, mažiau – su kultūriniais ir psichologiniais priežastingumo aspektais. Kiekviena etninė, religinė grupė - romai, žydai, lenkai, rusai, musulmonai ir imigrantai - Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje siejama su specifine problematika. Lietuvos spaudos turinyje nėra vartojamos agresyvios etninio nepakantumo formos – kurstymas diskriminuoti, smurtauti ir fiziškai susidoroti. Dažniausiai sutinkamos etninio nepakantumo formos: etninės neapykantos kurstymas; Įžeidinėjimas (užgauliojimai, tyčiojimasis, niekinimas); Subtilios (paslėptos) nuostatos ir stereotipai; ,,Tylos diskursas“. Etninių grupių problematikos suvokimas visuomenėje ir jos pateikimas Lietuvos spaudoje sudaro uždarą cirkuliacinį ratą: ekspertų įvardijamos problemos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Šis darbas skirtas Lietuvos spaudos turinio etnine tematika analizei. Atliekamo Lietuvos spaudos turinio tyrimo tikslas - atskleisti, kokiomis problemomis, temomis, problemų įvardijamais sukėlėjais, bei jų priežastingumu ir kokiomis apraiškų formomis Lietuvos spaudos turinyje yra konstruojamas etninis nepakantumas. Darbo problema - etninio nepakantumo sąvokos įvertinimas ir etninio nepakantumo matavimas spaudos tekstuose. Pagrindinį darbo empirinių duomenų masyvą sudaro spaudos kokybinio tyrimo (spaudos ir interneto dienraščių tekstų turinio ir kokybinio ekspertų tyrimo) duomenys. Etninio nepakantumo Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje tyrimo duomenų analizė leidžia teigti, kad: Lietuvos spaudoje tarpetninių santykių problematika dažniausiai siejama su ekonominiais ir politiniais, mažiau – su kultūriniais ir psichologiniais priežastingumo aspektais. Kiekviena etninė, religinė grupė - romai, žydai, lenkai, rusai, musulmonai ir imigrantai - Lietuvos žiniasklaidoje siejama su specifine problematika. Lietuvos spaudos turinyje nėra vartojamos agresyvios etninio nepakantumo formos – kurstymas diskriminuoti, smurtauti ir fiziškai susidoroti. Dažniausiai sutinkamos etninio nepakantumo formos: etninės neapykantos kurstymas; Įžeidinėjimas (užgauliojimai, tyčiojimasis, niekinimas); Subtilios (paslėptos) nuostatos ir stereotipai; ,,Tylos diskursas“. Etninių grupių problematikos suvokimas visuomenėje ir jos pateikimas Lietuvos spaudoje sudaro uždarą cirkuliacinį ratą: ekspertų įvardijamos problemos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of this research is to analyze ethnic topics of Lithuanian press. The objective of the research is to examine in what forms and how ethnic intolerance is constructed in printed and Internet media texts through representation of topics, problems, named causers of the problems and their causality (i.e. by introducing/presenting explanations of causes of the problems). Therefore, the main problem of this study is the assessment of the concept of ethnic intolerance and measurement of ethnic intolerance in media discourse. The main body of empirical data was collected during the qualitative research of printed and Internet media, which consisted of two parts: (1) media content analysis and (2) structured interviews with experts (politicians, officials, representatives of ethnic minorities, and journalists). The findings of the research of ethnic intolerance content in Lithuanian media reveals that topics (problems) of interethnic relations in Lithuanian press are mostly interrelated with economical and political issues and less with cultural and psychological causality aspects. Each ethnic or religious group – Roma, Jews, Polish, Russians, Muslims and immigrants – is associated with specific problems in the Lithuanian press. No aggressive forms of ethnic intolerance (incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence) were found in the content of Lithuanian press. The most common manifestations of ethnic intolerance in Lithuanian press were hate speech, harassment, subtle... [to full text]

This project aims to develop and explore questions of theatre as public discourse and the representation of England and Englishness in contemporary British theatre during the period 2000-2010. I present a dual focus in this practice-led research process, creating an original creative work, Albion Unbound, alongside an academic thesis. I describe the relationship between play and thesis as ‘dialogic’ with reference to the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. His ideas on language, subjectivity and authorship offer an insightful perspective upon the theory and practice of theatre-making, but Bakhtin himself makes a concerted claim for drama’s inherent monologism, generically incapable of developing genuine dialogic relations between its constituent voices. Chapter One explores the ‘case against drama’ and identifies the different senses of theatrical dialogism which emerge in critical response. Chapter Two considers Bakhtin’s work around carnival, the grotesque and the history of laughter, framed within a debate about the ‘politics of form’ in the theatrical representation of madness and mental illness. A key division emerges between political, discursive theatre and experimental theatre, as I question the boundaries of Bakhtin’s ideas. Chapter Three questions the nature of political theatre and its British traditions via Janelle Reinelt and Gerald Hewitt’s claim that David Edgar represents the ‘model’ political playwright engaged in theatre as ‘public discourse’. I focus upon three-thematically linked of Edgar’s plays, Destiny, Playing with Fire and Testing the Echo to engage questions of the ‘state-of-the-nation’ play and Edgar’s varied formal strategies employed in constructing his dramatic worlds and the political discourse he seeks with an audience. Chapter Four extends this debate to question the alleged ‘return of the political’ in new writing between 2000-2010 and specifically a body of plays which engage issues of nation and identity – those plays contemporaneous to Albion Unbound. Chapter Five provides a reflexive conclusion, elaborating upon the creative, collaborative process of making Albion Unbound, accounting for its successes and failures as a piece of contemporary theatre. I also reflect upon the relationship of theory and practice the project has developed, the dialogic relationship between thesis and play. Chapter Six is the play itself, as it was performed.

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This study is an analysis of lyrics from popular American music albums since the 1990s to understand public discourse about and experience with public administration. Albums included in the study came from two prominent sources: Billboard and Pitchfork decade-end lists. The study is framed by critical, postmodern, and responsiveness theories, methodologically grounded in critical discourse analysis, and technically approached using standard qualitative methods, including especially qualitative content analysis and iterative, inductive coding techniques. Findings from the qualitative study demonstrate public discourse on the themes of institutional and systemic racism and violence within and perpetuated by public administration and public institutions. Implications for critical self-reflection and responsiveness from the field on these themes are included, and a theory of administrative listening to exogenous discourse is developed. By using exogenous-discourse analysis, including especially that found in popular music, public administration can listen and respond to discourse that originates outside the institutions and systems it controls, broadening its understanding of public sentiment, contributing to a more democratic administration, and building public trust in public institutions.

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has led to the emergence of deepfake, digital media that has been manipulated to replace a person's likeness with another. This technology has seen significant improvements, becoming easier to use and producing results increasingly difficult to distinguish from reality. This development has raised ethical discussions surrounding its deceiving nature. Furthermore, deepfakes have had a considerable impact and application on social media, enabling their spread. Despite this, the public discourse on social media, along with its societal and personal values associated with deepfakes, remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by examining social media discourse and perception surrounding the prominent ethical concerns of deepfakes, and situating these concerns within the broader landscape of AI ethics. Through a qualitative method resembling netnography, 320 posts from Reddit and Youtube were thematically analyzed through a passive observation, along with their respective comment section. The findings reveal various concerns, surrounding misinformation and consent to deeper fears about deepfakes' role in fostering distrust, as well as more abstract apprehensions regarding the technology's abuse and harmful applications. These concerns further revealed how generalized established AI ethical principles might be interpreted in the deepfake context, also showing how and why these principles might be violated by this technology. Particularly it revealed terms how principles such as dignity, transparency, privacy and non-maleficence might be diverged in deepfake applications.

<p>This dissertation maps the militarization of Canadian culture under the War on Terror. The first section examines the rise of everyday life militarizing cultural practices such as the Yellow Ribbon campaign to Support the Troops, Red Fridays, and the Highway of Heroes. The second section takes up militarizing cultural texts: the most recent wave of Canadian Forces recruiting advertisements, the CBC radio play <em>Afghanada</em>, and Paul Gross’s 2008 film <em>Passchendaele</em>. Across these diverse sites of analysis I argue that it is precisely through the mobilization of the previous national myths of multiculturalism, peacekeeping and tolerance that the contrary cultural politics of the new militarism coheres.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The main objective of the present thesis is an effort to understand better how Czech women construct their views on feminism and what factors of Czech distance from feminism are, which is clearly visible in the post-1989 era. The thesis starts with the description of feminism, its development and inner differentiation. Then the author focuses on development and current situation in the Czech Republic, which is specific for its historically contingent connotation. The following section presents the analytical results of the qualitative research. By applying the technique of semi-structured interviews, the author brings up the questions of how Czech women perceive and understand feminism and how do they interpret the current situation of women. One of the main objectives of the empirical part was also to find out whether it is possible to apply Aronson's typology of feminism of the situation in the Czech Republic. Due to the specificity of the Czech environment, the author comes to the conclusion that there can be identified four different approaches to feminism. Within this framework, the analysis of interviews led to identification of several important factors that affect the construction of feminist consciousness among Czech women.