The relationship between authors and readers has been heavily studied in western literatures since the shift between the spoken-subject lost its privileged position to the written author. The struggle for who determines truth has formed a specific dialect that requires either the author or the reader to be silent. Since the acceptance of literary theories like the “death of the author” and “author-function,” we continue to map these concepts on to similar relationships and discourses. Hip-hop culture defies this dialect, instead, based around the concept of the cipher, hip-hop insists on a constant inclusive discourse. Based in African-American traditions of call-and-response, hip-hop is always looking for voices to speak to each other and push the conversation further. In my thesis, I open up an exploration of the role of an author in hip-hop. Paying specific attention to the rapper, I flesh out the ways western ideas of reading conflate and disrupt the structures of a cipher in hip-hop. Imposing an “author-function” on rappers, displaces the call-and-response relationship that hip-hop thrives on. While hip-hop becomes more prevalent in popular culture, rappers have to learn to navigate within and outside of the immediate hip-hop community. As a case study, I examine the career trajectory of Jay Z. Sean Carter employs the site of enunciation that Jay Z creates to transcend and transform his experiences into a platform for creative expressions as well as lucrative business ventures. Finally, this thesis serves as an initial inquiry into future research plans to explore rappers as nepantler@s and listeners as “digital griots.” Both of these designations represents important rhetorical spaces that allow hip-hop culture to continue to work within a cipher and promote inclusivity. These future plans build towards creating a possible model for more productive collaboration, education, and activism.

This dissertation examines the use of images of graveyards and death in the writings of the ‘Blackwood’s group’, a coterie of authors and poets who published their writing either within the influential Tory periodical Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine or with the publisher William Blackwood and Sons in the early decades of the nineteenth century. I argue that Blackwoodian texts like Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life (1822) by John Wilson imagined the rural Scottish graveyard as a repository for the traditional values and social structures which appeared to be under threat in the rapidly modernising British nation. In these texts the kirkyard functions as a key symbolic space, creating an imagined national ‘home’ for British readers in the idealised Scottish village graveyard. This nostalgic pastoral image of the eternal kirkyard is however in opposition to Blackwood’s Magazine’s reputation for violent, urbane wit and sensational gothic stories. The Noctes Ambrosianae and Tales of Terror articulate a modern, masculine and elite image of the magazine which seem at odds with the domestic, pastoral Scottishness offered in the ‘Scotch novels’ and regional tales. William Blackwood’s publishing house and magazine are at once synonymous with two apparently opposing world views and target readerships, and this tension is most strongly articulated in the tidy Scots graves and unburied corpses of the magazine’s fiction. I examine works published by John Wilson, J.G. Lockhart, James Hogg, D.M. Moir, Henry Thomson, Robert McNish, John Galt, Samuel Warren, James Montgomery and Thomas de Quincey, between the magazine’s foundation in 1817 and the increasing defection of these original Blackwoodians to other periodicals and the retirement of the Noctes Ambrosianae series in the late 1830s. I identify a series of conventions associated with an idealised Blackwoodian rural death before examining the ways in which tales where the conventions of this 'good death' and burial are disrupted by crime, bodysnatching, epidemic disease and suicide challenge or reinforce the world view the rural texts articulated. Chapter one focuses on eighteenth-century ideas about death and sociability. Looking at a group of texts which span from Robert Blair’s The Grave (1746) to Edmund Burke’s revolutionary period writings of the 1790s, it traces what Ester Schor has termed a ‘transition from the “natural” sympathies of the Enlightenment to the “political” sympathies of a revolutionary age’ (75). I argue that in particular Edmund Burke’s creation of a conservative image of nation based on tradition and ancestry acted as a foundation for the type of politicised engagement with the dead which characterised the work of the Blackwood’s group. Chapter two builds upon recent identifications of a Blackwoodian regional tale tradition by highlighting the crucial role of death and the kirkyard in this provincial fiction. Placing John Wilson’s highly popular story series Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life in relation to contemporary debates about Evangelical religion, readership and nation, reveals a series of ideas and conventions which can be identified in other rural writing by John Galt, J.G. Lockhart and James Hogg. Having established an image of what a ‘good death’ might look like and stand for within the Blackwoodian imagination, I turn my attention to deaths which do not follow these conventions. Chapter three explores Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine’s well-documented fascination with spectacular violence in three of the magazine’s signature Tales of Terror and Thomas De Quincey’s ‘On Murder’ essays (1827, 1839). Chapter four looks at three stories from the magazine which feature bodysnatching, focusing on the role which doctors and provincial communities play within these texts. Chapter five compares responses to the 1832 cholera epidemic by James Montgomery and James Hogg. Finally, Chapter six argues for a reading of James Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) which foregrounds the role of the suicide’s body within the narrative based on the representations of suicide in contemporary discussion and in Galt’s Annals of the Parish (1821).

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent and frequency of readership of the Oregon Wildlife magazine and this relationship to Klapper's reinforcing hypothesis. The basic question posed was: What population of individuals in Oregon read which types of fish and wildlife articles in the Oregon Wildlife magazine, and how do these respondents assess the readability and accuracy of the magazine?

by Lau Pui Ki, Vienne. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-107). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese version) --- p.iv / Acknowledgement --- p.vi / Table of Contents --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Review of the literature --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Uses and Gratifications approach --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2 --- Previous research on Internet and newspaper usage --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3 --- Definition of lifestyle --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4 --- Previous research on lifestyles and media consumption --- p.12 / Chapter 2.5 --- Measurement of lifestyles --- p.15 / Chapter 2.6 --- Definition of electronic newspapers --- p.17 / Chapter 2.7 --- News content of electronic newspapers --- p.18 / Chapter 2.8 --- Attributes of electronic newspapers --- p.19 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Research Questions and Methodology --- p.24 / Chapter 3.1 --- Research Questions --- p.24 / Chapter 3.2 --- Methodology --- p.27 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Sampling --- p.27 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Definition of information workers --- p.28 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Sampling procedure --- p.29 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Survey instruments --- p.32 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Measuring the lifestyles of e-paper readers in Hong Kong --- p.32 / Chapter 3.2.6 --- Measuring the gratifications sought from electronic newspaper using --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2.7 --- Measuring the use of attributes in electronic newspapers --- p.34 / Chapter 3.2.8 --- Measuring electronic newspaper consumption --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2.9 --- Measuring the use of traditional media --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2.10 --- Measuring Demographics --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2.11 --- Analytical Procedure --- p.36 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Findings of the research --- p.38 / Chapter 4.1 --- Lifestyles of information workers and university students --- p.38 / Chapter 4.2 --- Gratifications sought from electronic newspapers use --- p.40 / Chapter 4.3 --- The interrelationship between lifestyles and gratifications sought --- p.43 / Chapter 4.4 --- Predictability of demographics and lifestyles on gratifications sought from electronic newspapers --- p.46 / Chapter 4.5 --- Factoring special attributes of electronic newspapers --- p.48 / Chapter 4.6 --- Predicting electronic newspapers consumption --- p.51 / Chapter 4.7 --- Predicting the use of attributes in electronic newspapers --- p.56 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Discussion and Conclusion --- p.61 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Implications and Limitations --- p.73 / Chapter 6.1 --- Implications and suggestions for improving online news services --- p.73 / Chapter 6.2 --- Limitations and recommendations --- p.76 / Appendix A生活模式與電子報章使用與滿足問卷調查 --- p.83 / Appendix B Questionnaire: Lifestyles and Uses and Gratifications of Electronic Newspapers in Hong Kong --- p.88 / Appendix c 生活模式與電子報章使用與滿足問卷調查（電話訪問） --- p.93 / Bibliography --- p.100

by Leung Hung Cheong, Leung Wai Kwan, Sabrina. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-63). / ABSTRACT --- p.i / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I --- INTRODUCTION --- p.3 / Chapter II --- BACKGROUND - ABOUT THE CYBERSPACE --- p.5 / What is the Internet? --- p.5 / A Brief History of the Internet --- p.6 / The Global Influence of the Internet --- p.7 / Chapter III. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.9 / Facts in the U.S. Newspapers Industry --- p.9 / Evolution of Online Newspapers --- p.12 / Research for German Dailies on WWW --- p.15 / Chapter IV. --- PRACTICAL ISSUES OF ONLINE NEWPAPERS --- p.20 / Elements of an Electronic Newspaper --- p.20 / Free Access versus Subscription --- p.23 / Operation of an Online Newspaper --- p.25 / Chapter V. --- INVESTIGATING ONLINE NEWSPAPERS IN H. K. --- p.28 / The Newspaper Industry in Hong Kong --- p.28 / Objectives of Study --- p.31 / Research Methodology --- p.32 / Chapter VI. --- RESEARCH FINDINGS --- p.35 / Result for the Exploratory Study: Two Online / Newspaper Publishers in Hong Kong --- p.35 / "Result for the Quantitative Study," / Part I - Overall Survey Responses --- p.40 / "Result for the Quantitative Study," / Part II - T-Tests Between / Categories of Respondents --- p.46 / Chapter VII. --- INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS --- p.51 / "For Result of the Quantitative Study," / Part I - Overall Survey Responses --- p.51 / "For Result of the Quantitative Study," / Part II - T-Tests Between / Categories of Respondents --- p.53 / Chapter VIII. --- RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.56 / Chapter IX. --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.59 / Chapter X. --- LIMITATION OF STUDY --- p.61 / Chapter XI. --- APPENDICES --- p.64 / Appendix A - Electronic Newspaper Publishers' Questionnaire / Appendix B - Electronic Newspaper Readers' Survey / Appendix C - Summary for Customer Survey Result / Appendix D - Reference Table for T-Tests Results / Appendix E - Graphical Illustration of Survey Results

This essay discusses the differences in depiction of vampires between Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight (2005) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). By using examples from the novels, the essay exemplifies how genre, narration, and readership affect the description of vampires within the two novels. The essay bases its discussion on genre on the premise that the vampire genre is in fact a genre to itself, but one with a broad variation. Furthermore, the essay briefly discusses the shift within the vampire genre, where vampires during the last centuries have gone from dangerous and scary to appealing and romantic. A connection is made between the shift within the vampire genre and Anne Rice’s vampire fiction. The discussion on genre shows how the romance, fantasy, and horror genres affect the depiction of vampires. / Denna uppsats diskuterar hur vampyrer i verken Twilight (Meyer, 2005) och Dracula (Stoker, 1897) skildras på olika sätt. Skillnader i beskrivningarna illustreras med hjälp av exempel från de båda böckerna och berör genre, berättarperspektiv och läsarkrets. Diskussionen i uppsatsen baseras på att vampyrgenren är en egen genre med många olika beskrivningar av vampyren. Uppsatsen berör även förändringen i genren och lyfter kort hur vampyren från början tolkas som farlig och skrämmande för att sedan framstå som attraktiv och romantisk. En koppling görs också mellan förändringen i vampyrgenren och Anne Rices vampyrnoveller. Vidare i diskussionen kring genre berörs även hur genrerna romantik, fantasy och skräck påverkar skildringen av vampyrerna i de nämnda verken.

The problem of this study was an audience analysis of Dallas' weekly underground newspaper Iconoclast. A readership survey was mailed to 200 randomly selected subscribers to Iconoclast. Data were taken from the ninety useable questionnaires of those returned. The study is organized into four chapters. Chapter I discusses problems, procedures, introductory material and recent and related studies. Chapter II is a history of Iconoclast. Chapter III is an analysis of data. Chapter IV presents summary, conclusions, and recommendations. The data revealed the typical subscriber as having a mean age of 28.7, some college education, and higher than $10,000 yearly income. He obtains both exclusive and supplementary information from Iconoclast, and considers it an important but biased news source.

A purpose of the Diploma Thesis Reflection of literary output in Česká televize in 2006, 2010 and 2014 broadcasting and their impact on readership is to describe, summarize and compare reports dedicated to literature in selected Czech Television's programs, and then try to identify their influence on book sales and marketability of books. It summarizes the available evidence on the issue of reading culture, reading a book market surveys in the theoretical part, also mentions the definition of reviews and literary critique. In practical part it compares reports dedicated to literature in selected programs according to genre and language first, followed by comparison with the books' titles sales rank, as it is published on Union of Czech booksellers and publishers website. On the base of this comparison, this thesis tries to define the influence of the television broadcasting on books sales.

This thesis explores the components that are involved in the translation of a text that are interpretable by two distinct readerships. It examines: - theory that provides an understanding of dual-readership texts for children and adults; - examples of dual-readership texts, their translations, and analyses of these; - Bled by Daniel Danis and my English translation as a test case of a contemporary dual-readership source text and translation. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to shed light on what could be a new sub-domain of translation studies, namely, research on dual-readership translation. My translation of Bled provides insight into my own interpretation of dual-readership translation, namely, focusing on what is desirable and what is achievable in the translation of this type of text.

This thesis explores the components that are involved in the translation of a text that are interpretable by two distinct readerships. It examines: - theory that provides an understanding of dual-readership texts for children and adults; - examples of dual-readership texts, their translations, and analyses of these; - Bled by Daniel Danis and my English translation as a test case of a contemporary dual-readership source text and translation. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to shed light on what could be a new sub-domain of translation studies, namely, research on dual-readership translation. My translation of Bled provides insight into my own interpretation of dual-readership translation, namely, focusing on what is desirable and what is achievable in the translation of this type of text.