This thesis is a comparative study into contemporary mainstream cooking programmes on British, French and German television, which explores how food and cooking are represented. Since food is an expression of identity (Corti 2012; German 2011; Montanari 2006; Scholliers 2001) this study argues that food representation on television is influenced by national culture. Cooking programmes have become increasingly popular in many countries, and recent years have further seen the emergence of a variety of formats, the characteristics of which also influence how food and cooking are represented. This study applies a multi-method research approach which explores the influence of country of production and format on food representation. While a qualitative grounded theory analysis focuses on the key functions and characteristics of the food, the cooking and the chef, a quantitative analysis explores the food groups represented in the programmes to establish a sense of healthiness. The quantitative analysis has found that 'fruit and vegetables' and 'non-dairy protein' are the largest food groups in the majority of programmes across all countries of production and all formats. The qualitative analysis highlighted that country of production is a determining factor on how food and cooking functions are represented, as the three countries feature considerable differences in these areas. The data further revealed three kinds of chef, as well as a mixed chef scenario each using one of three instruction styles. The analysis showed that the format determines the type of chef presented as well as their instruction style. It further confirms that some programmes are highly instructional, whereas others focus more on celebrity and entertainment. This study thus contributes to our understanding of food representation in contemporary British, French and German cooking programmes and its cultural significance.

Diploma thesis People as objects of showbusiness examines the problematics of objectifying of human bodies in the world of showbusiness. The main purpose is to warn about the existence of objectification and related sexualization of human body, which is often presented in media such as print, advertisements, on the internet or on television. The author chose to analyse this phenomenon on case of television show Your Face Sounds Familiar (translated as Tvoje Tvář Má Známý Hlas) based on her own experiences which she gained in past while participating on the creation of this project. Next to a content analysis, which is supposed to reveal specific signs of objectification on television screens, the author also carried out a participant observation during the preparations of the broadcast. The purpose of the observation was to reveal to public how such television formats emergence and to determine if the phenomenon of objectification is also present in the show's background. To finalise the practical research, she adds in-depth interviews with some of the artists who participated in the making of chosen television broadcast. These interviews reflect their way of thinking about objectification of their own bodies and show their perspective on this phenomenon in wider frame.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 43-46).

Cette thèse s’intéresse aux fonctions des marqueurs discursifs ‘you know’, ‘then’ et ‘ya‘ni’ (I mean) en tant que structures autonomes du point de vue syntaxique et en tant qu’unités linguistiques opérationnelles et multifonctionnelles du point de vue conversationnel. Dans une perspective pragmatique, ce travail explore la corrélation entre la position et la fonction en maintenant que la valeur d’un marqueur en position initiale est différente de celle exprimée en position médiane ou en position finale. Dans le contexte des interactions verbales politiques au sein des émissions télévisées en arabe et en anglais, le but de cette thèse est de contribuer aux analyses conversationnelles pragmatiques. À travers une recherche empirique, l’analyse montre que la multifonctionnalité de ces items linguistiques est liée à leur flexibilité syntaxique. Ces marqueurs discursifs assument diverses fonctions contextuelles qui évoluent continuellement sur une échelle pragmatique. L’évolution pragmatique de ‘you know’, ‘then’ et ‘ya‘ni’ engendre des expressions complexes au niveau de leur sémantisme. Ces unités pragmatiques deviennent plus ambiguës car elles s’éloignent davantage de leur sens de base en acquérant des significations contextuelles. Ainsi, ces marqueurs évoquent d’autres interprétations et ne peuvent se limiter qu’à leur sens d’origine. En l’occurrence, on leur attribue des équivalents les plus proches selon le contexte de leur occurrence.Les résultats révèlent que ‘ya‘ni’ peut être substitué par d’autres marqueurs de différentes catégories grammaticales en anglais. Cette unité polysémique, polyfonctionnelle, poly-équivalente et poly-catégorielle partage des fonctions avec ‘you know’, ‘then’, ‘I think’, ‘so’, ‘in fact’ et d’autres marqueurs. La variation pragmatique suit le but illocutoire du locuteur, la prise en compte d’autrui et l’organisation de l’interaction verbale. Dans deux situations socioculturelles différentes, l’anglais et l’arabe confirment que ces items linguistiques sont des unités conversationnelles contextuelles et multifonctionnelles. Leur rôle est visiblement actif dans une situation sociale où l’interaction entre le locuteur et l’interlocuteur est un facteur saillant ; tel est le cas des échanges verbaux télévisés. / This PhD thesis deals with the pragmatic functions of ‘you know’, ‘then’ and ‘ya‘nĩ’ (I mean) as autonomous syntactic structures and as operational and multifunctional linguistic units in conversation. Within a pragmatic framework, the research discusses the correlation between position and function, in which the pragmatic value of a marker in initial position is different from that conveyed in medial or final positions. The goal of this study is to contribute to the pragmatic analysis of conversations by analyzing political verbal interactions in Arabic and English television broadcasts. The results of this empirical study show that the multi-functionality of these linguistic items is related to their syntactic flexibility. These discourse markers imply a variety of contextual functions which evolve gradually on a pragmatic scale.The pragmatic evolution of ‘you know’, ‘then’ and ‘ya‘nĩ’ generate complex semantic expressions. These pragmatic units in fact become increasingly complex; they go beyond their basic meaning to acquire progressively contextual implications. Thus, these markers refer to other interpretations and transcend their immediate semantic base. In this respect, they can be substituted according to the context of their occurrence. The results reveal that ‘ya‘nĩ’ can be substituted with other markers from different grammatical categories in English. This polysemous, multi-functional, poly-equivalent and poly-categorical conversational unit shares its pragmatic functions with ‘you know’, ‘then’, ‘I think’, ‘so’, ‘in fact’ and other discourse markers. Pragmatic variation depends on the illocutionary perspective of the speaker, the relation with the hearer and the organization of the verbal interaction. In two distinct sociocultural situations, English and Arabic, it is confirmed that these linguistic items are contextual and multifunctional conversational units. Their role is relevant in a social situation where the interaction between the speaker and the hearer is a salient factor, as in the case of political verbal exchanges in television broadcasts.