Masters of Art / This M.A. mini-thesis seeks to open up the post-apartheid South African biopic as a topic for serious historical scrutiny. While book-length written biographies published in the post-apartheid (and apartheid periods) are the subjects of a now quite extensive historiographical literature, biography on film – including in the form of filmic dramas – has been hitherto entirely ignored. Social history or marginalised lives and not political lives of struggle against apartheid have been the predominant subgenre within this emerging field: with sixteen biopics having been produced in the 2010s. But the field is dominated by white men. This thesis showcases the story-telling gifts of one young coloured film-maker through a meticulously detailed analysis of “visual story-telling” and “visual language” used in his two award-winning gang biopics, Noem My Skollie (2016) and Ellen. Die Stories van Ellen Pakkies (2018). Read in the context of the extended processes of production of these two films in which the central protagonists played a shaping background role, the thesis explores and compares the linear chronological, four-chapter, narrative structure of Noem My Skollie with the architecture of “the parallel narrative” used in the deeply disturbing Ellen. Die Storie van Ellen Pakkies (2018) The thesis is a celebration of the film-making talent of Daryne Joshua.

In this dissertation, I defend an interpretation of Foucault’s parrhesiast (those who speak truth to power frankly) that blends it with his various methodological turns by casting the relationship as rhetorical. For that proposal, I attempt to introduce five major strategies defending the necessity of adopting a certain rhetorical standpoint, without which we cannot fully justify philosophy’s underpinnings. The opening of that rhetorical standpoint (in a special sense to be elaborated mostly in the first chapter) helps me to interpret some of the major tenets of Foucault’s philosophy, like his peculiar theory of discourse, his panoply in mapping a very specific history of knowledge (savoir), and finally the way Foucault envisages the role of the individuals in their historical predicament.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s bee poem, “The Humble-Bee,” expresses the nineteenth-century transcendentalist philosophy of finding wholeness and oneness in nature while Sylvia Plath’s twentieth-century bee poems function as a response to Plath’s feelings of alienation and repression, indicating that transcendental peace is lost in the postmodern era. Emerson’s poem indicates the spiritual fulfilment found through observing bees and highlights the harmony between humans and nature, but women of the nineteenth century find difficulty achieving this same level of freedom; Emily Dickinson reclaims the language of transcendentalism in her bee poetry to explore a world otherwise denied to her. The effects of the industrial revolution then sparked a mass disconnect between humans and nature, a disconnect reflected in the bee poetry of Sylvia Plath; she rejects the inherited tradition of transcendentalist poetry by using her bee poems to demonstrate discomfort within nature and society.

No description available.

In this dissertation, I disentangle the Cynical figure – one who is capable of confronting structures of power by speaking truth to power – within a Westernized, Euro-centric discourse that authorizes the Cynic as an exceptionally powerful political subjectivity. Heeding the words of Sylvia Wynter, "…the Jester's role in the pursuit of human knowledge alternates with the Priest's role—transforming heresies into new orthodoxies, the contingent into modes of the Absolute." I recover the Cynic, once sutured to a distinctly Foucauldian discursive tradition to argue Black and Brown women function as contemporary Cynics using largely a Black Feminist theoretical framework. Drawing on biomythographies written by Black and Brown women, I future a Cynical discursive tradition in which the cynic is known by a different name. / Doctor of Philosophy / In this dissertation, I explore the practice of telling the truth as a political discourse that is reserved only for a select group of people. I look at the Ancient Greek philosophical school of Cynicism to understand how someone is given permission speak truth to power and its effects. Throughout this work, I argue that the Cynical practice of speaking truth to power is exclusive and that it is not worth making space for others to speak their truth in this same practice. Using a Black feminist theoretical framework, through the works of Sylvia Wynter, Katherine McKittrick, Christina Sharpe and others, I disrupt the status quo of how the truth must be spoken in order to be heard in the political realm. Moreover, I develop a different practice of speaking truth to power by contextualizing this practice from the family kitchen table. I think about how Black and Brown women, those who are violently elided from the political realm altogether, develop their own practice of speaking truth to power from the family kitchen table space. From this context, I think about how a person develops a critical consciousness in which they are given permission to speak their truth to power. I propose that Black and Brown women embody a radical political consciousness that has the ability to disrupt the status quo, that they are not only seen and heard, but their disruption leads to political change.

星座命理節目是近年來在台灣新興崛起的一種綜藝型態，尤其在國人對於未來越來越沒有信心與安全感的現今，命理節目的存在，無疑地為國人提供一個簡便預測未來的方法。命理節目在台灣雖已行之有年，但是針對命理節目收視行為所進行的研究卻相當少，本研究運用人口變項及外控傾向、刺激尋求動機等人格特質，試圖描繪出命理節目收視族群的輪廓，並且進一步探討命理節目的收視經驗與算命態度、算命行為之間的關聯性。 本研究使用網路問卷調查方式，經過歷時三週的調查，共有653名網友參與本研究。根據調查結果顯示，命理節目的收視族群以年輕未婚女性居多，職業多為學生、服務業或待業中人士，收入則在10000元以下，並且具有高刺激尋求動機的人格特質，至於外控傾向高低對於命理節目收視經驗並無顯著影響。此外，本研究發現命理節目接觸經驗對於算命態度與算命行為中實際算命次數、算命結果滿意度、未來從事付費算命可能及自認算命結果影響性均有正向的關係，足見命理節目接觸經驗越多對於算命態度與算命行為越有提升的效果。 / Recently，Fortune telling programs are newly developed in Taiwan. Nowadays，people are losing their confidence and sense of security for future. Therefore，fortune telling programs absolutely offer an easy solution for Taiwanese. Though fortune telling programs have been produced in Taiwan for years，the researches on fortune telling programs are rare. The author intends to address the fact of the audience by utilizing demographics and psychological orientation such as locus of control and sensation seeking. Moreover，the relationships among the experience of exposing to fortune telling programs、fortune telling attitude and fortune telling behavior are discussed. There are 653 internet users recruited and invited to complete the internet questionnaire in the period of three weeks. The results from the analysis indicate that the main audience of fortune telling programs are young single women. Students、people who are engaged in service industry and the unemployed occupy higher proportion of the participants，and their monthly income is under NT10000. To conclude，these people have the character of high sensation seeking. The character of external control has no obvious effect to the experience of exposing to fortune telling programs. In addition，the research points out that the experience of exposing to fortune telling programs has positive relationship with fortune telling attitude and fortune telling behavior. Obviously，when the audience have more the experience of exposing to fortune telling programs，there are more positive effects.

<p>Konkurrensen mellan hotellen har ökat på grund av förändringar i samhället, även kundernas behov och önskemål har förändrats. I dagens samhälle blir det allt vanligare att hotell inte enbart kan konkurrera med bra service och pris. Det krävs något extra, något utöver det vanliga för att locka kunder och öka konkurrensfördelarna. Hotellen måste hitta nya sätt att differentiera sig på och det har blivit allt viktigare med ett starkt varumärke som kan ge ett mervärde till kunderna. Det har blivit vanligt att hotell använder sig av storytelling och tema för att bygga upp sitt koncept och varumärke. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur hotell i Sverige kan använda sig av storytelling och tematisering för att bygga upp varumärket. Syftet är deskriptivt men även till viss del normativt. I studien används en deduktiv metod och ett antal telefonintervjuer har genomförts. Detta för att exemplifiera hur en varumärkesuppbyggande process kan se ut inom storytelling- och temahotell. Studien fokuserar på den interna varumärkesuppbyggande processen. Resultatet i denna studie är inte generaliserbart utan vägledande för hur man kan bygga upp sitt varumärke med hjälp av storytelling och tematisering. Denna studie bidrar med ny fakta inom ett relativt obeforskat område som tema och varumärken. Studien visar att den varumärkesuppbyggande processen skiljer sig mellan varusektorn och tjänstesektorn. Detta eftersom andra delar då blir mer betydelsefulla, detta redovisas i en egen modell i studiens analys. Slutsatserna av studien visar att det är viktigt att vid uppbyggandet av storytelling- och temahotell vara; konsekvent, trovärdig, ha bra och välinformerad personal som kan förmedla storyn och temat samt att det finns en röd tråd genom konceptet. Om hotellen inkluderar dessa delar när de bygger upp sitt varumärke kan detta leda till en minnesvärd upplevelse. Slutsatserna visar även att storytelling och tematisering kan bidra till ett ökat mervärde till gästerna vilket leder till gratis reklam genom word-of-mouth samt skapa ökad uppmärksamhet i media. Det skapar även ökade konkurrensfördelar då det går att differentiera sig från konkurrenterna. Detta bidrar till att ett immateriellt varumärke byggs upp. Avslutningsvis visar studien att storytelling kan vara ett starkare koncept jämfört med tematisering.</p> / <p>Competition in the hotel industry has increased depending on changes of today’s society and of the needs and wants of the hotel guests. Hotels today should compete with something more than just a good service and pricing, since it has become something ordinary. They need to have something special, something extraordinary to attract customers and add to their competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how hotels in Sweden can use themes and stories to build their internal brand. In this study a deductive method has been used and telephone interviews have been made which are declared in the empirics. This has been done to exemplify how the internal brand building process may turn out in story-telling hotels and theme hotels. Our conclusions from this study are that the brand building process may be different depending on how companies build their immaterial brand. The difference is due to other parts of the process may become more important, which we also implicate with our brand building model that you will find in our analysis. The study also shows that it is very important for hotels with a theme and story-telling to be credible, have well informed staffs that are able to mediate the story or theme and to be coherent through the whole concept. If the hotel management has all this in mind while building their brand, it will lead to a memorable experience for the guests. It also helps to build an immaterially strong brand. The conclusion is also that the use of story-telling can be seen stronger than a theme. This study contributes with new information about theme and brands which still is a relatively unresearched area.</p>

Konkurrensen mellan hotellen har ökat på grund av förändringar i samhället, även kundernas behov och önskemål har förändrats. I dagens samhälle blir det allt vanligare att hotell inte enbart kan konkurrera med bra service och pris. Det krävs något extra, något utöver det vanliga för att locka kunder och öka konkurrensfördelarna. Hotellen måste hitta nya sätt att differentiera sig på och det har blivit allt viktigare med ett starkt varumärke som kan ge ett mervärde till kunderna. Det har blivit vanligt att hotell använder sig av storytelling och tema för att bygga upp sitt koncept och varumärke. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur hotell i Sverige kan använda sig av storytelling och tematisering för att bygga upp varumärket. Syftet är deskriptivt men även till viss del normativt. I studien används en deduktiv metod och ett antal telefonintervjuer har genomförts. Detta för att exemplifiera hur en varumärkesuppbyggande process kan se ut inom storytelling- och temahotell. Studien fokuserar på den interna varumärkesuppbyggande processen. Resultatet i denna studie är inte generaliserbart utan vägledande för hur man kan bygga upp sitt varumärke med hjälp av storytelling och tematisering. Denna studie bidrar med ny fakta inom ett relativt obeforskat område som tema och varumärken. Studien visar att den varumärkesuppbyggande processen skiljer sig mellan varusektorn och tjänstesektorn. Detta eftersom andra delar då blir mer betydelsefulla, detta redovisas i en egen modell i studiens analys. Slutsatserna av studien visar att det är viktigt att vid uppbyggandet av storytelling- och temahotell vara; konsekvent, trovärdig, ha bra och välinformerad personal som kan förmedla storyn och temat samt att det finns en röd tråd genom konceptet. Om hotellen inkluderar dessa delar när de bygger upp sitt varumärke kan detta leda till en minnesvärd upplevelse. Slutsatserna visar även att storytelling och tematisering kan bidra till ett ökat mervärde till gästerna vilket leder till gratis reklam genom word-of-mouth samt skapa ökad uppmärksamhet i media. Det skapar även ökade konkurrensfördelar då det går att differentiera sig från konkurrenterna. Detta bidrar till att ett immateriellt varumärke byggs upp. Avslutningsvis visar studien att storytelling kan vara ett starkare koncept jämfört med tematisering. / Competition in the hotel industry has increased depending on changes of today’s society and of the needs and wants of the hotel guests. Hotels today should compete with something more than just a good service and pricing, since it has become something ordinary. They need to have something special, something extraordinary to attract customers and add to their competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how hotels in Sweden can use themes and stories to build their internal brand. In this study a deductive method has been used and telephone interviews have been made which are declared in the empirics. This has been done to exemplify how the internal brand building process may turn out in story-telling hotels and theme hotels. Our conclusions from this study are that the brand building process may be different depending on how companies build their immaterial brand. The difference is due to other parts of the process may become more important, which we also implicate with our brand building model that you will find in our analysis. The study also shows that it is very important for hotels with a theme and story-telling to be credible, have well informed staffs that are able to mediate the story or theme and to be coherent through the whole concept. If the hotel management has all this in mind while building their brand, it will lead to a memorable experience for the guests. It also helps to build an immaterially strong brand. The conclusion is also that the use of story-telling can be seen stronger than a theme. This study contributes with new information about theme and brands which still is a relatively unresearched area.

No description available.

This thesis used fifty hours of naturally occurring video and audio taped data from the ‘weigh-in' section of four commercial weight management groups in the East Midlands of England. This thesis is a discursive psychological and conversation analytic investigation of the turn-taking organization of the talk, examining what the group leaders and members make relevant in their talk about food and dieting. The data was transcribed using the Jeffersonian method. Group members attend the group weekly, and are weighed - their weight gain, loss or maintenance is recorded on a membership card. The analytic chapters follow the format of the ‘weigh-in' section of the meeting exploring firstly how the group leaders and members manage the practices of getting ready to be weighed; then how the ‘news' of weight gain, loss or maintenance is told and receipted; before exploring how ‘advice-giving' is constructed and the final analytic chapter deals with the issues of morality and accountability in the leaders' and members' talk. Analysis shows that the ‘pre-weigh in practices' involved before the group members are weighed consists of two robust patterns, 1) the practice of getting undressed is not oriented to by either the group members or group leaders and the group leaders avoided direct eye contact and concerned themselves with other business or 2) when no undressing practices took place, the group leaders were much more comfortable with direct eye contact. These sequences show how the body and its practices are constructed in particular ways within, and as part of the practices of getting ready to be weighed. Analysis showed the telling and receipting of weight news gets done differently depending on whether the group members have gained, lost or maintained weight. When the news concerned weight gain, the sequence included a ‘pre-announcement' and the news TCU was punctuated with marked trouble. When the news concerned weight loss, only the group members produced a pre-account and the news TCU contained no marked trouble. Finally, when the group members had maintained weight, the news TCU was delivered bluntly, and there was no evidence of trouble. In relation to advice-giving, analysis showed that group members repeatedly worked to assert their epistemic priority to avoid having to acknowledge the advice and the advice was receipted minimally. Finally, analysis showed that group members produced accounts with reference to a moral evaluation, such as blame or culpability. Sometimes an account was produced to circumvent being held publicly accountable for the event or action. It became apparent that both the group leaders and group members could not orient to themselves, their behaviour or food without it being constructed within a moral or accountable framework. Therefore, the thesis is an exploration of how group leaders and members manage the ‘dieting-practices' involved in getting weighed in a commercial weight management group and how using DP and CA can show the intricate turn by turn organization of such practices.