The purpose of this thesis is to establish whether Swedish fan conventions organised around East-Asian popular culture such as anime and manga can be identified as a form of secular ritual. The methods used to determine this include participant observation, interviews and ethnographic data. Defining secular ritual as a performance event that establishes an alternative context that transforms the everyday without being connected to a religious or supernatural worldview or origin, we find that Swedish conventions of this kind may be called a form of ritual that engages people united by a common, broad field of interests and a notion of being outside of society’s norms in different ways, most notably in regards to sexuality and gender. This opens a discussion about Swedish fan conventions and how they may inform us about the use and function of rituals in a secularised society.

This diploma thesis examines a phenomenon of the contemporary Finnish fantastic literature that seems to conquer the Finnish book market, also crossing the boarders and coming to the Czechia as well - Finnish Weird, or suomikumma. The aim of this work is to determine the reception of the Finnish Weird within the audience of the Czech readers. The theoretical part focuses on the fantastic literature and the position of Finnish Weird in it. The reader-response theory and the term horizon of expectations coined by Hans Robert Jauss provide the interpretation of how readers perceive the fantastic literature and what they expect from it. Works of the Finnish Weird fiction translated in Czech and responses of Czech readers are presented in the main part of the thesis. The research material is based on comments and reviews of the Czech readers published predominantly on the internet and on the internet book databases. Key words: contemporary Finnish literature, reader-response theory, horizon of expectation, genre, science fiction, fantasy, horor, speculative fiction, Weird, New Weird, Finnish Weird

The thesis "Audience reception to the paradoxical narrative in the series Game of Thrones" focuses on the research of the audience and its reactions to the unusual plot twists in the series Game of Thrones producted by HBO. The Audience and its reactions to specifically selected twists were researched through qualitative methods of deep semi-structured interview which was carried out with ten respondents. "Primary" audience, i.e. the viewers who had not read any books from the Ice and Fire saga before watching the show, was choosen as a research sample for this study. Reactions of this audience are more spontaneous and unpredictable. The primary aim of the research is to find out how viewers react to the newly defined paradoxical narrative in the Game of Thrones series and why they keep watching this series despite its unusual plot twists.

Submitted by Clebson Anjos (clebson.leandro54@gmail.com) on 2016-02-17T18:27:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3132190 bytes, checksum: 7e00b90467562b4503c163aaa492c1e3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-17T18:27:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3132190 bytes, checksum: 7e00b90467562b4503c163aaa492c1e3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / From orality to mediation, narratives are surrounded by reconfiguration. The popularization of the use of computers and their post-mass functions has enhanced the ways of telling stories, bringing a communication system apparently horizontal when stories are told in environments that elevate the status of spectator to interactor. In a convergence era, these stories leave behind the narrative in a single media and become counted in a transmedia system, creating a fictional and immersive universe for viewers to interact. On one side you can see behind the scenes, the other side is the public. In the middle, a mirror that blurs fact from fiction. This text intends to resume atheoretical discussionof empirical situations on the concept of transmedia instituted by Henry Jenkins between 2000 and 2011. This discussion appears relevant from the time that new aspects of the concept become popular, and especially while new objects bring strange situations to the phenomenon, such as the national series Alice, produced and aired by HBO Latin America. Alice brings the discussion to production transmedia in Brazil, but highlights a peculiarity: the characters do not only exist on television and in social networks (Orkut, Twitter, Facebook), but also began to inhabit the everyday, the urban space, going to events and creating situations that functioned as unfolding of the events of the episodes, bringing new aspects to the concept of transmedia that Max Giovagnolli (2011) shall call "urban actions”. We question the television as this “mirror”, within this new narrative system and communication functions, and try to understand what new in bringing viewers to the center of this media. / Da oralidade à mediação, as narrativas passaram por momentos de reconfiguração constante. A popularização do uso dos computadores e de suas funções pós-massivas tem possibilitado novas instâncias às formas de se contar histórias, colocando em prática um sistema de comunicação aparentemente horizontal quando histórias são contadas em ambientes que elevam o status de espectador a interator. Em uma situação de convergência, estas histórias deixam para trás a narrativa em uma única mídia e passam a ser contadas de forma transmidiática, criando um universo fictício e imersivo para os espectadores interagirem. De um lado, os bastidores, do outro lado, o público. No meio, um espelho que não permite distinguir realidade de ficção. Este texto pretende retomar uma reflexão teórica através de situações empíricas sobre o conceito que promove estes embaralhamentos, o de narrativa transmidiática, instituído por Henry Jenkins entre 2000 e 2011. Esta discussão se mostra pertinente a partir do momento que novas vertentes do conceito se popularizam e, principalmente, novo objetos trazem situações ainda estranhas ao fenômeno, como a série nacional Alice, produzida e exibida pelo canal HBO Latin America. Alice traz a discussão para a produção nacional transmidiática e destaca uma particularidade: os personagens não só existiam na televisão e nas redes sociais (Orkut, Twitter, Facebook), como também “atravessaram o espelho” e passaram a habitar o cotidiano, indo a eventos e criando situações que funcionavam como desdobramentos dos acontecimentos dos episódios, trazendo novas situações para o conceito de transmídia, que Max Giovagnolli (2011) passa a chamar de “ações urbanas”. Questionamos então a televisão no lugar deste “espelho”, dentro deste novo sistema narrativo e comunicacional e tentamos entender quais funções o novo local de espectadores dentro desta mídia traz para a comunicação.

[pt] O presente trabalho tem como objetivo estudar a cultura de fãs no Rio de Janeiro, suas formas de comunicação e de interação com a cidade. Este estudo também se concentra em entender de que maneira os fãs percebem seus ídolos, uma vez que estes se apresentam perante a sociedade e a mídia, muitas vezes, como seres superiores e/ou indefectíveis. O ato de ser fã é um fenômeno já bastante investigado por alguns teóricos e, por outro lado, carrega significados, por vezes, pejorativos, quando tratado pelo senso comum e por alguns contextos midiáticos. Utilizando a abordagem dos estudos subculturais em uma etnografia foi possível constatar que o impacto das divas do pop estudadas, Lady Gaga e Beyoncé, em suas respectivas fandoms, Little Monsters e Beyhive, dá-se em âmbitos não só de entretenimento, mas, acima de tudo, subjetivos. A cultura de fãs atua como criadora de grupos sociais altamente organizados no mundo digital e no mundo real, capazes de promoverem bem-estar e debates políticos e ideológicos de forma a estimular a reflexão sobre as minorias às quais pertencem e a luta contra os mais diversos tipos de discriminação sofridos pelos participantes das fandoms. / [en] This work aims to study the culture of fans in Rio de Janeiro, its forms of communication and interaction with the city. This study also focuses on understanding how fans perceive their idols, once they present themselves to society and the media, often as superior or indefectible beings. The act of being a fan is already investigated by researchers and on the other hand carries some meanings that sometimes are pejoratives while handled by the common sense and also by some mediatic contexts. By using the subculture studies approach in an etnography it was possible to verify that the impact of the studied pop divas, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, on their respective fandoms, Little Monsters and Beyhive, takes place not only in the entertainment area, but also in a very subjective way. The fan cultures acts as the creator of highly organized social groups both in the digital and in the real world, promoting not only their well-being, but also political and ideological debates, in order to stimulate reflection on the minorities to which they belong to, and the fight against the most diverse types of discrimination suffered by participants of the fandoms.

<p>Denna uppsats studerar fotbollssupportrarna i deras roll som konsumenter men framförallt som producenter – som värdeskapare. Syftet är att kartlägga och ana­ly­sera deras kommunikativa praktiker för att på så sätt ta reda på i vilken omfattning de producerar värde för sina fotbollsklubbar. Utgångspunkten är att supportrarnas identitetssökande supporterskap i kombination med projicering har stor betydelse för hur starka de band blir som knyts med fotbolls­klubben. Projiceringen syftar till att få bilden av klubben att passa in i den egna livsstilen. Emellanåt uppstår situationer då det är svårt att upprätt­hålla denna bild, exempel­vis då supportrarna för­väntas arbeta ideellt i elitfotbollsklubbar som allt­mer framstår som det de egent­ligen är; vinstdrivande företag.</p><p> </p><p>Forskningen har hittills bara ställvis beaktat supportrarna som värdeskapare för klubbarna och fotbollen. En central del i uppsatsen är därför att undersöka hur supportrarna skapar dessa värden och om klubbarnas strävan efter en mer köpstark publik leder till motsättningar mellan dessa och den traditionella publiken. Motsättning aktualiseras av att elitklubbarna anser att nya och ända­måls­enliga arenor har en avgörande betydelse för den ekonomiska utveck­lingen.</p><p> </p><p>Fallstudien Kalmar FF visar att klubben, med hjälp av en ny arena, strävar efter att attrahera nya publiker med större köpkraft och betalningsvilja än tidigare. Detta bekräftas tydligt, inte minst genom närvaro av sponsorloger, men en förmodad frånvaro av ståplatser. Om dessa har det uppstått en såväl konkret som symbolisk kamp mellan klubben å ena sidan och supportrarna å den andra. För supportrarna är ståplatserna en viktig del av identiteten och traditionen, för klubben förknippas ståplatser med det gamla och mindre lönsamma.</p><p> </p><p>Ur ett perspektiv är klubbens ståndpunkt ekonomiskt rationell, med fler sittplatser kan man sannolikt locka ny publik som kan betala mer. Ur ett annat perspektiv är den mindre rationell; man riskerar nämligen att förlora supportrar och deras många värdeskapande praktiker, bl.a. den karnevaliska närvaro som tycks utgöra en förutsättning för människor att vilja se fotboll på plats och via medierna.</p><p> </p><p>Analysen visar på en delvis ny dimension av supporterskapet, den värde­ska­pande, och visar därigenom hur vardagens konkreta handlingar är för­bundna med fotbollens ekonomi och det sportindustriella komplexet i stort.</p> / <p>This thesis is studying football supporters in their role as consumers but foremost as producers - as creators of value. The aim is to identify and analyse their communicative practices in order to see in what extent they produce value for football clubs. The point of departure is that the fandom based search for identity combined with projection has a great importance for how strong their ties to the football club will be. The purpose of projection is to make the club fit into the supporters lifestyle. Occasionally situations arise when it is difficult to maintain this image, such as when supporters is expected to work unpaid in the elite soccer clubs that more and more appears as what they really are, profit-driven companies.</p><p>Research has so far just occasionally considered supporters as value creators for the football clubs. A key part of this thesis is therefore to examine how fans create these values, and whether the football clubs desire for an audience with great purchasing power, leads to tensions between them and the traditional audience. The contradiction is on the agenda because the elite clubs believe that new and comfor­table arenas are crucial for their economic development.</p><p>The case study shows that the football club Kalmar FF, with the help of a new arena, is striving to attract new audiences with greater purchasing power than the traditional audience. This is clearly confirmed, especially by the presence of sponsor facilities, but with an assumed lack of terraces. This has generated a both practical and symbolic struggle between the club on the one hand and supporters on the other. For the supporters the terraces are an important part of identity and tradition because they are associated with the old and less profitable. From one perspective, the clubs position is economically rational; with more seating football clubs are probably able to attract new audiences who can pay more. From another perspective, the less rational, it runs the risk of losing fans and their many value-adding practices, including the carnival presence that seems to be a prerequisite for the audiences desire to watch football, both on the ground and through the media.</p><p>The analysis reveals a partly new dimension of fandom, the value-adding, and thereby shows how substantial everyday acting is bound to football economy and the sport industrial complex in general.</p> / En folkrörelse i medieekonomin: svensk elitfotboll och tv-pengarna.

The aim of this thesis is to introduce, justify, and apply a better framework for analysing Sherlock Holmes, one of the most adapted characters of all time. The project works to resituate the focus of those involved in studying adaptations of Sherlock Holmes from an examination of the discrete transition of a text from page to screen, to the evolution of the character as it changes across various intertexts and through time. The purpose is to show that it is the character specifically, and not the literary text with its narrative, genric, and aesthetic qualifications, that is being adapted, and that with this in mind, studying adaptations of Sherlock Holmes should involve a study of the various processes, pressures, and mechanisms that shape, change, and define the character throughout its hundreds of screen afterlives. This thesis then analyses many of these processes with the aim of contributing to our understanding of how a character like Holmes is moulded through remediation. It takes into account how the character’s indices shift and accumulate as they are variously performed. It also considers how the mechanisms of selection function to privilege certain incarnations of the character, and how that privileging becomes a part of future readings. Finally, it addresses how reception and perception by audiences influence how the character is read, and thus how it is understood. By considering all of these aspects of the evolutionary process, and by avoiding a chronological or even a linear organization of the texts under scrutiny, this work seeks to offer a more complete answer to the question of how a single source can support a multitude of varied, even contradictory adaptations and remain relevant and interesting through the years.

This thesis aims to introduce the history and transformation of the Czech magazines oriented on the genre Fantastika (also known as SF magazines), using the example of the magazine Pevnost, which is considered to be the flagship of the contemporary Czech fantastic arts journalism. The thesis focuses on a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of the magazine Pevnost between 2011-2015, based on which it's possible to uncover more general characteristics and tendencies of contemporary Czech market of SF magazines. Theoretical basis of the thesis defines popular fantastic arts (also known as Fantastika), introduces major theoretical concepts of this term and defines its various genres. It also provides a basic definition and history of the fandom in Czechoslovak, as well as in Czech environment. Fandom is considered to be the basis for the emergence of so called fanzines - amateur or semi-professional SF magazines. On the basis of this, the thesis introduces the evolution of the Czechoslovak and Czech fanzines, as well as professional SF magazines. Practical part of the thesis analyzes the changes of the content and graphic layout of the magazine, as well as the changes of the layout of the magazine's cover during the mentioned era. The practical part of the thesis is ended with the analysis of the...

This dissertation aims to find further understanding of how people with special interest in a certain artist utilise music and the fact that they are fans in their everyday lives. I have opted to study two fans included in each group selected for this study: Kiss, Status Quo and Lasse Stefanz, one male and one female fan belonging to each respective group. I have worked according to grounded theory as a method, and through an analysis of their musical life stories, I have attempted to identify why they became fans and how them being fans has affected them in their lives. Four categories, fandom as: a marker of identity, socialisation, a form of self therapy and a pseudo religion and the core category authenticity usage show the results of the study. The categories show that to a large extent it all comes down to the musical identity of these people, i.e. the identity of being a fan, and their experiences of being fans. They have been socialised into a specific genre, which has meant increased interest in a specific artist. Family, media and friends have all played a part in this socialisation. The informants have developed cultural competence as concerns their idols, although they have also gained the subcultural capital resources required in order to come across as credible fans. Various kinds of experiences offer meaning and nourish the fans. Security and stability in everyday lives are also contributing factors to them being fans and the music offers them something that they are unable to acquire from elsewhere. They have established different strategies in order to be able to be fans, one of these being legitimacy. A vital part of this legitimacy consists in them viewing the bands as authentic, i.e. important.

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