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Jonas-Samuel Schlüters Aufsatz Reconsidering the Politics of the Gaze in The Mayor of Casterbridge: From David Giles’s 1978 TV Series to David Thacker’s 2003 Film Adaptation wendet sich dem Medium Film wie auch dem Roman des 19. Jahrhunderts und auf theoretischer Ebene den Adaptation Studies, den Film Studies und der Psychoanalyse zu. Er führt aus, dass Thomas Hardys Romanen immer schon der Vorwurf patriarchalischer Repräsentationen begegnet und dass sich in dieser Debatte The Mayor of Casterbridge als zwei gegensätzliche Arten von Männlichkeit kontrastierender Schlüsseltext erweist. Mit Blick auf die Film-Adaptionen von Giles (1978) und Thacker (2003) argumentiert der Beitrag, dass visuelle Interpretationen oft das kritische Potenzial des Romans unterschlagen, wobei die Ambivalenz des Romans es den Filmen unmöglich macht, Repräsentationen von Geschlechtlichkeit vollständig auf ein binäres Muster zu reduzieren. Durch eine Rückkehr zum Lacanianischen Konzept des Male Gaze, so argumentiert Jonas-Samuel Schlüter, lassen sich komplexere Männlichkeitskonstrukte differenzieren und als Kompensationsmechanismen eines Seinsmangels verstehen. Demnach ist es vor allem ihre (Un-)Fähigkeit, ihre Begierde in einer von Sprache vermittelten Realität zu verorten, die zu einer Ausdifferenzierung von Hardys männlichen Protagonisten führt und gleichzeitig die symbolische Natur geschlechtlicher Identitäten unterstreicht.

Non-traditional casting has been a controversial practice in film, television and theatre that was implemented to offer people of color and women opportunities which had previously been available to white or male performers. The following is a case study documenting the process by which I have discovered that non-traditional casting as a practice contributes to the oppression of people of color as well as supports the status quo of the white patriarchy. This case study is analyzed from the historical, sociological, psychological and philosophical theories and ideologies relevant to the unsuccessful attempt of a female actor of African-American descent at portraying a white, Evangelical, male minister. It concludes with an invitation and an approach to making better people.

La thèse explore les œuvres de Blaise Cendrars, de Victor Segalen et d’Albert Londres sous l’angle de « l’éclat du voyage » et se propose d’analyser les effets produits par la présence du voyage sur un plan diégétique, métadiégétique et stylistique. Chez ces trois auteurs, la notion de voyage dépasse en effet sa vocation thématique pour se faire véritable matière à travailler le langage, le texte et atteindre la sphère de la littérarité en exerçant sur le texte une menace d’éclatement. Le texte affecté par le voyage, loin d’être mis en péril, s’inscrit ainsi dans une modernité littéraire : en prenant le risque, par le détour du voyage, d’une écriture déformant, re-formant, re-définissant la littérature, les trois œuvres examinées illuminent quelques chemins de traverse dans lesquels s’engagent œuvres et critiques contemporaines. Cette étude interroge les premiers écrits de Cendrars (1912-1938) en explorant par quelles voies la présence conjointe du motif du voyage et de l’éclatement conduit à la création d’une représentation fractale du monde. La mise en évidence de trajectoires chaotiques des personnages cendrarsiens au cœur d’un monde ontologiquement fracturé permet l’édification textuelle d’une « anarchitecture » poétique et moderne. L’examen du cycle polynésien de Segalen met en évidence la présence du voyage comme le résultat d’un écart désirant, véritable menace de déchirure entre l’ici et l’ailleurs, soi et l’autre, soi et soi. Cet écart aboutit, à travers une présence textuelle, à la formation d’une poétique littéraire de la diffraction, poussant ainsi l’œuvre aux limites d’un hors-littérature. Enfin, à travers l’étude des reportages d’Albert Londres, la thèse montre comment l’écriture du voyage trouve un regain de force par le détour du reportage.

This thesis examines how the Spanish film legislation that was passed between 1982 and 2010 has shaped the production, circulation and reception of contemporary Spanish cinema. The study of film legislation is crucial to understanding how the cultural value of contemporary Spanish cinema is created since laws are the main instrument through which the Spanish state has established the funding policies directed towards the production of films. Owing to the weak nature of the Spanish production sector since its inception, and the lack of private investment, the Spanish state, and, since 1999, the public and private television companies, have been the major financial support for the production of films. Furthermore, film legislation itself defines the type of films that are considered to be worthy enough to receive state funding, and, therefore, the type of films promoted by the state to be nationally consumed and internationally exported. Consequently, it is essential to understand why and how the funding policies have been established, by whom, and towards the support of what type of films. My thesis' argues that film legislation should be regarded as the key instrument through which a state tries to regulate the national film industry. It is nonetheless necessary to point out that the Spanish case is more complex, since film legislation has also been mainly enacted to solve the Spanish film industry's endemic problems. More importantly, my thesis' main contention is that film legislation has to be regarded as the site in which the debate about the type of cinema wanted for the nation acquires its main expression. In order to critically address the political, economic and cultural functions of the different funding policies established between 1982 and 2010 my thesis is informed by Pierre Bourdieu's theory of cultural production; in particular, on his notions of field, capital and habitus as specifically stated in Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgements of Taste ([1984] 2010) and The Rules of Art ([1996] 2012). Through this theoretical framework, my thesis argues that film legislation does not emerge in a vacuum because the laws respond to different demands from those involved in creating the cultural value of Spanish cinema: the policymakers in charge of the film policies, the film professionals, and, to a lesser extent, the key film critics. My thesis accounts for the ways in which the cultural value of these films has been created by locating and interrogating the main demands of the type of films regarded to be worthy of the state financial support and by pointing out who have raised them; secondly, it identifies whether those demands have been enshrined in the laws and it demonstrates the ways in which the interests of those involved in the creation of the cultural value of Spanish films have informed the funding policies set by the laws. Thirdly, it provides an understanding of how the key policymakers have acquired their ideas about cinema and how those ideas have been reflected in the laws. Finally, through four case studies, my thesis analyses the modes of cinematic production that those funding policies have led to and the types of films that they have fostered.

This dissertation explores the idea of the 1970s as a critical turning point for the representation of young Jewish women in American popular culture, specifically considering examples from popular literature, popular film, television, and comedy that undermine the validity of midcentury conceptions of the Jewish-American Princess (JAP) or Jewish Ugly Duckling. The introduction and first chapter establish the historical context of how stereotypes of Jewish women—including the JAP—came to be used as a means of mitigating assimilation-related anxieties, especially in light of the post-WWII Jewish ascent into the white suburban middle class. The dissertation then transitions into a deeper investigation of female-driven responses to these archetypes. With the rise of the contemporary Feminism movement, the sexual revolution, the Jewish New Wave of filmmaking, and the shift in emphasis from assimilation to multiculturalism within the American social consciousness, the 1970s provided a platform for Jewish female authors, entertainers, and filmmakers to directly respond to and reconceive the stereotypes of Jewish women honed during the midcentury period. The second, third, and fourth chapters each tackle a different facet of popular culture, looking specifically at how popular literature, film, television, and comedy produced by Jewish women confirmed, complicated, and challenged stereotypes of Jewish women, effectively shifting the cultural paradigm away from the JAP and towards a new understanding of Jewish female identity that undermined existing archetypes. In this way, the dissertation argues that Jewish female-driven popular literature, film, television, and comedy during this time period acted as a bridge between the more one-dimensional, often male-driven midcentury conceptions of the JAP and the more complex, nuanced images of young Jewish women in contemporary popular culture. Simply put, while the novels, films, and series that are explored here all draw from the hegemonic stereotypes of young Jewish women established in the 1950s and 1960s, they also articulate something new about Jewish women in their privileging of the Jewish woman’s voice, their re-conception of Jewish beauty, and their questioning of gender norms, and thus can be seen as the natural predecessors of modern popular cultural depictions of Jewish women.

Frame rate is a fundamental element of creating the illusion of movement in video based media. For almost a century film has been produced in agreement with a standard frame rate of 24 frames per second, originally established due to technical limitations. This number lives on for films today, despite many technological innovations and other video based media formats straying from this standard. With contemporary video technology, content cannot only be recorded in higher frame rate; frames can also be artificially interpolated. So called Frame Interpolation technology now comes as a pre-installed feature on most televisions. As a consequence, this has formed a debate on how video based media should be presented, not least when it is artificially generated outside of the creators’ control. This study therefore aims to explore how manipulation of a video clip’s frame rate influences the viewer experience and thereby if the use of Frame Interpolation technology in televisions is justified. A study was conducted wherein participants were shown video clips in their original frame rate and compared them to artificially manipulated copies. The results showed that there is no definitive frame rate that is preferred by all participants and that some participants did not perceive any difference at all. It is also shown that the artificial manipulation of frame rate is generally not appreciated, and that criticisms against its use are misguided in terms of content shown. It is then discussed how television manufacturers should reconsider the use of Frame Interpolation technology. Lastly, we affirm how the results of this study are limited in accuracy by its scope. Further exploration of the subject is suggested to further consider these results found here and the results of earlier papers. / Bildhastigheten i videobaserad media är en fundamental aspekt i hur vi översätter stillbild till rörlig bild. Sedan ett sekel tillbaka produceras film enligt en standard bildhastighet på 24 bilder per sekund, på grund av tekniska begränsningar. Den siffran lever kvar än idag, trots tekniska innovationer samt andra videobaserade medier som töjt på denna standard. Med modern teknik kan media inte bara spelas in i högre bildhastigheter; bilder kan också artificiellt interpoleras. Frame Interpolation-teknik som den kallas kommer numera förinställd på de flesta tv-apparater. Som konsekvens har det förts debatt för och emot högre bildhastigheter, inte minst när de manipuleras av tv-tillverkare utöver skaparnas kontroll. Den här studien vill ta reda på hur manipulering av ett videoklipps bildhastighet påverkar människors känslomässiga tittarupplevelse och därigenom om bruk av Frame Interpolation-teknik i tv-apparater är motiverad. Undersökningen testade deltagarna genom att visa klipp i sin ursprungliga bildhastighet i jämförelse med artificiellt manipulerade kopior. Studien visade att det inte binärt går att bestämma en bildhastighet som deltagarna fann definitivt bäst och att skillnaden inte är uppenbar för alla. Resultatet visar också att artificiell manipulering av bildhastighet inte uppskattas, och att kritiken riktar sig mot fel innehåll. Det diskuteras därför om tv-tillverkare bör överväga användningen av Frame Interpolation-teknik. Slutligen klargörs det varför man ska ställa sig kritisk inför resultaten utifrån studiens begränsningar. Vidare forskning föreslås som kan stödja studiens och liknande studiers slutsatser.