Diplomarbeit--University of Brighton, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Sociology and Industrial Sociology))--Rhodes University, 2003.

This dissertation investigates the social world of contemporary filmmakers in the Middle East and the way they use visual media to re-imagine existent forms of identity, envision new modes of social agency, and transform public culture in the face of dramatic instability. In the wake of the Lebanese civil war and through the tenuous postwar period, video art and experimental documentary have critiqued the politics of representation and negotiated the theoretical and structural difficulties in representing the war. These artists have activated intersections where experimental media has generated a vibrant visual culture by both building on local notions of cosmopolitanism and by participating in transnational sites of postcolonial representation. Methodologically, I employ ethnography to grapple with the public culture of Beirut as a site of avant-garde experimentation, but also to examine the city as a contested site affected by periods of rapid growth, intense violence, and urban reconstruction. To explain this cultural phenomenon, I advance the idea of 'post-orientalist aesthetic' to describe a mode of intellectual critique and artistic style that goes beyond Edward Said's critique to give greater attention to self-representation in the post-911 period. This aesthetic interrogates western representational practices and also develops a localized critical analysis of Middle Eastern visual culture. This aesthetic informs a better understanding of postwar subjectivity, particularly in the way memory and lived experience becomes mediated through the materiality of objects, images, and architecture affectively inscribed with destruction and violence. The notion of the archive or the personal collection becomes of particular interest here; especially in the way these artifacts embody personalized narratives and testimonials that push back from abstracted notions of a monolithic historical narrative. Drawing on visual anthropology, media ethnography, and nonwestern film theory, this text examines the way these artists challenge realist modes of representation by utilizing both ethnographic and artistic approaches to grapple with the experience of everyday violence. In order to explore methodologies for conducting visual research in conflict zones, I conclude with an experimental auto-ethnography that appropriates these aesthetics in an effort to interrogate my positionality as an American researcher in the Middle East. / text

Although the relationship between Canadian and American culture is often discussed in terms of dominance and dependency, there is little cultural scholarship that examines how Canadians interpret American cultural products and how Canadian "replicas" of American products encompass infatuation and imitation of American popular culture while simultaneously offering critique, resistance and parody. By comparing the evolution of MuchMusic and MTV and the "supertext" of the two networks---programming philosophy, musical and non-musical shows, VJ's, and television aesthetics---I address how MuchMusic functions as both an example of uniquely Canadian sensibilities and as an example of Canada's complicated relationship with the United States.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, 2007. / Adviser: Drew McDaniel. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Jaye Atkinson, committee chair; Merrill Morris, Mary Ann Romski, Yuki Fujioka, committee members. Electronic text (127 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Nov. 5, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-123).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Joel Best, Dept. of Sociology & Criminal Justice. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2008. / "Graduate Program in Communication, Information and Library Studies." Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-174).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: Neal Burns. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The independent interpretation of a series of interviews shows provisionally that the proponent of an issue is its scout and interpreter in the agenda-setting process. The proponent thus helps to develop and adapt the scope of an issue so that it will appear as a dyna"1ic subject on the media agenda. The focus of this aSSignment falls on the proponents of the inhabited environment as a career scientific development. The definition of this career scientific development was adapted to suit an investigation in media studies. The interview questions examined three topics: the issue proponent's profile, motivation and discouragement to make contributions, and the technical skills and standards needed 10 place an issue on the media agenda. The profile of a proponent is that of scout and interpreter. The respondents mention the stereoty~es media institutions maintain as the greatest demotivation and their love for the inhabited environment as their greatest motivation. The respondents place a lot of value on high joumalistic standards in the coverage of their issue. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Deur 'n onafhanklike interpretasie van 'n reeks onderhoude het hierdie werkstuk VOOriOPipbewys dat voorstanders van'n bepaalde saak die verkenning en interpretasle bepaal in die agendadaarstellingproses. As sulks help voorstanders om 'n kwessie se omvang te ontwikkel en aan te pas sodat dit as 'n dinamiese onderwerp op die mediaagenda verskyn. Die fokus van hierdie werkstuk val op die voorstanders van die bewoonde omgewing as beroepsretenskaPlike ontwikkeling. Die beroepswetenskaplike ontwikkeling se omskrywing is aangepas om by 'n mediastudiesondersoek in te pas. Die ondfrhoudvrae het drie afdelings ondersoek: die voorstander van 'n kwessie se profiel, motivering en ontmoediging om bydraes te maak en, laastens, die tegniese vaardighede en standaarde nodig om 'n kwessie op die media-agenda te plaas. Die voorstanders se profiel is die van verkenner en interpreteerder. Die respondente noem dir stereotipes wat media-instansies onderhou as die grootste ontmoediging en hul liefde vir die bewoonde omgewing as die grootste motivering. Die respondente hag baie waarde aan hoe joemalistieke standaarde om hul kwessie te dek.