Health is an organising principle of contemporary neoliberal citizenship, particularly evident in the political rhetoric of individual responsibility articulated around the privatisation of public health and welfare systems. The popular culture of these political technologies is expressed via the discourses of self-help and self-care, exemplified by the commercial success of consumer health magazines, and the responsibilising strategies of public health interventions. This thesis investigates the contemporary function of health magazines by examining both the content and the context of reader letters published between 1997 and 2000 in six Sydney-based 'commercial' and 'community' publications, and incorporating interviews with magazine editors. The three commercial magazines address the health media 'publics' of women (Good Medicine), men (Men's Health) and alternative health consumers (Nature & Health), whereas the three community publications address the 'counterpublics' of people living with HIV/AIDS (Talkabout), sex workers (The Professional) and illicit drug users (User's News). Despite their different social contexts, these six magazines are all exemplary of the advanced liberal health imperatives of Australian popular culture, although the community magazines also empower audiences to facilitate social change. Reader letters are approached via the interpretive lens of cultural studies, in which the specific local characteristics of each text is seen to have wider global implications. Each magazine's letters are positioned within a complex cultural, political and economic context that includes the rise of consumer culture, the social function of narrative disclosures, the increased validation of exhibitionism and the gendered politics of health and medicine. This research advocates for interdisciplinary dialogue between media/cultural studies, health/medical sociology and political theory, suggesting that health magazine reader letters can help to identify the role of popular and alternative media in constructing ideals of 'citizenships' within advanced liberalism.

This thesis is a history of the Sydney and Melbourne International Film Festivals, and covers the years from 1945 to 1972. Based primarily on archival material, it is an organisational history dealing with the attempts by the two Film Festivals to negotiate between the demands of �culture� and �industry� throughout this period. The thesis begins with a consideration of the origins of the Festivals in the post-war period �with the attempts by non-Hollywood producers to break into the cinema market, the collapse of the �mass audience�, and the growth of the film society movement in Australia. The thesis then examines the establishment in the early 1950s of the Sydney and Melbourne Festivals as small, amateur events, run by and for film enthusiasts. It then traces the Festivals� historical development until 1972, by which time both Festivals had achieved an important status as social and cultural organisations within Australia. The main themes dealt with throughout this period of development include the Festivals� difficult negotiations with both the international and domestic film trade, their ongoing internal debates over their role and purpose as cultural organisations, their responses to the appearance of other international film festivals in Australia, their relation to the Australian film industry, and their fight to liberalise Australia�s film censorship regulations.

Although the opera paraphrase was once a cornerstone of the virtuoso pianist's repertoire, as a genre it has traditionally been neglected by a scholarship which prioritizes authenticity and original compositional thought. By approaching this repertoire from a critical standpoint concerned with the production of narrative, this thesis demonstrates the true value of the paraphrase. A review of the current literature on narrative, gesture, and the paraphrase reveals major gaps in the state of research, and this thesis addresses these issues by presenting analyses of several works, in both printed and performed forms. The chapter “Settling the Score” interrogates the score, and argues that through their choice, ordering, and setting of operatic themes in a paraphrase, composers can alter or recreate the narrative of the source opera. By analyzing and comparing by reading the narrative schemes of seven different paraphrases based on Mozart's Don Giovanni, the chapter highlights the agency of the arranger in the production of narrative. The next chapter, entitled “Playing the Part,” suggests that the creation of narrative also extends beyond the work of the composer to encompass the role of the performer. By comparing the use of physical gestures in two video-recorded performances of Liszt's paraphrase Réminiscences de Don Juan, the thesis postulates that a pianist's gestures can influence the audience's perception of narrative. In an attempt to centralize the voice of the performer, the chapter also includes reflective analysis of the author's own performances of Liszt's paraphrase. By employing analytical methods which focus on the production of musical narrative, this thesis demonstrates that the paraphrase is worthy of greater attention, both in scholarship and performance.

Although the opera paraphrase was once a cornerstone of the virtuoso pianist's repertoire, as a genre it has traditionally been neglected by a scholarship which prioritizes authenticity and original compositional thought. By approaching this repertoire from a critical standpoint concerned with the production of narrative, this thesis demonstrates the true value of the paraphrase. A review of the current literature on narrative, gesture, and the paraphrase reveals major gaps in the state of research, and this thesis addresses these issues by presenting analyses of several works, in both printed and performed forms. The chapter “Settling the Score” interrogates the score, and argues that through their choice, ordering, and setting of operatic themes in a paraphrase, composers can alter or recreate the narrative of the source opera. By analyzing and comparing by reading the narrative schemes of seven different paraphrases based on Mozart's Don Giovanni, the chapter highlights the agency of the arranger in the production of narrative. The next chapter, entitled “Playing the Part,” suggests that the creation of narrative also extends beyond the work of the composer to encompass the role of the performer. By comparing the use of physical gestures in two video-recorded performances of Liszt's paraphrase Réminiscences de Don Juan, the thesis postulates that a pianist's gestures can influence the audience's perception of narrative. In an attempt to centralize the voice of the performer, the chapter also includes reflective analysis of the author's own performances of Liszt's paraphrase. By employing analytical methods which focus on the production of musical narrative, this thesis demonstrates that the paraphrase is worthy of greater attention, both in scholarship and performance.

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Although the opera paraphrase was once a cornerstone of the virtuoso pianist's repertoire, as a genre it has traditionally been neglected by a scholarship which prioritizes authenticity and original compositional thought. By approaching this repertoire from a critical standpoint concerned with the production of narrative, this thesis demonstrates the true value of the paraphrase. A review of the current literature on narrative, gesture, and the paraphrase reveals major gaps in the state of research, and this thesis addresses these issues by presenting analyses of several works, in both printed and performed forms. The chapter “Settling the Score” interrogates the score, and argues that through their choice, ordering, and setting of operatic themes in a paraphrase, composers can alter or recreate the narrative of the source opera. By analyzing and comparing by reading the narrative schemes of seven different paraphrases based on Mozart's Don Giovanni, the chapter highlights the agency of the arranger in the production of narrative. The next chapter, entitled “Playing the Part,” suggests that the creation of narrative also extends beyond the work of the composer to encompass the role of the performer. By comparing the use of physical gestures in two video-recorded performances of Liszt's paraphrase Réminiscences de Don Juan, the thesis postulates that a pianist's gestures can influence the audience's perception of narrative. In an attempt to centralize the voice of the performer, the chapter also includes reflective analysis of the author's own performances of Liszt's paraphrase. By employing analytical methods which focus on the production of musical narrative, this thesis demonstrates that the paraphrase is worthy of greater attention, both in scholarship and performance.

Thesis (M.Sc.) (Hons.) -- University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, 2000. / "A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Honours)". Bibliography : leaves 123-130.

Thesis (PhD) -- University of Western Sydney, 2001. / "June 2001" Bibliography: leaves 255 - 265.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2001. / A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts (Honours), School of Humanities, University of Western Sydney, 2001. Bibliography : leaves 69-72.