Digital Commons Network^™

The Networked Fictional Narrative: Seriality And Adaptations In Popular Television And New Media., Nandita Dutta

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

From creating elaborate fan-worlds to driving large amounts of revenue into the economy, popular culture has proved to be the motivation behind, as well a reflection of, large scale acquisitions of conglomerates that have governed popular interests since the mid-20th Century. If its movements across geographic space, time, and media can be traced, popular culture production is an apt subject of research into how a cultural entity is conceptualised, transported and appropriated within another. In this study, adaptations of fictional products in the 20th and 21st Centuries are considered as manifestations of neobaroque forms of culture production and consumption. Some …

The Myths That Make Us: An Examination Of Canadian National Identity, Shannon Lodoen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis uses Barthes’ Mythologies as a framework to examine the ways in which the Canadian nation has been mythologized, exploring how this mythologization affects our sense of national identity. Because, as Barthes says, the ultimate goal of myth is to transform history into nature, it is necessary to delve into Canada’s past in order to understand when, why, and how it has become the nation it is today. This will involve tracing some key aspects of Canadian history, society, and pop culture from Canada’s earliest days to current times to uncover the “true origins” of the naturalized, taken-for-granted elements …

Multimodal Dissertations: Opportunities For Multimodality In Higher Education, Annie Tran

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

multiliteracies, multimodality, higher education, technology, communication, dissertations, graduate education

In an era when communication and higher education are rapidly changing, there is much to learn about multimodality and the dissertation. For example, how can multimodality be used to forward an argument or inform research in a dissertation? How is technology changing the format of the dissertation? And how might multimodality and technology change the experience of composing a dissertation? This study addresses dissertations and the problem of understanding how research can be argued, represented, and presented in multimodal ways, and considers the lived curriculum of Ph.D. graduate students. My work …

Resistant Vulnerability In The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America, Kristen Allison

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Established in 2008 with the release of Iron Man, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become a ubiquitous transmedia sensation. Its uniquely interwoven narrative provides auspicious grounds for scholarly consideration. The franchise conscientiously presents larger-than-life superheroes as complex and incredibly emotional individuals who form profound interpersonal relationships with one another. This thesis explores Sarah Hagelin’s concept of resistant vulnerability, which she defines as a “shared human experience,” as it manifests in the substantial relationships that Steve Rogers (Captain America) cultivates throughout the Captain America narrative (11). This project focuses on Steve’s relationships with the following characters: Agent Peggy Carter, Natasha …

“Walking Around With Broken Hearts On Their Hands:” Intimate Writings In Contemporary Comics, Gabriella Colombo Machado

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis aims at analyzing diary fiction in contemporary comic books. I have selected three primary sources, Wet Moon by Sophie Campbell (2004), Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (2008), and Bleu Est une Couleur Chaude by Julie Maroh (2010). These works are close in time of publication, all written and illustrated by women. Moreover, they share other similarities: the protagonists are young female adults, and there is a queer motif underlying the stories. All three protagonists use diaries in order to express their thoughts, and feelings. Diary fiction focuses on character’s development, more than on action. Especially, the …

A Case Study Of New Media Literacies In An English Language Learning Program, Yifei Hu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This case study was conducted in a four-week winter program of an English language center affiliated to a university that is situated in a city in Ontario. Underpinned by theories on new media literacies, actor-network theory, and curriculum, the thesis examines human and nonhuman actors that enabled and constrained students’ new media literacies practices in the English language learning program. Despite the fact that there are emergent studies on new media literacies, there is scarce literature on human and nonhuman actors that influence students’ new media literacies practices. In this study, sources of data included curricular documents, students’ artifacts, classroom …

Building An Ecology Of Routines: The Central Role Of The Broker, Jeannette A. Eberhard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Making progress on stubborn social problems, such as street level prostitution, requires local actors to work together in new ways across organizational boundaries. Organizational routines – defined as repetitive, recognizable patterns of interdependent actions carried out by multiple actors – are considered one of the primary means through which organizations accomplish the work they do. In my thesis, I argue that an important way to tackle stubborn social problems is through brokering, across organizational boundaries, to build and coordinate an ecology of routines. To better understand this process, I explore the following questions: How is the role of broker established? …

Math Stories In Elementary Mathematics Education In China And North America, Bingqing Xu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In our information- and technology-based society, mathematics education plays an increasingly important role in current world economic development. As the world biggest economies,ChinaandNorth Americahave accelerated the reform of mathematics education in recent years. One of the phenomena is that children’s literature has attracted great attention in the improvement of mathematics instruction and students’ learning for early childhood education. However, research conducted on math literature and the comparison of math literature inChinaand North America is limited, which points the necessity to consider the similarities and differences of math literature inChinaandNorth America. By comparing and contrasting the math stories in China and …

Beyond The Look Of Representation: Defamiliarization, Décor, And The Latin Feel, Juanita Lee Garcia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This intergraded article thesis has three distinct chapters. Chapter one is an extended artist’s statement that begins with a brief overview of my artistic interests. I present the theories and frameworks that have informed my thinking in the development of my MFA project. I explain how I have undertaken a material exploration of a vinyl product, and a conceptual exploration of its use as décor to emphasize what I refer to as the ‘Latin Feel.’ The following questions are extrapolated: What is the Latin American relationship with this material? And further, what meaning does this object generate in …

A Pedagogy Of Multiliteracies Into Practice: A Case Study In One Grade One Literacy Classroom, Xing Meng Ms.

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

With the rise of technology, literacy concepts in the 21^st century have challenged traditional literacy practices that have relied primarily on print media. Recent research has alerted early-years educators to the new understandings and significance of multiliteracies. These new understandings will better prepare classroom practices that purposefully design learning opportunities to accommodate diverse young learners in an era of evolving education.

This qualitative case study responds to these imperatives by showcasing a lived story of a grade one teacher who has implemented multiliteracies pedagogy in her classroom. Multiliteracies pedagogy has facilitated her effort in creating meaningful learning opportunities for …

The Effects Of Warming Temperatures, Fire, And Landscape Change On Lake Production In Mountain Lakes, Alberta, Canada, Amber Elizabeth Gall

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Many factors could be causing the widespread eutrophication being observed globally, including natural and human factors. In the mountainous regions of Alberta, Canada, warming temperatures, increased fire occurrence, and greater landscape disturbance could increase lake production. To determine the effects of these factors, proxies of lake production preserved in lake sediment records that span the last 1000 years were measured. These records are from two lakes that have not been affected by direct nutrient inputs from human activities; one in Jasper National Park and one from the Hinton area (Alberta). The results highlight that there is little effect of fire …

"What About The Boys" In Tights: Beyond The "Boy Crisis" And Into The Literacy Potential Of Superhero Fiction, Jacob Cassidy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Comics and, to a lesser extent, superhero fiction have been gaining popularity in schools over the past decade. However, the potential for these texts to improve literacy curriculum across education has been limited by lingering traditional notions of literacy and the implementation of these texts as resources for helping struggling and disinterested readers, namely boys. Based on the thoughts and experiences of six, high school English students in Ontario, Canada, this qualitative case study investigates how a broader, more inclusive focus on literacy pedagogy, which includes the use of comics and superhero fiction, can foster greater interest in literacy learning …

Watching Storytelling: Visual Information In Oral Narratives, James Ripley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Oral narratives, though prolific, are increasingly being shared via some form of electronic mediation, and yet they are often glossed over in regard to the study of narrative. This study was designed to address the unique nature of oral narratives focusing on the information channels utilized by participants in their co-creation of stories.

A comparative case study was undertaken of three groups who employed a variety of synchronous and asynchronous electronic mediation in their storytelling. Viewed through the lenses of Narratology and Social Presence Theory a combination of participant observation and qualitative semi-structured exploratory narrative interviews were undertaken with participants …

The Rise Of Marvel And Dc's Transmedia Superheroes: Comic Book Adaptations, Fanboy Auteurs, And Guiding Fan Reception, Alex Brundige

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis highlights the industrial strategy of Marvel Studios and DC Entertainment in adapting their comic book properties to the screen, engaging in an analysis of how these studios appeal to a mainstream audience by harnessing the enthusiasm of comic book fans. It proposes that the studios’ branding strategies were based in establishing their products as authentic representations of the source texts, strategically employing what Suzanne Scott calls “fanboy auteurs” – filmmakers with strong connections to the comic material – in order to lend credibility to their franchises. Situating the comic book films of Joss Whedon and Christopher Nolan as …

Narrative Epic And New Media: The Totalizing Spaces Of Postmodernity In The Wire, Batman, And The Legend Of Zelda, Luke Arnott

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Narrative Epic and New Media investigates why epic narratives have a renewed significance in contemporary culture, showing that new media epics model the postmodern world in the same way that ancient epics once modelled theirs. It demonstrates how the epic genre recurs across different cultures and subcultures, even as each instantiation of the epic remains unique to its particular society.

The dissertation draws upon genre theory from critical discourse analysis and from observations made by various critics about the epic’s status as a literary “super-genre,” which encompasses as many other kinds of narrative as it can. It extends genre theory …

Rob Zombie, The Brand: Crafting The Convergence-Era Horror Auteur, Ryan Stam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis adopts an industrial approach to auteur study, engaging in a detailed analysis of the extratextual crafting of metal-musician-turned-horror-filmmaker Rob Zombie’s auteur image from the year 2000 to the present day. It proposes the existence of a new authorial archetype in the twenty-first century American horror market, the convergence-era horror auteur, whose manufacturing and mobilization is tied explicitly to the niche-oriented marketing efforts of media industries. Positioning Zombie’s career as an instructive case study, this thesis ultimately demonstrates how critical discourses of horror auteurism have been co-opted by studios, filmmakers, and other industry parties as (self-)branding strategies designed to …

The “Other” Athletes: Representations Of Disability In Canadian Print Media During The London 2012 Paralympic Games, Melinda A. Maika

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In our highly mediated society, media culture plays a critical role in socialization and offers a conduit for the naturalization of ideas. By this reasoning, stories told by the media about Paralympic athletes have the potential to influence our understanding of disability. This study reveals the representation of Paralympic athletes in Canada’s two national newspapers The National Post and The Globe & Mail surrounding the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Eighty-eight articles were collected over a 40-day period from August 15, 2012 – September 23, 2012. A critical disability studies lens guided methods of media frames analysis. Results demonstrated that coverage …

Young Adults Reflect On The Experience Of Reading Comics In Contemporary Society: Overcoming The Commonplace And Recognizing Complexity, Lucia Cederia Serantes

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the role of comics as reading material for young people, emphasizing the experience of the readers themselves. The central research problem is concerned with how comics readers construct and understand their reading experience of comics as a reading material and what this says about reader identities and social contexts of reading comics. The focus on readers shifts the perspective from previous research that looked mainly at comics fans and comics as cultural products. Working in the tradition of qualitative inquiry, I adopted an approach informed by hermeneutical phenomenology because it …

Graphic Drama: Reading Shakespeare In The Comics Medium, Russell H. Mcconnell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This project adopts a formalist method of literary analysis to approach the modern genre of Shakespearean comic book adaptations. These texts have as yet received little attention from the academy, despite their sophisticated engagement with problems of visualizing the transition from stage to comics page, as well as their capacity for making original contributions to the interpretation of Shakespearean drama. The formalist method that this thesis employs is derived from the foundational work of comics theorists Will Eisner and Scott McCloud, combined with an understanding of Shakespearean language and stage conventions. Once this method is developed and explained, the dissertation …

Clash Of The Industry Titans: Marvel, Dc And The Battle For Market Dominance, Caitlin Foster

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines the corporate structures, marketing strategies and economic shifts that have influenced the recent resurgence of the comic book superhero in popular Hollywood cinema. Using their original texts and adaptation films, this study will chronologically examine how each company’s brand identities and corporate structures have reacted to and been shaped by the major cultural and industrial shifts of the past century in its attempt to account for the varying success of these companies throughout their histories. Beginning with the superhero’s first appearance on screen in the 1940s, this study traces the development of Marvel and DC’s distinct brand …

Listening To Voices Of Exceptional Students To Inform Art Pedagogy, Christina Yarmol

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored the pedagogical practices that fostered engagement for seven participants with physical disabilities and in some cases multiple exceptionalities who successfully earned a credit in a high school Visual Arts course. It answered the key question: What can art educators learn from students' stories of art education that would better enable art educators to enact a pedagogy that engages students with disabilities in the Visual Arts classroom? A narrative inquiry methodology was employed to gather stories and art work from these key informants acting as active agents in their own storied responses that were triangulated with field notes …

Narrative Tactics: Windigo Stories And Indigenous Youth Suicide, Gerald P. Mckinley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines cross-genre and cross-cultural discourse between contemporary Indigenous windigo narratives and medical narratives involving the topic of Indigenous youth suicide. The Indigenous narratives include forms that are Western in their origin, the novel, comic book and film, but contain traditional Indigenous narrative patterns, actors and themes. I draw these narratives from fictions produced by Indigenous public intellectuals. The medical narratives represent a cross-section of fields but focus mainly on Coroners’ reports, social determinants of health research and suicide research based in psychology. The goal of my research is to examine how and where these forms of discourse come …

New York Beat: Collaborative Video And Filmmaking In The Lower East Side And The South Bronx From 1977-1984, Andrew G. Hicks

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines the media, artists and creative practices that emerged in the New York City downtown art scene in the Lower East Side and the uptown hip-hop scene in the South Bronx during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. I focus on independent public access television, video and under-researched ‘No Wave’ filmmakers Charlie Ahearn, Glenn O’Brien, Edo Bertoglio and others. I discuss how these disenfranchised, low-budget artists sought not to collapse their differences, but to explore the points of connection that engendered a form of artistic hybridity that negated both homogeneity and order. I argue that the narratives, aesthetics …

Narrative Brought To Life: The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, Stefani Klaric

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis explores The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the motivations for creating fictive, immersive environments. These can be defined as spaces that generate new physical environments or worlds that engage our senses. The theme park is the experiential space where entertainment, fantasy, and commodity consumption come together. By including recognizable objects, narratives, characters, and the like, taken directly from the Harry Potter books and films, audiences and participants are brought into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in a way that immerses them in the space and allows them to experience the narrative by participating in a journey …

Born Again Hard : Transgender Subjectivity In Paul Chadwick's Concrete, Justin Raymond

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Born Again explores how the alien-hybrid character Concrete from the eponymous comic can be used to generate understanding of transgender (trans) lives. I use Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's concept of reparative reading in order to formulate an understanding of Concrete that generates new theoretical insight into trans lives, while also ensuring the development of what Viviane Namaste calls “ethical trans theory.” Born Again argues that even though Concrete does not “look like a transgender person is supposed to,” his experiences of gender dissonance and queer optimism allow him to act as a source of amelioration and pleasure for readers who are …