Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

Selected Bibliography Of Comparative Studies On Human Rights Culture, Henry James Morello

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

Narration In International Human Rights Law, Joseph R. Slaughter

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his paper, "Narration in International Human Rights Law," Joseph R. Slaughter argues that the prohibitions and entitlements articulated in international human rights law presume and promote an image of the human being as a self-narrating subject. He proposes that human rights law enshrines commitments to the human voice and to the ability of the individual to construct narratives of identity. In this sense, human rights violations can be understood as assaults on the human voice and on the socio-cultural structures that make certain kinds of narratives and narration possible. This narratological reading of the law offers a way to …

Mass-Mediated Social Terror In Spain, Nicholas Manganas

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his paper, "Mass-Mediated Social Terror in Spain," Nicholas Manganas explores mass-mediated narratives associated with social terror. Manganas posits that one approach to understanding social terror is to conceptualize it as a process of narrativization. Manganas takes a global view while at the same time applying that approach to the contemporary Spanish political and cultural context following the 11 March 2004 terrorist attacks in Madrid. He views the current social and political panorama of Spain as an example of social terror in dialogue with both current and historical national discourses. Manganas details the events surrounding the March 11 attack in …

Landmines, Hiv/Aids, And Africa's New Generation, Barbara Harlow

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article, "Landmines, HIV/Aids, and Africa's New Generation," Barbara Harlow asks the question what do "humanitarianism" and "human rights" have to do with the humanities? In a globalizing culture, how do personal stories contribute to political histories? What might be the effect of literature on these pressing questions? Harlow focuses in her essay on the work of Swedish writer and Maputo theater director Henning Mankell through particular attention to Secrets in the Fire and Playing with Fire: Two novels about a young Mozambican named Sofia. Harlow shows how Mankell's linking of the experiences of Sofia to the legacy of …

The Tortured Body, The Photograph, And The U.S. War On Terror, Julie Gerk Hernandez

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Julie Gerk Hernandez, in her article "The Tortured Body, the Photograph, and the U.S. War on Terror," engages in an analysis of the institutional mechanisms that lead to dehumanizing violence as a result of the ongoing allegations of torture of detainees at U.S. military bases at Abu Ghraib, in Afghanistan, and at Guantánamo. Hernandez conducts her investigation by examining the photographed torture at Abu Ghraib as an atavistic resurgence of the representational practices at work in post-Civil-War racial lynching. Hernandez also explores the historical and visual parallels between the photographs at Abu Ghraib and the photographs of post-Civil-War lynchings in …

Media In A Capitalist Culture, Barbara Trent

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article, "Media in a Capitalist Culture," Barbara Trent looks at the negative effects that capitalism has on the media and how those effects may be overcome. Trent intertwines personal experience with socio-historical context to give the reader a genuine feel for political filmmaking in a Hollywood dominated world. She describes how her Academy Award winning film The Panama Deception was removed from a Cineplex, even after out-grossing all of the other films there, because Warner Brothers wanted the screen. After an examination of the impact a dominant Hollywood has on local culture around the world, Trent offers three …

Poetry And The Aesthetic Of Morality, Michael Mcirvin

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his paper "Poetry and the Aesthetic of Morality," Michael McIrvin charts the fall of language from its mythologized acquisition through its use in communal history and ritual to its present diminished function as advertiser's tool and means of control by those in power. The partial exegesis of a poem written in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the subsequent US response illustrates that the assignation of otherness on the present grand scale is emblematic of this diminishment. McIrvin argues that President Bush's misspeak leading up to the war and to the last presidential election is …

Reading South African Media Representations Of Islam After 11 September 2001, Gabeba Baderoon

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her paper, "Reading South African Media Representations of Islam after 11 September 2001," Gabeba Baderoon probes the resonances of news representations of 11 September 2001. Baderoon examines the events of that day from the perspective of South Africa, arguing that the international media became located and embodied through the representations of the highly visible and grievable deaths of just under three thousand people in the United States. Her analysis reveals a complex view that derives from the legacy of legislated racial discrimination crafted under the policy of Apartheid as well as the presence of Muslims brought as slaves during …

The Terrorist Event, Bill Nichols

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "The Terrorist Event," Bill Nichols examines how the US media attempted to make meaning of the events of 9/11. How were news anchors and producers to explain an event that escaped their comprehension? Without context or historical equivalence in the US, news outlets groped for a narrative in which to frame the event even if that meant creating the meaning themselves. In their attempt to create meaning, what sorts of fetishes and fantasies did they draw-on and in turn create? The result is that the US excuses itself from its own past and future barbarism as it …

Textual Strategies To Resist Disappearance And The Mothers Of Plaza De Mayo, Alicia Partnoy

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her paper "Textual Strategies to Resist Disappearance and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo" Alicia Partnoy draws attention to the ways the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo use literature as both a form of protest and as a way to build solidarity. Focusing on four texts written by the Mothers, Partnoy attempts to correct the lack of attention that this literary work has drawn. Partnoy suggests that in addition to the forms of public protest engaged by the Mothers, their literary activities also play a central role in their efforts. In fact, their use of the literary form …

Bearing Witness Through Fiction, Carolina Rocha

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article, "Bearing Witness through Fiction," Carolina Rocha explores the ways in which three Argentine writers grappled with their roles as public intellectuals and witnesses to acts of terror, undeniable violence, and human rights abuses during the most recent military dictatorship. By examining three narrative texts written from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s Aquí pasan cosas raras (Strange Things Happen Here) (1975) by Luisa Valenzuela, La casa y el viento (The House and the Wind) (1984) by Hector Tizón, and El árbol de la gitana (The Tree and the Gypsy) (1997) by Alicia Dujovne Ortiz, she argues that …

Dorfman, Schubert, And Death And The Maiden, David Schroeder

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article, "Dorfman, Schubert, and Death and the Maiden," David Schroeder suggests that the selection of the play's title Death and the Maiden (1991) by Ariel Dorfman is a careful one. Schroeder proposes that it is not only that the title of the piece comes directly from Franz Schubert's String Quartet in D minor, so named because it uses material from the song of the same name as the theme for the second movement. Schroeder argues that Dorfman's thoughtful choice is as much related to the strong parallels between Schubert's Maiden and Dorfman's character Paulina Salas, as to Dr. …

Artists In Times Of War, Howard Zinn

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article, "Artists in Times of War," Howard Zinn examines the role of the artist during war time and finds that the transcendent nature of art not only shows us the beauty of everyday life, but can also go beyond everyday politics and media hype to critically address the problems of the day. In fact, Zinn suggests that it is the job of artists to "to think outside the boundaries of permissible thought and dare to say things that no one else will say." For Zinn, this is especially important given the intensity of the events of 9/11 where …

Transgender Justice, Richard M. Juang

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Proceedings from CLAGS's Trans Politics, Social Change and Justice conference will be available in January 2007 under the title Transgender Justice.

Social Changes In South Africa: The Possibilities Of Public Journalism And Development Journalism, Margaretha Geertsema

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of Everyday Talk In Stepfamily Systems, Paul Schrodt, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Jordan Soliz, Stacy Tye-Williams, Aimee Miller, Emily Lamb Normand, Meredith Marko Harrigan

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study explored frequencies of everyday talk in stepfamilies and the extent to which such frequencies of talk differed according to family relationship type. Participants included a parent, stepparent, and stepchild from 114 stepfamilies. Across relationship types, stepfamily members reported catching up, joking around, and recapping the day’s events most frequently and interrogating family members least frequently. Significant differences in frequencies of everyday talk across different relational dyads emerged for all three members of the stepfamily system. However, relatively few differences emerged in stepchildren’s reported frequencies of everyday talk with their stepparents and their nonresidential parents.

A Cultural Studies Analysis Of The Christian Women Vocalists Movement From The 1980'S To 2000: Influences, Stars And Lyrical Meaning Making, Mary Elizabeth Akers

Theses Digitization Project

This study examines popular female Christian vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s, their images and their contemporary Christian music (CCM) lyrics. This literature illustrates how music becomes popular, and also how it becomes a powerful source of communication, which prompts popular culture and society to buy into its style and lyrics. The implications of this study illustrates the importance of image and lyrics and how certain female CCM vocalists had greater influences, impact and had the ability to make changes within their female audiences towards Christianity.

A Wave Of The Magic Wand: Fairy Godmothers In Contemporary American Media, Jeana Jorgensen

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The increased personification of fairy godmothers in contemporary American media corresponds to an aspect of the American worldview that emphasizes "magical" quick fixes and solutions. The two fairy-tale pastiche works informing this study are a novel, The Fairy Godmother, by fantasy author Mercedes Lackey, and a movie, Shrek 2. Both of these works feature fairy godmother characters that depart from canonical folktale and fairy-tale depictions. Associated with fate and wisdom, fairy godmothers act much as folklorists do by rewarding traditional behavior with gifts. Recent fairy godmother roles are hybrid and multivocal, illuminating ideologies and power structures in both society and …

Flag Waving As Visual Argument: 2006 Immigration Demonstrations And Cultural Citizenship, Richard Pineda

Selected Works Temporary Series

During the 2006 immigration rallies and demonstrations, hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters tumed out to protest proposed immigration legislation. Flag waving was a key element of these demonstrations, in which participants employed both the U.S. flag and other national flags, most prominently Mexican flags. In this essay, we examine how flag waving functions as a visual argument that offers possibilities for establishing cultural and national citizenship and creating a visual form of refutation. Specifically, we argue that anti-immigration advocates see foreign flags as visual ideographs that represent recent immigrants' failure to assimilate, immigrants' deviant cultural practices, and …

The Regionalization Of Global News: A Case Study Of Cnn Interactive, Margaretha Geertsema

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

No abstract provided.

Gender Portrayal In J.K. Rowling's “Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix”: A Feminist Rhetorical Criticism, Nicole Ackman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined J.K. Rowling’s (2003) novel entitled, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Although this novel has not yet been classified as a fairy tale, it does contain fairy tale elements. This study reviewed literature in the field of folklore, fairy tales, and feminism. Foss’ (2004) four-step feminist criticism model was employed to analyze gender portrayals in the novel. According to Foss’ model, the novel was analyzed for masculine or feminine perspectives of the world, effects on the audience, improvement of women’s lives, and impact on rhetorical theory. Although Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix …

The Regionalization Of Global News: A Case Study Of Cnn Interactive, Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

The Cable News Network is often used as the prime example of a global news service. With bureaus and correspondents all around the world, CNN crosses traditional national boundaries. However, in essence, CNN remains an American company through its ownership and its Atlanta location. It also follows a news style that is typically Wester. Yet, CNN has had much success with both its international broadcasting services and its online service, offered by CNN interactive.

The aim of thhis paper is to take a closer look at CNN's presence on the Internet. This project is theoretically informed by discourses of globalization, …

You’Ve Always Got Time: (Disposable) Coffee Cup Litter As Discursive Regime(S), Marc A. Ouellette

English Faculty Publications

Quick, convenient cups of coffee from the seemingly infinite number of outlets might fuel a nation(’s workers) but once the liquid has been consmed little can be done with the supposedly disposable paper, fibre or styrofoam cups. Even though the cups cannot be recycled they do not necessarily find their way into the trash – at least not immediately. The coffee’s convenience and the concomitant (alternative) disposal methods of consumers have produced a discourse in litter by virtue of the places and positionings – that is, the practices – through which what I will call “discursive littering” occurs. Once the …

Book Review - Hart, W. (2002) Never Fade Away, James Kent Knaack

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

No abstract provided.

Four Poems: Snakehead Fish; Departures; Capitol; And Preparations For Southeast Asia, Bryan Thao Worra

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

No abstract provided.

Threatening Bodies Resisting Containment: Enemy Combatants, War Protestors And Same-Sex Couples, Mary K. Bloodsworth-Lugo, Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

The U.S.-launched "War on Terror" has been a major driving force in political discourses during the last few years, including presidential discourse. Since September 11, 2001, presidential rhetoric has systematically entangled international efforts, such as "the War on Terror" and the War in Iraq, with domestic issues, such as same-sex marriages and civil unions. In so doing, international and domestic threats have been effectively merged into one, and in the process, specific bodies have been constructed as "terrorist" agents in need of strict containment (for example, enemy combatant bodies, war protestor bodies, and the bodies of same-sex couples). This paper …

"Khmer Pride": Being And Becoming Khmer-American In An Urban Migrant Education Program, Theresa Ann Mcginnis

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This article focuses on the ways an urban migrant education program becomes a space where middle school Khmer students can explore who they are as Khmer youth living in an urban American context. I discuss how the youth are able to take a transformative, interactional stance to the literacy and sign-making practices within the program. I argue that the Khmer youth's identities are reflected within these literacy and expressive practices. Further, I suggest the experiences of these Khmer middle school children of agricultural workers provide rich examples of how immigrant youth draw on a variety of cultural resources (from urban …

Book Review - Reyes, A. (2006) Language, Identity, And Stereotype Among Southeast Asian American Youth: The Other Asian, Keo Chea

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

No abstract provided.

Communicative Predictors Of A Shared Family Identity: Comparison Of Grandchildren’S Perceptions Of Family-Of-Origin Grandparents And Stepgrandparents, Jordan Soliz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

From an intergroup perspective on family relationships, the current study investigates family-of-origin grandparents and stepgrandparents to determine similarities and differences in communication and relational dimensions. Participants (N = 88) completed questionnaires on family-of-origin grandparents and stepgrandparent relationships. From the perspective of young adult grandchildren, the research explores the role of supportive communication, reciprocal self-disclosure, nonaccommodative communication, and parental encouragement in predicting a sense of shared family identity with each grandparent type. Results are discussed in terms of implications for intergroup research, grandparent-grandchild communication, and stepfamily relationships.

Rhetorical Counterinsurgency: The Fbi And The American Indian Movement, Casey Ryan Kelly

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

In 2007, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Joseph H. and John M. Trimbach published a tell-all book to expose the crimes of American Indian Movement (AIM) and dispel contemporary myths about Bureau conspiracies against Indian activists. The book provides an insiders’ account of the agents’ participation in the investigation of AIM and attempts to correct what they characterize as popular revisionist history accusing the FBI of gross injustices against Indian Country. The agents argue that as far as AIM is concerned, in the halls of academia, “There is a market for blurring the historical lines between fact and fiction” (2007, …