scholarly journals Anime Studies: Media-Specific Approaches to Neon Genesis Evangelion

10.16993/bbp ◽  
2021 ◽  

Anime Studies: Media-Specific Approaches to Neon Genesis Evangelion aims at advancing the study of anime, understood as largely TV-based genre fiction rendered in cel, or cel-look, animation with a strong affinity to participatory cultures and media convergence. Taking Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shin Seiki Evangerion) as a case study, this volume acknowledges anime as a media form with clearly recognizable aesthetic properties, (sub)cultural affordances and situated discourses. First broadcast in Japan in 1995-96, Neon Genesis Evangelion became an epoch-making anime, and later franchise. The initial series used already available conventions, visual resources and narrative tropes typical of anime in general and the mecha (or giant-robot) genre in particular, but at the same time it subverted and reinterpreted them in a highly innovative and as such standard-setting way. Investigating anime through Neon Genesis Evangelion this volume takes a broadly understood media-aesthetic and media-cultural perspective, which pertains to medium in the narrow sense of technology, techniques, materials, and semiotics, but also mediality and mediations related to practices and institutions of production, circulation, and consumption. In no way intended to be exhaustive, this volume attests to the emergence of anime studies as a field in its own right, including but not prioritizing expertise in film studies and Japanese studies, and with due regard to the most widely shared critical publications in Japanese and English language. Thus, the volume provides an introduction to studies of anime, a field that necessarily interrelates media-specific and transmedial aspects. In Anime Studies: Media-Specific Approaches to Neon Genesis Evangelion, anime is addressed from a transnational and transdisciplinary stance. The disciplinary and methodological perspectives taken by the individual chapters range from audio-visual culture, narratology, performance and genre theory to fandom studies and gender studies. In its first part, the book focuses on textual analysis and media form in the narrow sense with regard to filmic media, bank footage, voice acting and musical score, and then it broadens the scope to consider subcultural discourse, franchising, manga and video game adaptations, as well as critical and affective user engagement.

2021 ◽  
pp. 215-239
Author(s):  
Piotr Kubiński

The article concentrates on a specific tendency that can be observed in some video games created in recent years. This trend is that more and more video games present an intimate perspective and focus on the individual experience of the protagonist. The author of the article approaches the phenomenon in question mainly from the interpretative and genological perspective, since video games are not a media form commonly identified with the expression of intimate, formative or identitycreating experiences. The author starts with an analysis of the reasons why video games and intimistic texts are commonly perceived as very distant genre forms. Then he analyzes those video games that represent the intimistic tendency: Bury me, my Love (The Pixel Hunt, 2017), A Normal Lost Phone (Accidental Queens, 2017) and Wanderlust: Travel Stories (Different Tales, 2019). The analysis leads to the following conclusions: what is common for all the three discussed games is i.a. a particularly important role of the text as the basic semiotic material in which the game is realized. Even though Interfejsy intymności this concentration on the word is not a necessary condition of intimistic poetics – it definitely helps introducing such a dimension into the work. What is more, two of the three discussed games use the strategy of remediating a smartphone. In both cases, the creators designed new interfaces modeled on the real ones and turned navigating on the phone screen into basic game mechanics. This, in turns, means that intimistic tendencies in video games stimulate reaching for new genre forms. This process of remediation is possible mainly because modern intimacy has shifted very clearly towards the digital, and smartphones have become its basic tool. This phenomenon, which the author of the article calls ‘intimacy 2.0’, is a result of the fact that: (a) contemporary culture is deeply anchored in the digital and its interfaces, and (b) the importance of smartphones in everyday communication and media consumption has been growing enormously in recent years. The final conclusion of the paper is as follows: all the discussed games use an intimate perspective to evoke empathy, which was not a typical video game design goal. This is especially interesting, given the fact, that all the analyzed games remain primarily commercial products that are driven by the laws of the market.


English Today ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 37-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massrura Mostafa

The term ‘idiom’ can refer to two types of fixed expressions. First, in a narrow sense, idioms are ‘expressions whose idiomaticity is semantic; typical expressions are kick the bucket, spill the beans etc. Second, idiomaticity is a formal property of expressions and is more or less equated with the fixedness of form; for example, by and large’ (Stathi, 2006: 27). It is more common, as Moon (1997: 46) says, for idioms to refer to ‘multi-word items which are not the sum of their parts: they have holistic meanings which cannot be retrieved from the individual meanings of the component words.’ Idioms are thought to be ‘relatively frozen and to have severe grammatical restriction’ (Moon, 1997: 47), and so it might be generally taken that they do not permit any lexical or syntactic modification, but they have greater possibilities of modification than might be expected. There are many idioms with different structures in the English language; I have chosen the idioms with the syntactic structure V + the + N. In this paper I will try to show the degrees of modification, the possible reasons for their modifications and the significance of the definite article by using the British National Corpus (BNC) and Webcorp, a web concordancer.


2020 ◽  
pp. 026921632096759
Author(s):  
Fenella J Gill ◽  
Zahraa Hashem ◽  
Roswitha Stegmann ◽  
Samar M Aoun

Background: Provision of paediatric palliative care is complex and optimally covers meeting the individual needs of a heterogenous population of children and their parent caregivers throughout a life-limiting illness. It is unclear whether existing approaches comprehensively address parent caregivers’ needs. Aim: To examine support needs of parents caring for children with life limiting illnesses and identify specific approaches used to identify and address needs. Design: A scoping review Data sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and ProQuest Central, were searched for peer reviewed English language full text research published from 2008 to 2019. Study quality appraisal was undertaken. Fourteen quantitative, 18 qualitative and 12 mixed methods studies were synthesised and themed using summative content analysis and mapped to the Parent Supportive Care Needs Framework (PSCNF). Results: Themes were communication, choice, information, practical, social, psychological, emotional and physical. Communication and choice were central and additional to domains of the PSCNF. Unmet were needs for supporting siblings, for respite care, out of hours, psychological, home and educational support. Six articles reported using instruments to identify parent carer support needs. Conclusion: Support needs of parent caregivers of children with life limiting illnesses are substantial and heterogenous. While studies report evidence of burden and distress in parent caregivers, this rarely translates into improvements in practice through the development of interventions. A systematic and regular assessment of individual parent caregiver support needs is required by using instruments appropriate to use in clinical practice to move the focus to palliative care interventions and improved services for parents.


Author(s):  
Bonnie ‘Bo’ Ruberg ◽  
Daniel Lark

This article looks at the appearance of domestic spaces on the popular livestreaming platform Twitch.tv, with a focus on livestreams that appear to be shot in streamers’ bedrooms. Many Twitch streamers broadcast from their homes, making domestic space central to questions of placemaking for this rapidly growing digital media form. Within the home, bedrooms merit particular attention because they carry particular cultural connotations; they are associated with intimacy, embodiment, and erotics. Drawing from observations of gaming and nongaming streams, we map where bedrooms do and do not appear on Twitch. We locate the majority of bedrooms in categories that foreground connections between streamers and viewers, like Just Chatting, Music & Performing Arts, and autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). By contrast, across a wide range of video game genres, bedrooms remain largely absent from gaming streams. The presence of bedrooms on Twitch also breaks down along gender lines, with women streaming being far more likely to broadcast from their bedrooms than men. Here, we build from existing research on both livestreaming and digital placemaking to argue for an understanding of place on Twitch as fundamentally performative. This performance is inherently gendered and bound up with the affective labor of streaming. In addition, we demonstrate how the bedroom, even when it does not appear on screen, can be understood as a ‘structuring logic’ of placemaking on Twitch. Given the history of livestreaming, which grows out of women’s experiments with online ‘lifecasting’, the bedroom sets expectations for the type of spatial and emotional access a stream is imagined to offer viewers. In this sense, the absence of bedrooms in gaming streams can be understood as a disavowal of intimate domestic space: an attempt by predominantly male streamers to distance themselves from the implicit parallels between livestreaming and practices like webcam modeling.


2021 ◽  
pp. 152700252110003
Author(s):  
Mariia Molodchik ◽  
Sofiia Paklina ◽  
Petr Parshakov

The paper investigates the variety of peer effects on individual performance in a team sport. The individual performance of more than 5,000 soccer players, from 234 teams, between 2010 and 2015, is measured with the help of the FIFA video game simulator developed by EA Sports. The study reveals positive peer effects on individual performance although the marginal benefit decreases. Additionally, team cohesion contributes to an improvement of players’ ranking.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
U Moqeem ◽  
O Mukhtar ◽  
A Abbara ◽  
S Jabbour ◽  
M Abouzeid

Abstract Background Conflicts cause mass displacement, including of healthcare workers (HCWs). Understanding experiences of HCWs over the displacement trajectory, from push factors out of conflict zones, to barriers and facilitators in transit and host countries, is key to developing support mechanisms and informing policy discussions regarding return and reintegration. Methodology We systematically reviewed 6 academic databases and grey literature using combined search terms for HCWs, displacement, conflict, and experiences to identify English-language literature documenting personal or professional experiences of HCWs displaced by conflict, published between 1945 to 2020. Open coding and thematic analysis were used to identify emerging themes. Quality appraisal was conducted. Results 25 publications from academic journals, snowballed references, and grey literature from 10 geographical contexts and various types of HCW met inclusion criteria, many from conflicts in the Middle-East. 5 themes emerged: Conflict drives displacement: HCWs fled due to direct violence and deteriorating working conditions caused by increased workload, depleting resources, workforce attrition and attacks on healthcare. Giving back: Refugee HCWs were determined to continue working but had to do so informally or by working with humanitarian agencies. Personal and professional integration in host countries: refugee HCWs overcame barriers to relicense after which they reported disadvantage in job applications due to professional gaps and discrimination; many ended up working under-qualified jobs. Psychological toll on HCWs was pronounced. Prospects on return: HCWs desired to return to their home countries but feared political instability and violence. Conclusions Policies which support HCW retention during conflict, integration into host health systems, and encourage return post-conflict must be implemented. Further research is required to understand the individual and systemic support mechanisms required. Key messages Displaced HCWs experience many personal and professional challenges. Policies that support HCWs across the displacement trajectory and support return and post-conflict system rebuilding are required.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anik Nunuk Wulyani

<p>Two important areas of professional development for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Indonesia identified in the 2003 Law on National Education System and 2005 Law on Teachers and Lecturers are disciplinary knowledge and ICT skills. The present thesis investigates institutional and individual aspects of EFL teacher professional development (TPD) in Indonesia in relation to the development of these two areas of expertise.  Three studies were carried out. The first study measured Indonesian EFL teachers’ target language (English) proficiency as a core component of their professional knowledge and how it is maintained and developed by the teachers. EFL teachers’ language proficiency in this study was operationalised as their lexical, reading and writing proficiency and measured using the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), IELTS-like reading comprehension test and IELTS-like academic writing test, respectively. The results showed that the teachers’ length of service correlated negatively with their knowledge of academic vocabulary, as well as reading and writing proficiency, indicating issues with the outcomes of the TPD in this area. To triangulate the test results, teacher perceptions data were also gathered using questionnaires and interviews. It was found that the EFL teachers tended to overestimate their own overall English language proficiency.  The second study used a longitudinal blogging activity with the EFL teachers as a form of personal professional development that targeted their English language and ICT skills while reflecting on topics related to their professional (teaching) activities. Qualitative analysis of the blog entries of three EFL teachers suggested that the individual teachers’ blogging, critical reading and reflective writing skills were very uneven. Interviews with nine teachers and 11 educational stakeholders were then conducted to understand their views on blogging as a form of professional development. The results revealed that the perceived obstacles and drawbacks outweighed the perceived benefits of blogging as a form of personal professional development.  The third study examined Indonesian national TPD policy documents, how these policies were translated into local professional development programmes in Malang district. It was found that the needs for EFL teachers to maintain their English proficiency and ICT skills were only partially addressed in TPD policy and implementation. In addition, the interviewed teachers and stakeholders perceived the definitions, goals, administration, evaluation, benefits, and challenges of TPD differently.  Taken as a whole, the present findings show that institutional implementation of TPD policies in Indonesia needs to better target individual EFL teachers’ English proficiency and ICT skills, and that opportunities for better professional development need to be sought at both personal and institutional levels. At the individual level, self-motivation to continue learning is crucial for English language teachers who want to keep up with change and innovation in English language teaching. At the institutional level, needs analyses and environmental analyses are essential in designing programs for maintaining and developing teacher professional competency.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 30-43
Author(s):  
Tira Nur Fitria

Abstract: Virtual classes have now become commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. As time goes by, applications for virtual meetings continue to appear, one of which is Gather Town, which is now widely used and is a tight competitor to Zoom Meeting and Google Meet. Gather Town is a virtual meeting platform designed like a video game. This research is to implement the use of the 'Gather Town' game platform and to find out the student’s perception during the implementation and simulation of Gather Town application as an alternative platform in creating a sensation of English Language Learning (ELL) in the real classroom through virtual class during the pandemic COVID-19. This study uses descriptive qualitative research. The result analysis from observation and interview show that Gather Town has graphics similar to the Harvest Moon game, where students can play one character and can write their name on the top so that the lecturer can see which students are present. The room is designed similar to a classroom, where the lecturer's desk is at the front of the classroom. The virtual classroom also has chairs that are neatly lined up like classrooms in the real world. Then when doing group assignments, the student characters will gather at the same table as in a real classroom. They also carry out group work activities as if they were in the classroom. Each group sat in a circle and discussed with one another. The current game may be an alternative design in a virtual classroom. Abstrak: Kelas virtual kini menjadi hal biasa selama pandemi COVID-19. Seiring berjalannya waktu, aplikasi untuk virtual meeting terus bermunculan, salah satunya adalah Gather Town yang kini banyak digunakan dan menjadi pesaing ketat Zoom Meeting dan Google Meet. Gather Town adalah platform pertemuan virtual yang dirancang seperti gim video. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mensimulasikan penggunaan platform game 'Gather Town' dan mengetahui persepsi siswa selama simulasi aplikasi Gather Town sebagai platform alternatif dalam menciptakan sensasi Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris di kelas nyata melalui virtual. kelas selama pandemi COVID-19. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif deskriptif. Hasil analisis dari observasi dan wawancara menunjukkan bahwa Gather Town memiliki grafik yang mirip dengan game Harvest Moon, dimana mahasiswa dapat memainkan satu karakter dan dapat menuliskan namanya di bagian atas sehingga dosen dapat melihat mahasiswa mana yang hadir. Tidak hanya itu, ruangannya didesain mirip dengan ruang kelas, dimana meja dosen berada di bagian depan kelas. Ruang kelas virtual juga memiliki kursi yang berjejer rapi seperti ruang kelas di dunia nyata. Kemudian saat mengerjakan tugas kelompok, karakter siswa akan berkumpul di meja yang sama seperti di ruang kelas yang sebenarnya. Mereka juga melakukan kegiatan kerja kelompok seolah-olah berada di dalam kelas. Setiap kelompok duduk melingkar dan berdiskusi satu sama lain. Game saat ini dapat menjadi alternatif desain di kelas virtual.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (87) ◽  
Author(s):  
Svitlana Kolomiets ◽  
◽  
Anastasiia Deineka ◽  
◽  

Modern advertising has a serious impact on society. Today, advertising texts are constantly present in the daily life of society. Based on the individual behavior of the consumer in the global network, appropriate contextual suggestions are formed and the retargeting tool is used - the display of the product viewed by the user or information about the service is repeated many times in order to stimulate its purchase. Despite the development of visual technologies and the ability to model special effects, most of the advertising still has a strong verbal component, through which, in its turn, the main communication strategies of the creator of the advertising text are realized. Means of linguistic imagery, as well as various means of persuasion help to positively influence the consumer. Advertising is not just an announcement, message, acquaintance, reminder, but also a means of attracting attention, creating an image and popularity. The standard form of an advertising message consists of four main blocks: slogan, headline, main advertising text and phrase-echo. But the presence of all four blocks in one advertising message is not required. Often, ad authors can ignore the headline by including all the necessary information that will attract the recipient’s attention in the slogan. This option is becoming quite common, primarily to reduce the length of the advertising message. It was revealed that the implementation of the communicative function in English-language advertising determines the use of multilevel language tools at lexical, grammatical and stylistic levels, and also involves the appeal of the authors of advertising to various paralinguistic means. When translating advertising texts, there are some difficulties, which are that there are several approaches to understanding the translation equivalence, as well as the diversity of stylistic features of such texts. The solution to these problems is achieved by proper analysis of the source text and, as a consequence, the correct use of these approaches. The process of translating advertising texts is very complex and creative, the translator needs not only to take into account all the linguistic and extralinguistic features, but also to identify them harmoniously, motivating and influencing a certain type of audience.


1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (242) ◽  
pp. 263-273
Author(s):  
Géza Herczegh

In a rich and abundant literature on the subject of international humanitarian law, two trends in the interpretation of the term “humanitarian law” stand out: one takes it in its broad meaning, the other in a narrow sense. According to the definition by Jean S. Pictet, humanitarian law, in the broad interpretation, is constituted by all the international legal provisions, whether written or customary, ensuring respect for the individual and the development of his life. Humanitarian law includes two branches: the law of war and human rights. The law of war, still following Professor Pictet's definition, can be subdivided into two sections, that of The Hague, or the law of war, in the strict sense, and that of Geneva, or humanitarian law, in the narrow sense. It is often difficult to distinguish clearly between these branches of law, and especially between the law of The Hague and the law of Geneva, because of the reciprocal influence each has had on the development of the other, to the extent that some well-known experts considered the traditional difference between them out-of-date and superfluous.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document