scholarly journals Black Humor on the Film Screen: From Folk to Popular Culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lada Stevanović
Keyword(s):  
Black Film ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Interesting Connection ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Black Humor ◽  
Humor In Literature ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Bereaved Family ◽  
Insight Into

The paper is dealing with the complex phenomenon of black humor. Starting from different definitions about its origin, the author questions its folklore origin in Greek antiquity. Through the prism of the theories of Olga Freidneberg and Michael Bakhtin, parody and/or carneval appear as a worldview contrary and at the same time parallel to the serious, official, hierarchical order. Exactly this image of the world, and conceptualization of death on its grounds, lead in ancient Greece to the appearance of the theatre and comedy, that is regarded to be the predecessor of black film comedies. Pointing out the intertwinement of laughter and death, as well as the existence of black humor in the Greek antiquity, the author also deals with interesting connection between film black comedies and Serbian performative ritual games with motives of death and the dead. Such motives and the atmosphere that they provoke are easily recognized in the Serbian black comedies. As an example, i.e. a case study is taken the film Marathon Family. Apart from that, the paper offers an insight into the theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of black humor in literature and film, which opens the space to trace two more intertwined paths of influence on the mentioned black comedies. One path is literary and goes back to comedies by Branislav Nušić - The bereaved family and The deceased, while the other leads to the whole genre of films with the dark humour that has developed since the 1960s in Europe and the USA.  In spite of the undoubtable influences, the short insight into the subgenres of dark humour in the mentioned films reveals the specificity of the black humor in the Serbian cinematography that might be related to folk humoristic games with the motive of death.  

scholarly journals Pursuing “Generation Snowflake”: Mr. Robot and the USA Network’s Mission for Millennials

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony N. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Digital Natives ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
Online Technology ◽  
Demographic Group ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Marketing Material ◽  
Insight Into

U.S. basic cable channels are increasingly directing their brands toward millennials due to the increased economic importance of this demographic group. This article contributes to scholarship on basic cable economics and scripted programming by providing insight into how the institutional prioritization of millennials is shaping commissioning and marketing strategies in the sector. Using the USA Network drama series Mr. Robot (2015–present) as a case study, it demonstrates how widespread assumptions within media culture concerning millennial viewers’ personalities, preferences, and behaviors are influencing approaches to basic cable series narrative and promotion, and—accordingly—informing channel brand identities. It argues that these assumptions are influencing channels to (1) develop brands around programming that can be perceived to have social value, (2) amplify stereotypes of millennials as “digital natives” and “snowflakes,” and (3) circulate marketing material that presumes millennials’ familiarity with online technology and deemphasizes the promotional purpose of such content.

The Competitive Advantage of Nations 20 years later: the cases of Sweden, South Korea and the USA

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 306-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy L. Wilson ◽  
Lars Lindbergh ◽  
Jens Graff
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Secondary Information ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on some policy possibilities and outcomes for three countries of interest suggested in Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Design/methodology/approach – This research was both exploratory and qualitative in nature and utilized an in-depth case study approach of three major international economies reflecting previous observations in The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Personal contemporaneous observations of individuals in the countries of interest were complemented by current secondary information. The three countries selected for analysis, South Korea, Sweden and the USA, reflected different stages of development at the time The Competitive Advantage of Nations was published and certainly different progress since then. Findings – The Competitive Advantage of Nations advocated new, constructive and actionable roles for government and business. These observations can now be tested after a reasonable time of development. In terms of development, Korea would appear to be the star of the group; Sweden has made strong progress in comparison with other members of the European Union. Although there are areas of strength, the USA recently has lost much of the edge it had at the time of the Advantage’s publication. Research limitations/implications – Because this research was built on case studies, one has the reservations common with that approach. On the other hand, case studies are acknowledged as useful in the identification of important variables in situations in which there is little control over events in a real-world context. Practical implications – Countries must go their own way and find their own paths to success. In some ways, directions are suggested by Schumpeter (1942/1975) and in others, by Porter (1990/1996). Chance appears to have played a role in development in each instance, but government, seen as a fifth determinant possibility by Porter, heavily affected outcomes in each instance. Originality/value – Although relying heavily on Porter, results add insight into the development of economies over time.

Urban crisis change efforts: the NAB and NUC

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-227
Author(s):  
Laura G. Singleton
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Business Partnerships ◽  
Urban Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Historical Comparative ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Similar Basis ◽  
Change Efforts

Purpose This study aims to compare the National Alliance of Businessmen and the National Urban Coalition, two change efforts spawned during the 1960’s US Urban Crisis, in which businesses took a central role to address urban problems, particularly through expanding opportunities for African-Americans. Design/methodology/approach This is a historical comparative case study developed through research utilizing published resources and archival material. Findings Neither organization clearly achieved its initial goals, with each migrating toward the end of its existence away from business-related goals to focus on public education. Potential causes include economic obstacles, a heroic conception of change that fostered overcommitment, and conflicting institutional logics in the organization’s missions, both of which were intertwined with governmental objectives from their foundings. However, the period shows overall changes in social awareness by business, in which these organizations played a part, and efforts by today’s businesses to respond to racial tensions in cities display learning from these predecessor organizations. Research limitations/implications A significant dependence on published sources limits the depth of insight versus accessing organizational archives; however, it does offer a similar basis for information on both organizations to facilitate comparisons. Practical implications The structural vulnerabilities of these organizations can present lessons for organizations hoping to pursue similar change through business partnerships today. Social implications The racial tensions continuing in the USA today display parallel the challenges of the 1960s, making learning from these precedents valuable. Originality/value This study offers a comparative view of the NAB and NUC throughout their history, which has not previously been provided.

scholarly journals An Insight into Members' Satisfaction with their Union: A Comparative Case Study of Malaysian and American Unions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Husna Johari
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Quality Work ◽  
Quality Of Work ◽  
Union Leaders ◽  
Union Representation ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Perceived Outcomes ◽  
Insight Into

This study examines the importance of the various facets of satisfaction with union representation in determining overall satisfaction with the union. samples of union members from Malaysia and the USA are used in this study. generally, overall union satisfaction is specified as function of union members ' expectation concerning union efforts and the perceived outcomes of union performance on (1) 'bread and butter' issues (such as wages and benefits), (2) quality of work issues (such as job interest and workers' voice in the employing organization), and (3) member-union relations (such as the quality of communication between union leaders and members). the results indicate that all the faces are important determinants of overall satisfaction with union representation. however, in the case of WMUPU (Malaysia) the results showed a greater emphasis on aspects like bread and butter, and member-union relations while the OPE1U(USA) findings relate more to issues on quality work life.  

Making policy on screening programmes

Screening ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 177-228
Author(s):  
Angela E. Raffle ◽  
Anne Mackie ◽  
J. A. Muir Gray
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Screening Policy ◽  
Ethical Conflicts ◽  
Explicit Processes ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Clear Insight ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Insight Into

This chapter shows how resources, values, beliefs, and commercial factors all influence screening policy, and gives clear insight into some of the ethical dilemmas involved. Case histories include celebrity selling of HPV testing, the USA ‘Mammography Wars’ incident, the Cartwright Inquiry into events at National Women’s Hospital in Auckland in the 1960s and genetic testing. The chapter strongly emphasises the value of following robust and explicit processes when making screening policy, and argues that this is best done at national level. The reasons why screening policy-making can be difficult are explored in detail, and clear lessons are drawn from the case examples. The chapter addresses the technical aspects of using evidence, and also explains the power of the cultural belief that all screening must automatically be a good thing and of commercial, professional and institutional interests, often enacted through invisible lobbying using ‘third party’ techniques. The ethical conflicts inherent within screening are described and explored.

scholarly journals The discourse of dependency and the agrarian roots of welfare doctrines in Africa: The case of Botswana

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Seekings
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Small Farmers ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The 1960S

Political elites across much of Africa have criticized welfare programmes and the idea of a welfare state for fostering dependency. Anxiety over dependency is not unique to East or Southern Africa, but the discourse of dependency in countries such as Botswana differs in important respects to the discourses of dependency articulated in some industrialised societies (notably the USA). This paper examines African discourses of dependency through a case-study of Botswana. The paper races the genealogy of dependency through programmatic responses to drought between the 1960s and 1990s, and a reaction in the 2000s. The growth of a discourse of dependency reflected both social and economic concerns: Socially, it was rooted in pre-existing understandings of the reciprocal responsibilities associated with kinship and community; economically, the emergence of a discourse of dependency reflected the rise of an approach to development rooted in nostalgic conceptions of hard-working small farmers. The discourse of dependency appealed to both conservatives (offended by anti-social individualism) and economic modernisers (eager for an explanation for the failures of the developmental project to eliminate poverty).

The Genesis and Internal Dynamics of El Salvador's People's Revolutionary Army, 1970–1976

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (01) ◽  
pp. 102-129
Author(s):  
ALBERTO MARTÍN ÁLVAREZ ◽  
EUDALD CORTINA ORERO
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Internal Dynamics ◽  
Internal Coherence ◽  
The 1960S

AbstractUsing interviews with former militants and previously unpublished documents, this article traces the genesis and internal dynamics of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (People's Revolutionary Army, ERP) in El Salvador during the early years of its existence (1970–6). This period was marked by the inability of the ERP to maintain internal coherence or any consensus on revolutionary strategy, which led to a series of splits and internal fights over control of the organisation. The evidence marshalled in this case study sheds new light on the origins of the armed Salvadorean Left and thus contributes to a wider understanding of the processes of formation and internal dynamics of armed left-wing groups that emerged from the 1960s onwards in Latin America.

Margins and Modernity: A Geocritical Approach to Anna Seward's Llangollen Vale

Romanticism ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-80
Author(s):  
Ruth Knezevich
Keyword(s):  
Analytic Approach ◽  
Romantic Era ◽  
Insight Into

The genre of annotated verse represents an under-explored form of transporting romanticism. In annotated, locodescriptive poems like those in Anna Seward's Llangollen Vale, readers are invited to read not only the spatiality of the landscapes depicted in the verse but also the landscape of the page itself. Seward's poems, with their focus on understanding geographical, political, and historical spaces both real and imaginary, provide geocritical insight into poetic productions of the early Romantic era. Likewise, geocriticism offers a fresh and useful – even necessary – analytic approach to such poems. I adopt Anna Seward as a case study in annotated verse and argue that attending to the materiality and paratextuality of her work allows us to access the complexities of her poetry and prose as well as her position within the wider framework of transporting Romanticism.

Transformative Encounters and Uncanny Intimacies: Biotechnology and Contemporary Art – A Practitioner's Approach and Perspective

Somatechnics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svenja J. Kratz
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Culture ◽  
Human Skin ◽  
Contemporary Art ◽  
Skin Equivalent ◽  
Biomedical Innovation ◽  
Equivalent Models ◽  
Science Projects ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Human Skin Equivalent

Abstract: Presented from an ArtScience practitioner's perspective, this paper provides an overview of Svenja Kratz's experience working as an artist within the area of cell and tissue culture at QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI). Using The Absence of Alice, a multi-medium exhibition based on the experience of culturing cells, as a case study, the paper gives insight into the artist's approach to working across art and science and how ideas, processes, and languages from each discipline can intermesh and extend the possibilities of each system. The paper also provides an overview of her most recent artwork, The Human Skin Equivalent/Experience Project, which involves the creation of personal jewellery items incorporating human skin equivalent models grown from the artist's skin and participant cells. Referencing this project, and other contemporary bioart works, the value of ArtScience is discussed, focusing in particular on the way in which cross-art-science projects enable an alternative voice to enter into scientific dialogues and have the potential to yield outcomes valuable to both disciplines.

A Novel Integrated Reliability Test System for BEOL TDDB Study

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jifeng Chen ◽  
Peilin Song ◽  
Thomas M. Shaw ◽  
Franco Stellari ◽  
Lynne Gignac ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Dielectric Breakdown ◽  
Test System ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Reliability Test ◽  
Electrical Measurements ◽  
Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown ◽  
Microscopy Images ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract In this paper, we propose a new methodology and test system to enable the early detection and precise localization of Time-Dependent-Dielectric-Breakdown (TDDB) occurrence in Back-End-of-Line (BEOL) interconnection. The methodology is implemented as a novel Integrated Reliability Test System (IRTS). In particular, through our methodology and test system, we can easily synchronize electrical measurements and emission microscopy images to gather more accurate information and thereby gain insight into the nature of the defects and their relationship to chip manufacturing steps and materials, so that we can ultimately better engineer these steps for higher reliable systems. The details of our IRTS will be presented along with a case study and preliminary analysis results.

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