Progression or Stagnancy? Portraying Native Americans in Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992)

Progression or Stagnancy? Portraying Native Americans in Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992) As argued by Wilcomb Washburn, no other ethnic group has been misrepresented in media and popular culture to such extent as the Native Americans (2010). Movies that shaped their image did so by crystallizing stereotypes and misconceptions, through which indigenous peoples have been perceived until the present day. Thomas Edison’s vignettes, early westerns, as well as subsequent motion pictures of the 1960s and 1970s strengthened the stereotypes of the vanishing Indians, bloodthirsty savages, and their noble alter ego. The 1990s brought about a revival of the western in its new, revisionist form, mainly due to the achievements of the American Indian Movement. This paper argues that the movie Thunderheart (1992) by Michael Apted — albeit belonging to that ostensibly revolutionary current — continues to reproduce various well established stereotypes in the portrayal of the Native Americans . It examines significantachievements of this partly liberal motion picture, as well as its failures and faults. Thisarticle argues that Thunderheart departs from traditional, dualistic portrayals of Native Americans as bloodthirsty and noble savages and manages to present a revisionist version of historical events; at the same time, it fails to omit numerous Hollywood clichés, such as stereotypical representation of native spirituality, formation of an “Indian identity”, and “othering” of the Native Americans, which contributes to their further alienation and cultural appropriation. This paper provides an insightful analysis of the movie, drawing on scholarship in the field of cultural and indigenous studies in order to lay bare the ambivalence towards indigenous people in the United States, that is reflected in the movie industry. Moreover, it indicates towards the commodification of native culture, as well as the perception of Native Americans as primitive and inferior, allowing to classify Thunderheartas an unfortunate product of colonialism.

Periodization of American Comic Book – A New Proposal

Periodization of American Comic Book – A New Proposal The article aims to present a new proposal for the periodization of the history of American comic books. The introduction deals with the problems of other propositions: the academic one created by Arthur Asa Berger and the so-called Olympic / Mainstream that is mainly used by industry artists and readers. The most critical short comings of these periodization are also listed, including them being outdated. The new proposal complements the deficiencies of the previous two: in its actuality, it focuses on the transformations of the comics genre caused by the socio-political implications of the events of September 11, 2001. Each epoch was given specific time frames, cut-off dates, events, and characteristics.

The United States’ Policy towards the World Trade Organization during the Presidency of Donald Trump

The United States’ Policy towards the World Trade Organization during the Presidency of Donald Trump The purpose of this article is to analyze the United States’ policy towards the World Trade Organization (WTO) during the presidency of Donald Trump. Given the stated aim, research questions allow to identify the significant priorities of American foreign policy within the Organization, trade policy challenges, and the current and future survival ofthe global exchange system. Hence, the article is focused on: the importance of the WTO for the global exchange system; the role and capabilities of the United States (US) in the Organization’s analysis; and identification of main priorities and challenges of the US foreign policy towards the WTO in the context of the current trade rivalry with China and itsimpact on the WTO’s future. The main hypothesis of the article indicates that the current US trade policy weakens the possibilities and further functioning of the WTO. The main theoretical perspective of the article is based on institutional liberalism and the theory of comparative advantage. The article has been developed by applying historical, institutional, and legal systemic and content analysis methods (in particular, government, WTO, and think tank reports and analyses).

Presidential Rhetoric on Foreign Crises: George W. Bush on Georgia and Barack Obama on Ukraine

Presidential Rhetoric on Foreign Crises: George W. Bush on Georgia and Barack Obama on Ukraine This article offers a critique of the rhetorical responses of President George W. Bush to the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict and of President Barack Obama to the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict. Its central objective is to identify parallels and differences between the situations calling for presidential rhetoric on the crises in Georgia and Ukraine and determine how the president’s reactions to the conflicts were similar or different, judging the responses against Theodore Otto Windt, Jr.’s analytical framework for foreign crisis rhetoric.

Why did President Obama Not Recognize the Armenian Genocide? Hints from the Obama Administration Memoirs – and Other Sources

Why did President Obama Not Recognize the Armenian Genocide? Hints from the Obama Administration Memoirs – and Other Sources This paper discusses the reasons and processes that led the Obama administration to notrecognize the Armenian Genocide. Although Barack Obama had promised he would doso during his presidential campaign of 2008, he never did once in office, despite many of his administration members, including Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, having strong records in support of such a recognition. To investigate this hitherto poorly explored question, this paper uses primarily — although not exclusively — memoirs written by Barack Obama and members his administration, some of them addressing the issue directly, others dealing with it indirectly. This study focuses on President Obama’s personal choice, and therefore responsibility, to not recognize the genocide, but also expands on the geopolitical determinants of this non-recognition (related mostly to the geostrategic importance of Turkey) as well as on its diplomatic aspects (involving particularly the argument that US recognition would hamper a hypothetical Turkey-Armenia rapprochement). Two episodes of possible presidential recognition of the genocide will be particularly discussed; one in April 2009 (three months after Obama became president of the United States and coinciding with April 24, the anniversary of the genocide), and the other in 2015 (corresponding to its centenary). Finally, stress will be placed on the positions and role of the president’s entourage at the White House, and on his State and Defense Secretaries.

Crystal Palace – Liminal ‘Self’ and Its Projection in Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat

Crystal Palace – Liminal ‘Self’ and Its Projectionin Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat This paper offers an analysis of the liminality of the ‘Self’ and its subsequent projection onto the material world in Anne Rice’s early novels, Interview with The Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. The study is focused on two characters of the said works – Lestat de Lioncourtand his long-time companion Claudia – and aims at examining their respective‘Selves’ as preternatural beings as well as unique individuals. The research draws on Judith Butler’s and Rosi Braidotti’s theories in order to examine the physical, emotional, and mental changes the characters under go. It subsequently shows that the preternatural ‘Self’exists in a constant state of non-telic transformation, as well as that the perennial metamorphosisis continuously reflected in the characters’ material homes.

The Bitburg Controversy from the New Cold War Perspective: Reagan’s Views on WWII Nazi Germany’s Soldiers’ Victimhood

The Bitburg Controversy from the New Cold War Perspective: Reagan’s Views on WWII Nazi Germany’s Soldiers’ Victimhood Why to go back to 1985 to discuss present-day key concerns of international relations fromthe perspective of World War II history during the Cold War? The May 5, 1985 Bitburg cemetery celebrations, when US president altogether with German chancellor (Helmut Kohl) paid tribute to WWII veterans (of both sides of the conflict) was an example of the Ronald Reagan administration’s public relations fiasco: the “Great Communicator” failed to refer to WWII history in a manner that would save him from harsh criticism. Importantly, the 1985 debate concerning the Bitburg ceremony and the moral aspects of a homage to German (Axis) WWII soldiers gave an incentive to “Historikerstreit” in Germany, a dispute regarding WWII history in a manner comparable to Holocaust responsibility as a collective burden carried by Germans. The Bitburg cemetery, since the 1930s a monument (Kolmeshöhe Ehrenfriedhof) to WWI German military victims, and then to their younger colleagues during WWII (Wehrmacht and, controversially, Waffen-SS) remained a broadly commented upon focal point of Cold War disputes, allowing such questions that might bring about a possibilityof ground-breaking change in present-day political rivalries caused by failed (or successful) Cold War propaganda related to WWII choices. The Bitburg case as a particularly illustrative one and could also shed more light on the post-Soviet Russian effort to increase its influence by relying on the myths of the “Great Patriotic War”.

“What’s in a Name?”

The present article sets out to analyze the emergence and institutionalization of American Studies as an academic discipline in Romania, with a focus on the specific contexts and factors that influenced this process, and the ways in which its practitioners defined, constructed, and focused their endeavors. Taking the University of Bucharest as a case study and adding insights from other Romanian universities, the paper seeks to give an account of: 1) the ways in which the several decades-long tradition of teaching American literature in the Communist period (sporadically until the 1960s, but ever more substantially in the following decades) prepared the ground for the institutionalization of American Studies programs; 2) the “conditions of possibility” that enabled this institutionalization after the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989, with an emphasis on the restructuring of the Romanian higher education system, on the one hand, and the specific renegotiations of the field of American Studies, on the other; 3) American Studies curriculum development and its impact on Romanian academia as an example of curricular reform in the spirit of interdisciplinarity; 4) the situated contributions that Romanian Americanists have made to international scholarship in American Studies by bringing new research agendas to the fore.

Canadian Studies in the Czech Republic and Central Europe

This article surveys the development of Canadian Studies in Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic from 1985 (the year the first such course was offered at a Czech university) down to the present. It also deals with the wider context of the development of Canadian Studies in Central Europe under the aegis of the Central European Association for Canadian Studies, established in 2003 with its Secretariat located at Masaryk University, Brno. In both the Czech Republic and the wider region, the late 1990s saw a steady growth in Canadian Studies, fostered by financial support from the Canadian government and outreach activities by Western European Canadian Studies associations. The first decade of the twenty-first century saw an explosion of activities - many new courses and degree programmes, conferences and specialized seminars, international projects, publications, the launching of the Central European Journal for Canadian Studies. The century’s second decade, however, has witnessed retrenchment, the result of systemic changes in higher education systems and the Canadian government’s cancellation of all support for Canadian Studies activities in 2012. Nevertheless, in both the Czech Republic and Central Europe, Canadian Studies continues to enjoy a significant and respected presence in the higher education sphere.

Canada as an “Extra”

This article outlines the history of the study of Canada in Slovakia. It explores early writings on Canada and attempts to identify pioneers of Canadian Studies as well as milestones in its development and institutionalization, while also claiming that Canadian Studies remains a marginal academic discipline in Slovakia; indeed, its very existence is dependent on the enthusiasm of a small community of scholars. The final part of the article presents the community, their research interests, activities, and motivations, and attempts to pinpoint the impact of the Canadian federal government’s decision to withdraw its support from funding Canadian Studies abroad.