5,182 research outputs found
Queer spies in British Cold War culture: literature, film, theatre and television
This PhD thesis investigates how male homosexuality has been represented in British spy
fiction from the 1950s to the 2010s in multiple media: literature, film, television and
theatre. Due mainly to the betrayal of the Cambridge Spy ring around the middle of the
century, British culture has associated spies with homosexuality, while the wider
Anglophone world was in the grip of a homophobic atmosphere created by McCarthy's
Red Scare. My thesis explores how this history is reflected in the spy genre from the Cold
War to the present, in which male homosexuality and secret agency intersect as âqueerâ,
in so far as they were both considered to be discreet and criminal, existing outside of the
heteronormative order. By following multiple texts across media and time, I discuss how
some writers, television and film directors and actors update queer identity in spy fiction,
creating a shifting image of queer spies through decades. I refer to the findings of
adaptation studies and queer studies, along with numerous studies on spy fiction.
I conclude that the interrelation of different media has contributed to the re-drawing of queer identity in spy fiction. These developments have enabled the spies'
queer identity to transcend its pejorative history in British culture, towards its more
flexible and pliant sense which is designated by the term's modern usage. I also discuss
that spiesâ homosexuality has been represented as a fleeting ghost in most of the texts
examined, hovering on the margins of pages and screen. Although homosexuality is not
âthe love that dare not speak its nameâ anymore, clandestine queer spies have been
preserved as spectral others in the genre for many years. Spy fiction is a cultural
repository retaining the memory of violence inflicted against those who have been called
âqueerâ in twentieth century Britain, and the spectral nature of queer spies narrates this
history reaching back to the Oscar Wilde trial in 1895, from which point British queer
identity as we know now developed.
This thesis benefits the study of spy fiction by filling a gap in the investigation of
homosexual representation. It also contributes to the field of gender studies of literature,
film, television, and theatre by illustrating queer history in a genre which has not received
a great deal of focus on its representation of homosexuality. Spy fiction occupies a
central position in British popular culture, and by exploring this genre in terms of
homosexuality, this research will identify the role which same-sex desire has historically
played in the British cultural imagination
Chinese Benteng Womenâs Participation in Local Development Affairs in Indonesia: Appropriate means for struggle and a pathway to claim citizenâ right?
It had been more than two decades passing by aftermath the devastating Asiaâs Financial Crisis in 1997, subsequently followed by Suhartoâs step down from his presidential throne which he occupied for more than three decades. The financial turmoil turned to a political disaster furthermore has led to massive looting that severely impacted Indonesians of Chinese descendant, including unresolved mystery of the most atrocious sexual violation against women and covert killings of students and democracy activists in this country. Since then, precisely aftermath May 1998, which publicly known as âReformasiâ1, Indonesia underwent political reform that eventually corresponded positively to its macroeconomic growth. Twenty years later, in 2018, Indonesia captured worldwide attention because it has successfully hosted two internationally renowned events, namely the Asian Games 2018 â the most prestigious sport events in Asia â conducted in Jakarta and Palembang; and the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Bali. Particularly in the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting, this event has significantly elevated Indonesiaâs credibility and international prestige in the global economic powerplay as one of the nations with promising growth and openness. However, the narrative about poverty and inequality, including increasing racial tension, religious conservatism, and sexual violation against women are superseded by friendly climate for foreign investment and eventually excessive glorification of the nationâs economic growth. By portraying the image of promising new economic power, as rhetorically promised by President Joko Widodo during his presidential terms, Indonesia has swept the growing inequality in this highly stratified society that historically compounded with religious and racial tension under the carpet of digital economy.Arte y Humanidade
Recent Hong Kong cinema and the generic role of film noir in relation to the politics of identity and difference
This thesis identifies a connection in Hong Kong cinema with classical Hollywood film noir and examines what it will call a 'reinvestment' in film noir in recent films. It will show that this reinvestment is a discursive strategy that both engages the spectator-subject in the cinematic practice and disengages him or her from the hegemony of the discourse by decentring the narrative. The thesis argues that a cinematic practice has occurred in the recent reinvestment of film noir in Hong Kong, which restages the intertextual relay of the historical genre that gives rise to an expectation of ideas about social instability. The noir vision that is seen as related to the fixed categories of film narratives, characterizations and visual styles is reassessed in the course of the thesis using Derridian theory. The focus of analysis is the way in which the constitution of meanings is dependent on generic characteristics that are different. Key to the phenomenon is a film strategy that destabilizes, differs and defers the interpretation of crises-personal, social, political and/or cultural-by soliciting self-conscious re-reading of suffering, evil, fate, chance and fortune. It will be argued that such a strategy evokes the genre expectation as the film invokes a network of ideas regarding a world perceived by the audience in association with the noirish moods of claustrophobia, paranoia, despair and nihilism. The noir vision is thus mutated and transformed when the film device differs and defers the conception of the crises as tragic in nature by exposing the workings of the genre amalgamation and the ideological function of the cinematic discourse. Thus, noirishness becomes both an affect and an agent that contrives a self-reflexive re-reading of the tragic vision and of the conventional comprehension of reality within the discursive practice. The film strategy, as an agent that problematizes the film form and narrative, gives rise to what I call a politics of difference, which may also be understood as the Lyotardian 'language game' or a practice of 'pastiche' in Jameson's terminology. Under the influence of the film strategy, the spectator is enabled to negotiate his or her understanding of recent Hong Kong cinema diegetically and extra-diegetically by traversing different positions of cinematic identification. When the practice of genre amalgamation adopts the visual impact of the noirish film form, the film turns itself into a playing field of 'fatal' misrecognition or a site of question. Through cinematic identification and alienation from the identification, the spectator-subject is enabled to experience the misrecognition as the film slowly foregrounds the way in which the viewer's presence is implicated in the narrative. This thesis demonstrates that certain contemporary Hong Kong films introduce this selfconscious mode of explication and interpretation, which solicits the spectator to negotiate his or her subject-position in the course of viewing. The notions of identity and subjectivity under scrutiny will thus be reread. With reference to The Private Eye Blue, Swordsman II, City a/Glass and Happy Together, the thesis shall explore the ways in which the Hong Kong films enable and facilitate a negotiation of cultural identity
To the ends of the earth: Post-Anthropocene cosmopolitanism in the novels of Kazuo Ishiguro, Margaret Atwood, and David Mitchell
This thesis examines the ethics and politics of cosmopolitanism beyond the Anthropocene by interrogating the presentation of the human in relation to other-than-humans in the novels of Kazuo Ishiguro, Margaret Atwood, and David Mitchell. The mounting global uncertainty and environmental crises have heightened fears that humanity may not survive beyond the third millennium, but these apocalyptic predictions reveal an anthropocentric concern with the planetâs ability to sustain human life in capitalist societies rather than the wellbeing of the planet.
I argue that ensuring the survival of humanity and the planet demands a new vision of cosmopolitanism that recognises the planetary interconnectedness and interdependence of all present and future beings who share the biosphere. This proposition calls for a redefinition of the human and an expansion of the communities that humans belong to and coheres with the aim of eco-cosmopolitanism to connect the human, nonhuman, and the ecological.
Using the lenses of posthumanism, ecocriticism, and cosmopolitanism, I examine how, despite their speculative content, the three authorsâ novels convincingly portray the experience of âdislocationâ brought about by globalisation and provoke fundamental questions about what constitutes the human and how this human subject might relate to nonhuman and posthuman others ethically and equitably. Through the interrogation of these issues, this thesis also shows how these works transcend the confines of fiction to inspire and challenge our current practices of cosmopolitanism
Feathers and Thorns: the politics of participation in mental health services
A key development in mental health service planning and delivery in the UK over the last fifteen years has been the introduction of user participation. Alongside this development has been the growth and expansion of the service user/survivor movement. Research in Canada and Australia has documented the 'unsettling relations' created by these demands for participation and power sharing. Research in the UK has also raised questions about the ability of user participation to create the cultural change some believe is required to prevent services from being disempowering. Feathers and Thorns explores the 'unsettling relations' and the conflict and power dynamics of user participation in mental health services, in a UK context, to address the lack of systematic research in this area. The study uses qualitative methods to investigate user participation in two statutory mental health settings in England, between 1997 and 1999. Feathers and Thorns found that the uncritical adoption of the consumerist approach has led to a 'business as usual' model of participation and a consequent lack of discernible organisational and cultural change. The influence of user groups within statutory mental health services rarely extends to setting agendas, with the 'rules of the game' of participation still firmly controlled by statutory partners. There was evidence of professional and organisational resistance, as user participation destabilised the roles of both users and professionals and boundaries became increasingly blurred. It is suggested
that this destabilising of traditional roles provides evidence of a shift in power relations, despite continued organisational and professional resilience to change. Although user participation was considered to be an effective strategy to legitimate existing power relationships and give the illusion of change: there was evidence that user groups and individuals have also gained from these processes, particularly in terms of raised consciousness, increased activism and self-assurance
Challenging the "crime of silence": subsistence harms and their recognition within and beyond conventional law
Human existence determines that we are vulnerable not only to attacks on physical integrity, but also to harms which militate against the means of subsistence. Deprivations of subsistence needs in the form of attacks on homes, land, livelihoods and basic resources have been widely perpetrated throughout history and are a particularly significant feature of contemporary conflict and political repression. However, international law is yet to fully recognise these harms as a discrete form of injustice and thus to address them within the mechanisms of international criminal and transitional justice. The thesis defines deprivations of subsistence needs, when perpetrated with knowledge of the possible consequences of such attacks, as "subsistence harms". It argues that subsistence harms constitute a particular and devastating type of violence, which involves interrelated physical, mental and social harms and is inherently gendered. While the existing legal framework acknowledges some aspects of subsistence harms, the failure of law to understand them as discrete, yet also multifaceted, means that its approach remains partial and fragmented; often resulting in continued marginalisation or silencing of these harms. The thesis examines both the potential and the pitfalls of using international law to begin to fully recognise subsistence harms. It argues that international law could and should play an important role in promoting their recognition. Nevertheless, the thesis also problematises the role of law and draws on critical approaches, in order to analyse alternative understandings of harm and spaces for recognition; especially the praxis of non-governmental tribunals and of social movements. Although law can provide a language for recognition of harms, which can be drawn on by such movements, it also imposes barriers to recognition due to its narrow conceptions of harm and violence. The relationship between subsistence harms and legal recognition is therefore complex and thus requires much greater attention within legal discourse, if such harms are ever to be fully addressed
Coachesâ self-perceptions on how they influence collective behaviour in team sports
Introduction: Team invasion games (e.g., football, basketball, rugby) all rely on cohesive and synchronous efforts for successful outcomes. Without this key fundamental, teams can appear disorganised and in turn perform poorly in competition. It becomes the coachâs responsibility to create shared understanding within the team . This can be done through planning engaging and diverse training situations and the interactions between coach and athlete seen during training sessions. This research project focused on two main theories, Ecological Dynamics (ED; Bennie & OâConnor, 2010) and the Constraint Led Approach (CLA; Newcombe et al. 2019). Both tools suitably equip coaches to plan and build training environments that can challenge and progress the learning of their athletes. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 team sports coaches (5 football, 1 hockey). Interviews took place online (via Zoom or Google Hangouts). All interviews were transcribed into scripts, which then were thematically analysed as per the guidelines outlined by Braun and Clarke (2021). Appropriate measures were taken to maintain the anonymity of participants. Result: The thematic analysis resulted in the development of 3 higher-order themes; a) Practice Design (Small Sided Conditioned Games, Session Intention, Representative Learning Design), Learning Environment (Goal Setting, Scaffolded Learning), and Coaching Behaviour that highlights how coaches perceived their contribution towards the development of a more synergistic team. Conclusion: In conclusion, coaches perceived themselves as environment builders that created environments promoting the problem-solving capabilities of the athletes. They reported various methods of task constraint manipulations (e.g., creating over/underloads in team numbers and changing pitch dimensions). Furthermore, coaches reported that they applied a âhand-off approach when coaching to allow the athletes to develop autonomy and discover the answers to the practice tasks, instead of simply prescribing actions. They also reported to avoid the use of instruction unless completely necessary and preferred the use of questioning as their behaviour of choice to help guide the perception of affordances in the learners
Hegemony, marginalisation, and hierarchies: Masculinities in contemporary Pakistani anglophone fiction
By being empowered as subjects, authors of Pakistani anglophone fiction present a more nuanced, layered, and complex picture of Pakistan than the Western hegemonic discursive construction of the country as a hub of terror. Contemporary Pakistani anglophone fiction provides an insight into the collisions of culture, modernity, and religion in Pakistan. This literature also offers a way of understanding gender dynamics in contemporary Pakistani society. Scholarship on the representation of men and masculinities in South Asian anglophone literature, especially Pakistani anglophone fiction, is sparse. My study seeks to fill this lacuna and focuses on fiction by four male authors, namely, Nadeem Aslam, Mohsin Hamid, Muhammad Hanif, and Daniyal Mueenuddin. My research highlights the potentially powerful existence of male narratives exposing, critiquing, and resisting misogyny, male violence, and gendered oppression. This research explores how these authors fashion the narrative of Pakistani masculinity and how these representations are shaped by wider societal, cultural, political, economic, and religious contexts. I draw on theories of performativity, intersectionality, and a range of scholarship about masculinities for my analysis.
Examining texts which bear the imprint of socio-cultural practices offers a tool to understand the social, cultural, and religious pressures that shape patriarchy, dictate menâs actions, and control masculine perceptions of identity and self-worth. Each chapter explores a different aspect of Pakistani masculinity, ranging from the depiction of the feudal and capitalist masculinities in rural Pakistan in In Other Rooms, Other Wonders to representations of toxic and hostile masculinities among working-class and lower-class men in Our Lady of Alice Bhatti and the clash between urban middle-class and elite Pakistani masculinities in Moth Smoke. The final two chapters reach beyond the geographic borders of the nation to focus on the depiction of the impact of honour culture, male entitlement, and racial marginalisation on diasporic Pakistani masculinities in Maps for Lost Lovers and the impact of global and political shifts on hegemonic masculine ideals and transnational business masculinity in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. This research maps a range of representations of the diversity, complexity, and unequal power dynamics of Pakistani masculinities. This study also explores the formation and representations of female identity and femininities in negotiations with masculinities in the selected fiction, for example, emphasized femininity in Maps for Lost Lovers, rural femininity in In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, and enlightened femininity in Moth Smoke. Through this study, I hope to widen the critical discourse about gender in relation to Pakistani anglophone fiction and contribute towards an expansion of scholarship seeking to interrogate and interpret Pakistani masculinities
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