Be Happy Because Your Father Isn't Your Father: An Analysis of Colombian Telenovelas

Critics of mass-mediated culture have long maintained that media such as television, radio, and newspapers are instrumental in propagating class values. In his analysis of Colombian telenovelas, Azriel Bibliowicz argues that this apparently harmless form of entertainment also has a political and ideological base whose implicit messages serve to make its viewers forget reality. Just as Levi Strauss believes that mythsplay a central role in society, Bibliowicz claims that the purpose of myths in telenovelas is to have us lose sight o f the origins of the eristingsocial order and to exonerate the dominant class which controls society's means of production. He gives us an overview of the Colombian television industry, describes how a telenovela is made, and analyzes one-“Manuela”-which contains a social message. Readers will find some interesting similarities and differences between this study of a Colombian popular art form and the articles by Flora and Bonilla de Ramos which focus on the fotonovela and radio in the same country.     

The Writing on the Walls: Graffiti as Government Propaganda in Mexico

As pointed out in another article (Flora) contained in this volume, Latin American governments use mass media and popular culture forms to inform the masses and to provide messages which serve as alternatives to those communicated by the “controlled” media. While print and electronic means are effective in reaching large segments of Latin America's urban and rural populations, walls, both public and private, have been utilized as well. As Kenneth Crrieb points out in his article, painting announcements on walls is a common practice in these societies as well as in other nan- Western countries such as the People's Republic of China. Grieb focuses on the phenomenon in Mexico City during the latter protion of Luis Echeverria's presidenc (mid-1970s) when, under his orders, painters decorated walls all over the city with messages proclaiming both political slogans and popular wisdom. Perhaps inspired by his visit to China, Echeverria saw the potential of wall announcements to mobilize the populace to a greater awareness of their social responsibility as Mexican citizens. Grieb lists and comments on several categories of wall announcements which he sees as a mirror of the thoughts of the political leadership as well as an indication of the values it sought to promote.     

Lágrimas,risas y amor: Mexico's Most Popular Romance Comic Book

Romance comic books, strips, and magazines enjoy immense popularity in the United States. The same is true in Mexico where LLgrimas, risasy amor, the country's most popular romance comic book, sells between 1.2 and 1.5 million copies per week. In his study, Charles Tatum discusses some of the publication's most important aspects including its creators, readership, circulation, and basic plot and character types and settings. He finds that, as in other populargenres Ldgrimas can be reduced to basic narrative formulas which, although they are repetitive, are presented in an interesting fashion and with sufficient variety to continue to attract large numbers of readers. In a comparative section, Tatum observes that this Mexican romance comic book closely resembles its American counterpart in terms of its implicit values and attitudes. Ligrimas is both politically and socially conservative, mute regarding politics and tending to reinforce dominant values towards sex roles, the family and marriage. Readers will find some interesting parallels between Lagrimas and the fotonovelas analyzed in Flora's study.     

符号-物、虚像与大众文化批判--巴特《流行体系》解读

20世纪40年代之后,对大众文化的批判构成当时欧洲思想界的一个重要主题,巴特是其中一位重要代表.与法兰克福学派从思辨角度批判大众文化不同,巴特主要从索绪尔结构语言学方法入手,揭示经过大众传媒这一中介后,大众文化如何将自己建构为一种符号机制,并在日常生活中将人们吸收到这个体制的过程.巴特认为,这不再是人直接被物所支配,而是人被符号创造出来的虚像所支配,这是现代意识形态的重要特征.<流行体系>是巴特结合结构语言学方法分析大众文化的代表作.     

The Festival of Progress: The Globalizing World-System and the Transformation of the Caracas Carnival

While the carnival in Latin America functions as a form of popular entertainment, it can also be viewed as having other roles. Robert Lavenda examines the Caracas carnival as an event which is atonce symptomatic of the social reality that surrounds it and able to bring about change within Venezuelan society. As popular culture, the carnival has been an important mediator in directing this society toward the modern capitalist worJd-system. Lavenda traces how, under the leadership o f Antonio Guzman Blanco, Venezuela took a major step in the second half of the nineteenth certury towards becoming a modern country. Under Guzman's and other modernizers' influence the old carnival, which had been characterized as a wild and rowdy small-group activity, was transformed to bring it into line with contemporary European models, that is, a highly organized and closely monitored mass celebration. The author discusses how the new power relationships that had developed in the city were reflected by the composition of the carnival's governing board. By setting up a series of oppositions between the South American and European versions of the carnival, Caracas' ruling elite hoped to orient the masses away from the former values and towards the latter.     

文学经典与大众文化--从简·奥斯汀小说的接受传播过程说起

二百年来奥斯汀小说的接受与传播过程，为如何看待和对待文学经典提供了丰富的启示。奥斯汀的小说经历了自身价值不断被发现与显现、在多重外力作用下从通俗文学走向文学经典的过程；在大众消费文化时代，奥斯汀小说作为源文本不断衍生、被开发，由文学资源成为文化产业链的资本。大众传播形式固然有削弱文学经典严肃性和深度感的一面，但经典本来就是一个不断建构的过程，各种重构和阐释为奥斯汀创作注入活力、延续生命，构建出文学经典与大众文化的良性互动关系。     

From Bawdyhouse to Cabaret: The Evolution of the Tango as an Expression of Argentine Popular Culture

While most readers will be generally familiar with the tango, few of us know very much about its fascinating history and evolution. Deborah Jakubs makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of this initially working-class cultural form, which was at first disdained and then appropriated by the Argentine middle and upper classes. She traces its origins in the lower class neighborhoods on the outskirts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, its exportation to major European cultural centers, and finally its repatriation to Argentina where it has become a symbol of tradition and national identity. The author ably leads us through the maze of studies that historians, sociologists, musicologists and others have generated over the last hundred years. She examines some of the tango's principal themes in order to delineate its cultural significance within Argentine society in general and within Buenos Aires in particular. We come away from this article much more cognizant of how a popular cultural form can function in the formation of a nation's identity.     

从结果展示到过程传播——传播视角中的真人秀

“真人秀”节目泛指由制作者制订规则,由普通人参与并录制播出的电视竞赛游戏节目。真人秀节目在全球掀起新一轮的收视热潮,新的节目形态和营销理念也在电视业界引起广泛关注。以传播学为框架,从大众传播、受众研究、生产流程、传播方式等不同侧面分析,真人秀是一种新型的综合型电视娱乐节目,集中了纪录片、电视剧、游戏节目之长,集戏剧性、娱乐性、纪实性于一体,大量采用跟踪拍摄等纪实手法制作的节目。     

大众文化、现代传媒与社会责任

借助现代化传媒,当代大众文化及其产品对广大受众精神世界的影响既有积极层面的内容,也存在诸多消极影响。面对大众文化媚俗倾向,学理层面和文化层面的文化批判是必要的,但更重要者还在于,大众文化及其产品经营者、制造者应具备社会责任感和责任意识。在追逐经济效益的同时,意识到文化产品的特殊属性,使大众文化及其产品凸显更多的文化价值意义。     

安妮塔·德赛的女性小说及其艺术特色

安妮塔·德赛是现代印度著名英语小说家。妇女心理问题是德赛小说的重要主题。她的小说主要描写了女性角色的心理,从敏感、神经质到内心的独立,反映了印度现代社会具有独立意识的女性群体的心理变化。本文通过分析德赛女性小说的艺术特色,重点阐述小说的叙事结构模式、意识流叙事手法和女性化写作。     

Science Fiction and the Schoolchild

During the past decade, Soviet science fiction has experienced a boom not inferior to its "golden age" of the 1920s. Many new names have appeared. The subject matter has become more serious. The writers have improved in the literary sense. There has been a noticeable broadening in the range of readers of science fiction. Moreover, it has become increasingly possible for them to familiarize themselves with the best works of foreign writers. Finally, rather probing critical efforts have appeared — science fiction is now gaining students, and even theorists, of its own. All this is beyond question. It is hardly necessary now to prove to anyone (despite the fact that a stormy discussion raged around this matter in our national press a few years ago) that science fiction is either reading for amusement or specifically "children's" literature. However, there are still no accepted precise quantitative criteria for the readers' new attitude toward science fiction, and this has allowed some critics to defend clearly outdated ideas, constantly appealing to some "mass" or "simple" reader, although it is impossible to verify such assertions. It was for just this reason that members of the Science Fiction Fan Club at Moscow University — the students in the natural science departments who had in mind the basic principle of the exact sciences that asserts that all a priori statements must be checked by experiment — decided on an attempt to apply this principle to their favorite form of literature. The best proof of the timeliness of this test was the fact that the idea had literally permeated the atmosphere, for just as the Moscow University club began, science fiction fans in Baku, headed by G. Al'tov, decided to conduct a mass survey of science fiction readers. This made it possible to develop a coordinated questionnaire and to enlarge considerably the number of people queried. Approximately 700 questionnaires were received, and the resulting data are surely the most complete reflection of the present opinions of Soviet readers about science fiction. It would, of course, be very interesting to give a complete report on the questionnaire, but the nature of this magazine forces us to confine ourselves to the subject of science fiction and the schoolchild, and to analyze primarily the attitude of school-age readers to science fiction.     

Radio and Advertising in Colombia

Over the last few decades radio has becomeone of the primary means of mass communication in Latin America, able to reach euen the remotest rural populations because of the transistor. Colombia, where ninety-one percent of the homes in the seven largest cities have at least one radio, has also been heavily impacted by this modern technological phenomenon, Elssy Bonilla de Ramos focuses on radio advertising as a means of characterizing the relationship between radio and the Colombian economic sector. She argues that private companies who own most of the country's stations and networks influence programming and advertising in order to widely promote products which they produce. She believes that in many cases these products are not necessary to the consumers'well-being but are advertised in a way to make them more desirable. The authorgives a brief history of commercial radio in Colombia during the last fifty years, stating that early in its development programming underwent significant changes in order to capture an expanded audience. Comedy, sports, news, soap operas, classical and popular music, and quiz shows soon dominated the airways to the exclusion of programming that could play a role in the political, social and economic development of the country. She contends that industries that owned radio were intent on training for consumption and she uses a week's sample of programming and advertising to illustrate her point.     

The protestant ethic and the religious tattoo

This research illustrates how basic ideas from Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism are reflected in religious individuals’ choices in obtaining tattoos. Qualitative responses to survey questions show that, among 60 university students who indicated they have one, religious tattoos reflect asceticism in their lives, point them to service (calling) in the name of God, or provide a level of assurance (or anxiety) regarding life after death. We offer this work as an illustration of how the essence of Weber's work persists in the popular culture of the 21st century.     

Political opinion leadership and advertisement attitude: The moderating roles of cognitive and affective responses to political messages

Political opinion leadership is a type of viewer involvement measure that may be relevant to predicting the viewer's attitude toward an advertisement with political content. This study was designed to investigate if cognitive and affective responses to political messages in fashion advertisements play any moderating roles in the relationship between political opinion leadership and advertisement attitude. The results suggest that effectiveness of political content in the advertisement for politically involved consumers may be determined by how clearly the message is communicated to the viewers. Discussions were also made as to the distinction between textual and pictorial messages and to how the viewer's recognition of a pictorial message can be a factor affecting the impact of political opinion leadership on attitude toward advertisement with political content.     

赫哲族渔文化的形成及其传承机制

渔文化是赫哲族民族文化的核心。它是赫哲族特有的物质生产方式、生活方式、所繁衍生息的自然地理环境以及先民们探索创造的结晶,已融入传统民居、文学艺术和宗教信仰之中,并通过渔业生产、日常生活以及人生习俗得到生动体现。因此,与生产生活实践的结合性、与自然地理环境的协调性和兼收并蓄其他民族文化的包容性是渔文化的显著特点。赫哲族历经了沧桑久远的文明演变,创造了不朽的渔文化,其生存的需要、民族民俗学的研究及文物征集和人民政府的保护力度,分别构成了其得以传承的动力机制、长效机制和保障机制。     

Part II: Death in Literature. Poetry as Epitaph

Anyone tolerably versed in American literature will realize that we could have devoted our entire collection to attitudes toward death in American literature. Such a collection could be tightly organized and valuable, but it might also be redundant for an audience which consists primarily of loosened-up literary folk to begin with. So we offer, instead of standard selections, a group of essays which, though they are about death in literature, use literature as a vehicle for discussing either theoretical or practical interpretations of death in American society and letters. Karen Campbell's essay, “Poetry as Epitaph,” uses Emily Dickinson's poetry to illustrate and embody current international theories about death and language. We place this contribution first in this section because it serves as a transition between Gravestones and Epitaphs and Death in Literature: Dickinson was writing at the same historical moment discussed by Kenneth Ames in “Ideologies in Stone,” a fact the reader may wish to remember while reading “Poetry as Epitaph;” and Karen Campbell treats Dickinson's poetry as epitaphic in style and genre. Sonia Gernes' “Life After Life: Katherine Anne Porter's Version” uses Porter's “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” to illustrate and make provocative suggestions about Raymond Moody's theses in Life After Life. Leslier Fiedler's contribution is an extract from a speech given under the auspices of an organization studying the humanist's response to child abuse, and is part of a series of lectures on that subject. He discusses infanticide through literature and then through popular culture. Marvin Kohl takes issue with some of Professor Fiedler's conclusions.     

The Burden of Success: Futebol and Brazilian Society through the 1970s

Futebol, Brazil's national sport-best-known to American audiences through the brilliant play o f Pelé one of its superstars-is more than simple mass entertainment. Robert Levine traces the evolution of the trends in the history of Brazilian soccer to explain what may be behind the current unprecedented dissatisfaction with the sport. Beginning with the 189Os, he illustrates how futebol is a barometer by which national pride, exuberance, frustration, rage, and hope may be measured. He shows that as the game changed from an activity restricted to the upperclass to a popular form of entertainment with a mass audience, it became a means used by the government in the 1930s and 1940s to foster national integration. More recently, it has been used by an unpopular military regime to bolster its popularity. In the second part of his study, Levine focuses on Pelé who reintroduced an appreciation of individualistic skills to the game and loaned his mass popularity to the military regime. In short, the author makes a convincing case on how the sport of futebol has been used as a political weapon.     

Youth Has Its Say on Love and Marriage

On December 10, 1961 Komsomolskaya Pravda published another of its Institute of Public Opinion questionnaires, "Your Ideas About the Young Family." Within a week the newspaper received over 3,000 answers; a sampling of the cross-section of readers' opinions appeared on December 17 and in subsequent issues. See also the soviet review, November and December 1961, for previous Youth Opinion Poll results.     

Was There a Popular Culture in the Middle Ages?

With Bruce A. Rosenberg's article, “Was There a Popular Culture in the Middle Ages,” we come full circle, returning to some of the comments made by Charles Altman. Rosenberg's cautionary remark that segmenting the experienced world into “popular,”“folk,” and “elite,” is arbitrary and artificial does not discount thepractical value and necessity of constructing analytic categories in popular culture studies. What is essential, however, is that those of us studying “kopular”artifacts must also examine the ways in which they interact with other cultural aspects or segments.     

The Timing of Presidential Cinema*

Objective. Researchers have examined the social meaning of political cinema; however, little research places film into its contemporary political and economic context. Therefore, I examine the timing of the production and release of presidential cinema. Methods. The data are comprised of major motion picture releases from the years 1953–2004 that include a U.S. president as a character. Regression analysis is used to determine how the temporal release of movies featuring a president corresponds to social realities. Results. I find that the release of presidential cinema is correlated with the party that controls the actual White House and with the number of consecutive terms that the same party has been in the White House. More films with presidents are released during Democratic administrations than during Republican administrations and more films with presidents are released during first rather than second terms. This appears more acute during presidential election years. The state of the national economy affects the release of presidential cinema as well. Strong economies lead to the release of more films with presidents. Conclusions. This suggests that popular film content is affected not only by filmmaker whim and creativity, but also by measurable contemporary political and economic conditions. Future studies investigating film content should account for how national trends affect popular entertainment.