Characters Of Representations Research Articles

Unveiling narratives: representation of same-sex love in bollywood films

The cultural history of India has been ignorant of various sexual orientations and gender identities leaving LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) community with a life of guilt and shame. Visual Media plays a key role in shaping society’s opinion of LGBTQIA+ people and individuals who come to terms with their gender and sexuality at a particular phase of their lives. The representation of homosexual characters is constantly diversified in Bollywood, and the change is evident from being caricatured and even scorned to being shown as prominent protagonists. The growing visibility and the positive portrayal of homosexual characters in Bollywood help to create a more inclusive society. This paper focuses on the select Bollywood films, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019) by Shelly Chopra Dhar and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020) by Hitesh Kewalya. The paper analyses the visual elements in select films and their role in shaping the portrayal of homosexuality within the narrative. The paper also reads the chosen films through the lens of familial resistance to same-sex relationships. By analysing the select films, the paper concludes that, though prior Bollywood films have explored the theme of individuals disclosing their sexual identity to their families, the primary narrative focus is not on seeking acceptance from their family members. Thus, the unique emphasis on seeking acceptance and understanding between family members and homosexual individuals set the select films as exceptional narratives within the context of Bollywood’s portrayal of homosexuality.

Study on Gender Ideology Evolution in the "Star Wars" Film Series

With the progression of time, female roles in science fiction movies have become increasingly significant, showcasing notable changes in both their quantity and character traits. Spanning 42 years, the "Star Wars" film series of 11 movies exhibits marked differences in female character portrayal. Over several years of development, female roles have gradually moved away from the singular identity of being "objects of gaze," no longer solely passive "desires of objects" or mere carriers for the flat representation of male characters in the audience's eyes and within the films. In the current narrative mechanism of Star Wars movies, the patriarchal center has been significantly challenged, and the "female discourse subject" with agency and independent will is gradually emerging. This study aims to explore the relevant connections between these female characters and the feminist trends of the time. By decoding the imagery of women in mainstream commercial films under the patriarchal framework, it analyzes the underlying gender ideologies and attempts to explore the future trajectory of constructing female discourse.

A Performance for Everyone? Othering and the Politics of Language in J.M.R. Lenz’s Die Soldaten (1776)

While J.M.R. Lenz has historically been considered something of an outsider in the eighteenth-century German canon, his play Die Soldaten has attracted interest from contemporary scholars due to its open-ended dramatic structure and sharp-witted social satire. However, the use of language in Lenz’s representation of a Jewish character, Aaron, in Act 3 of Die Soldaten is a stumbling block for many modern readers. The exclusion of the Jewish character from the Gentile community is underscored by the use of linguistic markers of Yiddish in the play, which resonates with Lenz’s thinking about “Jewish” physiognomy and language in a note he wrote to Lavater in the summer of 1777. Die Soldaten is a prime example of a canonical text that marks a voice of difference as noisy, “foreign” and other, as well as being excessive and abject. By taking an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach to Lenz’s Die Soldaten, we can bring the more uncomfortable facets of this text into focus, and interrogate our own problematic investments in the German canon since the Enlightenment.

Multifocality in Group Perception in Biblical Narrative

This article presents a unique combination of two well-known phenomena in biblical narrative: multivocality in group speech and representation of characters’ perception. In this rare phenomenon, the perception of a group is represented as a blending of “quotations” of its members’ inner worlds, thus illustrating how different people perceive the same objects differently. Due to the nature of multivocality and to biblical narrative’s use of free indirect discourse in representing perception, examples of multifocal group perception are difficult to find and formally impossible to prove. Nevertheless, the context and other indicators (which are described and explained in the article) support, in some cases, the hypothesis of multifocal group perception. In these cases, as the article demonstrates, this hypothesis not only explains repetition and grammatical unsuitability but also reveals new information and exhibits a consistency in the use of artistic devices. After discussing the exegetical advantages of the hypothesis of multifocal group perception in each example, the article offers a wider perspective on this phenomenon, emphasizing its contribution to the evaluation of the importance of inner life in biblical narrative.

Прозрачное мышление и крестьянская субъективность в повести И. С. Тургенева «Постоялый двор»

The representation of characters’ minds and consciousness in Ivan Turgenev’s novella “The Inn” (1852), published in 1856, is explored through narratological methods. The author puts forth a hypothesis that Turgenev mastered the novelistic form by practicing auctorial narratives with a heterodiegetic narrator. This hypothesis is based on the theory of “transparent minds” formulated by Dorrit Cohn and her followers. In this respect, the lifestyle and consciousness of peasants, not deemed understandable by other educated social groups at the time, serves as a convenient tool for Turgenev to employ the auctorial narrative style and the technique of lucid thinking in “Mumu” and “The Inn.” The latter work introduces a groundbreaking portrayal of the peasant’s subjectivity, achieved through the exploration of direct thought, indirect speech and thought, and the narrative of thought acts. In the finale of the novella, the narrator dedicates significant attention to the protagonist, Akim, carefully observing his outer and inner speech, its subsequent loss, and eventual recovery. The metaphysical and profound significance of “The Inn” lies in Akim’s transformative journey following a material and moral catastrophe. Overnight, he loses both his modestly acquired wealth and his spouse, leading him to undergo a process of repentance and enlightenment. Their influence leads him to spiritual renewal, reestablishing the profound significance of existence and embarking on a devout journey through holy sites. Consequently, the return of speech and the inner rebirth can be interpreted as a manifestation of subjectivity and even agency of the hero.

Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Wind Tale’: A Feminist Linguistic Analysis through the Lens of the Robinson-Lakoff Theory

This research paper investigates the application of feminist linguistics to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wind Tale," also known as "The Wind and the Sun." By analyzing the language and character representation within the narrative, the study aims to reveal how linguistic practices reflect and perpetuate gender roles and identities. Grounded in the foundational works of feminist linguists such as Robin Lakoff, Dale Spender, and Judith Butler, the analysis focuses on two key areas: character representation and the agency of female voices. The first aspect examines the portrayal of female characters, questioning whether they are depicted primarily in relation to male figures or as autonomous individuals, while also analyzing the attributes and motivations ascribed to them against the backdrop of 19th-century societal expectations of femininity. The second aspect explores the agency and voices of female characters, assessing their role in a male-dominated narrative. This study ultimately aims to illuminate the complexities of gender dynamics in "The Wind Tale," demonstrating how language serves as a reflection and reinforcement of contemporary gender norms.

Towards an Inclusive Society: De-Centering Heteronormativity in Tendai Huchu’s the Hairdresser of Harare and Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees

The portrayal of queer sexuality in African literature is something that is getting more and more attention, as a way of highlighting what happens in various societies in the world. This paper explores the portrayal of queer individuals in two African novels: Tendai Huchu’s The Hairdresser of Harare and Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees. Having observed that in the two novels queer individuals are forced to mask their sexuality and adopt heteronormative public personae in order to fit into mainstream society, this paper observes the two authors have used diaries and letters to accord agency to their repressed queer characters. The paper argues that diaristic and epistolary writing, in which individuals of queer sexuality reveal their intimate feelings for each other, are strong tools which the authors have used to accord agency to their repressed queer characters. The paper also uses Andy Alaszewski’s idea of “social suffering versus the diary.” Alaszewski (2006) observes that diaries provide a way of avoiding some of the moral dilemmas created when researchers solicit narratives of suffering and represent accounts which contextualize suffering within a personal biography. This study also observes the authors’ representation of heterosexual characters who accept the presence of queer individuals in their societies. It is in this line that this paper argues that the two authors offer a glimpse into a possibility of an inclusive society which accommodates people’s sexualities that are considered non-normative.

Women’s Devotion to the Prophet as Reflected in the Literary Construction of a Non-Canonical Mawlid Narrative: Abū al-Ḥasan al-Bakrī’s Kitāb al-anwār

The Kitāb al-anwār attributed to Abū al-Ḥasan al-Bakrī continues to be, after many centuries, a mysterious narrative, and his alleged author even more enigmatic. The work narrates the creation and transmission of the prophetic light following the tropes of popular romance. In this article we will focus on one of its most peculiar features, that is, the detailed and emotional representation of female characters and the woman’s realm. We will argue that female empowerment – a typical feature of folklore literature – could be the result of the storyteller’s will to appeal to female audience that attended the celebrations for the birth of the Prophet in medieval times. To support our argument we will compare different versions of the work, manuscripts and printed, to demonstrate how the literary depiction of women-related themes is more elaborated in the latest versions of the work, produced when mawlid festivals were a well-established practice. Popular Mawlid Narrative, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Bakrī, Storyteller, Women, Mawlid ceremonies, Folklore, Sīra Shaʿbiyya

Queer Representation in Mandarin Chinese Language Learning Textbooks of the United Kingdom

This paper uses a queer theoretical lens and mixed methods conceptual framework for use in assessing the level of queer representation of characters portrayed in Mandarin Chinese language learning textbooks published in the United Kingdom. MFL textbooks largely produce content which reinforces a perceive cisgendered, heteronormative characterisation of individuals within texts. Research that assesses the level of queer representation, tend towards focusing solely on gender or sexuality, and largely through qualitative research methods. Through the development of a mixed methods conceptual framework which allows for consideration of queer diversity along several spectra, the results of this study highlighted a significant lack of queer representation within Mandarin Chinese language learning textbooks. The implication of this is not only a mixed methods approach which accounts for often overlooked minority queer identities, but also identifying the need for a greater variety of queer representation within textbooks to better represent people of the 21st century.

Амплуа и архетип в театральной сказке В. М. Шукшина

The paper presents a thorough examination of the character structure in the theatrical fairy tale created by Vasily Shukshin. The analysis of the theatrical characters results in an attempt to substantiate a specific approach to the artistic comprehension and visual content of the the-atrical character. This approach is based on the canonical system of roles and the invariants of the archetype. The early stage of the writer’s creativity is characterized by the search for artistic identity, with the focus on developing the character, bringing the hero and the creator closer. However, in the later period, Shukshin takes a different approach by distancing himself from the hero. The rejection of literary characters in favor of roles in “Point of view” marks an exit from the zone of social conflicts into the space of aesthetic issues. Contrasting accents in identical roles are used to counterpoint the neutral position of the author, instantly discoloring and devaluing the plot. This strategy emphasizes the interest in exploring the subjective/objective nature of an artistic image and the essence of character. The next step taken in “Before the third cocks” is to transform and rethink the character plan. Instead of being simplified, the characters are condensed to an archetype. This allows the artist to make anthropological generalizations, placing a Person in the center of philosophical and aesthetic discourse, surpassing the limitations of eccentric and “unsolved” individuals.

CFOR: Character-First Open-Set Text Recognition via Context-Free Learning.

The open-set text recognition task is a generalized form of the (close-set) text recognition task, where the model is further challenged to spot and incrementally recognize novel characters in new languages, which also indicate a shift in the language model. In this work, we propose to alleviate the confounding effect such biases under an open-set setup by learning individual character representations out of their context.We propose a Character-First Open-Set Text Recognition framework that treats individual characters as first-class citizens by cotraining the feature extractor with two context-free learning tasks. First, a Context Isolation Learning task is proposed to wipe the context for each character, utilizing a character mask learned in a weak supervision manner. Second, the framework adopts an Individual Character Learning task, which is a single-character classification task with synthetic samples. Our framework can reliably spot unseen characters in Japanese with F1-score over 64%, and can adapt to recognize unseen characters in Japanese, Korean, Greek, and other languages without retraining. The framework also shows decent many-shot performance on close-set text benchmarks with 91.5% line accuracy on IIIT5k and a speed of over 69 FPS single-batched, making it a feasible universal lightweight OCR solution.

Fictional Characters in Literary Theory — A Short History

This contribution to the special issue on “The Persistence of Character” provides a brief history of approaches to fictional characters in literary studies, from the emergence of structuralism to current explorations of fictional beings in the context of 4E cognition. By sketching the different stages in the development of character theory since the mid-twentieth century the article shows that the influential (post)structuralist conception of characters as signs, symbols, and (plot) functions, which still occupies a key position in literary scholarship today, fails to do justice to the fascination literary figures frequently exert on readers. With a particular focus on the field of narratology, the article traces the ways in which this “antihumanist” (Felski) conception of fictional characters has been challenged over the past decades. Furthermore, it demonstrates how new theoretical developments in this field tend to be closely intertwined with overarching developments in literary theory in general.

The Representation of Character Education in the Movie Sang Prawira Based on Thomas Lickona’s Theory

The film is the favorite literary work teachers adopt to teach students character education. The Sang Prawira movie (2019) contains an educational character message and motivation to reach the dreams of society, especially the young generation. The study of character education representation based on Thomas Lickona's theory has yet to be investigated by previous studies. This study aims to investigate the character education representation based on Thomas Lickona's theory that is strongly represented in Sang Prawira's movie. This study uses the qualitative method using the theory of character education by Thomas Lickona. Based on the study, the researcher found the representation of character education, such as drug education as the moral principle, fortitude in fighting for kindness, positive attitude through hope and support, humility in admitting mistakes, wisdom through the ability to make decisions, loving to god almighty and all humans, hard work to achieve the dreams, the integrity recognition as ethical consistency, the gratitude by realizing obligation, justice in recognizing the responsibilities. In conclusion, the representation of the educational character in this film should be obtained by many Indonesian students because it becomes an example and guideline for them to implement good moral knowledge, behavior, and feeling in broader society.

A Science Education for Textural Creation and Iconic Forms of Infrastructure at Medan

Medan City, as the center of the Deli Malay Sultanate and the colonial administration in the past, boasts numerous iconic forms. The distinctive characteristics of these iconic forms hold significant potential for development as references in creating contextual texture painting art. Unfortunately, this potential remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this research aims to explore the potential of iconic forms in Medan City with the goal of developing them as references for the creation of textural painting art as a tourism product for Medan City. This study employs a descriptive qualitative approach, conducted both in the field and in the studio. The methods employed include surveys and creative creation, applying Graham Wallas' theory of creativity. Research data is collected from various sources using relevant techniques, subjected to data triangulation, and analyzed following an interactive model: data reduction and presentation, verification, and drawing conclusions. The research results indicate that the potential of iconic forms as references for abstract textural painting art emerges from their representation of Medan City's character, alongside the dynamic nature they embody. The exploration of abstract textural art becomes tangible during the painting process, which, in this study, involves deformative processes, particularly simplification and stylization. Abstract textural painting art is explored based on the principles of visual art and tourist art, resulting in artworks that possess both aesthetic and technical qualities as tourism products.

3D Modelling: A Review

Three-dimensional (3D) modeling is a transformative process in the digital realm that involves the creation of virtual representations of objects, environments, or characters. This multifaceted discipline plays a pivotal role across diverse industries, encompassing animation, gaming, virtual reality, architecture, product design, and more. The fundamental components of 3D modeling include vertices, edges, and faces, forming meshes that define the object's geometry. Techniques such as polygonal modeling, NURBS modeling, and subdivision surfaces offer varying approaches to sculpting digital forms. UV mapping ensures precise texture application, while rigging and animation breathe life into models through skeletal structures and movement. The integration of textures, materials, and lighting enhances the realism of rendered images or animations. Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modeling caters to engineering precision, and sculpting tools enable intricate detailing for characters or organic shapes. As technology advances, 3D modeling continues to evolve, influencing the way we visualize, design, and interact with virtual worlds. This abstract provides an overview of key concepts in 3D modeling, highlighting its significance in shaping digital experiences and pushing the boundaries of creative expression and technical innovation.

BUDDHIST MYSTERY «TSAM»: ITS STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

The Buddhist theatrical mystery tsam is an artistic structure in which all the elements are functionally interconnected with each other. According to its features tsam shows commonality with the universal specifics of the folk thea-ter, where the audience often fulfills the function of an artist and a director, and the stage space is created and expanded by involving the spectator into the action. The costume, mask and dance-pantomime are functionally connect-ed with the ritual in the performance, and the dialogue − with representations of comic character.

Collage Poetry from a Postmodernist Perspective

The main feature of postmodernist literature is the self-referential nature of the text, so that the form of collage poetry can be seen as its new discursive paradigm, and its anti-logical form reveals a reflection on the traditional character representation system. While introducing three-dimensional objects into the two-dimensional plane, "things" freely appear in the expressive form of collage poetry, and the "sense of things" embodied by rupture and heterogeneity leads to the proposition of contemporary art. In the open space of meaning constructed by collage poetry, the viewer interacts with the author, presenting a contemplation and rebellious innovation in the era of mechanical reproduction, thus achieving "art towards philosophy".

Perjuangan Kesetaraan dalam Novel Fatatu As-Sajair Karya Ratih Kumala (Kajian Kritik Sastra Feminis)

Abstract: This study explains the struggle for gender equality of female figures in several of its parts. The novel Fatatu As-Sajair presents a female characters who has an influence on the development of cigarettes in Indonesia. The representation of female characters in this novel not only places women in an inferior position, but can also be in a superior position. The purpose of this study is to explain the socialist feminism contained in the novel. This study uses a qualitative descriptive analysis method with a type of literary criticism approach, namely feminist literary criticism. The research results from the novel Fatatu As-Sajair show that the novel contains female characters fighting for gender equality by working in the clove cigarette sector.

Analisis Semiotika Terhadap Tokoh Utama Perempuan dalam Film Perempuan Tanah Jahanam

Horror is still a popular genre in the growth of Indonesian films. Female characters are often featured iconically in the narrative of a horror film. However, there is a negative stigma about the presence of female characters in horror films who appear as antagonistic characters. Female characters often play the role of ghosts, victims of crimes, and other complementary characters. This study uses qualitative research and Roland Barthes semiotics to analyze the representation of female characters in Perempuan Tanah Jahanam. This research focuses on the main female characters in the movie. The results of this study explain the denotation that describes the female characters in Perempuan Tanah Jahanam as women who become the main characters in filling various important roles in horror films, while in the connotation there are various meanings that the main female characters have social strengths such as courage in fighting patriarchal culture, supporting fellow women, working hard and being independent, from the denotation and connotation that the author found formed a myth in the form of elements of feminism that were constructed on the four main characters in the film. Researchers found that the main female character is no longer represented as a victim or a seductive and sexy ghost. Female characters are also not used as a means of supporting the success and interests of commercialism in a horror film.

Tenacious Stereotypes and Inflated Expectations. Review of the Book “Admiring the Academic Class: Reflection of the Social History of Soviet Science in Literature, Art and Public Rhetoric” by K. Frumkin

The review notes the significance of the monograph. In his book, the cultural studies scholar Konstantin Frumkin has collected unique materials on the evolution of the theme of science and scientists in Soviet (Russian) culture throughout the 20th century. The author develops two parallel story lines. The first line presents an analysis of the historical development of Russian science in the 20th century. The second line presents a detailed list of templates and stereotypes of the academic environment that have developed in art. It is shown that the most widespread and iconic in Soviet art is the representation of the positive character of scientist as a self-sacrificing enthusiast. Other stereotypes under discussion include scientists’ self-sacrifice and their fighting qualities which allow them to resist impostors in science. The themes of struggle with academic plagiarism and careerism were developed. Under the sign of state impatience and inflated expectations, the obligatory theme of the connection between science and production was elaborated. An important conclusion is drawn about the tenacity of stereotypes which were not hindered by the evolution of Soviet society’s attitude to science.