Cultural Conventions Research Articles

Advertising discourse as modelling and semiotic activity

The article is aimed at analysing the basic concepts of semiotics and their application in multimodal advertising texts of consumer goods. The purpose of the article is to study advertising discourse as a modelling and semiotic activity in English-language advertising discourse, as well as to outline the main semiotic strategies and linguistic means in the formation of English-language advertising messages. The main objectives are to review the works of Ukrainian and foreign researchers on the issue, to identify and describe the key semiotic strategies and linguistic means of English-language advertising texts, and to determine the role of semiotic strategies in interaction with the audience and their reproduction of cultural concepts through advertising communication. The article provides a comprehensive overview of some of the key principles and concepts of semiotics and their advertising relevance, highlighting the construction of denotative messages about a product and desired connotative associations. The article also explains the role of adherence to known codes and the use of intertextual references in advertisements to create a connection with the audience. This article draws heavily on fundamental semiotic theories such as Peirce's triadic sign model, the distinction between denotation and connotation, the role of codes and cultural conventions, and the phenomenon of intertextuality. The article shows how advertisers use signs, symbols and related meanings to create culturally resonating persuasive campaigns. The relevance of the study is to understand how advertising shapes attitudes and stereotypes, as well as how modern technologies change the ways of interacting with the audience through linguistic and semiotic strategies.

Toward a Narratology of Western Narrative Theatre Dance

ABSTRACT: Dance is barely present in narrative studies. It is generally accepted as a narrative medium, yet lacks a systematic study that addresses its distinctive qualities. This article focuses on generic theoretical issues of dance as a narrative medium and discusses its place within current narratological debates. The first premise suggested here is that among the diferent manifestations of dance, narrative theatre dance is the fullest expression of narrativity, with a narrative essence that the notions of plot and experientiality help defining and grading. Taking the discussion through routes explored for drama, this essay also argues for a narratological model of the analysis of dance narratives on two levels: the story level and the discourse level understood as performance. Another set of considerations concentrate on the semiotic structure of dance, showing how it can be dissected in a productive way for narratological analyses. The essay ends with a discussion on the relevance of context and cultural conventions for the interpretation of dance. Underpinning these reflections are foundational studies of transmedial narratology, widely-used narratological definitions of narrative, and discussions of the narrative nature of drama as well as key texts from the history, philosophy and analysis of dance. Three examples of dance—John Weaver’s ballet The Loves of Mars and Venus (1717), Kenneth MacMillan’s The Invitation (1960), and Leonid Yakobson’s Vestris (1969)—illustrate this theoretical argumentation.

Wychowanie i edukacja dziewcząt według Les Conversations d’Émilie Louise d’Épinay

The Raising and Education of Girls as Formulated by Louise d’Épinay in Les Conversations d’Émilie The article presents the views of Louise d’Épinay on the education of girls against the background of her work, taking into account the particularly unusual case of the Histoire de Madame de Montbrillant. D’Épinay presented her views on the education of girls in Les Conversations d’Émilie, a work written under the influence of having to care for her granddaughter Émilie and written, above all, for her. This is an extraordinary pedagogical work in several respects. It was the only work by d’Épinay that was published under her own name during her lifetime. For most of her life, because of prevalent cultural stereotypes, she was against making her work public. The form of dialogues‑conversations, mother‑daughter conversations, makes up the central axis of Les Conversations, and the content has been adapted to the understanding of a small child. The fundamental premise of d’Épinay’s suggestions was a belief in the intellectual equality of the sexes. The opening of cognitive opportunities for girls in various areas, going beyond traditional women’s activities, created an opportunity to shape their mentality, but also led to discovering and learning about their own autonomy, identity, and female subjectivity. Among cultural conventions and stereotypes about the division of gender roles, d’Épinay, who partly accepted them, found an asylum and a reservoir of mental activity, female independence in the private, personal sphere, determined more by a mental dimension than by real boundaries of space and duties. Les Conversations are brave, pioneering views and reflections by a woman about girls’ education, a bold look at who a woman is at her core.

Multiphase and Multistakeholder English Translation Processes Behind Subtitling Chinese Auteur Films

The professional translation processes involved in subtitling Chinese auteur films are under-reported in audiovisual translation literature. The present study investigates the translation processes employed for Chinese films destined for an international audience with a focus on fifth- and sixth-generation directors’ films. These film auteurs depict China’s diverse cultural elements and contemporary social reality, for which English subtitles provide an essential bridge to connect to an international audience. Interview data collected from ten established Chinese-to-English translators/subtitlers, whose names are credited in the selected films, identify two remarkable features of subtitling these contemporary Chinese auteur films: Multiple phases of the translation processes employed across the filmmaking lifespan and multiple stakeholders involved in the wider translation processes beyond translators/subtitlers. Actor-Network Theory is used to elicit interwoven relationships among the various human and non-human actors connected to translating/subtitling activities across different stages of filmmaking. These findings confirm that translating/subtitling is not an isolated post-production task but rather permeates all filmmaking phases. This can be a key factor in contributing to overall quality, which is critical in disseminating subtitled films by some of China’s most celebrated auteurs. Lay summary The international film market has increasingly featured Chinese films, especially the works by established Chinese directors, such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Jia Zhangke and Jia Zhangke. Their films reflect China’s cultural conventions and contemporary social reality. English subtitling is the most popular mode of translation to distribute Chinese films among the English-speaking audience. However, little is known about the agents involved in translating the Chinese high-profile films and the translation processes. To fill this knowledge gap, we interviewed ten translators or subtitlers contributing to the translation of the four aforementioned directors. The collected interview data inform us that many other stakeholders (e.g. directors, producers, screenwriters, distributors and subtitle editors) play a role in the shaping of the final English subtitles shown on the screen, and translation of Chinese films takes place throughout the whole filmmaking process (i.e. film development, pre-production, post-production, distribution and exhibition). A sociological framework is adopted to demonstrate the interwoven relationships among the various human (i.e. translators/subtitlers and other stakeholders) and non-human actors (i.e. accompanying materials and translation products) connected to translating/subtitling activities across different stages of filmmaking. It is argued that such a multiphase and multistakeholder process helps to improve the overall quality of Chinese film subtitling.

Redundant Acronym Syndrome in Indonesian News Articles: A Corpus Analysis Approach

The aims of the study are to explore the occurrence of Redundant Acronym Syndrome (RAS) in Indonesian news articles and examine its implications by employing corpus analysis approach. The main source of the data from the Indonesian news corpus, which consists of 150,466 articles from Indonesian news websites over a six-month period spanned from July 2015 to December 2015. The data analysis was conducted by using Antconc software version 4.02. The analysis reveals a systematic and recognisable structure in acronym formation, highlighting cultural or organisational conventions such as initial phoneme retention, retention of syllables + letters, and retention of syllables and syllables, and retention of initial phonemes and letters. The findings of this study revealed a total of 40 Redundant Acronym with 5730 occurrences identified in the Indonesian news corpus, covering various fields such as the name of football clubs, banks, political parties, educational institutions, government-related terms, and commonly used phrases. This research also discussed that that RAS in news articles can have both negative and positive impacts. It negatively impact readability by making repetitions and potentially confusing the reader. In contrast, RAS can also improve clarity by emphasising certain aspects or reinforcing associations in acronyms, so that readers can instantly recognise and understand them. The findings provided valuable insights for news writers and editors, emphasising the importance of a balance between readability and clarity in news articles.

The 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention in Armed Conflict: An integrated reading of obligations towards culture in conflict

Abstract International law today recognizes that cultural heritage includes not only tangible but also intangible cultural heritage, encompassing traditions, customs, practices, and beliefs. While protections for tangible cultural heritage have existed since at least the nineteenth century, only relatively recently has the law gone beyond piecemeal human rights protections and extended direct and specific treaty protections to intangible cultural heritage through the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The push for this Convention was linked with broader discontent within the Global south at the prioritization of Eurocentric ‘monumentalism’ in international cultural heritage law. Nevertheless, in situations of armed conflict, the emphasis reverts to protection of tangible cultural heritage as international humanitarian law does not go beyond general civilian protections to directly address the protection of intangible cultural heritage in conflict. While the 2003 Convention provides for emergency assistance, its broadly-worded terms do not indicate the shape its other obligations would take in armed conflict or the manner in which they would interact with rules governing the conduct of hostilities. This article examines, first, the degree and extent to which the 2003 Convention’s various obligations in relation to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage circumvent de-prioritization and continue to apply in conflict; and second, the manner in which they can be integrated with rules of international humanitarian law to better protect intangible cultural heritage during active hostilities.

Analysis and Forecast of Contemporary Chinese Population

The analysis and projection of current Chinese population dynamics is the main emphasis of this study. This topic is extremely important in terms of demography, economics, sociology, and international relations. With approximately 1.43 billion people, China is the most populous country in the world and a worldwide giant in both economic and geopolitical terms. This study looks at historical, cultural, economic, and policy-related issues in an effort to understand the intricacies that have led China to this demographic prominence. China's population increase may be traced back to its ancient civilization, which cultivated cultural customs and conventions that still have an impact on demographic patterns now. The demographic dividend, a population surge in the middle of the 20th century, signaled a turning point, and the one-child policy that followed, implemented in 1979, produced distinctive demographic contours and long-term repercussions. Fertility rates and generational dynamics have been influenced by the government's evolution of family planning programs, which have ranged from strict measures to more relaxed methods. Understanding and predicting China's population changes is urgent because of the societal and worldwide repercussions of this country's changing demographics. This study sets out on an exploratory trip to understand the complex causes and possible future trends in light of previous studies. This paper wants to contribute to a thorough knowledge of China's demographic evolution and its effects on global society by shedding light on these factors.

Pragmatic Ambiguity, Implicatures, and Translation1

AbstractThe goal of this work is to put forward a pragmatic and translational framework for analysing target texts (TT) and source texts (ST) containing conversational implicatures that lead to pragmatic ambiguity. Ambiguity, sensu lato, is deemed to be related to indeterminacy and vagueness. Nevertheless, in the strict sense, ambiguity is understood as ‘more than a single processing instruction for a given utterance’. More specifically, pragmatic ambiguity arises whenever differences in cultural conventions between SL speakers and TL speakers lead to differences in the existence, meaning and salience of implicatures among ST and TT. Using real translation cases selected from a purpose‐built corpus containing fiction written and oral texts, we show which pragmatic ambiguities translators come across, and how translation techniques are used, either to maintain ambiguity or to select one intended processing instruction.

English-Chinese Translation of Names of Racehorses: A Case Study of Four Translation Strategies about the Hong Kong Version

This paper examines the translation of horse racing names, focusing on the Hong Kong translation version as a case study. It explores four distinct translation strategies employed in rendering these names into the target language. The prime principle guiding the translation process is the overarching purpose of the translational action. The four strategies discussed are: transliteration, which focuses on reproducing the sounds of the name in the target language; literal translation, which aims to preserve the phonetic and semantic aspects of the original name; free translation, which involves modifying the name to conform to linguistic and cultural conventions; and mixed strategies, which are combination of the previous and can invent new names that capture the essence of the original. By analyzing these strategies and their application in the context of horse racing names, this paper provides insights into the complexities and considerations involved in translating such names. It highlights the importance of understanding the purpose, cultural context, and target audience in order to effectively convey the meaning and impact of horse racing names in the target language.

Lesser relevance markers in Chinese academic spoken English corpus: a cross-disciplinary study on pragmatic features

This study explores the usage characteristics and pragmatic functions of lesser relevance markers in academic spoken English lectures presented by Chinese scholars. A qualitative and quantitative approach is employed using the Chinese Academic Spoken English Corpus (CASEC), which encompasses disciplines in science, engineering, humanities, and social sciences. The findings reveal that Chinese scholars use lesser relevance markers less frequently compared to native English speakers. These differences in usage highlight the influence of language background, disciplinary culture, and communication conventions on the realization of informing evaluation, topic handling, and interactivity. Furthermore, within the Chinese scholars’ group, humanities and social sciences scholars tend to use lesser relevance markers more frequently than science and engineering scholars. This research enhances our understanding of the multifaceted pragmatic roles of lesser relevance markers and offers insights into cross-cultural academic communication and English teaching.

Big and small, girls and boys: intersecting gendered touch practices in early childhood educators’ discourses

ABSTRACT In this study, we argue that touch is a way of producing gender in preschool and our aim is to explore different kinds of matters that intersect with gendered touch practices in this context. Our theoretical starting points draw on the performativity of gender and the discursively constructed touch practices of early childhood educators. We analyse these discourses by employing intersectional analysis. The data consist of three group discussions among 27 female early childhood educators. The findings suggest that gendered touch practices intersect across children’s age, materiality, time, place, and heteronormative assumptions. Furthermore, cultural conventions affect the ways in which children are touched and the kinds of touch that are considered appropriate in relation to gender.

Creative Interpretation and the Politics of Failure

Abstract In this article, I ask what happens to theatrical performance when it fails. By describing a performance as “failed,” I do not necessarily imply its normative dismissal – as a “flawed” enactment or an artistic vision not properly executed. Instead, I use failure as a conceptual starting point for the articulation of alternative meaning-making practices. In this sense, failure is a form of creative interpretation that capitalizes on performance’s constitutive contingency, its structural unreliability that for many is part of its appeal, the very “magic” only a gathering of live bodies can create. Specifically, the article looks at two recent US American plays and one musical in order to discuss the theatrical politics of failure: Moisés Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project’s The Laramie Project (2000), Ayad Akhtar’s The Who and the What (2014), and Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (2012). By discussing the ways in which these pieces and their performances creatively address failure, I point to three formal and cultural dimensions in which failure can be mobilized theatrically: first, failure problematizes the easy formal subsumption of performance under production, pointing to the ways in which a specific performance may not adequately actualize the conceptual work of the production, be it because audiences intervene in ways not intended by the production or because performers deviate from the production’s script in one way or another. Second, failure can be mobilized to reveal tacit cultural conventions or standards of success that entrench particular (classist, racist, sexist, ableist, etc.) normative behaviors. And third, failure can enable more creative approaches to the relationship between the labor of theater practitioners and its exchange value for spectators, who paid – at least – the price of a theater ticket and typically expect some form of artistic professionalism as remuneration.

The impacts of ethnic and mainstream culture on Māori-themed films

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the impact of Hollywood crime-thrillers and that of Māori cultural conventions in Māori-themed New Zealand films. The influence of the former is detected in the figure of the gang member, whilst that of the latter in Taiaiake Alfred’s New Warrior, who uses social skills and mental rather than physical strength to fight for the wellbeing of the community. By analysing the portrayals of such characters, we detect how they negotiate the conventions of art films, or ethnically involved ‘Fourth Cinema,’ and those of popular entertainment. We come to the conclusion that although certain gang-related images in these productions are gory, romanticized or Hollywoodized, the representation of contemporary Māori warriors still displays, to a greater or lesser degree, social issues related to modern leadership and the wellbeing of Māori tribes.

Bridging Binaries: Navigating Bicultural Space in Film Design

This article examines how a researcher (a filmmaker whose lineage is both Indigenous and European) navigates ‘betweenness’ that is sometimes disruptive to cultural conventions. As a gay man who identifies as bicultural, I orient myself with, within and across worlds. From this position my approaches are largely shaped by the Māori values of manaakitanga (caring for the needs of people), kaitiakitanga (protecting and caring for all creation) and whanaungatanga (creating and sustaining relationships). These are supplemented by values emanating from my position as a gay activist and the resulting concerns with social justice and facing down the erasure, marginalization or exoticization of LGBTQ+ identities. Although I am of mixed race ancestry, I see my bicultural positioning as a way of accessing a form of epistemological pluralism that embraces intellectual, physical, social and spiritual ways of knowing. Thus, when creating the feature film Punch (Ings, 2022), it was necessary to find a place to stand, in practice, as a bicultural story designer. This involved actualizing productive care inside how the film production was experienced, working in communion with the land as a living being, and navigating tensions of transgression by establishing facilities for cultural guidance and insight within the project. 
 

Breaking the Mold: Masculinities and Family Dynamics in Detransition, Baby

There is a frequent impression that critical studies on men and masculinities focus exclusively on heterosexual, cisgender masculinities, which promote ideals of masculinity and exclude the masculinities of a range of men who do not comply with gender norms. Genderqueer men and masculinities have drawn scrutiny, and several works have addressed masculinities that diverge from the prevailing one. However, trans masculinities have largely been ignored. Even while research and theorization indicate a growing interest in subaltern masculinities relative to the hegemonic masculinities, trans men have generally not been seen as particularly relevant in the field of critical studies of men and masculinities. In this regard, Torrey Peter’s 2021 novel, Detransition, Baby, provides an excellent basis for comprehending how trans-masculinities fit into society and for analysing critical studies on men and masculinities from a transgender viewpoint. This research aims to contribute to the growing interest on transgender literature and gender studies by examining the representation of trans masculinities and non-traditional family relations in Detransition, Baby. It highlights the value of the work in depicting the complexity of gender identity, familial relationships, and cultural conventions, ultimately developing a broader knowledge of trans experiences and alternate family structures in modern literature.

Raising Students’ Self-Awareness of Their Conflict Communication Styles: Insights from an Intercultural Telecollaboration Project

Intercultural communication is often affected by conflicts, which are not easy to resolve, mainly due to the clash of conflict communication styles. Direct/indirect ways to approach conflicts, emotional display/control, the ability to empathize and consider perspectives of others, cultural conventions, previous experiences with conflict, cooperativeness, and many other factors determine our conflict communication styles. It is important to acknowledge, though, that these styles are learned and are not rigid. They can differ depending on the context and situation. This article reports the results of an intercultural telecollaboration project, drawing on four sources of quantitative and qualitative data, i.e., the results of assessments conducted with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, and a Conflict Styles Assessment based on the Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, as well as students’ critical self-reflective feedback. The data were collected at a Mid-Atlantic minority-serving university from undergraduate students, who were invited to explore their conflict communication styles through a series of activities and then reflect on their experiences and the insights gained during this intercultural telecollaboration experience. As a result of this pedagogical intervention, most of the participants not only became aware of their conflict communication styles but also developed their empathy and ability to intervene to defend others who are discriminated against or attacked verbally.

Mystical Implicature of Javanese Mantras: From Lingual to Transcendental?

Up to this point, no research has been conducted on the mysticism found in the mantra of Kidung Rumeksa ing Wengi (referred to as KRW). This study focuses primarily on Javanese Mysticism, employing qualitative research methods as guidelines. The primary data utilized in this study is the spell text, while hermeneutic techniques are employed for analysis. The findings reveal that KRW, through the symbolism of its mantra language, embodies the implicit aspects of Islamic Mysticism within Javanese philosophy. The structure of KRW demonstrates influences from Javanese poetry, specifically tembang macapat, while mystical symbolism draws upon the analogy of birds. The essence of mysticism pertains to sufiyah inclinations such as desire, anger, mutmainah, and lawwamah. The most profound aspect of controlling desire revolves around the perspective on the life of the Kiblat Papat Lima Pancer. The content of KRW holds relevance as it serves as an Islamic religious mantra for conversion. A subtle strategy that combines language symbolism and cultural convention is deemed more acceptable than proselytizing through violence. A significant implication of this research is that mantra literature stands as an essential medium for embracing transcendental values. KRW is an inclusive and collaborative platform that unites linguistics, mysticism, sociology, culture, and philosophy, all converging toward the enhancement of theological studies.

A Cultural Based Pragmatic Approach for Analysing English- Arabic Dramatic Cultural References with Reference to Translation

Translation of cultural references can be effective and beneficially achieve various purposes depending on how they are transferred into another language. Virtually, cultural references refer to any word with considerably conceptual effects used for influencing conventional and societal intents. However, cultural references that are relatively belonged to a certain language are not equally observed in culture of another language; they derive their significations from the cultural characteristics of a community. Wherefore, cultural significations suchlike conventions, aesthetic values, and doctrines which are directly concerned with bridging intents lose their intentional importance or even work the opposite in another language. The incompatibility of dramatic references in their stylization of functions will problematically bring unparalleled pragmatic conceptions in both languages. Therefrom, this study objectively aims at: comparing cultural references in both languages, their impacts, and the extents of their influences; testing the validity of the adopted translational procedures in resolving cultural mutual exclusiveness; setting out some translational strategies for

Crossing the Fictional Line: Moral Graveness, the Gamer’s Dilemma, and the Paradox of Fictionally Going Too Far

The Gamer’s Dilemma refers to the philosophical challenge of justifying the intuitive difference people seem to see between the moral permissibility of enacting virtual murder and the moral impermissibility of enacting virtual child molestation in video games (Luck Ethics and Information Technology, 1:31, 2009). Recently, Luck in Philosophia, 50:1287–1308, 2022 has argued that the Gamer’s Dilemma is actually an instance of a more general “paradox”, which he calls the “paradox of treating wrongdoing lightly”, and he proposes a graveness resolution to this paradox. In response, we argue for four key claims. First, we accept Luck’s expansion of the Gamer’s Dilemma to be applicable to a wider set of media, but give a novel recasting of this in terms of the Paradox of Fictionally Going Too Far. Second, we develop a novel criticism of Luck in Philosophia, 50:1287–1308, 2022 graveness resolution to this broader paradox. Third, we argue that the Paradox of Fictionally Going Too Far helps to expose an implicit moralism in the Gamer’s Dilemma literature when compared to relevant nearby literatures about other forms of media. Fourth, we consider a range of non-moral, cultural and media conventions that plausibly help to dissolve the intuitive moral gap between non-sexual and sexual violence that is central to this paradox.

Understanding of educational standards of behavioral culture of Vietnamese high school students

The cultivation of a behavioral culture that is conducive to learning is of utmost significance and must be given top priority for the students who are now enrolled in today's educational institutions. A sample of 339 students and 55 teachers participated in the survey using convenience sampling to determine the relationship between current educational requirements and cultural conventions on behavior. According to the findings, both teachers and students placed a high importance on the cultural norms criteria as well as the components of behavioral culture that are associated with it. Education of educators to make them more aware of the widespread ramifications caused by a culture that fosters unhealthy conduct is the primary emphasis of this research. Because of this insight, educators can build and construct effective techniques for teaching behavioral culture within the setting of Vietnam because of this awareness. This helps to improve the culture of the school, and consequently, a new human personality is established and developed because of the efforts of the students. A new human personality is established and developed as a result of the efforts of the students. These symbolic systems are what give a community its unique traits, thus it's important to pay attention to them.