Cultural Studies Approach Research Articles

Disability in German-Speaking Europe: History, Memory, Culture ed. by Linda Leskau, Tanja Nusser, and Katherine Sorrels

Reviewed by: Disability in German-Speaking Europe: History, Memory, Culture ed. by Linda Leskau, Tanja Nusser, and Katherine Sorrels Petra Watzke Disability in German-Speaking Europe: History, Memory, Culture. Edited by Linda Leskau, Tanja Nusser, and Katherine Sorrels. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2022. Pp. 249. Hardcover $99.00. ISBN 978-1640141087. German-speaking Europe has a complicated relationship with disability. Although roughly 10–20% of the population in German-speaking countries is disabled, disabled people are often treated as an afterthought in efforts to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusivity. The lackluster media response to the murder of four disabled people by a caregiver in Potsdam in 2021 emphasizes the role that ableist attitudes play in the disdain for disabled people. Even though the general reaction to this tragic event indicates persistent prejudices about disability, attitudes are slowly changing. This change is due to general societal shifts, continued disability activism, and, at least partially, the increased presence of Disability Studies in the academic institutions of German-speaking countries, where it has grown into an established interdisciplinary method of inquiry since the early 2000s. This volume builds upon and engages with discourses of disability studies in German-speaking Europe and is overall informed by a literary and cultural studies approach to this topic. The volume traces sociocultural attempts to define, frame, and control disability from the Middle Ages to the present. The individual contributions are from scholars in Canada, Germany, and the United States and cover a wide range of academic disciplines, including history, German studies, and sociology. This interdisciplinary approach suits the complexity of the topic and allows the reader to see continuities in the conceptualization of disability in different time periods, genres, and methodologies. The individual contributions are divided into three sections that are largely informed by the methodologies of their different disciplines. The first section, "Negotiating Interpersonal Relationships: Historical Perspectives," examines the processes by which normative definitions of disability are negotiated on the individual level. The articles' subject matters range from the pre-modern to the mid-twentieth century in judicial and educational settings, and in a doctor-patient relationship. Ashley Elrod's article "Moral Madness: Representations of Prodigality, Disability, and Competence in German Legal History" uses two legal cases from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century to trace the liminal category of prodigality between impairment and moral failure. The case studies not only demonstrate changes in the categorization of disability, especially with the establishment of psychiatric and psychoanalytic professions, but also show how pre-modern attitudes stigmatizing disability as deviant survived into modern times. The unreflected stigmatization of disability is examined in the other two articles in this section. The second section, "Reckoning with the Past: Reconstruction of Memory," engages with the institutionalization, pathologization, and persecution of disabled [End Page 179] people in the first half of the twentieth century in order to demonstrate how this difficult history has been dealt with (or ignored) since. Dagmar Herzog's article, "From the Disability Murder Archive: Ernst Klee's Confrontation of the Public with Nazism's First Genocide," excels at demonstrating how traumatic past events have informed ableist attitudes throughout the twentieth century. Her article discusses the work of the journalist and disability activist Klee who, in the 1970s and 80s, uncovered extant documentation of the Nazi's eugenics program aimed at the annihilation of disabled persons, commonly referred to as the T4 program. The article emphasizes Klee's important work Euthanasie im NS-Staat: Die Vernichtung lebensunwerten Lebens for confronting the public with the Nazis' widespread euthanasia program, even though the work was dismissed by academics in its own time. Tracing Klee's research process and the narrative structure he builds around the case files he discovered, Herzog reevaluates Klee's work as an important contribution to reckoning with the past in disability activism and disability studies. The third section, "Intersections and Diversity: The Lens of Culture," includes articles by German studies scholars focused on close readings of a variety of very different texts that provide mostly intersectional approaches to disability. Waltraud Maierhofer's reading of Alissa Walter's novel about the blind Maria Theresa Paradies, entitled Am Anfang war die Nachtmusik (1992), exemplifies this. The novel is...

English-language media discourse in the era of digitalisation: Special mission and functional potential

The article addresses the problem of the functional potential of the present-day English-language media discourse and its role in English-speaking societies and other countries where English does not have official national status. The purpose of the research is to holistically understand key functions that the English language media discourse is performing in the 21st century. The theoretical framework of this study includes mutually influencing and complementary research doctrines of Halliday’s systemic functional approach, Stuart Hall’s cultural studies approach, and the pragmatic approach of Jeff Verschuren. The findings are based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of scientific works dedicated to the English-language media discourse and a massive media discourse corpus of leading English-language print and online media resources. Overall, the research has proved that the English-language media discourse may perform seven key pragmatic functions (political and economic function, educational function, environmental protection and sustainable development function, integration function, innovative function, cultural diplomacy function, and the social function of sport), which help promote a ‘missionary’ world of democracy and sustainability, affordable education and breakthrough innovations, multiculturalism, national identity and race-free ideology, healthy sport and well-being. Moreover, it is proved that modern English-language media discourse acts as a single holistic information management system whose goal is to become a global influencer and mediator navigating between English-speaking nations and non-English world communities.

Reality In Animation: A Cultural Studies Point of View

This research discerns at animation as a text by focusing on the investigation of the aspects and concepts that define a reality in the world of animation. By looking at the reality in the animation, clues and texts can be generated that contribute to understanding the postmodernity framework and the concept of representation from the point of view of cultural studies. This qualitative research uses a cultural studies approach, with the method of intertext analysis of texts from literature studies and interviews with expert source persons in the field of animation. Postmodernism and hyper-reality theories are used eclectically with the concepts of simulation and representation to support hermeneutic reasoning models. This research resulted in the formulation of the concept of reality in animation with the point of view of cultural studies which includes a description of the concept of reality in the presence of animated works, the components of reality in animation, and the meaning of reality in animation

Reality In Animation: A Cultural Studies Point of View

This research discerns at animation as a text by focusing on the investigation of the aspects and concepts that define a reality in the world of animation. By looking at the reality in the animation, clues and texts can be generated that contribute to understanding the postmodernity framework and the concept of representation from the point of view of cultural studies. This qualitative research uses a cultural studies approach, with the method of intertext analysis of texts from literature studies and interviews with expert source persons in the field of animation. Postmodernism and hyper-reality theories are used eclectically with the concepts of simulation and representation to support hermeneutic reasoning models. This research resulted in the formulation of the concept of reality in animation with the point of view of cultural studies which includes a description of the concept of reality in the presence of animated works, the components of reality in animation, and the meaning of reality in animation

‘Creatures in our bed’: Pandemics, posthumanism and predatory nature in World War Z (2013)

This article provided a literary analysis of the film text World War Z (2013, dir. Marc Forster) with a specific focus on the pandemic depicted in the film and its relationship to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This discussion foregrounded the figure of the ‘zombie’ and the cultural anxieties that this literary figure represents. The pandemic in the film is brought about through an environmental crisis that mimics our own. Mother Earth and nature, personified as female, feature significantly in the film and evoke a discussion on survival, human nature versus animal nature and the figure of the posthuman. This article also employed a cultural studies approach to analyse how the pandemic depicted in the film evokes a Christian religious dimension through a particular scene that takes place in the Holy Land, Jerusalem. The film’s depiction of pandemics, religion and the environmental crisis makes it worthy of discussion, especially in light of the current pandemic that the world is facing, with particular focus on humanity’s response to it. The dystopian warnings that the film projects have echoes of the current social and ecological challenges that we are grappling with. The conclusion of the film deviates from the ‘happy endings’ indicative of Hollywood; rather, it engages with a situation where a temporary, substandard solution is found to an ongoing world-wide catastrophe. The ending of the film draws intriguing parallels to our own experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic and the absence of a cure.Contribution: This article provided a literary analysis of a film text. The discussion drew on cultural studies, popular culture and religion through the lens of Christianity, with a particular focus on the social and cultural anxieties that the figure of the ‘zombie’ holds as well as cultural interpretations of Mother Earth and nature as female.

Sokora's Kecapi as Performing Art of The Geneology Study of Assimilation Art in Identity Mukomuko Aristocratic Community

The dynamics exposed to the traditional music of the Mukomuko coast in Bengkulu province have made researchers interested in uncovering the genealogy of the identity of the Sokora lute. Sokora lute art as a result of cultural assimilation from outside (Gujarat/India) of the people of the coastal city of Mukomuko has become local traditional music with local cultural wisdom values, both in the sociocultural context and in performances. Cultural assimilation and acculturation play an important role in making Sokora a traditional art in Mukomuko City. The word Kecapi Sokora itself comes from the word mancubo or roughly in the mukomuko dialect. This research is a qualitative phenomenological research type. Research that emphasizes more aspects of the description or description of the object being observed. Research with this qualitative approach seeks to understand and provide in-depth information both contextually and factually. The research was conducted to understand and explain the phenomena that have been going on and are being carried out as well as to provide information on knowledge about the transformation of local cultural wisdom values of traditional music of the Bengkulu coastal community. Based on qualitative methods and a cultural studies approach, this research emphasizes exploring, traveling, explaining, and describing ethically, emically, and holistically. Genealogically, at first Kecapi Sokora was a form of solo music and oral literature that was developed in Mukomuko, especially among the nobility. The Sokora Harp Performance is an art that is characteristic of the aristocratic society in Mukomuko at the time when the Mukomuko port was still a transit center for traders from outside, especially from Gujarat India in ancient times. The word Kecapi Sokora itself comes from the word mancubo or roughly in the mukomuko dialect. The Sokora Kecapi instrument is one of the melodic instruments in its class, including the chordophone, which means that the sound source comes from strings or strings. The tones of the Sokora Kecapi instrument consist of seven notes in the following order, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 which are called diatonic. In terms of scale, the Kecapi Sokora is unique from other forms of traditional musical instruments, where the tones of traditional musical instruments are usually pentatonic (five tones). The Performing Arts of Kecapi Sokora is one of the traditional arts in Mukomuko. The art of Kecapi Sokora Mukomuko as a traditional art of the Mukomuko nobility consists of a series of Malay musicality and dances accompanied by percussion drums and vocal/speech instruments. In the show, the Sokora Mukomuko lute art, the duration of the performance is determined by the number of requests for speech/poem and dance performances.

The Critical Innovation Discourse of Small VODs: The Case of The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu on Cinepub


 
 
 My article compares the catalogues and interfaces of a small and a big VOD provider and emphasizes the critical innovative potential of the intervention of the former and, more generally, of small streaming services. I employ a cultural studies approach and closely read the acts of curation of these two types of providers. As a case study, I focus on the curation of the feature film The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu on both platforms. By critical innovation, I understand an economic or industrial intervention that questions and disrupts hegemonic discourses in its field. In the case of VODs, it refers to an engagement with discourses on digital film consumption, the branding of premium content, establishment of taste, and diversity of content. I also approach critical innovation as political and economic. I provide proof that small non-profit providers set up more advantageous viewing experiences that benefit a film and its makers. I also show that they play an important role in maintaining the sustainability of a digital distribution ecosystem.
 
 

Potenziale von Bildern beim Kulturbezogenen Lernen : eine empirische Studie zu Deutschlehrenden und ägyptischen Lernenden

This article addresses the question of the extent to which ambiguous images with cultural potential play a role in culture-related learning processes. It is assumed that images with multiple interpretations can have a high potential in the culture-related learning field, which leads learners to express their feelings and emotions more strongly. The concepts of interpretation learning by Ingeborg Schüßler, the concept of emotion learning by Rolf Arnold, and the theory of expansive learning by Klaus Holzkamp with his subject position serve as the theoretical basis for concretizing the concept of culture-related learning in this work. This work is also based on the cultural studies approach of discursive cultural studies by Claus Altmayer, in which "culture" is no longer defined objectively, but as a negotiation of meanings. This work attempts to find answers to the following questions based on an empirical investigation of German teachers in Egypt and Egyptian German as a Foreign Language learners: To what extent can images initiate the culture-related learning process? What potentials do images have on the different levels within culture-related learning processes?

ЛОКАЛЬНА ТА РЕГІОНАЛЬНА ІДЕНТИЧНОСТІ В КУЛЬТУРНОМУ ПРОСТОРІ ПОКУТТЯ

This scientific article delves into the analysis of the intricate relationship between local and regional identity within the cultural milieu of Pokuttia. It sheds light on the processes of differentiation and identification that occur within this particular region. Notably, the understanding of the terms "local" and "regional" is contingent upon the scales of the spatial plane where these phenomena are juxtaposed within the realm of cultural geography. A pioneering interdisciplinary approach in cultural regional studies has brought forth a comprehensive examination of various cultural peculiarities specific to the Pokuttia region. These peculiarities encompass elements such as toponyms and the local language prevalent in the Pokuttian area, and their intricate interplay with other social aspects of the region's vibrant life. Through this multidisciplinary lens, a deeper understanding of the intricate tapestry of the region's cultural landscape has been attained. The essence of the discourse is the pivotal role that place assumes as the spatial foundation of local identity. Place emerges as a significant constituent imbued with its own set of symbolic, historical, and ideological attributes. It serves as a profound backdrop against which the nuances of local identity are shaped and expressed. Consequently, the profound interconnection between place and identity becomes a cornerstone for comprehending the complex dynamics within the Pokuttian cultural space. Moreover, this research affirms the inseparable link between local identity and the individual as the principal agent of spatial social reality. The individual, by infusing meaning into a particular place, distinguishes it as either "one's own" or "foreign." This dichotomy is primarily informed by a profound sense of uniqueness and a conscious choice in self-identification within the overarching global context. The interplay among place, individual, and society emerges as the fundamental constituents representing the fabric of local identity – an intricate construct encompassing both personal and collective consciousness within the broader paradigm of cultural space. The insights provided in this article offer valuable contributions to the understanding of the intricate interplay between local and regional identity within the unique cultural context of Pokuttia. Scholars and researchers in the fields of cultural studies, geography, and related disciplines will find these findings pertinent to their exploration of identity dynamics and cultural diversity in various regional contexts

Maiko Masquerade: Crafting Geisha Girlhood in Japan by Jan Bardsley

Reviewed by: Maiko Masquerade: Crafting Geisha Girlhood in Japan by Jan Bardsley Rebecca Corbett (bio) Maiko Masquerade: Crafting Geisha Girlhood in Japan. By Jan Bardsley. University of California Press, 2021. xvi, 283 pages. $85.00, cloth; $29.95, paper; $29.95, E-book. Anyone who has spent time in Kyoto in the 2000s has likely noticed the "maiko boom" which Jan Bardsley masterfully unpacks in Maiko Masquerade. The ubiquity of the maiko figure in souvenir shops, on tourism posters, in-person with domestic and international tourists playing "dress up," and even occasionally a real maiko, permeates the city and its representation. Bardsley takes an interdisciplinary cultural studies approach to examining the media and popular culture representation of the maiko in twenty-first-century Japan, her research inspired by a question posed by her students: "What kinds of geisha stories exist these days in Japan?" In the 2000s, it is not so much the geisha (or geiko, in Kyoto, used in this book) but the teenage apprentice maiko who is the figure of popular imagination. Bardsley is particularly concerned with representation of maiko in media and popular culture. Using an impressively diverse range of sources from movies, manga, light novels, visual art, and biographies to popular guides, [End Page 214] photobooks, and even tenugui (cotton hand towels), Bardsley crafts a lively and richly nuanced narrative about this "millennial maiko." Themes that emerge in Maiko Masquerade are the performance of "maiko-likeness," maiko agency, and maiko as quintessential Japanese good girl. "Maiko-likeness" (pp. 3, 31–35), or maiko rashii maiko, is a compelling through line and where the idea of masquerade, in the title, comes from—maiko-likeness being something performed. Bardsley shows how this performance is linked to the performance of femininity in millennial Japan. This is perhaps a topic that could have been further explored by bringing in historical studies of the performance of different types of femininity in Japan. Maiko agency is found in accounts that foreground becoming a maiko as a path of a girl's own choosing, "largely due to her love of kimono and dance" (p. 3). Interwoven within this narrative is a distancing of the work of maiko from sexual servitude and exploitation which, as Bardsley shows in chapter 4, characterize earlier popular narratives of the maiko in the twentieth century. One question not fully explored is whether this distancing presents a danger of erasing historical realities of exploitation and sexual servitude. The maiko, and particularly the maiko rashii maiko that she strives to be, is "especially mannered and contained" (p. 3). As the quintessential Japanese good girl, who values traditional arts and textiles, she stands in direct contrast to other figures in popular culture such as kogal (delinquent high school girls) (pp. 13–14). Each of these themes is complex and interwoven with the others; as they recur throughout the book, Bardsley draws them out at key moments for the reader. Given the range of sources and disciplinary approaches that Maiko Masquerade employs, it will be of interest to scholars in fields such as literature, cultural studies, media studies, theater and performance studies, and gender and sexuality studies. It builds upon and makes important theoretical contributions in all of these fields and should be read by anyone with an interest in millennial Japanese culture and society, whether the figure of the maiko intrigues you or not. It is particularly nice to see a book that thanks students who inspired it as the first acknowledgment. It is clear that conversations in the classroom shaped this book in ways that make it suitable for use in the classroom itself. Chapter 5 on the "Adventures of a Boy Maiko" provides a great case study for students interested in contemporary Japanese literature, culture, and gender studies, for example. Structurally the flow between chapters is excellent, each building on themes of the preceding chapters, making the book particularly enjoyable to read as the story develops and gathers pace. It begins with a discussion of the spaces the maiko occupies, with descriptions of the five hanamachi (neighborhoods) in Kyoto where maiko live and work, alongside geiko, tea-house and okiya managers, and other workers. While each hanamachi is distinct...

Representation of Karo Culture in the Early 20th Century in P. A. J Moojen’s Paintings

cultural and artistic point of view with a cultural studies approach. The results of the study show that Moojen's paintings represented the belief systems, social stratification systems, and art systems of Karo culture in the early 20th century. In conclusion, Moojen's paintings are able to provide an overview of the reality of the life of the Karo people who lived in the early 20th century that cannot be separated from elements of traditional Karo buildings.

‘Creatures in our bed’: Pandemics, posthumanism and predatory nature in World War Z (2013)

This article provided a literary analysis of the film text World War Z (2013, dir. Marc Forster) with a specific focus on the pandemic depicted in the film and its relationship to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This discussion foregrounded the figure of the ‘zombie’ and the cultural anxieties that this literary figure represents. The pandemic in the film is brought about through an environmental crisis that mimics our own. Mother Earth and nature, personified as female, feature significantly in the film and evoke a discussion on survival, human nature versus animal nature and the figure of the posthuman. This article also employed a cultural studies approach to analyse how the pandemic depicted in the film evokes a Christian religious dimension through a particular scene that takes place in the Holy Land, Jerusalem. The film’s depiction of pandemics, religion and the environmental crisis makes it worthy of discussion, especially in light of the current pandemic that the world is facing, with particular focus on humanity’s response to it. The dystopian warnings that the film projects have echoes of the current social and ecological challenges that we are grappling with. The conclusion of the film deviates from the ‘happy endings’ indicative of Hollywood; rather, it engages with a situation where a temporary, substandard solution is found to an ongoing world-wide catastrophe. The ending of the film draws intriguing parallels to our own experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic and the absence of a cure. Contribution: This article provided a literary analysis of a film text. The discussion drew on cultural studies, popular culture and religion through the lens of Christianity, with a particular focus on the social and cultural anxieties that the figure of the ‘zombie’ holds as well as cultural interpretations of Mother Earth and nature as female.

“Healthy” food configurations: critical analysis of power relations in context

ABSTRACT In this article, we delve into the contexts, knowledge and power relations that lead to the emergence of what we call “healthy” food configurations. These configurations are the result of particular arrangements of realms of practices, sets of knowledge, actors, events, institutions, and more that contribute to the production of various understandings and ways of approaching “healthy” food. Mobilizing a cultural studies approach and theoretical framework, we question the power relations negotiated in how/when/for whom these configurations emerge and what knowledge at the intersection of food, bodies and health they convey and produce. We analyze the elements of local context and the broader socio-cultural ideologies that permeate food cultures and inform these configurations’ emergence. Working with and navigating through public debates, alternative food practices, political and community-based discourses and practices, and food products and trends retrieved from Quebec’s (Canada) food culture, we offer a new way of approaching different understandings of “healthy” food – as many different configurations – to unveil the diversity of the actors, knowledge, and power relations at play in their situated emergence.

The Non-Survival of the Bajo Tribe’s Local Wisdom Iin Marine Bio-Conservation in Wakatobi Regency, the Province of Southeast Sulawesi

This research aims to analyse the causes of the non-survival of the Bajo tribe’s local wisdom in marine bio-conservation in Wakatobi Regency, the Province of Southeast Sulawesi. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative with a cultural studies approach. Data collection was carried out by involved observation, in-depth interviews with selected informants, and documentation study. The data obtained were analysed by the following steps: data reduction, data presentation, and verification. The results of the research showed that the cause of the non-survival of the Bajo tribe’s local wisdom in marine bio-conservation in Wakatobi Regency, the Province of Southeast Sulawesi is a change in the mind-set and lifestyle of the Bajo tribal community. The mind-set and lifestyle of modern society have an impact on the local wisdom of the Bajo people themselves. The lack of the role of traditional institutions can be seen from the diminishing direct involvement of traditional institutions in efforts to shape behaviour and inculcate traditional values and social capital in the Bajo tribal community.

Rethinking body language in terms of power relations

The paper will examine power relations via body language, as an as pact of non-verbal communication. Studies of body language aries within such divergent (and often leo lated) disciplines as semiotics, pay. chology, and performance studies, while published works are further divided between the popular and the scientific. Popular works are often accused of being simplistic, while many of the specialised scientific works on non-verbal communication ignore the wider social context in which body language occurs.
 Because the Cultural Studies approach explicitly links power rela tions and communication, it is able to offer a framework in which dis parate threads from different discl plines can be drawn together to fa cilitate a broader understanding of body language. Body language is thus as Important a tool of the Cul tural Studies project. It comple ments other aspects of communication studies, which have hitherto tended specifically to concentrate on studies of television, radio, news papers, film, magazines and other media, or on studies of Interper sonal communication

Cultural Studies Approach to Study-Abroad : Focusing on Thai International Students’ Imaginaries about South Korea

이 연구는 태국인 유학생들에 대한 문화연구적 접근을 시도하여 이들이 한국을 어떻게 상상하고 있는지를 밝힌다. 유학 현상에 관한 기존 연구는 지리학적 접근, 심리학적 접근, 사회학적 접근 등으로 구분된다. 기존 연구들은 나름의 성과에도 불구하고, 유학생들이 유학 목적국에 대해 어떤 서사들을 동원해 상상을 구축하는지에 대한 검토를 누락하고 있다. 이에 본 연구는 문화연구적 접근을 제안하며 글로벌한 수준에서 특정 공간이 어떤 방식으로 표상되는가를 살피고자 했고, 구체적으로는 국제적 수준에서 한국 이미지를 결정지었던 ‘한국전쟁’이 현재 유학생들에 의해 어떤 개념과 서사로 대체되고 있는가를 살피고자 했다. 20명의 태국인 유학생들과 심층인터뷰를 실시한 결과, 이들은 공식문화자본 획득을 목적으로, 한국대중문화자본을 발판으로 한국 유학을 결정하고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 특히 이들은 정치적 가치를 경제적 가치로 수렴시키며 한국을 ‘아시아의 발전된 산업국가’로 인식하는 경향을 보였고, 동시에 경제민주화나 기회의 평등, 공유의 미덕 등을 한국의 특징으로 생각하고 있었다. 하지만 한국에서 삶이 늘 분주하고 조급하며 여유를 갖추지 못하고 있고, 조직 내에 존재하는 강력한 위계문화에 대해 아쉬움을 드러냈다. 결국 이 연구는 문화연구적 접근을 통해 유학생들이 한국을 상상하는 방식을 살핌으로써, 궁극적으로 아시아의 젊은이들이 어떤 장소에서 삶과 학업을 영위하고 싶어 하는가를 고찰한다.

Interactive nature of reality television

This article explores the motivating factors for viewer participation in the reality television programme,Project Fame. It looks at the interactive component of reality television, arguing that viewers areactive in their media consumption. The theoretical foundation of this study is based on the usesand gratifications theory as well as the cultural studies approach to reception theory.On a methodological level, this study applies qualitative research methods in order to determinewhat factors motivate viewers to participate interactively in the television programme. Supportedby the categories of need gratifications, this study concludes that cognitive, affective and personalintegrative needs motivate viewers to utilise the various interactive opportunities and thatviewers expect gratifications from participating interactively. In addition, reception theory is usedto further explain viewers’ active participation and interpretation of media messages in a socialand cultural context.

Komunikasi Getok Tular : Revitalisasi Komunikasi dalam penanganan pandemi covid-19 (Komunikasi penanganan pandemi covid-19 dengan pendekatan Cultural Studies Stuart Hall)

The paper encompass the literature review that discuss the revitalization of the communication by using Getok Tular communication technique in regards of covid-19 pandemic handling. The objective of this paper is to reflect any of relevant literature regarding revitalization of the communication for better handling of the covid-19 pandemic. The author uses literature review through journal, books and website to discover a relevant scope and discussions regarding revitalization of the communication in handling of covid-19 pandemic. The paper strives to describe covid-19 pandemic handling uses Getok Tular communication technique with Stuart Hall’s Cultural studies approach. The finding of the paper are; a) covid-19 pandemic handling needs a new approach in communication studies b) The two-way of communication is a new approach that can be applied to covid-19 pandemic c) Getok Tular communication technique is a communication studies by using cultural approach that can be an alternative of information dissemination for public in covid-19 pandemic handling.

The Western Framing of the Female Captive: A Hermeneutic Study of Captivity in Morocco

The study of the Western consumption of the female captive remains central to the circulation of cultural and social constructions in the mainstream visual and literary texts. Due to the massive upsurge of such constructs, the hermeneutic study of the existing images about captivity in the East has stipulated new perspectives into the production of these substantial messages that determine genuine challenges to the preexisting canonical view of cultural representations. As many scholars have advanced critics about the female images in many narratives, Western cinema has shown significant portraits of the female which draws an orientalist design of a discursive discourse, introducing extreme exoticness of both pleasures and destruction. With the promise to deconstruct the captive portraits of the female identity, this paper discusses the circulation of such images, explaining why they exist, offering some solutions, as well as offering an analysis of their possible impact on the public. Given the damaging misperceptions that exist as a result of their circulation and consumption, this paper fills a much-needed research gap by asking the following research questions. How does the circulation of these images reproduce issues of femininity and captivity? How do visuals reinvent the literary tradition to depict the female captive in the orientalist discourse? By answering these questions, the paper attempts to examine the issue of representation by adopting a cultural studies approach, relying specifically on qualitative content analysis to reveal alternative possibilities of some of the Western perceptions. The rationale behind this approach lies in the fact that cultural studies bash to study all aspects of cultures without canonizing some artifacts at the expense of others.

RITUAL BEDEKEH DAN KEPERCAYAAN SUKU AKIT DI PROVINSI RIAU

ABSTRACT Bedekeh is a medical tradition passed down from generation to generation in the Akit tribe aiming at curing a person's illness. Bedekeh ritual contains cosmological and religious ideology regarding human relationship with Akit ancestors, God and human relationship with other forces beyond human ability. This ritual is dedicated to the ancestral gods as an aid in one's treatment. The ritual is led by Batin (Bomoh or big shaman). This study employs a qualitative technique with a cultural studies approach to explore Bedekeh in the Akit tribal community in relation to Islam. The study found that in the Bedekeh ritual, when someone enters a state of trance (possessed), various spirits such as the Islamic spirit (Hantu Islam), the Malay spirit (Malay ghost), and others appeared, and then helped and communicated according to the mantra that was chanted when entering the body. The original Malay community who embraced Islam rejected the local tradition of the Bedekeh ritual because it was considered to contain animistic teachings that were shirk, idolatrous, and heretical. The people of the Akit tribe are often positioned as the outermost area (periphery) and are placed in a low position and the lowest social status. The construction of such social structures still affects the Malay community and the Muslim Malay community until today.  Keywords: Akit tribe, bedekeh, belief, cultural studies, ritual   ABSTRAK Bedekeh merupakan tradisi pengobatan yang diturunkan dari gene­rasi ke generasi pada masyarakat suku Akit dengan tujuan untuk menyem­buh­­kan penyakit pada diri seseorang. Ritual bedekeh mengandung ideologi kosmologi dan ideologi religius mengenai hubungan manusia dengan leluhur Akit, Tuhan dan keselarasan manusia dengan kekuatan-kekuatan lain di luar kemampuan jangkauan pikiran manusia. Ritual ini dipersem­bah­­kan untuk dewa-dewa leluhur yang akan dipanggil sebagai penolong dalam pengobatan seseorang yang dipimpin oleh Batin (Bomoh atau dukun besar). Penelitian ini menggunakan teknik kualitatif dengan pende­katan cultural studies untuk mengungkap Bedekeh pada masyarakat suku Akit dalam kaitannya dengan Islam. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa dalam ritual Bedekeh dan dalam keadaan trance (kerasukan), maka muncul berbagai roh seperti roh Islam (Hantu Islam), roh Melayu (hantu Melayu), dan lain-lain yang membantu dan berkomunikasi sesuai dengan mantra yang dilantunkan saat memasuki tubuh Batin. Masyarakat Melayu asli yang memeluk Islam menolak tradisi lokal ritual Bedekeh karena dianggap mengandung ajaran animisme yang bersifat syirik, musrik, dan sesat. Masya­rakat suku Akit sering diposisikan sebagai area terluar (periferi) dan menempatkan pada posisi yang rendah dan derajat sosial terendah. Konstruksi struktur sosial yang demikian masih memengaruhi masyarakat Melayu dan Masyarakat Melayu Muslim hingga sekarang.  Kata kunci: bedekeh, kepercayaan, suku Akit, ritual