Pacific Journalism Review : Twenty years on the front line of regional identity and freedom

Pacific Journalism Review has consistently, at a good standard, honoured its 1994 founding goal: to be a credible peer-reviewed journal in the Asia-Pacific region, probing developments in journalism and media, and supporting journalism education. Global, it considers new media and social movements; ‘regional’, it promotes vernacular media, human freedoms and sustainable development. Asking how it developed, the method for this article was to research the archive, noting authors, subject matter, themes. The article concludes that one answer is the journal’s collegiate approach; hundreds of academics, journalists and others, have been invited to contribute. Second has been the dedication of its one principal editor, Professor David Robie, always somehow providing resources—at Port Moresby, Suva, and now Auckland—with a consistent editorial stance. Eclectic, not partisan, it has nevertheless been vigilant over rights, such as monitoring the Fiji coups d’etat. Watching through a media lens, it follows a ‘Pacific way’, handling hard information through understanding and consensus. It has 237 subscriptions indexed to seven databases. Open source, it receives more than 1000 site visits weekly. With ‘clientele’ mostly in Australia, New Zealand and ‘Oceania’, it extends much further afield. From 1994 to 2014, 701 articles and reviews were published, now more than 24 scholarly articles each year.

{\it Hox\/} genes and specification of regional identity in the axial skeleton: Analysis of the individual and combined mutant phenotypes of the paralogous group 4 murine {\it Hox\/} genes; {\it hoxa\/}-4, {\it hoxb\/}-4 and {\it hoxd\/}-4

The Hox gene products are transcription factors involved in specifying regional identity along the anteroposterior body axis. In Drosophila, where these genes are known as HOM-C (Homeotic-complex) genes and where they have been most extensively studied, they are expressed in restricted domains along the anteroposterior axis with different anterior limits. Genetic analysis of a large number of gain- and loss-of-function alleles of these genes has revealed that these genes are important in specifying segmental identity at their anterior limits of expression. Furthermore, there is a functional dominance of posterior genes over anterior genes, such that posterior genes can dominantly specify their developmental programs in spite of the expression of more anterior genes in the same segment. In the mouse, there are four clusters of HOM-C genes, called Hox genes. Thus, there may be up to four genes, called paralogs, that are more highly homologous to each other and to their Drosophila homolog than they are to the other mouse Hox genes. The single mutants for two paralogous genes, hoxa-4 and hoxd-4, presented in this dissertation, are similar to several other mouse Hox mutants in that they show partial, incompletely penetrant homeotic transformations of vertebrae at their anterior limit of expression. These mutants were then bred with hoxb-4 mutants (Ramirez-Solis, et al. 1993) to generate the three possible double mutant combinations as well as the triple mutant. The skeletal phenotypes of these group 4 Hox compound mutants displayed clear alterations in regional identity, such that a nearly complete transformation towards the morphology of the first cervical vertebra occurs. These results suggest a certain degree of functional redundancy among paralogous genes in specifying regional identity. Furthermore, there was a remarkable dose-dependent increase in the number of vertebrae transformed to a first cervical vertebra identity, including the second through the fifth cervical vertebrae in the triple mutant. Thus, these genes are required in a larger anteroposterior domain than is revealed by the single mutant phenotypes alone, such that multiple mutations in these genes result in transformations of vertebrae that are not at their anterior limit of expression. ^

Genetic diversity and regional identity in the Australian remnant Nothofagus moorei

Nothofagus moorei (F. Muell.) Krasser has a disjunct and narrow distribution in south-eastern Australian cool temperate rainforest. To assess the conservation-genetic priorities for this species, the genetic diversity of 20 populations sampled from the largest remnant patches at northern and southern distributional extremes, the McPherson and Barrington ranges (a total of 146 individuals), was investigated by using inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR). Regeneration in northern regions of N. moorei has been documented to be predominantly by vegetative means, but our results indicate little evidence of clonality outside the multi-stemmed rings of trees. In addition, genetic diversity was considerably higher in the northern (McPherson, h = 0.1613) than in the southern range (Barrington, h = 0.1159), and genetic differentiation was significantly positively correlated with geographic distance in the former region, but not the latter. Total intraspecific variation was moderate, as measured by Shannon's diversity index, I = 0.2719, and Nei's gene diversity, h = 0.1672, and is considered at the high end of spectrum for estimates of narrow endemic species. An analysis of molecular variation indicated that the majority of genetic variation is partitioned among individuals within population (60%; P < 0.001), rather than among populations within regions (10%; P < 0.001). However, a large and significant component of the measured diversity was partitioned between northern and southern regions (29%; P < 0.001). Several hypotheses are outlined to explain these differences and management implications are discussed. However, given the narrow range, poor dispersal mechanism and restriction to cool temperate rainforest, the continued existence of N. moorei is most threatened by environmental instability and habitat loss resulting from global climate change. In this context the northern regions of the species are most at risk and extinction of such populations would lead to a significant loss of genetic variation for the species as a whole.

Reconstructing the past? Low German and the creating of regional identity in public language display

This article deals with language contact between a dominant standard language -German - and a lesser-used variety - Low German - in a situation in which the minoritised language is threatened by language shift and language loss. It analyses the application of Low German in forms of public language display and the selfpresentation of the community in tourism brochures, focusing on bilingual linguistic practices on the one hand and on underlying discourses on the other. It reveals that top-down and bottom-up approaches to implementing Low German in public language display show a remarkable homogeneity, thus creating a regional 'brand'. The article asks whether a raised level of visibility will in itself guarantee better chances for linguistic maintenance and survival of the threatened language. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

The effect of borders on the linguistic production and perception of regional identity in Louisville, Kentucky

A great deal of scholarly research has addressed the issue of dialect mapping in the United States. These studies, usually based on phonetic or lexical items, aim to present an overall picture of the dialect landscape. But what is often missing in these types of projects is an attention to the borders of a dialect region and to what kinds of identity alignments can be found in such areas. This lack of attention to regional and dialect border identities is surprising, given the salience of such borders for many Americans. This salience is also ignored among dialectologists, as nonlinguists‟ perceptions and attitudes have been generally assumed to be secondary to the analysis of “real” data, such as the phonetic and lexical variables used in traditional dialectology. Louisville, Kentucky is considered as a case study for examining how dialect and regional borders in the United States impact speakers‟ linguistic acts of identity, especially the production and perception of such identities. According to Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006), Louisville is one of the northernmost cities to be classified as part of the South. Its location on the Ohio River, on the political and geographic border between Kentucky and Indiana, places Louisville on the isogloss between Southern and Midland dialects. Through an examination of language attitude surveys, mental maps, focus group interviews, and production data, I show that identity alignments in borderlands are neither simple nor straightforward. Identity at the border is fluid, complex, and dynamic; speakers constantly negotiate and contest their identities. The analysis shows the ways in which Louisvillians shift between Southern and non-Southern identities, in the active and agentive expression of their amplified awareness of belonging brought about by their position on the border.

A identidade regional do Brasil: o sul-americanismo nos governos de Fernando Henrique Cardoso e de Lula da Silva (1995-2010)

A presente dissertação destina-se a analisar o processo de emergência da identidade sul-americana, cuja primeira manifestação remonta à década de 1990, acentuando-se após a I Reunião de Presidentes da América do Sul (2000). A imersão histórica de longa duração do primeiro capítulo, que nos remete à segunda década do século XIX, oferece-nos um instrumental analítico complementar ao arcabouço teórico utilizado, de modo a apresentar a identidade latino-americana principal concorrente da sul-americana como elemento criado a partir de estímulos vinculados a uma conjuntura específica. Desconstruídas supostas naturalidades identitárias, o segundo capítulo concentra-se na análise das principais iniciativas da diplomacia brasileira para a edificação dos diversos modelos de regionalismo no âmbito sul-americano, destacando-se a reunião proposta por Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Ato contínuo, o terceiro capítulo busca verificar as principais ações da gestão Lula da Silva para a região, tendo em vista que esta última foi alçada à condição de prioridade da política externa durante seu governo. Nesse sentido, levantamos os argumentos que embasam e estruturam a identidade sul-americana na virada do século XX para o XXI, trazendo à tona divergências paradigmáticas atinentes às agremiações partidárias que polarizam o cenário político nacional e, por conseguinte, apresentam convicções distintas no que tange ao aprofundamento dessa nova vertente identitária.

Towards a regional understanding of Irish traditional music

The geography of Irish traditional music is a complex, popular and largely unexplored element of the narrative of the tradition. Geographical concepts such as the region are recurrent in the discourse of Irish traditional music but regions and their processes are, for the most part, blurred or misunderstood. This thesis explores the geographical approach to the study of Irish traditional music focusing on the concept of the region and, in particular, the role of memory in the construction and diffusion of regional identities. This is a tripartite study considering people, place and music. Each of these elements impacts on our experience of the other. All societies have created music. Music is often associated with or derived from places. Some places construct or reinforce their identity through the music and musicians through which they are associated. The thesis challenges conventional discourse on regional styles that construct an imagined pattern of regions based on subtle musical differences that may, though are not always, shared by people in that region and focuses on the social networks through which the music is disseminated. The thesis also challenges the abandonment of regional styles and the concept of regions in understanding the complex geographies of Irish traditional music (Morton, 2001). It seeks to find a middle ground between discourse analysis, musical analysis, the experience of music and place, and the representation of music and place. The dissertation is divided into three parts. Part one considers the development of music geography, noting and critiquing the abandonment of useful paradigms in both geography and ethnomusicology in search of new ways of understanding. Of particular interest is the concept of the region but it also considers the study of landscape and the humanist approach in cultural geography. The second part focuses on the discourse and study of regions in Irish traditional music and the various agents and processes that shape the concept of the region in Irish traditional music. The final part presents a case study of the Sliabh Luachra region combining and applying the various perspectives and paradigms drawn from geographical, ethnomusicological and anthropological sources. It attempts to generate an understanding of Sliabh Luachra as a region in the Irish traditional music narrative that is based on a combination of musical, socio-cultural and locational/environmental factors.

The romance of the Stanleys: regional and national imaginings in the Percy Folio

This article investigates a body of early Tudor poetry associated with the Stanley Earls of Derby, preserved in the Percy Folio (British Library, Additional MS 27879). It argues that the Lancashire and Cheshire authors of these poems modified strategies of national address, rooted in a historical and prophetic tradition we can trace back to Geoffrey of Monmouth, to construct a clear regional identity centred on the dynastic mythology of the Stanley family. The Galfridian Stanley-ite mythology of this period presents a significant counterpart to contemporary political historical and prophetic treatments of the Tudor accession. This provides an important new literary-historical context for our understanding of the Percy Folio romance "The Turke and Sir Gawain".

A CULTURA REGIONAL NO CINEMA DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL: Filmografia de 1981 a 2001

Através de pesquisa qualitativa, com estudo de caso descritivo sobre a Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre, o objetivo do projeto é analisar se o cinema produzido no Rio Grande do Sul desenvolve características próprias ou regionais e observar se a identidade regional gaúcha é retratada nas produções cinematográficas. A Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre é uma das maiores empresas produtoras e distribuidoras de cinema do Rio Grande do Sul. Situada na cidade de Porto Alegre/RS, a Casa de Cinema foi criada em dezembro de 1987 por um grupo de cineastas gaúchos. Estes trabalhavam em cinema desde o início dos anos 80, e ainda atuam no mercado cinematográfico brasileiro. Para esta análise, optou-se por um recorte na filmografia entre 1981 a 2001, por ser este, segundo críticos, pesquisadores e diretores de cinema do Rio Grande do Sul, um período de adaptações e transformações dentro do cinema gaúcho.(AU)

A CULTURA REGIONAL NO CINEMA DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL: Filmografia de 1981 a 2001

Através de pesquisa qualitativa, com estudo de caso descritivo sobre a Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre, o objetivo do projeto é analisar se o cinema produzido no Rio Grande do Sul desenvolve características próprias ou regionais e observar se a identidade regional gaúcha é retratada nas produções cinematográficas. A Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre é uma das maiores empresas produtoras e distribuidoras de cinema do Rio Grande do Sul. Situada na cidade de Porto Alegre/RS, a Casa de Cinema foi criada em dezembro de 1987 por um grupo de cineastas gaúchos. Estes trabalhavam em cinema desde o início dos anos 80, e ainda atuam no mercado cinematográfico brasileiro. Para esta análise, optou-se por um recorte na filmografia entre 1981 a 2001, por ser este, segundo críticos, pesquisadores e diretores de cinema do Rio Grande do Sul, um período de adaptações e transformações dentro do cinema gaúcho.(AU)

A CULTURA REGIONAL NO CINEMA DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL: Filmografia de 1981 a 2001

Através de pesquisa qualitativa, com estudo de caso descritivo sobre a Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre, o objetivo do projeto é analisar se o cinema produzido no Rio Grande do Sul desenvolve características próprias ou regionais e observar se a identidade regional gaúcha é retratada nas produções cinematográficas. A Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre é uma das maiores empresas produtoras e distribuidoras de cinema do Rio Grande do Sul. Situada na cidade de Porto Alegre/RS, a Casa de Cinema foi criada em dezembro de 1987 por um grupo de cineastas gaúchos. Estes trabalhavam em cinema desde o início dos anos 80, e ainda atuam no mercado cinematográfico brasileiro. Para esta análise, optou-se por um recorte na filmografia entre 1981 a 2001, por ser este, segundo críticos, pesquisadores e diretores de cinema do Rio Grande do Sul, um período de adaptações e transformações dentro do cinema gaúcho.(AU)

A identidade regional na imprensa de proximidade beirã. Dois periódicos viseenses de 1959 a 2011.

Os contornos de um mundo em mudança e a evolução do pensamento há muito que se afastaram dos conceitos de identidades unas e imutáveis. A própria aceitação da mutabilidade traduz-se também nos cenários das vastas possibilidades para os fenómenos identitários à escala global. Também por isso, e mais do que nunca, se revela preponderante a reflexão sobre tais fenómenos identitários e a compreensão da sua intervenção e pertinência nas constantes reconfigurações sociais da atualidade. Esse será o universo do presente trabalho, onde serão auscultadas atuais conceções identitárias e o seu lugar no caso português. Este estudo configura-se, portanto, a partir de objetivos centrais bem delimitados: identificar e caracterizar a eventual existência de identidades regionais em Portugal, no caso particular dos territórios associados a Viseu. Este ponto de partida surge da análise da frequente cartografia das identidades territoriais na realidade portuguesa, bem como da continuidade de anteriores estudos do autor. Com efeito, verifica-se que frequentemente se definem duas grandes tipologias identitárias no que concerne à relação com o território: a local e a nacional. Tal posição surge em aberta contradição com os discursos mediáticos recorrentes onde a constante presença de um discurso de matriz regional obriga à dúvida inevitável. Nesse sentido, falando-se de região, foi necessário percorrer os conceitos de limite e de fronteira que a delimitam e lhe conferem sentido, indagando-se sobre o lugar da sua criação e da sua vivência. Assim, o trabalho orientou-se em dois grandes sentidos iniciais: o do levantamento da ação delimitadora do Estado, tido como autor das demarcações regionais em Portugal e o da auscultação da produção discursiva dos media regionais, agentes e expressão da identidade regional. A segunda dimensão obrigaria a um estudo aturado sobre a imprensa regional, objeto essencial do presente trabalho e a partir do qual será possível alcançar conclusões validáveis para o período entre 1959 e 2011. É então pelo cruzamento das duas dimensões referidas que se surpreende a existência de traços identitários regionais bem vincados, profundamente arreigados ao discurso do Estado Novo, raramente correspondendo aos intentos de delimitação das sucessivas iniciativas governamentais posteriores que, desse modo, revelam também um profundo distanciamento desse território que insistentemente vão dividindo. Entre o discurso eivado de simbolismo – embora centralista – do Estado Novo e as denominações técnicas – embora com o propósito de promover a descentralização do poder – da democracia, o discurso identitário da imprensa regional de Viseu alimenta-se ainda hoje do primeiro. Não porque vise os seus objetivos, mas porque é o que melhor caracteriza uma identidade relativamente pacificada: sempre pronta a recorrer ao passado beirão para afirmar as suas diferenças, sem no entanto pôr em causa o espírito da Nação; sempre pronta a denunciar o centralismo de Lisboa, esquecendo embora que foi esse centralismo que outrora lhe atribuiu a característica da genuinidade de, o que quer que seja, ser português.

The social role of design on collaborative destination branding : creating a new journey, a new story for the Waterfall Way, New South Wales, Australia.

This paper suggests that collaborative design can be an effective tool to promote social change. A co-design methodology and the results of its application in branding the Waterfall Way (New South Wales, Australia) as an eco- and nature-based tourism destination are presented as an example. The co-design exercise actively involved stakeholders in all stages of the design process, harnessing local tacit knowledge in relation to communication design, stimulating reflection upon what is special about the places, and consequently reinforcing a sense of belonging and the environmental and cultural conservation of place. The achieved results reflect the involvement and ownership of the community towards the design process. However, the application of a collaborative brand design methodology produced more than just a destination brand that is attractive to visitors, in line with local values, ways of living and the environment. It helped to catalyse a social network around tourism, triggering self-organising activity amongst stakeholders, who started to liaise with each other around the emergent regional identity - represented by the new brand they created together. The Waterfall Way branding process is a good example of social construction of shared understanding in and through design, showing that design exercises can have a significant social impact not only on the final product, but also on the realities of people involved in the process.