Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century

Contemporary Central American fiction has become a vital project of revision of the tragic events and the social conditions in the recent history of the countries from which they emerge. The literary projects of Sergio Ramirez (Nicaragua), Dante Liano (Guatemala), Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador), and Ramon Fonseca Mora (Panama), are representative of the latest trends in Central American narrative. These trends conform to a new literary paradigm that consists of an amalgam of styles and discourses, which combine the testimonial, the historical, and the political with the mystery and suspense of noir thrillers. Contemporary Central American noir narrative depicts the persistent war against social injustice, violence, criminal activities, as well as the new technological advances and economic challenges of the post-war neo-liberal order that still prevails throughout the region. Drawing on postmodernism theory proposed by Ihab Hassan, Linda Hutcheon and Brian MacHale, I argued that the new Central American literary paradigm exemplified by Sergio Ramirez’s El cielo llora por mí, Dante Liano’s El hombre de Montserrat, Horacio Castellanos Moya’s El arma en el hombre and La diabla en el espejo, and Ramon Fonseca Mora’s El desenterrador, are highly structured novels that display the characteristic marks of postmodern cultural expression through their ambivalence, which results from the coexistence of multiple styles and conflicting ideologies and narrative trends. The novels analyzed in this dissertation make use of a noir sensitivity in which corruption, decay and disillusionment are at their core to portray the events that shaped the modern history of the countries from which they emerge. The revolutionary armed struggle, the state of terror imposed by military regimes and the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, are among the major themes of these contemporary works of fiction, which I have categorized as perfect examples of the post-revolutionary post-modernism Central American detective fiction at the turn of the 21st century.

Acceptance of smartphone-based mobile shopping:mobile benefits, customer characteristics, perceived risk and the impact of application context

Despite their generally increasing use, the adoption of mobile shopping applications often differs across purchase contexts. In order to advance our understanding of smartphone-based mobile shopping acceptance, this study integrates and extends existing approaches from technology acceptance literature by examining two previously underexplored aspects. Firstly, the study examines the impact of different mobile and personal benefits (instant connectivity, contextual value and hedonic motivation), customer characteristics (habit) and risk facets (financial, performance, and security risk) as antecedents of mobile shopping acceptance. Secondly, it is assumed that several acceptance drivers differ in relevance subject to the perception of three mobile shopping characteristics (location sensitivity, time criticality, and extent of control), while other drivers are assumed to matter independent of the context. Based on a dataset of 410 smartphone shoppers, empirical results demonstrate that several acceptance predictors are associated with ease of use and usefulness, which in turn affect intentional and behavioral outcomes. Furthermore, the extent to which risks and benefits impact ease of use and usefulness is influenced by the three contextual characteristics. From a managerial perspective, results show which factors to consider in the development of mobile shopping applications and in which different application contexts they matter.

Furie, curiosité, solidarité : mise en scène de la tension dans le cinéma des frères Dardenne

Ce mémoire de recherche-création est accompagné du court métrage «Tala». Pour visionner en ligne : vimeo.com/ondemand/talapierphilippechevigny

O desejo no feminino

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada no ISPA – Instituto Universitário para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Clínica

Manifesto of a defeated poet

This feature-length experimental film is the result of an intimate collaboration between Bosnian filmmaker/poet/painter/musician/performace artist Saidin Salkic (On Karasevdah: Srebrenica Blues, 2007 & Konvent 2010) and veteran Australian experimental filmmaker and film educator John Cumming (Obsession, Recognition & Sabotage 1985-87, First time Tragedy Second Tome Farce, 1989, The Hollow Centre 1999). Created over a period of four years it draws on the traditions and possibilities of improvisation – in cinematography, experimental cinema, dance, music and performance – with moments of intensity and repose, fluidity and halting re-composure. Cumming’s camera and Salkic’s movement work in front of it are at once expressionistic and in dialectical tension as are Salkic’s poetry, his haunting improvisations on piano and melodica and Cumming’s industrial soundscapes. SYNOPSIS: In the midst of fascist-capitalist madness, the Foreigner (a poet/dancer with sun on his palms and blood from his dreams on his face) hovers in neon twilight with last whispers of sanity on his lips, guarding and protecting the world – forever. REVIEW: ‘Full of mystery and beauty, punctuated by strange eruptions of silent cinema, of Chaplin, of film history made personal … not the film of a dance but a dance itself around pure presence … something unique and precious.’ Maximilian Le Cain, http://lecain.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/a-few-reflections-on-manifesto-of.html

Naga Mas vs Tino Chung

Mystery story. At head of title: Grandy's breathless thriller. "Serie: VII."

Diferencias regionales en las estructuras de ingresos laborales en Colombia

Dada la persistencia de las diferencias en ingresos laborales por regiones en Colombia, el presente artículo propone cuantificar la magnitud de este diferencial que es atribuida a la diferencia en estructuras de mercado laboral, entendiendo esta última como la diferencia en los retornos a las características de la fuerza laboral. Para ello se propone el uso de un método de descomposición del tipo Oaxaca- Blinder y se compara a Bogotá –la ciudad con mayores ingresos laborales- con otras ciudades principales. Los resultados obtenidos al conducir el ejercicio de descomposición muestran que las diferencias en estructura están a favor de Bogotá y que estas explican más de la mitad de la diferencia total, indicando que si se quieren reducir las disparidades de ingresos laborales entre ciudades no es suficiente con calificar la fuerza laboral y que es necesario indagar por las causas que hacen que los retornos a las características difieran entre ciudades.