Women’s Popular Cinema in Greece: the case of Olga Malea

This thesis examines the film comedies directed by Olga Malea and released between 1997 and 2007 in Greece, in order to make a claim for the study of women’s popular cinema in Greece and beyond. Women’s popular cinema refers to films which are thematically associated with women’s cinema while operating in popular forms, such as genre. Olga Malea and her work make for a useful case study, in that they encapsulate the relationship between these two broad categories of women’s cinema and popular cinema. In addition, this thesis claims that the two categories inflect one another in interesting ways, and their intersections act as a productive framework for the analysis of women’s cinema as popular cinema, effecting a popularisation of usually marginalised themes. The introduction to this work primarily outlines the theoretical frameworks for the argument that follows, namely: women’s cinema and feminist theory; discussions around popular cinema; and considerations about authorship. The concept of national film cultures and its possible meaning in relation to Greece is also alluded to as a contextual factor. Each subsequent chapter advances the argument for women’s popular cinema through close textual analysis of the films in chronological order of their release. In particular, the analysis identifies recurrent strands and motifs in the director’s oeuvre, such as tensions between tradition and modernity, and the pervasive nature of patriarchy in informing national gender discourses. Having established the argument that women’s popular cinema is productive in popularising women’s cinema itself, the thesis concludes that, in the work of Olga Malea, its themes are conceived of, represented and perceived as prominent in the country during the period examined – and one can finally address women’s cinema as popular.

Is there a Rhythm Of The Rain? An analysis of weather in popular music

Weather is frequently used in music to frame events and emotions, yet quantitative analyses are rare. From a collated base set of 759 weather-related songs, 419 were analysed based on listings from a karaoke database. This article analyses the 20 weather types described, frequency of occurrence, genre, keys, mimicry, lyrics and songwriters. Vocals were the principal means of communicating weather: sunshine was the most common, followed by rain, with weather depictions linked to the emotions of the song. Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the most weather-related songs, partly following their experiences at the time of writing.

Parliamentary sovereignty, popular sovereignty, and Henry Parker's adjudicative standpoint

Discussions of popular sovereignty in early modern England have usually been premised upon a sharp distinction between ‘legal/constitutional’ forms of discourse (which merely interpret the law) and ‘political’ ones (which focus upon the right to make it). In such readings of the period, Henry Parker has a pivotal position as a writer who abandoned merely legalistic thinking. This chapter takes a different view. It argues that Parker’s major intellectual achievement was not so much to abandon legal/constitutional discourse as to offer a theorisation of its most distinctive features: he offered an account of a new kind of politics in which concern for ‘interests’ in property and in self-preservation replaced humanist concern with promotion of virtue. Parker drew upon ideas about representation best expressed by Sir Thomas Smith and ideas about law best expressed by Oliver St John. The theory he developed was not intended as a justification of legislative sovereignty, but of adjudicative supremacy. His picture of the two Houses as supreme adjudicators was meant to block the path to direct democracy. But the adjudicative standpoint they came to occupy presupposed that freeborn adults had ‘interests’ in life, liberty, and possessions. This had democratising implications.

Solar energy exhibits at the popular science park Teknoland

The new Popular Science Park TEKNOLAND in Falun contains a number of interactive solar energy exhibits, including The Solar Heated Chess Board, The Solar Electric Playhouse, The Sudanese Solar Oven, and Solar Collector Optics. The TeknoTrix tutored children activities include solar thermal activities. Some related interactive exhibits are planned to be included during the summer and during coming years.

Teknoland - popular science park with solar energy exhibits

The new Popular Science Park TEKNOLAND in Falun contains a number of interactive solar energy exhibits, including The Solar Heated Chess Board, The Solar Electric Playhouse, The Sudanese Solar Oven, and Solar Collector Optics. The TeknoTrix tutored children activities include solar thermal activities. Some related interactive exhibits are planned to be included during the summer and during coming years.

Popular history magazines and history education

This paper argues that popular history magazines may be a welcome complement toother forms of historical media in history teaching. By outlining a theoretical framework thatcaptures uses of history, the paper analyses popular history magazine articles from five Europeancountries all dealing with the outbreak of World War I. The study finds that while the studiedarticles provide a rather heterogeneous view of the causes of the Great War, they can be used todiscuss and analyse the importance of perspective in history, thus offering an opportunity tofurther a more disciplinary historical understanding.

Pop art: making mathematics popular

Leicha Bragg shares an effective activity for integrating visual arts, technology and mathematics. Such an approach has the potential to enhance students' visual reasoning and spatial ability by using multiple perspectives of learning. 

Popular culture/sacredness

A huge billboard faces me as I crawl down Punt Road Melbourne, its wild purple and yellow-daubed sports fan (male) leering over the northbound traffic. Its message: 'Sport is a Religion, so pray for Yamaha Stadium Sound'  Canny advertising, hooking into aussie culture, selecting an aussie take on religion/ sport (fun, serious, primitive, fanatic, central). Next, there's the Next fashion ad, with its larger than life-sized photograph of a gorgeously dressed young female eying off the pope's long white robe, comparing outfits. Fashion as religion, or better than, really, is the inference-she looks mildly
amused, and he looks a little nonplussed. And then there are the many Qantas advertisments for 'Spirit of. Australia' featuring Aboriginal figures, with backdrops of Dlum and the red desert. As cultural tour businesses know, there's money to be made in taking urban, nonIndigenous tourists to visit their 'spiritual other', the Aboriginal.1 Or there's the multicultural, children's version of the ad, with all the little global travellers of the future featured in wonderful locations. Spirit of Australia.

The Fiftieth Gate : an Australian case study in twentieth-century 'popular' publishing

On Sunday 6 April 1997, historian Mark Baker's first non-academic book was launched at Melbourne's iconic migrant portal, Station Pier. The guest list of over 500 invitees included representatives of many print media organisations, most of whom interviewed the author. His photograph was reproduced a week later in the 'Agenda' section of The Age newspaper. In this portrait, Baker leans on the railings beside the massive structure of Station Pier. Framed by sea and sky, he is caught glancing pensively over his shoulder past the camera and into the middle distance. He is alone. The day is bleak. Here, the reader is invited to surmise, is a man with much on his mind. In a flash of inspiration the sub-editor has prefaced the accompanying caption, 'Back to the future', linking the story with the mass media of film and television.