The rise and demise of a book-review magazine interpreting the cultural work of Books in Canada (1971-2008)

This interdisciplinary study examines the contribution that a book-review magazine makes to the cultural identity of its readers. It is the result of reflections on the cultural work of Books in Canada , on whether or not this periodical was a cultural worksite and if that is the case how it performed that cultural work. In addition, it interrogates factors that may have contributed to the magazine's demise. The study affirms that Books in Canada, a cultural enterprise from 1971 to 2008, mirrored and helped to shape book and literary culture in Canada through its circulation, through the personalities of its editors, through its front covers and through its reviewers and their reviews. Furthermore, it proposes that the demise of the enterprise was due to a combination of factors. The study begins with an introduction to book reviewing and special-interest magazines. Chapter I examines the interplay between selected visual and textual contents published in Books in Canada in its founding years. These components reflected and helped to fuel the cultural nationalism that was sweeping Canada subsequent to the 1967 World's Fair in Montreal. There were also persistent rumours and comments about the magazine that caused certain"cracks in the foundation" to appear. Chapter II compares the aims and editorial challenges of Val Clery, founder of Books in Canada , with those of Adrien Thério, founder of Lettres québécoises, and of the editors of the magazines' twentieth-anniversary issues, Paul Stuewe in the case of the former and André Vanasse in the case of the latter. Evidence in the content of the magazine, editorial and otherwise, indicated that the"contracts" that the editors made with their readers over the years were similar, to reflect and shape a cultural identity, but the result of their"projects," that is, the nature of those identities, was distinctly different. Evidently then, personal aims, preferences and political leanings of editors can have a major impact on the content of a book-review magazine and thus on the cultural work that it does. Therefore, in Chapter III, I focus on selected contents published during the tenures of two of Books in Canada 's key editors, Paul Stuewe and Olga Stein, in order to understand ways that their choices constituted a form of cultural work. The second part of this chapter moves from an analysis of the cultural work of editors to an examination of the cultural work of reviewers. Here, through a close-reading of a selection of reviews published in Books in Canada, and in other periodicals, I argue that reviewers do cultural work in the way that they negotiate their presence in a review, and in how they signal that presence through lexical choices and through the degree of intellectual interaction that they invite. Intellectual interaction is at the core of Chapter IV.This chapter consists of close readings of some of the"billboards" of the enterprise, that is, the front covers of Books in Canada , in order to show how these important components do cultural work by requiring readers to make an intellectual leap from image to text. Chapter V suggests that book reviews, the company's"bills of goods," do cultural work in much the same way as the paratexts of a book. One of my own reviews is offered as a case-study along with a number of other reviews of how central components of a book-review magazine do cultural work through the illocutionary force of their sentences. The first part of Chapter VI, the final chapter, measures the legacy of the magazine, in particular, the annual Books in Canada First Novel Award. Created in 1976, this prize is awarded to the author of the novel judged by a Books in Canada prize committee to be the best first novel in English of the year. The second part of Chapter VI sheds light on factors that may have contributed to the closure of the enterprise, including the copyright uproar that accompanied the agreement that Adrian Stein, publisher of Books in Canada and Olga Stein's husband, made in 2001 with the online book merchant, Amazon.com. Furthermore, this penultimate section of the study suggests that one of the most important factors in the magazine's demise was the decision by the Steins to exploit their position as owners, publisher, and editor of a book-review periodical, a government-subsidized one at that, to publish their own lengthy pre-trial defense of Conrad Black. The chapter then zooms back from the particular to the general with a broader consideration of the impact of technology and globalization on the book industry and on the ability of Books in Canada to survive in any form, print or digital.

Golf destinations' brand personality: the case of the Algarve

The purpose of this research is to develop and validate a measurement scale to assess golf destinations’ brand personality and therefore to perceive the destination personality of the Algarve as a golf destination. Based on literature review on human personality, brand personality, destination brand image and marketing scales validation procedures, an initial 36 unrepeated items were the base for a survey instrument. Those items were generated from the literature, from the results of individual interviews with experts in tourism and golf in the Algarve and from promotional texts in golf- related websites. After content validation, the items were allocated into categories of attributes by a panel of expert judges. A survey was then applied to a convenient sample of 600 golf players in the Algarve, and 545 (valid) questionnaires were analysed to refine the scale. Golf players assessed the components of the relational brand personality (functional, symbolic and experiential) as well as the Algarve as a golf destination. A taxonomy of brand personality was developed and tested in the Algarve as it is recognized as one of the world best golf destination. The developed taxonomy of brand personality was assessed in two ways: 1) through the overall perception of the Algarve as a golf destination and 2) through the perception of specific attributes of the destination grouped into three main categories (functional, symbolic and experiential). Therefore, two multi-dimensional brand personality models were estimated by using structural equation modelling. Findings of this study indicate that golf players ascribe personality characteristics to destinations. The brand personality of the Algarve is translated into three main dimensions enjoyableness, distinctiveness and friendliness when tourists/golf players reveal their overall perception of the destination. The brand personality of golf destination Algarve is reflected in the dimensions reliability, hospitality, uniqueness and attractiveness when tourists assess the components of the relational brand personality. Refined scales consisting of 10 and 12 items were finally derived meeting both reliability and validity requirements. This study does not replicate Aaker’s (1997) personality dimensions and very little parallelism can be drawn with Aaker’s (1997) brand personality scale since only three items from her scale were validated in both models: friendly and cheerful, (sincerity), reliable (competence). The same is verified concerning the ‘Big-five’. The human personality traits (HPT) validated to describe golf destinations personality are only four helpful, pleasant (agreeableness), relaxed (emotional stability), and innovative (intellect or openness). As far as destination image descriptors (DID) are concerned, the items appealing, relaxed and safe were validated, while traits suggested by the interviews and website promotional texts such as calm, natural, spectacular, unique, welcoming, and the best (destination-specific traits) appear to be appropriate to describe the personality of a golf destination. The results suggest that the overall perception of the Algarve´s brand personality is described by the dimensions enjoyableness, distinctiveness and friendliness. Moreover, the relational perspective revealed that the functional attributes of the destination are described by the dimension reliablility, while the symbolic attributes are described by the dimensions hospitablility and uniqueness and finally its experiential attributes are described by the dimension attractiveness. These results show that a golf destination´s brand personality should not just be based on good golf practices. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the context of destination brand personality.

Compte rendu: Jannis Androutsopoulos (dir.) (2014), Mediatization and sociolinguistic change, Berlin/Boston, De Gruyter, coll. « Linguae & litterae. Publications of the School of Language & Literature Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, 36 », vii-557 p. [ISBN : 978-3-11-034357-1]

Résumé non disponible

System dynamics in tourism: a systematic literature review

Dissertação de Mestrado, Economia do Turismo e Desenvolvimento Regional, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

Students’ engagement in school, achievement goals and grade level: A literature review

Este E-Book reúne um conjunto de investigações apresentadas no “I Congresso Internacional Envolvimento dos Alunos na Escola: Perspetivas da Psicologia e Educação” (ICIEAE), organizado no âmbito do “Projeto PTDC/CPE-CED/114362/2009 - Envolvimento dos Alunos na Escola: Diferenciação e Promoção” (EAE-DP), financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).

Students’ engagement in school and peer relations: A literature review

Este E-Book reúne um conjunto de investigações apresentadas no “I Congresso Internacional Envolvimento dos Alunos na Escola: Perspetivas da Psicologia e Educação” (ICIEAE), organizado no âmbito do “Projeto PTDC/CPE-CED/114362/2009 - Envolvimento dos Alunos na Escola: Diferenciação e Promoção” (EAE-DP), financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).

Poetry and feminine crafts in the letters of the young Marquise of Alorna (1750-1839)

abstract : Taking as a starting point the association between embroidery and language conveyed by the Greek myth of Filomela and Procne, this article examines the relationship between social status and ornaments like embroidery and lace. In order to illustrate this relationship an example is selected form the letters exchanged between the Marquise of Alorna and her Father where a connection is established between the production of these 'feminine' crafts, women's culture and womens writing, in the XVIIIth Century

Literature Review WM9: Part II - light goods vehicles in urban areas, carried as as part Work Module 1, Green Logistics Project

LGVs are of ever-greater importance in terms of the final delivery of many time-critical, high value goods and are also widely used in industries that provide a wide range of critical support services. There are almost five times as many LGVs as there are HGVs (goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight) currently licensed in Britain. The LGV fleet in Britain is growing at a faster rate than the HGV fleet, and the LGV fleet travels more than twice as many vehicle kilometres each year than the total HGV fleet. LGVs perform a far greater proportion of their total distance travelled in urban areas than HGVs, and consume 25% of the total diesel and 3% of the total petrol used by all motorised road transport vehicles in Britain.

Literature Review WM9: Part I - urban freight transport, carried out as part of Work Module 1, Green Logistics Project

The review illustrates the importance of road movements in goods distribution in urban areas. It highlights the major economic, environmental and social impacts associated with this freight activity and reviews policy options available to those responsible for regulation. A wide range of possible solutions to problems posed by urban freight operations are also covered including approaches related to: consolidation, facilities, vehicle design, information capture and utilisation, and non-road modes.