Catalan law in the European context

The article provides an overview of the Catalan law at the European context. How the Catalan institutions can tackle on the Spanish Government policies and decisions in front of the European Union. And how the European Union Law and policies are implemented in a decentralized country such Spain where Autonomous Communities have their own Governments and Parliaments. There is also examined how this Spanish territorial decentralized structure affects the implementation of such EU norms and its control. Finally, there is exposed how Catalan institutions manage to participate in front of the European Union institutions. Which are the instruments that can guarantee this participation and which are the EU responses to them.

El Uso del cine en el aula de ELE

En los últimos años existe un interés creciente en la incorporación de material audiovisual en las aulas de ELE gracias, en mayor medida, al avance de las nuevas tecnologías que facilitan su uso. Sin embargo, todavía no se saca todo su potencial como material para trabajar las destrezas interculturales que contempla el actual MECD. En el siguiente ensayo apuntaremos algunas de esas razones, sobre el cine en general y el español en particular, y las diferentes aproximaciones que pueden contemplarse según las características del alumnado

Cortosionismo: hablar por los cortos: propuesta didáctica para el uso del cortometraje en el aula de ELE

En este estudio se apuesta por utilizar el material audiovisual en el aula de español como segunda lengua, ya que este material actúa como un sustituto de la realidad en la clase y conecta con el mundo conocido por el aprendiente

Anàlisi de la imatge turística projectada a través del cinema: el cas de Barcelona

L’objectiu principal d’aquest estudi és explorar el rol del cinema com a generador d’imatge de la destinació turística. El cinema és capaç de promoure, confirmar i reforçar les imatges, les opinions i la identitat d’una destinació de manera molt poderosa

El cine como recurso formativo en el ámbito de la salud

En los procesos formativos conviene tener en cuenta la diversidad de métodos y medios de soporte educativos disponiblescon el objetivo de facilitar la comunicación y la comprensión: visuales, sonoros, audiovisuales. Los medios audiovisuales sonlos que presentan un mayor desarrollo y utilización, destacando entre ellos el cine. El cine, como medio de comunicación, nospermite interpretar y descubrir lo que nos quiere comunicar a partir de la narración o historia que plantea, temas que luego lasociedad debate, bien sea presentando hechos que pueden ser reales o ficciones que podrían darse en la realidad. Sepretende asimismo analizar alguna filmografía que en su temática trate aspectos relacionados con la enfermería y la saludmental, tema este último que ha generado grandes películas y que sigue siendo un foco de interés para el público. Por tantola buena o mala utilización marca estereotipos positivos o negativos que pueden llegar a mantenerse en el tiempo. Todo ellopuede permitir con una cierta distancia: . Promover debate y discusión entre profesionales de la salud. . Motivar el análisis ycrítica en estudiantes de pregrado y postgrado. . Facilitar actividades de promoción y educación para la salud en grupos ocomunidades. Para ello utilizaremos una metodología para ir más allá del visionado de la película: . Orientamos un debate,analizando la estructura de la película, su contenido, los personajes y las relaciones que establecen. Es importante identificarlas películas adecuadas que permitan observar, analizar los contenidos que interesen trabajar

Red Riding Hood: Caperucita Roja, de Perrault a Catherine Hardwicke

El cuento de Caperucita Roja1 ha sobrevivido a través de los años gracias a su rico simbolismo por las imágenes de gran alcance que contiene. La joven niña con la capa roja que se encuentra con un lobo disfrazado de abuela es algo que golpea profundamente al receptor. El tema se ha estudiado desde numerosos puntos de vista; destaca el psicoanalista Bruno Bettelheim,2 que señala la caperuza que lleva la protagonista como símbolo de su entrada en la pubertad, asociando el color rojo con el ciclo menstrual. No todos los críticos están de acuerdo con este aspecto, aunque bastantes autores relacionan el cuento con el despertar de la sexualidad,la adolescencia y todo lo que conlleva. Perrault tampoco descuida tener en cuenta su advertencia de los riesgos en la etapa, sobre todo para las niñas románticas, en la moraleja final del relato.

Música y sonido en los trailers: estilos y géneros

Este trabajo recoge la presentación de la comunicación "Música y Sonido en los trailers: estilos y géneros" en el I Congreso de Música y Cultura Audiovisual (Murcia, 2014)

El Cine és de les dones... i dels homes, però això ja ho sabem = El Cine es de las mujeres... y de los hombres, pero eso ya lo sabemos

En aquest monografic dedicat al cine hem recollit articles de directores de dues generacions perque ens expliquin la seva experiencia de fer pel.licules i també hem convidat a un crític perque ens parli, des de la seva diferencia de ser home, del cinema fet per dones

Slackers, slashers and sticklers : Hollywood films and audience reception /

This thesis examines the processes through which identity is acquired and the processes that Hollywood :films employ to facilitate audience identification in order to determine the extent to which individuality is possible within postmodem society. Opposing views of identity formation are considered: on the one hand, that of the Frankfurt School which envisions the mass audience controlled by the culture industry and on the other, that of John Fiske which places control in the hands of the individual. The thesis takes a mediating approach, conceding that while the mass media do provide and influence identity formation, individuals can and do decode a variety of meanings from the material made available to them in accordance with the text's use-value in relation to the individual's circumstances. The analysis conducted in this thesis operates on the assumption that audiences acquire identity components in exchange for paying to see a particular film. Reality Bites (Ben Stiller 1994) and Scream (Wes Craven 1996) are analyzed as examples of mainstream 1990s films whose material circumstances encourage audience identification and whose popularity suggest that audiences did indeed identify with them. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson 2001) is considered for its art film sensibilities and is examined in order to determine to what extent this film can be considered a counter example. The analysis consists of a combination of textual analysis and reception study in an attempt to avoid the problems associated with each approach when employed alone. My interpretation of the filmmakers' and marketers' messages will be compared with online reviews posted by film viewers to determine how audiences received and made use of the material available to them. Viewer-posted reviews, both unsolicited and unrestricted, as found online, will be consulted and will represent a segment of the popular audience for the three films to be analyzed.

American Desi : representation and reproduction in diaspora /

This study explores ~ow South Asian diasporic film represents and reproduces South Asian identity in the diaspora. It commences with a review of the literature in cultural studies and post-colonial theory on identity in the diaspora. A textual analysis of three films: American Desi, Bollywood/Hollywood, and East Is East, helps frame the characteristics of South Asian diasporic film. Theoretical concepts of diaspora and identity are extended to this reading of the films. In-depth, open-ended, semi structured interviews were conducted with eight participants to test the validity of theoretical concepts through participants' own reading of American Desi. Findings indicate that while theoretical concepts of identity can be usefully applied at the level of the text, these perspectives do not always easily explain participants' interpretation of the film in relation to their everyday experiences.

Heroes on the home front : heroism and virtue in post-9/11 American cinema /

This thesis is intended to contribute to critical discussion of the American male hero in mainstream American war and action films post September 11, 2001 . The thesis investigates how these heroes' behaviour echoes a patriotic, conservative construction of the modern American as created through speeches given by George W. Bush in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001 . The thesis examines the hero in six primary sources: the war films We Were Soldiers, Behind Enemy Lines and The Great Raid and the action films Collateral Damage, Man on Fire and The Punisher. By analyzing the ideological subtext, political content, visual strategies and generic implications of the films, as well as the binary constructions of a selection of Bush speeches, and by reviewing historical representations of American male heroes on film produced in the wake of political events, the thesis concludes that the six films mobilize the USA's conservative viewpoint towards war and military action, and in concert with the speeches, contribute to an ongoing militarization of visual culture. Both systems echo a dangerous ideological fantasy of American history, life and patriotism.

Fade to black : picturing mortality in contemporary popular film /

This thesis attempts to understand representations of death in contemporary popular film within a framework that posits mortality as a category of particular social and political importance for the way we understand both individual subjectivity and social responsibility in the postmodern cultural moment. It addresses concerns over the social organizing categories of time and space, and performs a sustained consideration of predominant themes related to the popular representation of death, such as contingency, existential.meaning, and temporal finitude. Death consciousness and social consciousness are shown to be not just intertwined, but also vitally dependent on one another, and the analyses undertaken are ultimately aimed at making these intersections explicit in order • l to think through their potential implications for challenging consumer capitalist hegemony and envisioning the possibility of progressive social change through the lens of our mortality.

Buddy films and gender identity : representing the bonds of masculinity /

The study examines the buddy film genre and the representation of masculinity in relation to the homosocial and the homoerotic. As a genre, the buddy films focus on male relationships, thematically seeking to mediate the boundaries surrounding the homosocial continuum and the intimacy and eroticism implicit in male bonding. Theories of genre, gender and identity are used to analyze the construction of masculine identity within the films. By providing a qualitative analysis of films from the 1960s to contemporary times, the research establishes a relationship between social changes, attitudes toward men and depictions of men. The buddy films adapt to address changes in the representation of masculinity, embodied in the difference between the male couple in the films. The early films of the 1960s served as templates that deconstructed traditional representations of male identity through articulating the tension within homosocial relationships. However, in the later films this tension became a refle~ive convention, acting to undermine the eroticism onto a displaced Other. The buddy film genre highlights the tension inherent to the male masquerade. This tension is situated in the need to represent the protagonist's homosocial relationship, while disavowing the eroticism that surrounds homosocial bonding. The structure of the buddy film genre, which focuses on the exploration of masculinity and representing the bonds of homosocial intimacy, makes these films a significant site for investigating the cultural construction of masculine identities.

The encounter with the real and post-Soviet trauma : fantasy construction in Russian popular cinema /

This thesis examines the impact of the Soviet Union's collapse on the Russian Symbolic as represented through popular cinema of the post-Soviet period. The disintegration of the USSR in 1991 became one of the most traumatic experiences for many Russian people. The trauma of the collapse of the Soviet Union penetrated the everyday reality of the Russian Symbolic, leaving the traces-symptoms in different cultural fonns like literature, arts, television and cinema. Because popular culture usually reacts very quickly to any social, political and economical shifts in society, it is an excellent barometer for deeper changes in society. Focusing on postSoviet popular cinema, this thesis analyzes the symptoms of cultural and individual trauma occasioned by the momentous changes of the 1990's. This study is grounded in post-analytic theory of Jacques Lacan and its interpretation by Slavoj Zizek, which emphases the traumatic encounter with the Real as a "hard core" of our reality. According to this paradigm, a new chain of signifiers is structured around the traumatic breach in the Symbolic, initiating a process of fantasy construction to deal with consequences of trauma and, thus, to support our Symbolic order. This thesis examines three major fantasy constructions - drinking, traveling to a "happy land" and family reunion and money - in popular films by Alexander Rogozhkin, Yurij Mamin, Georgij Shengelia, Dmitrij Astrakhan, Valerij Todorovskij, Alexej Balabanov, Sergej Bodrov Jr. and Petr Buslov. According to Zizek, enjoyment underlies any fantasy constructions, and that is why after the intrusion of the Real every individual and culture should go through the process of fantasizing about some substitutes which can help to minimize the traumatic effect and which can lead to a partial enjoyment. By analyzing the fantasies about drinking, "happy land", reconstruction of the family bonds and money in Russian popular cinema since 1991, this thesis demonstrates how the traumatic engagement with the Real affected the everyday lives of Russian people, and how individuals tried to fill the gap, the lack, in the post-Soviet Symbolic and "return" the lost feeling of unity and plenitude.

'What ever happened to breakdancing?' : transnational b-boy/b-girl networks, underground video magazines and imagined affinities

In 1997, Paul Gilroy was able to write: "I have been asking myself, whatever happened to breakdancing" (21), a form of vernacular dance associated with urban youth that emerged in the 1970s. However, in the last decade, breakdancing has experienced a massive renaissance in movies (You Got Served), commercials ("Gotta Have My Pops!") and documentaries (the acclaimed Freshest Kids). In this thesis, 1 explore the historical development of global b-boy/bgirl culture through a qualitative study involving dancers and their modes of communication. Widespread circulation of breakdancing images peaked in the mid-1980s, and subsequently b-boy/b-girl culture largely disappeared from the mediated landscape. The dance did not reemerge into the mainstream of North American popular culture until the late 1990s. 1 argue that the development of major transnational networks between b-boys and b-girls during the 1990s was a key factor in the return of 'b-boying/b-girling' (known formerly as breakdancing). Street dancers toured, traveled and competed internationally throughout this decade. They also began to create 'underground' video documentaries and travel video 'magazines.' These video artefacts circulated extensively around the globe through alternative distribution channels (including the backpacks of traveling dancers). 1 argue that underground video artefacts helped to produce 'imagined affinities' between dancers in various nations. Imagined affinities are identifications expressed by a cultural producer who shares an embodied activity with other practitioners through either mediated texts or travels through new places. These 'imagined affinities' helped to sustain b-boy/b-girl culture by generating visual/audio representations of popularity for the dance movement across geographical regions.