Embolada e outras coisas do folclore tulusano: a experiência da Associação Escambiar em Toulouse - França

Since the middle 80 s from the 20th century, some musical genres associated to the Brazilian Northeastern region notably the forró, coco de embolada and repente de viola have been gradually incorporated to the musical production of south France linked to the occitanista trend, currently linking many musicians and groups from those regions in both countries. This paper is engaged in reflecting on the particular experience of the groups formed by the Escambiar Association, located on the city of Toulouse, and specially the duet Fabulous Trobadors, whose compositions are mostly made in the coco de embolada form. Watching the motivations and the processes that led to the creation of the groups from this association and it s current operation, this study investigates the transcultural phenomenon, that allow to cross two symbolic universes through rationalizing speeches about music, considering the locality s production in the midst of a political debate that involve questions about cultural identity and tradition

On and off the stage at Atlanta Greek Picnic: Performances of collective black middle-class identities and the politics of belonging

This dissertation presents a thick ethnography that engages in the micro-analysis of the situationality of black middle-class collective identification processes through an examination of performances by members of the nine historically black sororities and fraternities at Atlanta Greek Picnic, an annual festival that occurs at the beginning of June in Atlanta, Georgia. It mainly attracts undergraduate and graduate members of these university-based organizations, as they exist all over the United States. This exploration of black Greek-letter organization (BGLO) performances uncovers processes through which young black middle-class individuals attempt to combine two universes that are at first glance in complete opposition to each other: the domain of the traditional black middle-class values with representations and fashions stemming from black popular culture. These constructions also attempt to incorporate—in a contradiction of sorts— black popular cultural elements in the objective to deconstruct the social conservatism that characterizes middle-class values, particularly in relation to sexuality and its representation in social behaviors and performances. This negotiation between prescribed v middle-class values of respectability and black popular culture provides a space wherein black individuals challenge and/or perpetuate those dominant tropes through identity performances that feed into the formation of black sexual politics, which I examine through a variety of BGLO staged and non-staged performances. ^

De la Teoría Institucional del Arte a la Curaduría Creativa: revisión de una aproximación institucional a la definición de lo "artístico"

Es una revisión e interpretación profunda de la Teoría Institucional de Arte cuya reflexión se extiende hasta la Curaduría Creativa, un fenómeno del arte contemporáneo, del que podría predicarse un estatus de obra de arte. El objetivo principal pretende defender las condiciones bajo las cuales la curaduría puede considerarse una obra de arte.

Subjetividades políticas desde la representación : fotografía documental del campesinado en Colombia (1965-1975)

Esta investigación explora arqueológicamente el saber constituido sobre el campesinado en Colombia, en el período de 1965-1975, tomando como material empírico principal un archivo fotográfico documental que relacionaremos con hemerografía y las reconstrucciones socio-históricas de la década. Nuestro propósito es relacionar el archivo, sus condiciones, su porvenir, medios y definiciones con la constitución de subjetividades políticas. Las subjetividades son entendidas aquí en tanto procesos que al referir universos simbólicos socialmente compartidos, dotan al sujeto de un lenguaje cultural que a continuación internaliza, y adquiere así una singularidad que lo caracteriza y finalmente lo representa como “ser colectivo”. Descifraremos, a través de lo visible y lo oculto de las representaciones fotográficas, los enunciados posibles y las aproximaciones desde la sociología. Veremos como los discursos, por demás contradictorios, fungen a manera de proyectos de homogeneización de la cultura campesina efectuándose en la esfera de la heterogeneidad: campesinos marcados por diferencias entre sí, multiplicidad de subjetividades implicadas políticamente en los procesos inscritos dentro de la reforma agraria.

It's a matter of culture: analyzing worldbuilding in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

This dissertation is going to analyze culture in media and the role it plays in worldbuilding, taking into account one of the most-loved franchises in western animation, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Moreover, it wants to provide a different perspective on culture, posing the focus on the products consumed by many on a daily basis. First of all, this dissertation will start by trying to give “culture” itself a definition, focusing on two works of literature from which it will draw its analysis related to worldbuilding: Agar’s cultures in comparison and Hofstede’s model of culture. Then, it will move on to the concept of worldbuilding – what we define as worldbuilding, and how it mixes with culture. We will comment on how worldbuilding has gotten more attention with growing online communities and how it could make or break a franchise, with the example of the Divergent saga. Finally, it will move on to the main case study, Avatar: The Last Airbender, which will be analyzed from a cultural standpoint, underlining the role worldbuilding plays in it, and there will be a focus on nonverbal communication in animated media.