Music video and gendered pleasures in the lives of young women and men

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the cultural and social significance of music video in the lives of a group of young women and men. In so doing the thesis pays particular attention to issues of gender and pleasure. This research examines the interaction of a group of young people with music video in relation to four areas of research. Firstly, the importance of music video in terms of social interaction and the pleasure this entails is explored. Secondly the thesis looks at the ways in which gender is seen by the young people in this study to be established by music video performers. Thirdly, how gender becomes inscribed on the body is explored, and fourthly I examine the process of sexualization of the body. Theoretically this thesis draws upon feminist theory, poststructuralist theory, music video scholarship and educational theories. This eclectic approach has been necessary as this research speaks simultaneously to several distinct areas of scholarship: education, cultural studies and feminism. My research with a young audience of music video took place within a secondary school. Over two semesters I conducted research with two separate classes of Media Studies students who were aged fifteen and sixteen. A total of 49 students were interviewed, however I chose mainly to work with a small group of eleven students - five girls and six boys. The school where I conducted this research is located in a working class suburb of a provincial and industrial Australian city . The young people's social positioning in terms of class and ethnicity has been considered in some depth in relation to the construction of the gendered subject. Methodologically the thesis is skewed towards the audience, and also towards dealing with what is normally unspoken in the research process. For example, much academic research does not include the author of the research as an integral part of that research. In this thesis I include myself in a number of ways: historically, personally and as a feminist. This thesis places a high priority on ethics and the effects of research on those who participate in the research process. The thesis uses a number of research methods: structured interviews, informal conversations, memory-work and written responses to music videos. Generally the research methods used in this thesis have been developed reflexively; that is, they have developed directly in relation to the participants’ reactions, responses, suggestions, interests and comments. The research seeks to demonstrate the place of music video in the lives of the young people who participated in the study. I look at how the young people in this study connect music video to other cultural forms and social interactions. In this way the intertextuality of music video is demonstrated. The research looks at how young viewers 'read' the gender of music video performers, and how this affects their own gendering. The social and cultural meanings which are attached to certain parts of the body are also examined. Theorizing the body in terms of its social meanings is a significant part of this thesis. The research argues that young people often experience music video as pleasurable, and that music video can provide young people with access to powerful speaking positions. This is demonstrated through transcripts of our conversations and interviews, and also through the young people's written comments. However, these powerful speaking positions invariably invoke dominant discourses (homophobia and racism, for example). Thus the disruptive potential of music video is called into question. These dominant discourses are gendered in nature. Pleasure in the text (music video) and cultural inscriptions of gender on the body then, are realized differently for the girls and for the boys in this study. My research into music video, gender and young people has implications for research methodology generally, and for music video scholarship specifically. Music video scholarship to date has rarely focussed upon the audience of this cultural form. My research has certain implications for the ways in which research is currently conducted with young people in relation to popular culture generally, and music video specifically, and gendered subjectivity.

An entrepreneurial music industry education in secondary schooling: The emerging professional learning model

There is widespread agreement that entrepreneurial skills are crucial for young people today, yet there are few studies of high school students engaging in entrepreneurship education that might prepare them for music industry careers. This study has been developed in response to these challenges. It explores a group of high school students (15 – 17 years) who alongside their teacher, have co-designed, developed and driven a new business venture, Youth Music Industries (YMI) since 2010. This venture staged cycles of differently scaled events featuring young artists for a young audience. The project was designed to give students a real business situation for developing their project management skills and a broader understanding of working in the music industry. Informed by concepts of social capital and communities of practice, the study examines the process of learning with and through others. This high-stakes environment increased their sense of presence and participation and made it possible for these young people to distribute expertise and learn from each other in a reciprocal and more democratic way. The ongoing success of this organisation can be attributed to the entrepreneurial competencies students developed. The resulting model and design principles talk to an ongoing challenge that has been identified in music education, and creative industries more generally. These principles offer a way forward for other music and creative industries educators or researchers interested in developing models of, and designs for, nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset.

Big Ears – sonic art for public ears: Reflections on collaborative training

This text critically reflects on the higher education public engagement training program, entitled ‘Big Ears – sonic art for public ears’. The authors detail the objectives and aims as well as the benefits of this initiative for the enhancement of the student learning experience. We consider Schmidt’s (Schmidt, 2012) notion of mis-listening and Christopher Small’s concept of ‘musicking’ (Small, 1998), and develop a critical argument on how public engagement has changed researchers’ views and attitudes about their own research. The text explores how the creative interaction with a young audience has had great impact on the students’ learning experience as well as on their employability/transferable skills, because Big Ears stresses the importance of pulling practice as research away from the academic argument of why artists should be supported inside an institution, and into the realm of the real – what to do when making art, how to make it relevant and applicable to audiences.

Prose fiction’s infinite playlist : encountering music in fiction narrative

This paper will argue that reference to music in young-adult prose fiction stimulates movement across narrative and artistic boundaries in ways that facilitate a unique reading encounter. The inclusion of musical reference opens up a space for a multisensory experience that is beyond that of the reading experience devoid of musical association, even when the audio is not immediately available at the time of reading. This experience is bound to the role of the reader, however, be it through the remembered or imagined experience of the music that is signaled in-text, or even the reader’s pursuit of the audio in response to the reading. As ‘a threshold literature’ (Eaton 2010, np) that targets a young audience for whom ‘popular music is globally acknowledged as affectively and culturally central’ (Bloustien & Peters 2011, 4), young-adult fiction is an apt space for explorations into the potential that exists when a text includes musical reference. In particular, Gerard Genette’s paratexts (1997), J Hillis Miller’s ‘membranes’ (2005) and T Austin Graham’s ‘literary soundtrack’ (2009) will be used to examine how Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s young-adult fiction novel Nick and Norah’s infinite playlist (2006) functions as an ‘infinite playlist’ in itself via a series of paratextual and epitextual elements. Discussion of the latticework of music-narrative interaction that exists as a part of this text will facilitate an understanding of how musical reference can encourage movement within and beyond the narrative towards a potentially unique reading experience.

Ópera e literatura em cena: uma análise da obra juvenil aída, adaptada por han mi-ho e ilustrada por Lucia Sforza

This text’s objective is to present an analysis of Aída, adapted by Han Mi-Ho (2012) and illustrated by Lucia Sforza, from the classic eponymous opera by Giuseppe Verdi. This book is part of the collection Classical music on the scene, published by FTD, which aims to introduce stories of important librettos regarded as classics in the music field to young audiences. More specifically, we intend to verify in this text, with Bakhtinian principles, how the dialogue between Verdi’s work and HanMi-Ho’s is actualized. To achieve these objectives, we will present a reflection of what provides the pleasure in reading. In this text we built the hypothesis that Han-Mi-Ho’s strategy to rescue a classic opera and adapt it in the form of an illustrated narrative for the young reader provides the contact with an attractive and playful text that leads to critical reflection and expands his knowledge through the rescue of the cultural memory. The appropriation of a classic cultural production adapted to the narrative language and targeted to a young audience can act as an appraisal factor in the identity of the reader. Through it, he is able to raise his self-esteem, because he perceives that he is considered as a production receiver, while at the same time he is recognized as the heir of a traditional cultural heritage.

"Pásli ovce valasi": Proposta di adattamento in italiano di una serie televisiva slovacca per l'infanzia fra doppiaggio e sottotitolaggio

The main purpose of this thesis is to promote the Slovak culture in Italy through the adaptation of Pásli ovce valasi (The shepherd grazed the sheep), a TV series for children by director Ladislav Čapek. The series, which was released in Czechoslovakia in 1973, is divided into thirteen episodes and tells the story of Matko and Kubko, two shepherds who live in the mountains in central Slovakia. Pásli ovce valasi represented an interesting choice from the adaptation point of view, due to its deep cultural value and the peculiarities of the language used by the characters. The constraints of audiovisual translation were combined to the difficulty of rendering Slovak cultural-specific elements into Italian, together with the limits imposed by having children as a primary recipient. The importance of their role as a target has constrained not only our translation choices, but also the adaptation mode. For this reason, it was decided to realise subtitles in order to make the audiovisual product immediately available, together with an adaptation for dubbing, more suitable for a young audience. The opportunity to present two different forms of adaptation is closely linked to the specific characteristics of the cartoon language. The present study consists of four chapters. The first one provides a brief introduction to the series, its language and setting. The second chapter outlines the main characteristics of audiovisual translation, focusing on dubbing and subtitling in particular. It also presents an analysis of the role of children as a target and the consequent decision to realise an adaptation for dubbing. The two adaptation modes, together with the transcription of the original dialogues, are provided in the third chapter. The fourth and last chapter consists of a description and analysis of the translation process, focusing on morphosyntactic, lexical, rethorical, historical and cultural aspects. The last part of the chapter analyses the differences between the subtitles and the adaptation for dubbing.

Alessandro Baricco: A Modern Homer / Alessandro Baricco: Omero Modern

Alessandro Baricco is an Italian author, pianist, journalist and music critic, among a wide range of many other talents. His novels have won great critical acclaim in Italy and France and are popular around the world. While generally considered among the postmodern writers, some critics have accused him of being a forerunner in a 1990s movement dubbed letteratura giovanile, that is juvenile literature that is simplistic, targets a young audience and is created for the sole purpose of making money. This criticism is unwarranted. Baricco is a multitalented author who pays strict attention to the quality of his work and weaves plotlines replete with a diverse set of genres, literary devices and symbolism, often inspired by other great writers and thinkers. However, literary critics have yet to acknowledge one of Baricco's strongest and most important influences: Homer, the ancient Greek bard and author of the epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Taking Baricco's work in a Homeric context can aid in viewing it as valid and important work, worthy of scholarly discussion and interpretation, rather than, as some critics accuse, a one-dimensional story meant only for children. This paper will argue that Baricco's work is Homeric and, in fact, Baricco's implementation of many of Homer's devices, such as his understanding of his audience and use rhythmic language and stereotyped story patterns, has aided Baricco's great success and popularity.

O ADOLESCENTE E A TELEVISÃO REGIONAL: estudo da audiência do programa Em Movimento

Trata-se de um estudo de audiência do programa de televisão Em Movimento. Este é um programa regional produzido e exibido pela TV Gazeta, afiliada da Rede Globo, que tem como público-alvo os adolescentes. O objetivo consiste em compreender o conjunto de motivações que leva o adolescente capixaba a assistir ao programa. Também foi interesse deste estudo investigar quais os usos que os adolescentes fazem do conteúdo apresentado no programa e quais as gratificações que o mesmo traz aos adolescentes. Essa investigação teve como referencial teórico os conceitos sobre comunicação regional e a perspectiva dos usos e gratificações. A técnica utilizada para a coleta de dados foi a discussão em grupo, que consistiu na formação de grupos de adolescentes na faixa etária entre 15 e 18 anos para discussão do tema. Conclui-se que os adolescentes têm como principais motivações para assistir ao Em Movimento a vontade de aprender sobre si e sobre o ambiente em que vivem, confirmar conceitos já pré-estabelecidos por eles mesmos e ainda se sentirem próximos à realidade retratada no programa.

O ADOLESCENTE E A TELEVISÃO REGIONAL: estudo da audiência do programa Em Movimento

Trata-se de um estudo de audiência do programa de televisão Em Movimento. Este é um programa regional produzido e exibido pela TV Gazeta, afiliada da Rede Globo, que tem como público-alvo os adolescentes. O objetivo consiste em compreender o conjunto de motivações que leva o adolescente capixaba a assistir ao programa. Também foi interesse deste estudo investigar quais os usos que os adolescentes fazem do conteúdo apresentado no programa e quais as gratificações que o mesmo traz aos adolescentes. Essa investigação teve como referencial teórico os conceitos sobre comunicação regional e a perspectiva dos usos e gratificações. A técnica utilizada para a coleta de dados foi a discussão em grupo, que consistiu na formação de grupos de adolescentes na faixa etária entre 15 e 18 anos para discussão do tema. Conclui-se que os adolescentes têm como principais motivações para assistir ao Em Movimento a vontade de aprender sobre si e sobre o ambiente em que vivem, confirmar conceitos já pré-estabelecidos por eles mesmos e ainda se sentirem próximos à realidade retratada no programa.

O TELESPECTADOR JOVEM E A TV CULTURA DE SÃO PAULO

Este trabalho pretende refletir sobre a qualidade dos programas dedicados aos jovens na TV Cultura de São Paulo. A emissora pública, premiada nacional e internacionalmente pela qualidade da programação infantil e que fideliza muito bem as crianças, perde mais de 80% da audiência quando passa da faixa infantil para a dos adolescentes, entre 12 e 17 anos. O objetivo é identificar os motivos da queda de audiência e buscar respostas positivas para fidelizar o jovem na Cultura, emissora preocupada em formar telespectadores mais reflexivos. Foram realizadas quinze entrevistas abertas com estudantes adolescentes do segundo grau da Fundação Instituto Tecnológico de Osasco, grande São Paulo, que foram telespectadores assíduos da Tv Cultura quando crianças. A pesquisa procurou identificar as causas que levam o telespectador jovem a trocar a Cultura por outros canais de televisão. Verificou-se que o jovem busca não só outras emissoras, mas especialmente outras mídias digitais, games e internet e dão preferência à comunicação com interatividade.(AU)

O TELESPECTADOR JOVEM E A TV CULTURA DE SÃO PAULO

Este trabalho pretende refletir sobre a qualidade dos programas dedicados aos jovens na TV Cultura de São Paulo. A emissora pública, premiada nacional e internacionalmente pela qualidade da programação infantil e que fideliza muito bem as crianças, perde mais de 80% da audiência quando passa da faixa infantil para a dos adolescentes, entre 12 e 17 anos. O objetivo é identificar os motivos da queda de audiência e buscar respostas positivas para fidelizar o jovem na Cultura, emissora preocupada em formar telespectadores mais reflexivos. Foram realizadas quinze entrevistas abertas com estudantes adolescentes do segundo grau da Fundação Instituto Tecnológico de Osasco, grande São Paulo, que foram telespectadores assíduos da Tv Cultura quando crianças. A pesquisa procurou identificar as causas que levam o telespectador jovem a trocar a Cultura por outros canais de televisão. Verificou-se que o jovem busca não só outras emissoras, mas especialmente outras mídias digitais, games e internet e dão preferência à comunicação com interatividade.(AU)

O ADOLESCENTE E A TELEVISÃO REGIONAL: estudo da audiência do programa Em Movimento

Trata-se de um estudo de audiência do programa de televisão Em Movimento. Este é um programa regional produzido e exibido pela TV Gazeta, afiliada da Rede Globo, que tem como público-alvo os adolescentes. O objetivo consiste em compreender o conjunto de motivações que leva o adolescente capixaba a assistir ao programa. Também foi interesse deste estudo investigar quais os usos que os adolescentes fazem do conteúdo apresentado no programa e quais as gratificações que o mesmo traz aos adolescentes. Essa investigação teve como referencial teórico os conceitos sobre comunicação regional e a perspectiva dos usos e gratificações. A técnica utilizada para a coleta de dados foi a discussão em grupo, que consistiu na formação de grupos de adolescentes na faixa etária entre 15 e 18 anos para discussão do tema. Conclui-se que os adolescentes têm como principais motivações para assistir ao Em Movimento a vontade de aprender sobre si e sobre o ambiente em que vivem, confirmar conceitos já pré-estabelecidos por eles mesmos e ainda se sentirem próximos à realidade retratada no programa.

O TELESPECTADOR JOVEM E A TV CULTURA DE SÃO PAULO

Este trabalho pretende refletir sobre a qualidade dos programas dedicados aos jovens na TV Cultura de São Paulo. A emissora pública, premiada nacional e internacionalmente pela qualidade da programação infantil e que fideliza muito bem as crianças, perde mais de 80% da audiência quando passa da faixa infantil para a dos adolescentes, entre 12 e 17 anos. O objetivo é identificar os motivos da queda de audiência e buscar respostas positivas para fidelizar o jovem na Cultura, emissora preocupada em formar telespectadores mais reflexivos. Foram realizadas quinze entrevistas abertas com estudantes adolescentes do segundo grau da Fundação Instituto Tecnológico de Osasco, grande São Paulo, que foram telespectadores assíduos da Tv Cultura quando crianças. A pesquisa procurou identificar as causas que levam o telespectador jovem a trocar a Cultura por outros canais de televisão. Verificou-se que o jovem busca não só outras emissoras, mas especialmente outras mídias digitais, games e internet e dão preferência à comunicação com interatividade.(AU)

"Jazz is Back": Alternative Jazz Venues and Gentrification in Washington, D.C.

Gentrification has dramatically changed the urban landscape of Washington, D.C. Non-profit alternative jazz venues have become important sites for negotiating this complex process that is re-shaping the city. Each such venue aligns itself with one of the two primary factions of gentrification: new urban migrants or long-term residents. Westminster Presbyterian Church’s Jazz Night in Southwest fosters a community of repeat-attendees resisting social displacement. The Jazz and Cultural Society unabashedly foregrounds ties to long-term residents in highlighting a black identity and its local interconnectedness. CapitolBop’s Jazz Loft demonstrates the difficulties that come with trying to cater to a young audience, and at the same time, resist gentrification. These venues present three perspectives on gentrification and together bring light to the overlapping complexity of gentrification.

Convenience, loyal, and customising users : a survey of the behaviours and intentions of young online news users in Australia

The implications of the shift to online news consumption for journalism cultures and practices have attracted considerable scholarly attention and public debate. Less well considered are the implications of online news consumption for and by young people. This paper reports on research into the behaviours and intentions of online news consumers, 18-30 years of age, to propose three distinctive types of user (convenience, loyal and customising). Also opened up for discussion are questions about the strategic value to commercial news organisations of audience-centred empirical research that seeks to respond the crisis of professional journalism.