Distinguishing cartoon subgenres based on a multicultural contemporary corpus

Author(s): Ana Pedrazzini,Nora Scheuer / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

A literature review reveals the lack of empirical and theoretical work dedicated to systematically grasping the diversity of cartoons. Most studies have focused on political and/or editorial cartoons and have neglected other subgenres, which however are gaining space in many forms of media—such as gag cartoons. Taking genre discursive studies as a starting point, this paper is aimed at distinguishing cartoon subgenres considering their modal, thematic, pragmatic and rhetorical features. The corpus is composed of 85 cartoons (51 multimodal and 34 solely visual) from 22 countries. This corpus was obtained by means of a questionnaire distributed over 2012-2016 in which cartoonists were asked to choose a cartoon that represented their style and to justify their choice. A combination of both qualitative and multivariate statistical techniques was applied. Results allowed us to distinguish four cartoon subgenres based mostly on thematic and pragmatic features: Daily political; Timeless political; Daily media, arts and sports; and Playful cartoons. From a rhetorical standpoint, Timeless political cartoons showed the highest semiotic density (8-12 resources per cartoon), Daily political cartoons an intermediate density (5-7 resources per cartoon) and Playful cartoons the lowest semiotic density (2-4 resources). This contrast might indicate a difference in the cognitive challenge posed to readers, with a major cognitive effort demanded by political cartoons (Timeless and Daily), in addition to the necessary awareness of current affairs. In line with previous research, metaphor appeared as a characteristic resource in political cartoons followed by irony, sarcasm and allusion. Modal analyses showed that political cartoons relied more on the verbal mode to build their messages than the other subgenres.

Book Review

Author(s): Tianli Zhou / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2023

Dezvoltarea competenței de comunicare în predarea limbii române ca limbă străină

Author(s): Elena Museanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2022

The present research will first present an analysis of the specialized literature, which offers definitions of intercultural communication and importance of its study in teaching foreign languages, communication competences and intercultural communication competences. It will highlight the way in which foreign students can improve intercultural competences by learning the four basic competences. Intercultural competence, acknowledged as the key component of the study of foreign languages, increases the need for an adaptation of methods and teaching materials in order to increase the degree of intercultural knowledge of the trainees.

Sistemul de învățământ irakian de la mărire la decădere

Author(s): Simona Iacob / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2021

In Iraq, the education is, as in Romania, administered by the government, more specifically by the Ministry of Education. The country experienced in the past the best systems of education in the region and enjoyed a special reputation for the pre-university and academic system. But in the last two decades, the education in Iraq became problematic. The fall of Sadam Hussein’s regime, in 2003 and the invasion of the United States destabilized the education system and quality has constantly deteriorated.

Verbal Periphrases in Spanish as a Foreign Language: Language as “a Potential of Meaning” - A Pragmatic and Didactic Approach

Author(s): Victor-Emanuel Ciuciuc / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

e purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the very sinuous subject of verbal periphrasis. When starting to work on verbal periphrasis in Spanish, the first thing that the researcher and / or the ELE teacher will notice will be an enormous difficulty in finding an adjusted definition and a coherent classification of this grammatical category. Likewise, the very scarce work on their uses and functions stands out, since most of the research that deals with this topic focuses on theoretical definitions referring to their formal / categorical nature.

Sintagmas mixtos (español-inglés, rumano-inglés) de alta frecuencia en el sector de los viajes

Author(s): Mihaela Ciobanu / Language(s): Spanish Issue: 1/2021

Many of the words used today in the tourism field come from English. Despite the existence of similar concepts in Spanish and Romanian, today people tend to use English words for all levels of specialization. This preference can be translated as an image of globalization, a characteristic of tourism on all levels and sectors, which does not complicate the decodifying process of the message considering the existence of equivalent explanations, phrases or terms, all of it easing the access to a specialized level in tourism.

Conexiunile între educație și tehnologie în predarea limbii române ca limbă străină

Author(s): Ana-Mihaela Istrate / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2020

The present study highlights the most important challenges faced by moder education as a result of the transfer of class from face-to-face to the on-line system. Starting from a definition of synchronous methods of teaching and continuing with an understanding of the role of the computer in online teaching of foreign languages, the article explains the way in which the two basic components of the acquisition of Romanian as a foreign language – grammatical competences and vocabulary acquisition, have been influenced. The study explains the way in which Microsoft Teams platform was used as a means of communication for the students enrolled in the Foundation Year of Romanian as a Foreign Language, explaining the challenges faced by teachers in the online period. Last but not least, the article highlights the technical difficulties posed by the use of Microsoft Teams platforms, but also the accomplishments achieved while successfully using interactive work techniques, during the Grammar and Vocabulary classes.

TOWARDS WELL-BEING, THROUGH EDUCATION AND CULTURAL INTEGRATION. A CASE STUDY OF ROMANIAN WHITE-COLLAR IMMIGRANTS IN BRUSSELS

Author(s): NICOLA Sanda / Language(s): English Issue: 17/2022

The decision to emigrate is almost always preceded by a period of unhappiness, and those who leave their homeland rely on this major change to improve their well-being. The strategies used by immigrants to integrate socially in the host country differ depending on several factors, such as: age, education, marital status, religion, connection to pre-existing support networks between compatriots, language proficiency or their long-term projections. In this paper we deliver a case study revealing a new pattern of migration: exponents of the Romanian middle class who choose emigration in their mid-life considering that Brussels, more than any other potential destination, ensures favourable conditions to reach their wellbeing aspirations. The study is a qualitative research based on data obtained through semistructured interviews and questionnaires, correlated with official quantitative data provided by Statbel, Eurostat, the European Commission, and the European Parliament on the migration of Romanians, particularly focusing on those with tertiary education. The findings of this research define the highly skilled Romanian immigrants in Brussels as a population that capitalizes on 1) European citizenship 2) tertiary achievement and 3) multilingualism, thus obtaining a transnational lifestyle and a stage of well-being that was still inaccessible in their country of origin, regardless of social status.

SOCIALIZATION FEATURES OF ADOLESCENTS PREDISPOSED TO DEPRESSIVE STATES

Author(s): Alla Bodnar,GONCHARENKO Evelina / Language(s): English Issue: 17/2022

The article address on the analysis and study of the relationship between socialization and depression in adolescence. The article presents the theoretical and practical parts of the research work. The first part considers theoretical approaches to the problem of adolescents’ socialization. The relationship between the problem of socialization and the depressed mood of adolescents is described. The practical part of the paper describes an empirical study of the relationship between adolescent depression and socialization. To provide information on these phenomena we had chosen a questionnaire "Depriscope" specially created for depression measurement, the method of Q - sorting according to V. Stephenson, to assess the social situation and the Taylor Anxiety Rating Scale.In the sample studied there were involved students of the 8th, 9th and 10th grades who participated in the research for several years, that allows to compare the correspondence with the previous results and identify in the development of the level depressive moods.It shows the understanding of the depression impact on adolescent social relationships, peer behaviour, self-esteem and self-perception. It determines the impact of communication on the negative states development and predicts possible consequences on the adolescent personality.Keywords: adolescence; depression; socialization; anxiety; crisis; depressed mood; group;behaviour; social ties; communication.

NEW DIMENSIONS OF THE CHILD-CURRICULUM RELATIONSHIP IN THE CONCEPTION OF THE AUTHOR JOHN DEWEY

Author(s): Marius-Costel Eşi / Language(s): English Issue: 17/2022

The education is the result of the experience of culture which the child can amass and assimilate under certain conditions. Thus, the curriculum should guide the child's experience taking into account the shortest paths. However, the reference to the past should only be considered as a form of departure in what will later be the child's true experience. The experience is the result of all that humanity has accumulated over time forming ongoing experiences through a permanent process of cultural reconstruction. In other words, education is the very reconstruction of experience in relation to the previous experience

Мултижанровият артист в съвременното изкуство: звезда от телевизията или професионалист?

Author(s): Ivan Svilenov Stefanov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2023

Is it possible to have a definition of a professional artist in the 21st century? In an era of absolute democratization of artistic forms, can anyone become the author of a work if he wants to be one? The article provides an overview of the definition of a professional artist over the past few centuries and traces the processes that have shaped or modified this definition in the modern world. The analysis refers to the field of institutional theory and examines two specific events of the last six months in Sofia, which serve to demonstrate the thesis that the popular image, formed by television among the mass audience, defined by Theodor Adorno as the halo effect of previous experiences, can give almost professional status to any face, familiar enough from the small screen. In the specific case the exhibitions MO! and DIS/HARMONIES are an illustration of the active influence of television programs not only on the mass viewer, but also on the professional practice in Bulgaria. We draw such conclusions after their authors Maria Sylvester and Ruth Koleva, known for their active participation in entertainment reality formats, were presented in one of the most famous and defined as professional spaces for contemporary art in Bulgaria – the galleries Structura and Credo Bonum. These curatorial decisions are an up-to-date example indicative of the phenomenon of television careerism, which, despite the emergence of streaming platforms and the respective decreasing number of television viewers in the last few years, continues in the logic of its action, described decades ago by Nathalie Heinich and Theodor Adorno. Despite the more general nature of the thesis, the article is a critical analysis on the border with sociological studies of art and specifically addresses the problem of the contemporary art professional.

Importanţa componentei culturale în predarea limbii române ca limbă străină

Author(s): Ana Mihaela Istrate / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2018

The present study represents an analysis of the methods used by teaching staff of the Romanian - American University, during the three years of teaching, at the Foundation Year of Romanian language as a foreign language. In a constantly growing market with a growing demand, especially for preparing future students for medical programs, the article follows the evolution of the international students, who enrol in the program with an A1-A2 level of English language knowledge, which raises the question of the type of teaching: with the help of English as support language, or directly in the Romanian language, by the immersion method in the new language of study. Considering also the cultural differences existing between learners, which affect in a way dramatically acquiring a language with an extremely different grammar and difficult at the same time, we will turn our attention to the importance of cultural elements, highlighting the similarities between cultures, which allow an easier transition to the new language and culture.

LA FRANCE DANS LES PAGES DE LA REVUE OTTOMANE MECMUA-I FÜNUN (REVUE SCIENTIFIQUE) DE JUIN 1862 À JUIN 1867

Author(s): Margarita Dobreva / Language(s): French Issue: 4/2023

A sign of the Ottoman scientific and cultural progress in the Tanzimat years, the journal Mecmua-i Fünun (Journal of Sciences/ Revue scientifique) was published in June 1862 – June 1867 by Cemiyet-i İlmiye-i Osmaniye (Ottoman Society of Science/ Société scientifique ottomane) and offered articles of manifold topics. Some of them were based on the masterpieces of French theologians, philosophers and doctors. Others presented the speeches delivered by French politicians and monarchs. The journal paid attention to the French revolution, Napoléon Bonaparte, the International Universal Exposition and to the construction of the Suez Canal. Many of the notes on France were short news about its development. In fact, all presented French masterpieces discussed universal values and virtues, promoted centuries long by Islam and Christianity. They inspired the audience with religious devotion and love to the country, with obedience to the monarch and laws, expansion of welfare, brotherhood of man and thankfulness, with continuous efforts towards technical headway and ethic maturity. However, even presented in Mecmua-i Fünun, France and its ideas did not set the journal’s tone, that was mainly consistent with the official state policy. The article is based on all 47 journal issues, available on the digital library of the Türk Tarih Kurumu (Turkish Historical Society/ Société d’histoire turque) in Ankara.

LES COMMUNAUTÉS BULGARES DE MACÉDOINE ET LEURS RAPPORTS AVEC L’ÉGLISE CATHOLIQUE PENDANT LES ANNÉES 1873 – 1878

Author(s): Eleonora Naxidou / Language(s): French Issue: 4/2023

This article aims to contribute to the issue of the relations between the Orthodox populations of the Balkans and the Catholic Church during the Ottoman period focusing on the Bulgarians and their contacts with the Pope in the second half of the 19th century. More specifically two intertwined topics are discussed: on the one hand the attempts of the Bulgarians in Macedonia to establish a Uniate Church in the 1870’s; on the other how this incident was perceived and commented by the Greek Orthodox press of Constantinople. In this way significant conclusions are drawn with regard to the motives and aspirations of this Macedonian Bulgarian ecclesiastic separatist movement as well as the differing interpretations that the Greek newspapers of the Ottoman capital provided to this development.

Manipulacja w telewizyjnej komunikacji medialnej a przygotowanie dzieci i młodzieży

Author(s): Ewa KIEŁB-STARCZEWSKA / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2021

The text of this paper shows that mass media not only record the information, data or cultural phenomena available but they play an important role in transmitting information. They not only receive but also interpret the received information and even manipulate information. In this way they create a distorted picture of the world around us. Mass media can play both positive and negative roles in transmitting their message, serving truth or lies. By remaining dependent on their owners, they can spread some anti-values by manipulating people, thus contributing to the emergence of a modern form of slavery. Therefore, if they pose a threat to universally recognized positive values it becomes necessary to develop methods and tools effective for critical assessment of their roles. It becomes very important in the context of young learners, who need to be prepared for receiving the right way the transmitted information.

Радиото в цифровата постмедийна ситуация - между изкуствения интелект и човека

Author(s): Alexandra Ilieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 14/2023

Radio is the oldest electronic media that is the first to reflect technological leaps in the media world. At the end of 2022, the technology based on artificial intelligence makes a qualitative leap and perceptibly enters all spheres of social and cultural life. This is also the period in which artificial intelligence begins to create individual broadcasts and later - entire radio programs. The potential of this new technology to replace the human factor is substantial. This research focuses on the future of radio and the impact of AI technology on radio producing.

Komunikacja medialna Konfederacji Wolność i Niepodległość w czasie kryzysu wewnątrzpartyjnego

Author(s): Anna Szwed-Walczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3 (255)/2023

The aim of the research was to reconstruct the communication strategy of the Confederation Liberty and Independence [Konfederacja Wolność i Niepodległość] party during the internal crisis that began after the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine. The research period covered the period from February 24, 2022 to February 13, 2023. The subject of the research were statements and publications published in the official media of the Confederation [Konfederacja], as well as social media of party leaders and interviews they gave. Content analysis was used in the research. Research has shown that a multi-community party such as the Confederation [Konfederacja], in order to solve the internal crisis, was forced to implement a consensus strategy in the field of discussion about the war in Ukraine and the marginalisation of activists who undermine the integrity of the group. As part of the pursuit of consensus, a communication strategy was implemented, which can be described as searching for a community of values by expanding the field of reference to the problem. The marginalisation of the Libertarians [Wolnościowcy] resulted in their withdrawal from the party, thus stabilising the internal situation in the Confederation [Konfederacja].

Twitterowa komunikacja polityczna w kontekście wojny w Ukrainie: analiza porównawcza wpisów Roberta Biedronia i Antoniego Macierewicza

Author(s): Klaudia Żubryk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3 (255)/2023

The digital revolution has brought social media into the space of politicians’ activities, the most widely used of which is Twitter. This platform fosters special participation of users and informing the audience about the most current events in almost real time. It can also be understood as one of the most effective tools of modern political communication. The proposed article provides a comparative analysis of the communications of Antoni Macierewicz, who is associated with Poland’s ruling camp in 2022, and Robert Biedroń, one of the opposition leaders. The analysed communications concern the first month of the war in Ukraine. Both quantitative methods, including elements of statistical analysis, and qualitative analysis, based mainly on content analysis, were used to conduct the study. The aim of the study is to identify differences in communications and to show their twitter statements about the war in Ukraine in the context of a broader political communication strategy in line with the program of the party represented and relating to activities on the political scene (Polish or European). The analysis also points to the diversity of messages communicated through the social medium and the general polarising tendencies developing despite public voices calling for unity to help the victims of Russian aggression.

Macierzyństwo jako temat publikacji i element wizerunków medialnych kobiet świata polityki w wybranych polskich tygodnikach opinii

Author(s): Katarzyna Brzoza-Kolorz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3 (255)/2023

The aim of the analysis conducted is to show how motherhood was portrayed in four Polish weekly opinion magazines Gazeta Polska, Newsweek Polska, Polityka and Wprost, during selected periods, over the years 2000-2019, and how the role of the mother projected media images of women in the world of politics. Preliminary assumptions were made that motherhood is politicised in the publications and that the editorial line of the surveyed weeklies influences the way they write about it. In addition, an attempt was made to test the validity of the claim that wives of politicians were more often portrayed in the role of the mother than female politicians, and the role of the mother was more strongly exposed in the portrayal of Polish female politicians than foreign ones. The research method used was a content analysis of selected publications, sourced from weekly opinion magazines, which was carried out based on the author’s categorisation key and with the support of the IBM SPSS program. In the course of the conducted analyses, the research objectives were achieved and the adopted research hypotheses were confirmed.

Turkey – 100 Years of Longing for Modernity

Author(s): Evgenia Ivanova / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2023

The text traces the painful development of Turkish modernity – a process of still ongoing clashes between the aspirations of a part of the elites to be “modern Europeans”, the unquestioning certainty of another part of them that “modernity” and “Europe/West” are by no means equivalent, and the traditional mentality of broad segments of Turkish society. At the heart of the study are two extremes: high literature (the works of Orhan Pamuk) and popular culture (television series), which reveals the wide register of possibilities for tracing the longing for modernity and its (un)realisation in Turkish reality. The original synonymy of “modernity” and “the West” that fueled the longing – from the late Ottoman Empire, through the Republican period until the end of the millennium – gradually disintegrated. In the new millennium, the official notion of achieved modernity increasingly asserted itself, however not as juxtaposition with the West, but in spite of it.