فصلنامه مطالعات فرهنگ - ارتباطات
پیاپی 58 (تابستان 1401)

Representing racial, ethnic, cultural, and geographical “Others” is considered a focal strategy of a number of American media and entertainment productions. Accordingly, the primary goal of this article is to explain the “Othering” mechanisms in the first three seasons of the popular television series Westworld (2016–present), with a focus on the values of the American Dream. In its theoretical literature and analyses, the study drew on the Western philosophical concept of “the Other” and on cultural studies. To understand how the construct of the Others functions in the show, the study used John Fiske’s semiotics and three-level model, along with Roland Barthes’ Symbolic Code. The research found that the presence and absence of two American Other groups—Black and Native Americans—and one non-American Other group—East Asian people—in relation to white people, i.e., “the Self,” in the series carry significant implications. Westworld’s semiotic mechanisms represent white people as the dominant group, East Asian people and Native Americans as subaltern groups, and Black people as being close to whites. By doing so, they normalize a power hierarchy topped by the white race to reproduce for a future world the myth of the “superior white;” a myth that portrays the core elements of the American Dream, including individualism, liberty, and freedom of choice, as being exclusive to white people. The myth also downgrades the essential element of equality by stereotyping and delegitimizing the Others to ensure that whites will be the only group to develop plans and make decisions for the world of the future.

This purpose of this study is to measure the impact of “Agenda Setting” and “Interpersonal Communication” on Iranian attitude towards the United States (US gov. and US citizens separately). The study specifically guided based on two research questions: 1.How Iranian people think about the government and the people of the United States? and 2.If the socio-demographic factors and types of media being used are affecting their attitude towards the US government and US citizens? Theoretically, two communication theories, namely Network Agenda Setting and Reception Theory, were applied. Due to the nature of study, the researchers applied mixed method (quantitative online survey using validated questionnaire and qualitative method, using in-depth interview with purposefully selected respondents). Quantitative vise, the results of the study show that although the media has impact on Iranian perception towards US, however their perception is different from what media have tried to portray regarding the image of US gov. and US citizens. In comparison, personal communication has more influence on the perception of Iranian people toward the US gov. and its citizens. Qualitative vise, the result of the study highlighted that in some Iranian citizens’ mind, one should differentiate between the government of the US with its Citizen. The in-depth analysis of the results of the study reveals the media organization’s weakness in both recognition of audiences as an active user as well as applying new models of publicity such as network agenda setting or new persuasion tactics.

Media technologies have changed the mentality of societies. These changes, along with the rapid changes in technologies, have had different consequences for individuals. The most important of these differences are the differences in the epistemological attitudes of each generation. What is considered as the premise of this research is that the epistemological system of each period is constructable and the main factor for constructing each generation is the media that each generation uses. In other words, the agency of the media in generational change can be referred to as media socialization. In the theoretical literature section of this study, generational theories in sociology and generational studies literature from the perspective of media studies have been used. In order to answer the questions of this study, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The age range of the interview participants is 15 to 45 years old. To this end, interviews were conducted with 30 people to identify their attitudes and experiences towards generational differences and differences. The research findings identified 4 generations with the titles of “adaptable”, “risky”, “changeable” and “unlimited”. Also, the findings show that in each generation, communication and interactive tools have an effective role in shaping generational epistemology. As we move towards the use of interactive and global media, traditional and customary values fade and people live outside the boundaries and common epistemological order.

Theorizing about media, under the influence of prevailing view in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, has been done mostly within a representational framework. Representationalism, however, beside its usual problems, faces a new one in the context of visual media use. In representational approach, the experience of visual media use is something exceptional and separate from everyday experiences. But by adopting an anti-representational view, like extended mind theory, no such problem arises. The basic claim of extended mind theory is that cognitive processes are not confined to our brain and body, but extend to the surrounding environment. We show that this thesis looks much more plausible in the context of visual media use, compared to representationalist approaches, and also that it may be possible to rejoin one of the objections made to the extended mind theory, namely the fallacy of coupling-constitution by pointing to media use experience. Explanatory strength of anti-representationalist approach may be one the reasons why some prominent media theorists like Hugo Münsterberg and Marshall McLuhan, long before Clark and Chalmers, had ideas about mind extension in the media theories.

One of the most important aspects of animation is creating and processing  of characters. To create characters, different components are considered. Due to the production of animations in Iran, the need for analysis and study in their various components is felt, so the aim of present study is identifying characteristics of cultural, national, and artistic identity affecting the character of Iranian animations. The issue of the present study is to pay attention to the characteristics of identity and their reflections in  two art works of Iranian animation. The relationship of  characters created by the animation designers with the characteristics that can represent the Iranian national-cultural identity is the concern of the present study. The present study is of qualitative research type and is considered as descriptive-analytical research in terms of combined methods and semiotic approaches. In order to discover the hidden layers of identity in Iranian animated characters, the study concluded that in the field of animation, the lack of sufficient studies before production and performance and the relative transcription from  non- Iranian experienced styles caused Iran's works to still not find a distinctive style and personality. Findings show that in the studied models, despite the thematic contexts for the use of Iranian visual traditions, this feature has been partially used in character design.

The project of purification of auditory culture in 60th of Iran and the field of music has always been a challenging section since the Islamic revolution in 1978–79. The first decade after the revolution, 1980-1990, music was under a revolutionary transformation which is the subject of this article to analyze.How Iranian music underwent a transformation, with the history inherited from the Pahlavi era in the scene of the revolution and the 60th? For answering this question, we met musicians of that decade in order to study new challenges of music production in the form of revolutionary anthems and songs. Also, the process of music distribution was important, so we  also studied two audio cassettes sellers’ lived experience of that decade. Consequently, by the transformation of Iranian society from western culture to the Islamic Ummah with jihadi and revolutionary culture, music could not be a song for party and dancing, but it was dedicated to song of war, revolution, and jihad. Therefore, the structure of production and consumption of music made an urgent necessity to purify the auditory culture from every blemish aspect.

September 11, 2001 was an important historical turning point for the United States. On this day, the contentment of the peace among people of the world, which began with the end of the Cold War and the destruction of communism, ended symbolically with the appearance of a new enemy. After that event, we have witnessed a discursive shift in the US mainstream media about the "Other" and the "East". In this article, by referring to the "Bildungsroman" idea and by using analytical tools of social semiotic of images, we will analyze the construction of the "Self" and, in contrast, the Other in US television. In our opinion, television is a suitable place for the production of what social semiotic theorists refer to as "Semiotic Resource". In this article, we have focused on an exceptional sequence from the Homeland television series, and after a thorough review of this sequence, we have found that the Self has found a specific definition in this TV-Series. She is a white woman of European descent (Authentic American). On the other hand, we have a male character with authentic American appearance which has turned into an enemy of the United States and he is planning an attack on US land. We have pointed out that the producers of this TV-Series have emphasized on the danger of apparently Americans who serve the enemies and can threat and attack USA from inside. In our article, we have also examined representational frameworks of post-racial and multicultural identity in this TV-series.

The aim of this study was to investigate the manifestations and consequences of party themes in celebrities' performance in "Iranian Dinner 2" as a celebrity-centered reality-based program in the field of lifestyle. Reality programs that claim to portray the realities of celebrities' lives arouse people's curiosity about it and help to spread the culture of celebrities in society. Our theoretical foundations were based on lifestyle theories and the method is a combination of qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Findings show that the selected themes are manifested by the host celebrity in the form of 13 main components: clothing, hairstyle and make-up, jewelry and ornamentation, objects, space / place / decoration, gifts, food and drink, topic of conversation, subject of show, entertainment, behavior, music, and audio ,video effects. The three themes of Qajar women, the sixties and Primary school children have emerged in the most components, and the two components of clothing and the topic of conversation have been influenced by the theme in most cases. Rather concrete or socio-culturally salient themes manifested in more components than abstract ones. The female celebrities showed more commitment and adherence to the themes. The consequences of themes include 1) creating entertainment and attractiveness (due to diversity and creating dramatic situations), 2) inducing consumerism, 3) advertising a certain type of lifestyle (promoting values related to the theme and promoting the concept of "theme" in Iranian gatherings), 4) introducing different cultures and subcultures, and 5) providing platform for everyday conversation among the audiences.

Occurrence of natural disasters is associated with negative psychological consequences for survivors which requires basic interventions in order to accelerate the process of their psychological recovery. Utilizing the capabilities of art plays an effective role in reducing the psychological damage to society. However, the subject of “art therapy” has been around for hundreds of years under titles such as “Catharsis” or “psychological refinement”, and its present form, first introduced by “Sigmund Freud” and has grown rapidly over the past 30 years, but “art-oriented projects” is a new concept that has been experienced in the past two decades in the definition of projects based on "artistic leadership" and taking into account local culture, in order to create a positive and creative interaction in affected communities in the face of crisis. Contrary to the traditional approach, which is limited to the use of art in reducing post-traumatic events, it emphasizes the use of multiple capacities of art at different stages “before”, “during” and “after” a crisis. In recent years, Australia has been successful and consistent in implementing art-oriented projects in the face of natural disasters and has achieved significant results. This descriptive-analytical research has been done by studying these projects with the aim of gaining new insights in the use of art in reducing the psychological damage of natural disasters. Based on the results of this study, systematic attention to the role of art in all stages and at different levels of crisis management in the country and the use of different artistic mediums in proportion to the crisis, while considering age and gender differences, plays a significant role in reducing the psychological damage of natural disasters and the emotional recovery of survivors.

Digitization in  Iranian style and in the context of contemporary Iranian culture will have its own characteristics that may create individual, social, functional and structural, emotional, emotional and aesthetic challenges. The aim of this study was to identify and study the components and indicators of changes in the digital family lifestyle in Tehran (a case study of two regions 1 and 15 of Tehran). Research method due to the nature of this study, is a sequential combined method (qualitative (in-depth interview) - quantitative (descriptive-survey)). The statistical population in the first stage includes 29 experts in the field of research with non-probabilistic sampling of purposeful type and data collection tools from a semi-structured interview and a questionnaire. The statistical sample in the second phase of the study is 384 citizens over 18 years old living in districts 1 and 15 of Tehran in 1398, which were studied using multi-stage cluster random sampling. Data collection tool was researcher-made questionnaire. Based on the priority and importance from the experts' point of view, 4 family styles including: eclectic media family, stable media family, unstable media family and chaotic media family were developed. Then, the common features of the styles were extracted from the perspective of experts and statistically evaluated, and thus the main features of each style were compiled. Comparing the views of experts and citizens showed that experts emphasized style 2 (media family) and citizens in region 1 style 1 (eclectic media family) and citizens in region 15 style 4 (disturbed family).

Family is the first institution of society in which family members, especially children, experience the type and quality of interpersonal communication and communication action with their parents. Through the mechanism of interpersonal communication, family members share, consult, make decisions about their needs, wants, emotions, worries and concerns, experiences, thoughts, views and feelings. They support each other emotionally and psychologically and resolve conflicts and tensions. The aim of this study is to analyze the patterns of interpersonal communication between parents and children within Iranian family. In this regard, qualitative method was used and theoretical sampling, in-depth interviews were conducted with the aim of analyzing the lived experience of 40 male and female students studying in the second secondary school of public high schools in Tehran. The analysis of adolescents' lived experience shows that the main conversations of children and their parents in  family are of the type of "report-based" or informative conversation, about "children's educational activities and school events or daily activities of family members". The Results also show that three patterns of verbal communication between parents and children, includes; "conversation and participation pattern", "dispute and controversy pattern" and "admonition-oriented and monologue pattern" can be seen in the relationship between parents and children and "admonition-oriented and monologue pattern" is more common in families than "conversation and participation pattern".

The present study was designed and conducted to investigate and study the relationship between the amount and type of media consumption (radio and television) with the life skills of Tehran citizens. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of method and its measuring tool is a questionnaire. The statistical population includes all citizens living in Tehran, which according to the last census in 2016 and according to the statistics available on the website of the Statistics Center of Iran is 8,693,706 people. Research questionnaires were distributed through a google form among a sample of 396 people, distributed, collected, and after the necessary controls, data were analyzed using SPSS. Findings showed that among the eight areas surveyed, Tehran citizens in the use of radio have given the first priority to the field of news and information and the second priority have given to the field of sports, and in the use of television the first priority have given to the film and series and the second priority has been given to news, roundtables and news conferences. Findings also showed that there is a significant relationship between radio and television media consumption and 18 life skills. This means that there is a significant relationship between the amount of listening to the radio and watching TV during the day and night, as well as between the type of use of radio and television with some components of life skills. Therefore, it is suggested to the staff, program makers and officials of radio and television media to take full advantage of this opportunity and capacity to create, strengthen and improve the level of life skills of citizens.