"Less than a year after the end of authoritarian rule in 1998, huge images of Jesus Christ and other Christian scenes proliferated on walls and billboards around a provincial town [Ambon] in eastern Indonesia where conflict had arisen between Muslims and Christians. A manifestation of the extreme pe
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rception that emerged amid uncertainty and the challenge to seeing brought on by urban warfare, the street paintings erected by Protestant motorbike-taxi drivers signaled a radical departure from the aniconic tradition of the old colonial church, a desire to be seen and recognized by political authorities from Jakarta to the UN and European Union, an aim to reinstate the Christian look of a city in the face of the country's widespread islamicization, and an opening to a more intimate relationship to the divine through the bringing-into-vision of the Christian god. Stridently assertive, these affectively charged mediations of religion, masculinity, Christian privilege and subjectivity are among the myriad ephemera of war, from rumors, graffiti, incendiary pamphlets, and Video CDs, to Peace Provocateur text-messages and children's reconciliation drawings. Orphaned Landscapes theorizes the production of monumental street art and other visual media as part of a wider work on appearance in which ordinary people, wittingly or unwittingly, refigure the aesthetic forms and sensory environment of their urban surroundings." (Publisher description)
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"The EuroMaidan protests that shook Ukraine in late 2013 to early 2014 triggered a chain of events that brought numerous changes and challenges for the Ukrainian society. The Ukrainian media landscape has also been affected by the new challenges and impetus for democratization. The post-Maidan perio
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d saw both, improvements in the media environment and setbacks. While Ukrainian journalists can benefit from increased media freedom, new progressive legislation and reinvigoration of the democratic debate, many problems still shape the development of the media. Editorial dependence on owners, concentration of mainstream media in the hands of oligarchs, deteriorating quality of content and crisis of professional identity are distinctive features of the post-Maidan media landscape in Ukraine. This paper provides an overview of developments in the Ukrainian media system since the declaration of independence with a special focus on the situation after the EuroMaidan and discusses four major challenges that will impact the transformation of the Ukrainian journalism and media sphere." (Abstract)
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"Examining the role of memory in the transition from totalitarian to democratic systems, this book makes an important contribution to memory studies. It explores memory as a medium of and impediment to change, looking at memory's biological, cultural, narrative and socio-psychological dimensions." (
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Publisher description)
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"Mediated forms of communication increasingly influence the social relations and different spheres of life in the regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia and in the Arab-speaking region. In order to understand the profound social and political changes that go hand in hand with these medialisation proc
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esses, an independent and systematic media perspective needs to be generated from within the disciplinary framework of Area and Islamic Studies. This volume has a strong focus on the internet and on the diversity of internet-based communication in the three regions mentioned above. Furthermore, it stresses the need for a new cross-media approach that goes beyond the analysis of single media and helps to understand the transnational and local dynamics of an increasing media convergence." (Publisher description)
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"The Xinhua News Agency is China's largest state news agency. It is also the largest news agency among developing countries. This research examines the changes Xinhua has undergone over the past three decades under the backdrop of (a) the end of the Cold War, (b) the trend of globalization and vario
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us challenges it has brought to world news agencies, (c) drastic changes in both international and national news agencies across the world, and (d) China's eager desire to become a world superpower. Three questions are studied: What are the major changes that Xinhua has experienced since China adopted the reform policy in 1978? What factors have contributed to the transformation Xinhua has undergone? and What are the implications of Xinhua's transformation? The primary material/data were obtained from field research at the headquarters of the Xinhua News Agency in Beijing, China." (Abstract)
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