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Editor's Introduction

Lee, H. J. — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:57:45 PST

The Intertextual Terminator: The Role of Film in Branding "Arnold Schwarzenegger"

Boyle, E. — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:49:42 PDT

Film has clearly been Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most powerful promotional tool. Given how he wielded his action hero personas during the 2003 recall election from which he emerged Governor of California, an examination of his construction in film is both warranted and necessary. In this paper, I trace the development of his celebrity through a selection of his films between 1970 and 2003 and show that his image went through three major transitions from: a) initially being depicted as a foreigner and alien "other" in the 1970s to b) an American and icon of muscular masculinity in Hollywood action films of the mid to later 1980s and c) to a "New Age Guy" and family man through his movement into comedy and family themed films in the 1990s and 200s. My analysis highlights the powerful role that discourses about masculinity, whiteness and American nationhood played in supporting Schwarzeneggers constructions as a "body of governance" and in particular, his construction as a leader.

Unassailable Motherhood, Ambivalent Domesticity: The Construction of Maternal Identity in Ladies' Home Journal in 1946

Burke Odland, S. — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:23:42 PDT

This article explores how Ladies' Home Journal, the most popular women's magazine of the postwar era, participated in the discursive construction of maternal identity as the nation underwent a critical transition from wartime to peacetime, marshalling women out of the factories and encouraging a return to domestic life. Drawing on theories of gender identity, motherhood, and the ideological influence of women's magazines, the analysis demonstrates that while Ladies' Home Journal provided a complicated—and even ambivalent—portrayal of domesticity, the magazine regarded maternal identity as an unassailable ideological position. In separating the concept of motherhood from domesticity, and therefore altering the analytical lens through which scholars have traditionally examined discursive constructions of postwar female identity, this paper finds that while Ladies' Home Journal did not require domesticity of all women, it did require domesticity of all mothers.

Grounding Critical Communication Studies: An Inquiry Into the Communication Theory of Karl Marx

Fuchs, C. — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:37:34 PDT

In this paper theoretical foundations of critical media and communication studies are discussed. The assumption of scholars such as Marshall McLuhan and Jean Baudrillard that Marx in his analysis of capitalism did not take into account media and communication is discussed. It is shown that counter to such opinions Marx provided important insights for analyzing the role of the media in commodity and ideology production, circulation, and consumption and for discussing the role of alternative media production, circulation, and reception. Marx’s works are systematically reconstructed in order to identify aspects of the media and communication. This reconstruction is based on the Marxian circuit of capital. Marx provided important groundwork for media and communication theory that can be connected to contemporary critical media and communication studies.

Making Sense of a Barrier: U.S. News Discourses on Israel's Dividing Wall

Ismail, A. — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:37:33 PDT

This study investigates mainstream U.S. newspaper discourses concerning the dividing wall that Israel built as a separation barrier from the West Bank. In so doing, it ultimately seeks to further explore news media’s role as agents of social control and influence. Findings indicate that in invoking the nationalism dimension, the news did not handle the primordial element adequately, and that emphasis on violence and revenge as well as the tragedy of child victimization was particularly prominent. The study argues that while the media’s role in social control and influence may be significant, the adequacy with which they perform this role is questionable.