Search results for: cultural works

Authors: Sela Adjei

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This research delves into the nuanced representations of queerness in Ghana, presented through photographs, illustrations, film and music videos on social media and streaming platforms. The study focuses on the works of five Ghanaian artists (Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, Angel Maxine, Josephine Kuuire, Bright Ackwerh and Philip Nee Whang) within the context of Ghana's evolving media landscape. Of primary concern is a need to uncover the various aspects of queerness captured within the distinct artistic expressions of these five creatives. This study adopts a qualitative approach by analyzing artistic expressions of queerness in Ghana’s digital media spaces. Content analysis and visual semiotics served as the guiding tools to discuss and decipher the nuanced messages embedded in their works, considering both the visual and narrative aspects. This dual approach takes into account both the visual aesthetics and narrative elements, enhancing our understanding of the complex interplay between queerness and gender representation in the media. This study's contribution is twofold. First, it enriches the discourse surrounding queerness as portrayed by artists within Ghana's vibrant media landscape and situates their works within the broader discourse of global gender identities. Secondly, analyzing the creative output of these five Ghanaian artists broadens our understanding of gender minorities and the various challenges they face in Ghana (currently debating in parliament to pass an anti-LGBTQ+ bill that criminalizes activities related to gender minority groups). While focusing on the intersection of queerness, art, and gender identities, the reflections in this study challenge existing narratives and offer fresh insights into how these artists navigate and challenge societal norms through their creative expressions.

Keywords: queer, film, representation, streaming, media, gender

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Authors: Poonam A. Trambadia, Ashish V. Trambadia

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The architecture of sultanate period of Ahmedabad had evolved just before the establishment of Mughal rule in North India. After shifting the capital of the kingdom from Patan to Ahmedabad, when the buildings and structures were being built, an interesting cultural blend happened in architecture. Many sultanate buildings in Ahmedabad historic city have resemblance with Patan including the names. Outer fortification walls and Gates were built during the rule of the third ruler in the late 15th century. All the gates had sandstone slabs supported by three arched entrance in sandstone with wooden shutter. A restoration project of Khanpur Gate was initiated in 2016. The paper identifies some evidences and some hidden layers of structures as important elements of cultural interchange while some were just forgotten in the process. The recycling of pre-existing elements of structures are examined and compared. There were layers uncovered that were hidden behind later repairs using traditional brick arch, which was taken out in the process. As the gate had partially collapsed, the restoration included piece by piece dismantling and restoring in the same sequence wherever required. The recycled materials found in the process were recorded and provided the basis for this study. The gate after this discovery sets a new example of fortification Gate built in Sultanate era. The comparison excludes Maratha and British Period Gates to avoid further confusion and focuses on 15th – 16th century sultanate architecture of Ahmedabad.

Keywords: Ahmedabad World Heritage, fortification, Indo-Islamic style, Sultanate architecture, cultural interchange

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Authors: Stanley Russell

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Until the end of the 19th century, European painting dealt almost exclusively with the realistic representation of objects and landscapes, as can be seen in the work of realist artists like Gustav Courbet. Architects of the day typically made reference to and recreated historical precedents in their designs. The curriculum of the first architecture school in Europe, The Ecole des Beaux Artes, based on the study of classical buildings, had a profound effect on the profession. Painting exhibited an increasing level of abstraction from the late 19th century, with impressionism, and the trend continued into the early 20th century when Cubism had an explosive effect sending shock waves through the art world that also extended into the realm of architectural design. Architect /painter Le Corbusier with “Purism” was one of the first to integrate abstract painting and building design theory in works that were equally shocking to the architecture world. The interrelationship of the arts, including architecture, was institutionalized in the Bauhaus curriculum that sought to find commonality between diverse art disciplines. Renowned painter and Bauhaus instructor Vassily Kandinsky was one of the first artists to make a semi-scientific analysis of the elements in “non-objective” painting while also drawing parallels between painting and architecture in his book Point and Line to plane. Russian constructivists made abstract compositions with simple geometric forms, and like the De Stijl group of the Netherlands, they also experimented with full-scale constructions and spatial explorations. Based on the study of historical accounts and original artworks, of Impressionism, Cubism, the Bauhaus, De Stijl, and Russian Constructivism, this paper begins with a thorough explanation of the art theory and several key works from these important art movements of the late 19th and early 20th century. Similarly, based on written histories and first-hand experience of built and drawn works, the author continues with an analysis of the theories and architectural works generated by the same groups, all of which actively pursued continuity between their art and architectural concepts. With images of specific works, the author shows how the trend toward abstraction and geometric purity in painting coincided with a similar trend in architecture that favored simple unornamented geometries. Using examples like the Villa Savoye, The Schroeder House, the Dessau Bauhaus, and unbuilt designs by Russian architect Chernikov, the author gives detailed examples of how the intersection of trends in Art and Architecture led to a unique and fruitful period of creative synergy when the same concepts that were used by artists to generate paintings were also used by architects in the making of objects, space, and buildings. In Conclusion, this article examines the extremely pivotal period in art and architecture history from the late 19th to early 20th century when the confluence of art and architectural theory led to many painted, drawn, and built works that continue to inspire architects and artists to this day.

Keywords: modern art, architecture, design methodologies, modern architecture

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Authors: Anisa Duraj

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As usually acknowledged, cultural heritage is the weakest component in EIA studies. The role of heritage impact assessment (HIA) in development projects is not often accounted for, and in those cases where it is, HIA is considered as a reactive response and not as a solutions provider. Because of continuous development projects, in most cases, heritage is unconsidered and often put under threat. Cultural protection and development challenges ask for prudent legal regulation and appropriate policy implementation. The challenges become even more peculiar in underdeveloped countries or endangered areas, which are generally characterized by numerous legal constraints. Therefore, the need for strategic proposals for HIA is of high importance. In order to trigger HIA as a proactive operation in the IA process and make sure to cover cultural heritage in the whole EIA framework, an appropriate system of evaluation of impacts should be provided. To obtain the required results for HIA, this last must be part of a regional policy, which will address and guide development projects toward a proper evaluation of their impacts affecting heritage. In order to get a clearer picture of existing gabs but also new possibilities for HIA, this paper will focus on the Western Balkans region and the undergoing changes that it faces. Concerning continuous development pressure in the region and within the aspiration of the Western Balkans countries to join the European Union (EU) as member states, attention should be paid to new development policies under the EU directives for conducting EIAs, and accurate support is required for the restructuration of existing policies as well as for the implementation of the UN Agenda for SDGs. In the framework of new emerging needs, if HIA is taken into account, the outcome would be an inclusive regional program that would help to overcome marginality issues of spaces and people.

Keywords: cultural heritage, impact assessment, SDGs, urban development, western Balkans, regional policy, HIA, EIA

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Authors: Yuko Tomoto

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The purpose of this research is to examine the assumption that female bilingual speakers more often change the way they talk or think depending on the language they use compared with male bilingual speakers. The author collected data through questionnaires on 241 bilingual speakers. Also, in-depth interview surveys were conducted with 13 Japanese/English bilingual speakers whose native language is Japanese and 16 English/Japanese bilingual speakers whose native language is English. The results indicate that both male and female bilingual speakers are more or less influenced consciously and unconsciously by the language they use, as well as by the background cultural values of each language. At the same time, it was found that female speakers are much more highly affected by the language they use, its background culture and also by the interlocutors they were talking to. This was probably due to the larger cultural expectations on women. Through conversations, speakers are not only conveying a message but also attempting to express who they are, and what they want to be like. In other words, they are constantly building up and updating their own identities by choosing the most appropriate language and descriptions to express themselves in the dialogues. It has been claimed that the images of ideal L2 self could strongly motivate learners. The author hopes to make the best use of the fact that bilingual speakers change their presence depending on the language they use, in order to motivate Japanese learners of English, especially female learners from the viewpoint of finding their new selves in English.

Keywords: cultural influence, gender expectation, language learning, L2 self

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Authors: Rohit Sarin

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This paper is an attempt to prove the impact of storytelling for effective marketing and maintaining the reputation of the destination for long run. This notable aspect of heritage tourism is cultural exchange among the various communities who visit our country India. Every destination has a life cycle like the product known as destination life cycle. India is considered to be the hub of cultural heritage tourism; its cultural heritage tourism can be traced back to several centuries. Heritage tourism has gained the popularity of global cuisine activity. The statistics of 2014 reveals 903 million International Tourist in heritage tourism destination is done to know the impact of storytelling for their visit to particulars heritage tourism destination. SWOT analysis of the destination is undertaken for the research purpose. A collection of data from the travel agency was taken who visited the heritage tourism destination and were asked to fill questionnaire for the research purpose to know the impact of storytelling for their visit to destination. A total of 100 respondents filled the questionnaire. Likert scale was used in the paper also highlighted the scope, advantage and disadvantage of storytelling for effective marketing and reputation management.

Keywords: destination life cycle, heritage tourism, random sampling, reputation management, storytelling

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Authors: Mausumi Chetia

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One of the main causes of impoverishment of the rural areas of Assam has been the recurrent floods and riverbank erosion. One of the life-changing consequences is displacement. This results not only in a loss of livelihoods but also has wide-reaching socio-economic and cultural effects. Thus, due to such disasters, not only families but communities too are being displaced at large. This compels them to find temporary shelter and begin life from scratch. The role of the state has been highly negligible, with a displacement not being perceived as an ‘issue’ to be addressed. A more holistic approach is thus needed to take socio-economic, cultural, political as well as ecological considerations into account.

Keywords: displacement, policy-framework, human-induced disasters, marginalised communities, India, Assam

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Authors: Zhiguo Ju

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Both ancient written documents and archaeological studies showed that the ancient Chinese was people who worshiped the Sun God. There is a legend of Dayi in China, however, told a story of Dayi, an ancient hero who sacrificed his life to shoot nine suns out of the ten in the sky, restored the order of the universe, and saved the people’s life. By investigating its oral inheritance and folk customs, we found that the story was originated from Rizhao, the east coralline in east China. This could provide valuable cultural resources and could be used in local tourism. How the Sun-worshipping-people developed such a contradictory legend, how was it be carried by generations, and how to use it as a cultural source to promote the local tourism was discussed.

Keywords: Legend of Dayi, sun worship, ancient Chinese, China

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Authors: N. Hachemi, I. Benmehdi, O. Hasnaoui

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The air like water is an essential element for living beings. Each day, a man breathes about 20m3 of air. It originally consists of a set of gas whose presence and concentrations correspond to the needs of life. This study focuses on air pollution by smoke and dust emitted from the chimney of the cement works of Beni Saf, pathological and their impact on the environment. Dust of the cement plant are harmless to permissible levels for living organisms, but the two combined phenomena namely the release of dust and aridity of the climate, which severely marked area of Beni Saf; have contributed adverse effects in on human health and the degradation of vegetation cover and species especially weakened by environmental stress. The most visible impact is certainly the deposition of dust on the surrounding areas of the cement factory, and seriously affecting the aesthetics of the landscape. Health problems are more important inside and outside the factory. Among the diseases notable caused by the cement works are: deafness, heart disease, asthma and mental. The dust of the cement works is mainly composed of fine particles of limestone, clay, free lime, silicates and also loaded of the gases such as carbon dioxide gas CO2. The accumulation of this gas in the atmosphere is directly involved in the phenomenon of increasing of greenhouse effect. Some gases, for example, are directly toxic. They can change the climate, changing precipitation types and become a greater source of stress by drought, etc. The environment also suffers from air pollution indirectly; it is more precisely the acid rain. They are produced by the combustion of non-metals in air. Acid rain has consequences for contaminating the soil, weakening the flora, fauna and acidifies lakes. Finally, the pollution problems are multiple and specific dust. It can worsen and change, it has reached epidemic proportions quantitatively and qualitatively disturbing and unpredictable.

Keywords: atmospheric pollution, cement, dust, environment

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Authors: Crisanto H. Ecaldre

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Gender perception represents how an individual perceives the gender identity of a person. Since this is a subjective assessment, it paves the way to various social reactions, either in the form of acceptance or discrimination. Reports across the world show that lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) people often face discrimination, stigmatization, and targeted violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. However, the challenges faced by those who belong to both a sexual minority and a marginalized ethnic, religious, linguistic, or indigenous community are even more complex. Specifically, in Palaw’an community, members own those who identify themselves as gays or lesbians and use “bantut” to identify them. There was also the introduction of various scholarly works to facilitate dialogues that promote visibility and inclusivity across sectors in terms of gender preferences; however, there are still gaps that need to be addressed in terms of recognition and visibility. Though local research initiatives are slowly increasing in terms of numbers, culturally situating gender studies appropriately within the context of indigenous cultural communities is still lacking. Indigenous community-based discourses on gender or indigenizing gender discourses remain a challenge; hence, this study aimed to contribute to addressing these identified gaps. These research objectives were realized through a qualitative approach following an exploratory design. Findings revealed that the Palaw’an indigenous cultural community has an existing concept of homosexuality, which they termed “bantut.” This notion was culturally defined by the participants as (a) kaloob ng diwata; (b) a manifestation of physical inferiority; (c) hindi nakapag-asawa or hindi nagka-anak; and (d) based on the ascribed roles by the community. These were recognized and valued by the community. However, despite the recognition and visibility within the community, the outside people view them otherwise. The challenges experienced by the Palaw’an homosexuals are imposed by the people outside their community, and these include prejudice, discrimination, and double marginalization. Because of these struggles, they are forced to cope. They deal with these imposed limitations, biases, and burdens by non-Palaw’an through self-acceptance, strong self-perception, and the option to leave the community to seek a more open and progressive environment for LGBTs. While these are indications of their ‘resilience’ amidst difficult situations, this reality poses an important concern -how the recognition and visibility of indigenous homosexuals from the mainstream perspective can be attained.

Keywords: gender preference, acceptability, challenge, recognition, visibility, coping

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Authors: Siddhi Pedamkar, Reenu Singh

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This report is based on how a culture transforms from one era to another era in commercial space. This transformation is observed in commercial as well as residential spaces. The spaces have specific color concepts, surface detailing furniture, and function-specific layouts. But the cultural impact is very rarely seen in commercial spaces, mostly because the interior is divine by function to a large extent. Information was collected from books and research papers. A quantitative survey was conducted to understand people's perceptions about the impact of culture on design entities and how culture dictates the different types of space and their character. The survey also highlights the impact of types of interior lighting, colour schemes, and furniture types on the interior environment. The questionnaire survey helped in framing design parameters for contemporary interior design. The design parameters are used to propose design options for new-age furniture that can be used in co-working spaces. For the new and contemporary working spaces, new age design furniture, interior elements such as visual partition, semi-visual partition, lighting, and layout can be transformed by cultural changes in the working style of people and organization.

Keywords: commercial space, culture, environment, furniture, interior

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Authors: Bhavna Rajagopal, Mrinmoyi Kulkarni

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Today women experience more menstrual cycles than their ancestors did a hundred years ago, owing to early puberty, fewer pregnancies and dietary changes. Much of the research in menstruation is located in the medical domain with a focus on physical symptoms. The research in psychology is largely concerned with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), whereas the focus in sociology is on social and cultural practices relating to menstruation. Research that simultaneously studies the physical, psychological, social and cultural aspects is lacking. Therefore, in this study, an attempt has been made to identify socio-cultural, psychological and physical factors that interact to influence a woman’s experience of menstruation in the urban setting. The study included seven unmarried women in the age group of 24-30 and data was obtained through a focus group discussion. The transcript of the focus group discussion was thematically analysed. Two major themes relating to the self and social experience of menstruation emerged. Themes relating to the self included menarcheal experiences, self-perception, mood and management of menstrual hygiene and symptoms while themes relating to social experience included the construction of menstruation by family and peers, and cultural factors. Attitudes towards the menstrual cycle appeared to be primarily influenced by severity of symptoms and the resulting disruption to daily life. Outcomes of this study have indicated that future research needs to study menstruation and its impact on women’s wellbeing by adopting a socio-ecological approach and by collecting data using the whole cycle approach across a woman’s reproductive years.

Keywords: India, menstrual cycle, psychosocial approach, wellbeing

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Authors: Bert Seither

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Entrepreneurship is a critical driver of economic growth, especially in emerging regions such as Latin America. This study investigates how parental influences, particularly parental individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO), shape the entrepreneurial traits of Latin American entrepreneurs. By examining key factors like parental IEO, work ethic, parenting style, and family support, this research assesses how much of an entrepreneur's own IEO can be attributed to parental influence. The study also explores how socio-economic status and cultural context moderate the relationship between parental traits and entrepreneurial orientation. Data will be collected from 600 Latin American entrepreneurs via an online survey. This research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial traits and the broader socio-cultural factors that contribute to entrepreneurial success in diverse contexts. Findings from this study will offer valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and business leaders on fostering entrepreneurship across Latin America, providing practical applications for shaping entrepreneurial behavior through family influences.

Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation, parental influence, Latin American entrepreneurs, socio-economic status, cultural context

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Authors: Shaojian Li

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The traditional Chinese patterns, as an integral part of Chinese culture, possess unique values in history, culture, and art. However, with the passage of time and societal changes, many of these traditional patterns are at risk of being lost, damaged, or forgotten. To undertake the digital preservation and protection of these traditional patterns, this paper will collect and organize images of traditional Chinese patterns. It will provide exhaustive and comprehensive semantic annotations, creating a resource library of traditional Chinese pattern images. This will support the digital preservation and application of traditional Chinese patterns.

Keywords: digitization of cultural heritage, traditional Chinese patterns, digital humanities, database construction

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Authors: Feyzan Tuzkaya, Nihan S. Soylu, Caglar Solak, Mehmet Peker, Hilal Peker, Kemal Ozeralp, Ceren Mete, Ezgi Mehmetoglu, Mehmet Karasu, Cihan Elci, Ece Akca, Melek Goregenli

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Perception, evaluation and representation of the environment have been the subject of many disciplines including psychology, geography and architecture. In environmental and social psychology literature there are several evidences which suggest that cognitive representations about a place consisted of not only geographic items but also social and cultural. Mental representations of residence area or a country is influenced and determined by social-demographics, the physical and social context. Thus, all mental representations of a given place are also social representations. Cognitive maps are the main and common instruments that are used to identify spatial images and the difference between physical and subjective environments. The aim of the current study is investigating the mental and social representations of Turkey in university students’ minds. Data was collected from 249 university students from different departments (i.e. psychology, geography, history, tourism departments) of Ege University. Participants were requested to reflect Turkey in their mind onto the paper drawing sketch maps. According to the results, cognitive maps showed geographic aspects of Turkey as well as the context of symbolic, cultural and political reality of Turkey. That is to say, these maps had many symbolic and verbal items related to critics on social and cultural problems, ongoing ethnic and political conflicts, and actual political agenda of Turkey. Additionally, one of main differentiations in these representations appeared in terms of the East and West side of the Turkey, and the representations of the East and West was varied correspondingly participants’ cultural background, their ethnic values, and where they have born. The results of the study were discussed in environmental and social psychological perspective considering cultural and social values of Turkey and current political circumstances of the country.

Keywords: cognitive maps, East, West, politics, social representations, Turkey

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Authors: Francisco Lobo

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Kant’s household theory of human dignity as a common feature of all rational beings is the starting point of any intellectual endeavor to unravel the implications of this normative notion. Yet, it is incomplete, as it neglects considering the importance of the singularity or uniqueness of the individual. In a first, deconstructive stage, this paper describes the Kantian account of human dignity as one among many conceptions of human dignity. It reads carefully into the original wording used by Kant in German and its English translations, as well as the works of modern commentators, to identify its shortcomings. In a second, constructive stage, it then draws on the theories of Aristotle, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, and Hannah Arendt to try and enhance the Kantian conception, in the sense that these authors give major importance to the singularity of the individual. The Kantian theory can be perfected by including elements from the works of these authors, while at the same time being mindful of the dangers entailed in focusing too much on singularity. The conclusion of this paper is that the Kantian conception of human dignity can be enhanced if it acknowledges that not only morality has dignity, but also the irreplaceable human individual to the extent that she is a narrative, original creature with the potential to act morally.

Keywords: commonality, dignity, Kant, singularity

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Authors: Maha Almumaiz, Harry Evdorides

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Change in land value typically occurs when a new interurban road construction causes an increase in accessibility; this change in the adjacent lands values differs according to land characteristics such as geographic location, land use type, land area and sale time (appraisal time). A multiple regression model is obtained to predict the percent change in land value (CLV) based on four independent variables namely land distance from the constructed road, area of land, nature of land use and time from the works completion of the road. The random values of percent change in land value were generated using Microsoft Excel with a range of up to 35%. The trend of change in land value with the four independent variables was determined from the literature references. The statistical analysis and model building process has been made by using the IBM SPSS V23 software. The Regression model suggests, for lands that are located within 3 miles as the straight distance from the road, the percent CLV is between (0-35%) which is depending on many factors including distance from the constructed road, land use, land area and time from works completion of the new road.

Keywords: interurban road, land use types, new road construction, percent CLV, regression model

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Authors: Anne Eugenia Wright

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This study examines issues in accessibility to maritime cultural heritage. Using the Pillar Dollar Wreck in Biscayne National Park, Florida, this study presents an approach to public outreach based on the concept of Design for All. Design for All advocates creating products that are accessible and functional for all users, including those with visual, hearing, learning, mobility, or economic impairments. As a part of this study, a small exhibit was created that uses 3D products as a way to bring maritime cultural heritage to the public. It was presented to the public at East Carolina University’s Joyner Library. Additionally, this study presents a methodology for 3D printing scaled photogrammetry models of archaeological sites in full color. This methodology can be used to present a realistic depiction of underwater archaeological sites to those who are incapable of accessing them in the water. Additionally, this methodology can be used to present underwater archaeological sites that are inaccessible to the public due to conditions such as visibility, depth, or protected status. This study presents a practical use for 3D photogrammetry models, as well as an accessibility strategy to expand the outreach potential for maritime archaeology.

Keywords: Underwater Archaeology, 3D Printing, Photogrammetry, Design for All

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Authors: Fatéma Zahra Benchara, Mohamed Youssfi, Omar Bouattane, Hassan Ouajji, Mohamed Ouadi Bensalah

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In this paper, we propose a new distributed environment for High Performance Computing (HPC) based on mobile agents. It allows us to perform parallel programs execution as distributed one over a flexible grid constituted by a cooperative mobile agent team works. The distributed program to be performed is encapsulated on team leader agent which deploys its team workers as Agent Virtual Processing Unit (AVPU). Each AVPU is asked to perform its assigned tasks and provides the computational results which make the data and team works tasks management difficult for the team leader agent and that influence the performance computing. In this work we focused on the implementation of the Mobile Provider Agent (MPA) in order to manage the distribution of data and instructions and to ensure a load balancing model. It grants also some interesting mechanisms to manage the others computing challenges thanks to the mobile agents several skills.

Keywords: image processing, distributed environment, mobile agents, parallel and distributed computing

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Authors: Roshanak Nouralian

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The primary focus of my Ph.D. dissertation revolves around the interconnection between language and culture, as well as the crucial role that language plays in facilitating communication and fostering integration within the host society for immigrants. This research specifically focuses on Iranian students studying at various universities in Vienna. Throughout this study, I have attempted to examine and analyze their challenges in various life situations in Austria. The broad dimensions of the research question led the research process to apply a constructivist grounded theory strategy. I have also used critical discourse analysis that is in line with constructivist GT's point of view to look closely at the borders, contradictions, and inequalities that came up in the participants' real-life experiences. Data from individual interviews and group discussions have expanded the research trajectory beyond disciplinary boundaries toward a transdisciplinary approach. The research findings indicate how the language policy of the host society leads to the establishment of power relationships and the arousal of a sense of cultural dominance among the research participants. This study investigates the problems experienced by participants in their daily interactions within the host society. Additionally, the results illustrate the development of a dependency relationship between participants and their host society despite linguistic policies that cause a sense of cultural hegemony. Conversely, the obtained data allowed me to examine the participants' language ideologies. The findings of this study show that social linguistics has the potential to go beyond the boundaries of its field. This is possible by using a variety of research strategies and analyzing people's real-life experiences to find out how language affects different parts of their daily lives. Therefore, in this conference, discussing the logic of employing a constructivist GT strategy along with critical discourse analysis (CDA) in this research, I intend to discuss the achieved results.

Keywords: cultural adapttaion, language policy, language ideology, cultural hegemony, transdisciplinary research, constructivist grounded theory, critical discourse analysis

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Authors: Sender Dovchin, Alastair Pennycook

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This paper looks at the relationship between online space, urban space and digital literacies. The everyday digital literacy practices of Facebook users (with a particular focus on young urban Mongolians) can be understood as ‘metrolingual’ because of the varied ways in which linguistic and cultural resources, spatial repertoires, and online activities are bound together to make meaning. Whereas the initial development of the term metrolingualism was dependent on a notion of physical urban space, we here argue that the digital practices of these Facebook users perform a range of social and cultural identities (sexual, ethnic, and class-based identities) that are both parts of but also adjacent to the metrolingual fabric.

Keywords: metrolingualism, digital literacy, Mongolia, Facebook

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Authors: Arezoo Seifollahi

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One of the topics that is receiving a lot of attention in artistic circles and among Iran today and has been the subject of many conversations is the issue of Iranian graphics. In this research, the functional and practical aspects of Iranian painting as a visual-identity language in Iranian graphics have been investigated by relying on Iranian cultural and social posters in order to gain an understanding of the trend of contemporary graphic art in Iran and to help us reach the identity of graphics. In order to arrive at Iranian graphics, first, the issue of identity and what it is has been examined, and then this category has been addressed in Iran and throughout the history of this country in order to reveal the characteristics of the identity that has come to us today under the name of Iranian identity cognition. In the following, the search for Iranian identity in the art of this land, especially the art of painting, and then the art of contemporary painting and the search for identity in it have been discussed. After that, Iranian identity has been investigated in Iranian graphics. To understand Iranian graphics, after a brief description of its contemporary history, this art is examined at the considered time point. By using the inductive method of examining the posters of each course and taking into account the related cultural and social conditions, we tried to get a general and comprehensive understanding of the graphic features of each course.

Keywords: Iranian painting, graphic visual language, Iranian identity, social cultural poster

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Authors: Shan Jiang

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China is a country with a distinct cultural system. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the central factor for everything, which naturally includes culture. There are quite a lot of cultural policies in China. The same goes for TV dramas. This paper traces the evolution of Chinese TV drama policy since 1986, examines the realistic situation behind the changes, and explores the structure and role of the government in shaping the process. Using historical documents and media reports, it first analyzes four key time nodes: 1986, 2003, 2012, and 2022. It shows how the policy shifts from restricting private production to opening up to public participation, from imposing one censorship to another, and from promoting some content to restricting some other area. It finds that the policy process is not simply rectilinear but rather wandering between deregulation and strengthening control. Secondly, it divides the policies into "basic" policies that establish the overall layout and more refined "strategic" policies that respond to more refined needs. It argues that the "basic" policy process is caused by China's political, economic, and cultural system reform, and then the "strategic" policy process is affected by more environmental factors, such as the government's follow-up development strategy, industrial development, technological innovation, and specific situations. Thirdly, it analysis the main body of the 104 policies from 2000 to 2021 and puts these subjects into China's power structure and cultural system, revealing that the policy issuers are all under the highest leadership of the Chinese Central Committee. Further, the paper challenges the typical description of Chinese cultural policy, which focuses on state control exclusively, identifies the forces within and outside the system that participate in or affect the policy-making process, and reveals the inter-subjective mechanism of policy change. In conclusion, the paper reveals that China's TV drama policy is under the unified leadership of the Party and the government, which greatly guarantees the consistency of the overall direction of cultural policy, that is, the right to speak firmly in the hands. The forces within the system can sometimes promote policy changes due to common development needs. However, folk discourse is only the object of control: when it breeds a certain amount of industrial space, the government will strengthen control over this space, suppress its potential "adverse effects", and instead provide protection and create conditions for the cultivation and growth of its mainstream discourse. However, the policy combination of basic policy and strategic policy, while having a strong effect and emergency capacity, also inhibits the innovation and diversification of the TV drama market. However, the state's substantial regulation will continue to exist in the future.

Keywords: TV Policy, China, policy process, cultural policy, culture management

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Authors: Tajudeen Yusuf

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Arabic Literature of Nigerian Authorship, like others, has contributed widely to the spread of morality and values in human Society. There is no doubt that the relationship between literature and society has been widely conceived, for it reflects society and serves as a means of social control. Indeed, the influence of literature on attitude and human behaviors cannot be underestimated. Focused on some selected themes and verses in a literary work of Isa Abubakar Alabi known as (Ar-Ryaadh), the paper aims to reveal the contributions of the Arabic literary icon of Nigerian origin in spreading values and morality in society through his literary works. The study employs a descriptive method. Isa Abubakar Alabi, a Nigerian Arabic scholar, is known as a wise and famous poet not only in Nigeria but throughout West Africa and Arab countries at large. He has produced a sort of poetry that is distinguished with superiority in spreading peace, harmony, societal values and morality. Indeed, his literary works address humanism, kindness, honesty, law, justice, truthfulness, and patriotism, which may positively influence humans.

Keywords: Arabic, literature, moral, Nigeria, values

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Authors: Icy Vinod Sanghvi

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In the light of rising modernism within the residential design industry, a significant growth of the western concepts of maximalism or minimalism is observed in the Indian housings. Although dynamism in design styles is natural due to the constant emergence of new innovations, it is imperative that local houses reflect cultural identity. This paper highlights the importance of ‘Indian Modernism’, and how to incorporate the same in residential design. Thus, helping the Indian culture to flourish and become a significant part of housing design in the future. A literature review was conducted to analyze and derive effective methods to build cultural value whilst catering to the urban and contemporary design industry. Alongside, a questionnaire survey was conducted to observe how the local houses are designed and to understand the preferences of people with regards to the design styles incorporated in their homes. In addition, their opinions on the excessive use of contemporary styles in home designs was recorded. The results of the same provided a better understanding of the local audience, their demands, and their willingness to adapt to contemporary designs. Studying color, materials, ornamentation, symbolism, detail, and structure offers an in-depth understanding of the essence of traditional Indian homes. These variables further provided effective solutions for design ideation and mockups for efficient traditional yet contemporary spaces. Design interventions like these can build a revolutionary set of practices that involve creating a balance between contemporary and traditional styles. The emergence of this synergy will not only make contemporary homes communicative but also allow India to compete within the global residential architecture industry with a strong foundation of its rich heritage.

Keywords: balance, contemporary design, cultural identity, Indian modernism

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Authors: Laurence C. Hanes, Robert J. Stone

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Video games have reached a point of huge commercial success as well as wide familiarity with audiences both young and old. Much attention and research have also been directed towards serious games and their potential learning affordances. It is little surprise that the field of virtual heritage has taken a keen interest in using serious games to present cultural heritage information to users, with applications ranging from museums and cultural heritage institutions, to academia and research, to schools and education. Many researchers have already documented their efforts to develop and distribute virtual heritage serious games. Although attempts have been made to create classifications of the different types of virtual heritage games (somewhat akin to the idea of game genres), no formal taxonomy has yet been produced to define the different types of cultural heritage and historical information that can be presented through these games at a content level, and how the information can be manifested within the game. This study proposes such a taxonomy. First the informational content is categorized as heritage or historical, then further divided into tangible, intangible, natural, and analytical. Next, the characteristics of the manifestation within the game are covered. The means of manifestation, level of demonstration, tone, and focus are all defined and explained. Finally, the potential learning outcomes of the content are discussed. A demonstration of the taxonomy is then given by describing the informational content and corresponding manifestations within several examples of virtual heritage serious games as well as commercial games. It is anticipated that this taxonomy will help designers of virtual heritage serious games to think about and clearly define the information they are presenting through their games, and how they are presenting it. Another result of the taxonomy is that it will enable us to frame cultural heritage and historical information presented in commercial games with a critical lens, especially where there may not be explicit learning objectives. Finally, the results will also enable us to identify shared informational content and learning objectives between any virtual heritage serious and/or commercial games.

Keywords: informational content, serious games, taxonomy, virtual heritage

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Authors: Hazel Pettifor, Charlie Wilson, David Mccollum, Oreane Edelenbosch

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Vehicle purchase is a technology adoption decision that will strongly influence future energy and emission outcomes. Global integrated assessment models (IAMs) provide valuable insights into the medium and long terms effects of socio-economic development, technological change and climate policy. In this paper we present a unique and transparent approach for improving the behavioural representation of these models by incorporating social influence effects to more accurately represent consumer choice. This work draws together strong conceptual thinking and robust empirical evidence to introduce heterogeneous and interconnected consumers who vary in their aversion to new technologies. Focussing on vehicle choice, we conduct novel empirical research to parameterise consumer risk aversion and how this is shaped by social and cultural influences. We find robust evidence for social influence effects, and variation between countries as a function of cultural differences. We then formulate an approach to modelling social influence which is implementable in both simulation and optimisation-type models. We use two global integrated assessment models (IMAGE and MESSAGE) to analyse four scenarios that introduce social influence and cultural differences between regions. These scenarios allow us to explore the interactions between consumer preferences and social influence. We find that incorporating social influence effects into global models accelerates the early deployment of electric vehicles and stimulates more widespread deployment across adopter groups. Incorporating cultural variation leads to significant differences in deployment between culturally divergent regions such as the USA and China. Our analysis significantly extends the ability of global integrated assessment models to provide policy-relevant analysis grounded in real-world processes.

Keywords: behavioural realism, electric vehicles, social influence, vehicle choice

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Authors: Sabitra Kaphle, Rebecca Fanany, Jenny Kelly

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Australia welcomes significant numbers of humanitarian arrivals every year with the commitment to provide equal opportunities and the resources required for integration into the new society. Over the last two decades, more than 24,000 South Sudanese people have come to call Australia home. Most of these refugees experienced several challenges whilesettlinginto the new social structures and service systems in Australia. The aim of the research is to explore the factors influencing social and cultural integration of South Sudanese refugees who have settled in Australia. Methodology: This studyused a phenomenological approach based on in-depth interviews designed to elicit the lived experiences of South Sudanese refugees settled in Australia. It applied the principles of narrative ethnography, allowing participants an opportunity to speak about themselves and their experiences of social and cultural integration-using their own words. Twenty-six participants were recruited to the study. Participants were long-term residents (over 10 years of settlement experience)who self-identified as refugees from South Sudan. Participants were given an opportunity to speak in the language of their choice, and interviews were conducted by a bilingual interviewer in their preferred language, time, and location. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and translated to Englishfor thematic analysis. Findings: Participants’ experiences portray the complexities of integrating into a new society due tothe daily challenges that South Sudaneserefugees face. Themes emerged from narrativesindicated that South Sudanese refugees express a high level of association with a Sudanese identity while demonstrating a significant level of integration into the Australian society. Despite this identity dilemma, these refugees show a high level of consensus about the experiencesof living in Australia that is closely associated with a group identity. In the process of maintaining identity andsocial affiliation, there are significant inter-generational cultural conflicts that participants experience in adapting to Australian society. It has been elucidated that identityconflict often emerges centeringon what constitutes authentic cultural practice as well as who is entitled to claim to be a member of the South Sudanese culture. Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that the cultural identity and social affiliations of South Sudanese refugees settling into Australian society are complex and multifaceted. While there are positive elements of theirintegration into the new society, inter-generational conflictsand identity confusion require further investigation to understand the context that will assist refugees to integrate more successfully into their new society. Given the length of stay of these refugees in Australia, government and settlement agencies may benefit from developing appropriate resources and process that are adaptive to the social and cultural context in which newly arrived refugees will live.

Keywords: cultural integration, inter-generational conflict, lived experiences, refugees, South sudanese

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Authors: Xinyuan Liu, Xiaojun Jing, Yuan He, Junsheng Mu

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Aspect-based Sentiment Analysis (ABSA) has attracted much attention due to its capacity to determine the sentiment polarity of the certain aspect in a sentence. In previous works, great significance of the interaction between aspect and sentence has been exhibited in ABSA. In consequence, a Multi-Level Attentional Networks (MLAN) is proposed. MLAN consists of four parts: Embedding Layer, Encoding Layer, Multi-Level Attentional (MLA) Layers and Final Prediction Layer. Among these parts, MLA Layers including Aspect Level Attentional (ALA) Layer and Interactive Attentional (ILA) Layer is the innovation of MLAN, whose function is to focus on the important information and obtain multiple levels’ attentional weighted representation of aspect and sentence. In the experiments, MLAN is compared with classical TD-LSTM, MemNet, RAM, ATAE-LSTM, IAN, AOA, LCR-Rot and AEN-GloVe on SemEval 2014 Dataset. The experimental results show that MLAN outperforms those state-of-the-art models greatly. And in case study, the works of ALA Layer and ILA Layer have been proven to be effective and interpretable.

Keywords: deep learning, aspect-based sentiment analysis, attention, natural language processing

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Authors: Agnes Siwi Purwaning Tyas, Dewi Cahya Ambarwati

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This paper concerns the language learning that develops as a habit formation and a constructive process while exercising an oppressive power to construct the learners. As a locus of discussion, the investigation problematizes the transfer of English language to Indonesian students of junior high school through the use of English textbooks ‘Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year VII-IX’. English language has long performed as a global language and it is a demand upon the non-English native speakers to master the language if they desire to become internationally recognized individuals. Generally, English teachers teach the language in accordance with the nature of language learning in which they are trained and expected to teach the language within the culture of the target language. This provides a potential soft cultural penetration of a foreign ideology through language transmission. In the context of Indonesia, learning English as international language is considered dilemmatic. Most English textbooks in Indonesia incorporate cultural elements of the target language which in some extent may challenge the sensitivity towards local cultural values. On the other hand, local teachers demand more English textbooks for junior high school students which can facilitate cultural dissemination of both local and global values and promote learners’ cultural traits of both cultures to avoid misunderstanding and confusion. It also aims to support language learning as bidirectional process instead of instrument of oppression. However, sensitizing and localizing this foreign language is not sufficient to restrain its soft infiltration. In due course, domination persists making the English language as an authoritative language and positioning the locality as ‘the other’. Such critical premise has led to a discursive analysis referring to how the cultural elements of the target language are presented in the textbooks and whether the local characteristics of Indonesia are able to gradually reduce the degree of the foreign oppressive ideology. The three textbooks researched were written by non-Indonesian author edited by two Indonesia editors published by a local commercial publishing company, PT Erlangga. The analytical elaboration examines the cultural characteristics in the forms of names, terminologies, places, objects and imageries –not the linguistic aspect– of both cultural domains; English and Indonesia. Comparisons as well as categorizations were made to identify the cultural traits of each language and scrutinize the contextual analysis. In the analysis, 128 foreign elements and 27 local elements were found in textbook for grade VII, 132 foreign elements and 23 local elements were found in textbook for grade VIII, while 144 foreign elements and 35 local elements were found in grade IX textbook, demonstrating the unequal distribution of both cultures. Even though the ideal pedagogical approach of English learning moves to a different direction by the means of inserting local elements, the learners are continuously imposed to the culture of the target language and forced to internalize the concept of values under the influence of the target language which tend to marginalize their native culture.

Keywords: bidirectional process, English, local culture, oppression

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