Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, 2017, Honors Theses

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (1961) is so famous that the title has become a part of our everyday speech and is often listed as one of the best American novels of all time. This, of course, is untrue of the six works of fiction that Heller wrote after Catch-22. This project explores Heller's six works following Catch-22, with a focus on his second novel, Something Happened. This project not only seeks to redeem Heller's works, discussing them independently of Catch-22 and discovering their individual value, but explains exactly why Heller's career failed; because he became immediately associated with comedy, and his works, no matter the genre, were advertised as such, his readers never felt as if they had read what they expected to read – and not in a positive, surprising way. After Something Happened, Heller tried to return to comedy, but his audience grew tired of the familiarity very quickly. Understanding why this happened to Heller could help improve the publishing world as a whole and save future authors from failing in the same way.

Committee: Kelsey Squire Ph.D. (Advisor); Jeremy Glazier M.F.A. (Other) Subjects: American Literature; Literature

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Greek and Latin

The main aim of this dissertation is to study Fracastoro's allusive technique: particularly his reception of classical authors. I will identify and assess the evidence for Fracastoro's reception of these classical authors through a close reading of the Morbus Gallicus and its classical intertexts, and by an examination of that poetry identify and uncover the motifs, themes, diction, and poetic agendas that Fracastoro recognized, engaged, and leveraged – in effect, how he read his predecessors as he produced his own work. The manner in which Fracastoro uses his classical antecedents reveals a greater complexity in Fracastoro's allusive technique than previous scholars have noticed. This project, at its core, is about coming to a better and more complete understanding of Fracastoro as a poet. Most previous examinations of Fracastoro's work (and engagement with his antecedents) tend to create a dichotomy between Fracastoro's works as a man of science and as a man of letters, often implying the primacy of his role as a scientist. In this project, I seek to draw attention to his work – and talent – as a poet. To that end, my discussion starts with Fracastoro's reception of the authors where a far more reasonable premise would be that Fracastoro was looking at them with a purely poetic eye; the first half of the project deals with the ties to Vergil, Ovid, and Catullus. The influence of Vergil's Georgics on the basic narrative structure of Syphilis sive Morbus Gallicus is presented practically as a given by several scholars – but a close reading of the passages from Vergil that made a clear imprint on Fracastoro strongly suggest that it was the violent pastoralist approach that spans all of Vergil's poems that made the most significant impact on Fracastoro – indeed, it infuses the way that Fracastoro communicates the symptoms, causes, and cures for the disease. The second half of the project then moves on to Lucretius, whose influence on Fracastoro has primari (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Fritz Graf (Committee Chair); Julia Nelson-Hawkins (Committee Member); Frank Coulson (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies; Literature

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2016, Music History

Moravian-born impresario Max Maretzek was one of the leading opera managers in nineteenth-century America, specializing in Italian opera. During his career, Maretzek highlighted three cities as being "musical centers" in America: New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. While he noted that these cities were the most important for opera, he did not treat each one the same. Indeed, each of these cities had a heritage that affected their responses to opera. For example, the Puritanical heritage of Boston caused Maretzek to cancel his production of Verdi's Rigoletto in 1861, because citizens were revolted by the opera's immoral plot. In this project, I will explore, discuss, and analyze reception of Maretzek's Italian operas, and how this reception affected how he produced opera. Using Jauss's ideas on reception theory, specifically the "horizon of expectations," I will explore the historical and cultural contexts of Maretzek's three musical centers, coupled with research on opera in nineteenth-century America by Katherine Preston, John Dizikes, and June Ottenberg. Since Maretzek was an early proponent of Verdi's operas, I will discuss the reception of Maretzek's productions of Italian opera, with emphasis on Verdi and the various controversies his operas engendered. I will show that Maretzek responded to criticism differently in each of the three cities: his productions were more adventurous in his home base of New York, and more conservative in Boston and Philadelphia. Finally, I will situate Maretzek and his work in the overarching cultural context of Italian opera in nineteenth-century America, drawing on the work of Lawrence Levine and Kristen Turner. While Italian opera is commonly discussed as representing the interests of the wealthy upper class in America during this time, I will argue that discussions of Maretzek in this context require a more nuanced discussion. While there were efforts by wealthy citizens to claim Italian opera as their own, Maretzek marketed (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Eftychia Papanikolaou Ph.D. (Advisor); Ryan Ebright Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

PHD, Kent State University, 2016, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies

ABSTRACT The current study aims to investigate the reception of Arabic language works translated into English and published in The U.S. before and after September 11 as reflected in paratexts. This study seeks to explicitly answer these questions: 1) What are the socio-cultural factors that shaped the production and reception of Arabic language works translated into English and published in The U.S. both before and after 9/11? 2) What is the role of human agents, specifically publishers, translators, and authors, in the production and reception of Arabic-language works translated into English and published in The U.S. both before and after 9/11? 3) To what extent can paratexts affect and reveal aspects of Arabic-language works translated into English and published in The U.S. before and after 9/11? and 4) What is the role of 9/11 in shaping the process of production and reception? In order to form a comprehensive image of the reception of these works, both cultural and social frameworks are examined. The cultural framework involves major concepts from polysystem theory, namely, Toury's preliminary norms and Even-Zohar's justifications for importing and translating a literary work from one culture into another. The analysis covers only paratextual material. The social framework involves in-depth analysis of the role of the main human agents (stakeholders) involved in the process of reception, such as translators, authors, and publishers. This analysis is carried out by building on some of Bourdieu's main concepts such as: field, habitus, and forms of capital (cultural, social, economic, and symbolic). Moreover, the analysis focuses particularly on the role of publishers, which is investigated by drawing on publishing theory. As for the periodization of the study, the entire study is classified into two periods, pre- and post-September 11, 2001. The results of the study show that paratexts can be used to identify the norms that govern translation from Arabic i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Richard Kelly Washbourne Dr. (Advisor); Sue Ellen Wright Dr. (Committee Member); Erik Angelone Dr. (Committee Member); Abed el-Rahman Tayyara Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Language; Language Arts; Linguistics

M.M., University of Cincinnati, 2008, College-Conservatory of Music : Music History

In 1945 Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes contributed to a renascence of English opera. Critics praised Grimes for its realization of many aesthetic ideals of the traditional canon of opera, including musical depiction of character, innovation, and unification of music and drama. Subsequent English operas, however, failed to achieve the same success. Ralph Vaughan Williams's The Pilgrim's Progress and Britten's Gloriana, especially, became subjects of critical disapproval. Scholars have examined the reception histories of these operas, but none has attempted to show a connection between them. This thesis explores the ways in which the success of Peter Grimes affected the reception of The Pilgrim's Progress and Gloriana. Reviews in English newspapers, magazines, and journals serve as the primary sources for this investigation. Expressly, critics found fault with the characterization, originality, and integration of The Pilgrim's Progress and Gloriana, i.e., the very same areas in which Grimes had excelled.

Committee: Dr. bruce d. mcclung PhD (Committee Chair); Dr. Mary Sue Morrow PhD (Committee Member); Kenneth R. Griffiths MM (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2009, American Culture Studies/Communication

The objective of the study is to intervene in the ongoing discourse that interrogates the relationship between fictional ultraviolent film representations and real life behavior in audiences that these types of films are marketed to. Using a case study approach to apparatus and audience reception theories, the dissertation investigates the significant role Scarface, the 1983 gangster film directed by Brian De Palma, has played in influencing the cultural and social development of young African-American males who live in American inner cities. The study focuses on how the inner city portion of the Scarface audience came to self-identify themselves as “gangstas” (a Hip-hop term for gangster) and why one particular character in the film, a murderous drug dealer, has served as the gangsta role model for heroic behavior for over twenty-five years.The study found that performing the gangsta male identity emotionally satisfies these economic and socially disconnected young men and that this group viewed the violent and illegal behavior in Scarface as offering practical solutions to their ongoing struggle to survive the hopelessness and terror rooted in their environment. The research demonstrated that film narratives can be both a window into, and a mirror of, the often paradoxically complex relationships between marginalized target audiences and savvy multi-national media corporations that successfully market negative representations to these audiences, profit from the transactions and, during the process, manipulate both mainstream and oppositional perceptions of class, race, and power.

Committee: Donald McQuarie PhD (Committee Chair); Priscilla Coleman PhD (Committee Member); Halifu Osumare PhD (Committee Member); Awad Ibrahim PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; American Studies; Black History; Fine Arts; Mass Media; Motion Pictures; Social Psychology; Social Structure; Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2024, History (Arts and Sciences)

This thesis essays to study and interpret a small body of poems from Southern Gaul which respond to the breach of the Rhine frontier and subsequent crises from 406-418 AD. After demonstrating contemporary literary conventions in both secular and Christian discourses, the paper will survey how the poems in question came to terms with recent catastrophe and thereby rearticulated differing ideas of empire and meta-history which drew upon the Latin Epic tradition but deployed them in a context that was increasingly Christian and destabilized. While this will shed limited light on the political events, it will primarily serve to situate the beginnings of the Fall of the Western Empire in their intellectual context and indicate how they served as agents of the transformation of the Classical World and the draining of the secular.

Committee: Jaclyn Maxwell (Committee Chair); Kevin Uhalde (Committee Member); Neil Bernstein (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies; Education History; European History; History; Medieval History; Medieval Literature; Middle Ages; Religion; Religious History

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2024, Mass Communication (Communication)

This dissertation engages in an exploration of the intricate discourse surrounding the casting decisions in Black history films. The study addresses the perspectives of two pivotal demographic groups, namely African Americans and African immigrants, unraveling the multifaceted perspectives and overarching implications associated with casting choices in the realm of Black cinema. The theoretical framework for this research is rooted in the interdisciplinary and multifaceted domain of cultural studies, which facilitates a comprehensive exploration of the intricate intersections among film casting, race, identity, representation, and reception scholarship. Employing a mixed-method research design, the study integrates paratextual analysis, qualitative interviews, and focus group discussions, collectively capturing a diverse range of perspectives held by both African Americans and African immigrants. This methodological approach effectively illuminates how participants seamlessly integrate their unique lived experiences and cultural backgrounds when assessing casting decisions for historical roles, contributing to a nuanced and holistic understanding of their viewpoints. The analysis of the collected data has unveiled compelling thematic insights that provide a comprehensive understanding of the intricate dynamics within the context of casting iv choices in Black history films. These themes, including Diverse Conceptions of Blackness, Historical Perspectives of Actors on Blackness and Black Issues in the American Context, Challenges and Perceived Displacement, Unpacking Distorted Depictions of African American History, Gaps in Diversity within Black Narratives and Investment in Emerging African American Talent, Commercial Dimensions of Casting, and African-history Movies Produced in the United States as American Productions, collectively illuminate the interplay of representation, identity, and economic considerations within the film industry. A (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Steve Howard (Committee Chair); Eve Ng (Committee Member); Webster Smith (Other); Jatin Srivastava (Committee Member); Taylor Kirsten (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; Black Studies; Ethnic Studies; Film Studies; Mass Media

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Arts and Sciences: Sociology

Visualizations of Black males have transfixed the minds of laypersons and scholars for hundreds of years. Yet, while diverse Black boys and men are hyper-visible in contemporary U.S. films, scholars still utilize a deficit perspective when analyzing their representations and argue that they are overwhelmingly depicted in deleterious, disparaging, and stereotypical ways. Scholarship on the impacts of such representations assumes a link between negative portrayals and negative outcomes. Much less attention has been given to the potential benefits of more nuanced and positive portrayals of Black characters on the lives of everyday Black men. Moreover, such limitations means that we know surprisingly little about how audiences of Black males interpret their on-screen equivalents as related to their own understandings of who they are. Drawing on qualitative data from in-depth individual and focus group interviews with 51 Black men from across the United States with varied social locations, I examine how they (re)negotiate race, masculinity, and personhood with respect to the Black cinematic characters they consume. Relying on foundations in Black Male Studies, conceptualizations of Black males and masculinity, and Collins Black feminist thought, I develop the theory of Black Masculine Thought to understand how Black men decode Black male characters in film. More specifically, the findings reveal three main strategies that the men use to decode their on-screen counterparts. First, while they acknowledge the existence stereotypical portrayals, they either deflect them as unimportant, or they actively resist them by reconsidering the characters in complex, humanizing ways. Second, they approach Black men in film as sources of social representation or identification. They see themselves in a range of characters and use them as inspiration for their own lives—especially instances where characters persevere through struggle. Finally, they are especially attuned to, and inspire (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Annulla Linders Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Earl Wright II Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ronald Jackson II Ph.D. (Committee Member); Omotayo Banjo Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, History

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz's employment of references to the classical Greco-Roman tradition as well as literary devices allowed her to skillfully weave her thoughts between the lines of both her secular and religious pieces. The written works of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz served as an outlet in which the nun could express her opinions and commentary regarding the status of indigenous peoples, women's roles, and the influence of the Catholic Church. Without straying from the confines of what was deemed acceptable by the elite male authorities of the Catholic Church, Sor Juana was thus able to successfully navigate the social and religious norms of Colonial New Spain while living a paradoxical life as a woman, a nun, and a public intellectual. Chapter one provides an analysis of Sor Juana's veiled critiques regarding the treatment and status of indigenous peoples within two of her dramatic works, The Loa to the Divine Narcissus and The Divine Narcissus. It is asserted that Sor Juana's public display of sympathy for indigenous peoples during the Spanish conquest and the portrayal of indigenous religion and culture as valid beliefs indicates her support and awareness of the issue. In chapter two, the focus is shifted to women's roles and education. I contend that Sor Juana used her poetry to defend women's rights to attain an education and to partake in experiences that contradicted patriarchal expectations of gender and sexuality. The final chapter is dedicated to Sor Juana's controversy with prominent authorities of the Catholic Church and her justification of her secular writing. The study of the Respuesta and El Primero Sueno reveals Sor Juana's criticism towards the patriarchy and the overarching religious hierarchy as well as her belief that she was entitled to write and participate in both religious and secular intellectual discourse.

Committee: Amílcar Challú Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Casey Stark Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: History; Latin American History; Latin American Literature; Religious History

BA, Oberlin College, 2022, Religion

Isaac ibn Sahula was a marginal figure in the Castile community of medieval Spanish kabbalists, which included those mystics who would come to compose the groundbreaking book of Zohar toward the end of the thirteenth century. While Ibn Sahula is best known for his anthology of animal fables, this essay casts his more obscure Commentary on the Song of Songs (ca. 1283) as a key document in tracing the genealogy of the Song's interpretation in classical Kabbalah. Through the translation and analysis of two exemplary sections of the Commentary, this essay will discuss its uniquely kabbalistic reading of the Song as a love story between the secrets of Torah and their interpreter and ultimately advance a thesis locating Ibn Sahula's "erotics of reading" in its broader medieval context.

Committee: Sam Shonkoff (Committee Member); Corey Ladd Barnes (Advisor) Subjects: Judaic Studies; Religion

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Art History

In the early modern period, elite collectors began amassing magnificent collections of both locally produced and imported objects. Few were as innovative as Amalia van Solms-Braunfels (1602-1675), Princess of Orange. Under Amalia and her husband, Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647), Prince of Orange, the United Provinces flourished as a cultural and global power. The strength and wealth of the country, and by association the House of Orange-Nassau, is embedded in Amalia's cabinets or closets, private spaces where she carefully curated assemblages of locally produced and imported decorative and fine artworks. Under the weight of a historiographic tradition that privileges male rulers, much of the scholarship produced on the princely couple's cultural activities marks Frederik Hendrik or Constantijn Huygens as the deciding factor without discussion or justification. While scholarly interest in Amalia's role as an independent patron and collector has grown over the last two decades, the focus to date on individual, extant objects, while informative, does not provide a comprehensive understanding of Amalia's interests and motivations as a patron and collector-- how she acquired and employed objects, both individually and in decorative ensembles, to construct her various identities. My dissertation focuses on Amalia's cabinets found in the Stadtholder's Quarters (Stadhouderlijk Kwartier) and the Oude Hof (‘Old Court') at Noordeinde, and the objects displayed within. Uniting textual and visual evidence in the form of inventories, correspondence, and objects with novel digital tools, it first applies social network analysis to visualize Amalia's social, global network that provided her with access to other impressive collections and artists, as well as assisted her with acquiring objects originating from outside of Europe. It interrogates how, once acquired, objects were employed by Amalia in ensembles within the most intimate spaces of her residences to construct her (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Catherine Scallen (Advisor); Andrea Wolk Rager (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Music History

“The Star-Spangled Banner,” which serves as the United States' national anthem, has experienced a flux of controversial attention in the 21st century. The melody, which originates from a British song titled “To Anacreon in Heaven,” has been paired with a variety of lyrics in the U.S. dating before “The Star-Spangled Banner,” whose poetry was inspired by the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key, who authored the text of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was just one of many U.S. citizens who utilized this melody in the 19th century to express their feelings about the country in regard to a particular historical event. Key, a lawyer and slave-owner, reveals his attitude toward the U.S. specifically in the three later verses of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which depicts the tragedies of slavery in the 19th century. Scholars such as Mark Clague, Carlos Abril, and William Robin have analyzed the national anthem's lyrics, as well as its performance practices, in context with the history of the U.S., tracing the transformation and function of the national anthem over the 200 years of its existence. This thesis explores the use of the national anthem in racial politics leading up to (and specifically in) the 21st century, the ways in which it does and does not adhere to the ideologies and democracy of the present-day United States, and its implicit representation of systemic racism that is highlighted by the social and political movement “Black Lives Matter.” Analyzing the function of the national anthem, its performance practices, and reactions to these practices, this thesis argues that “The Star-Spangled Banner” plays a role in upholding systemic racism by shining a light on its use as a vehicle of protest and political expression, a use that has been a defining characteristic of the original melody since it made its way to the U.S.

Committee: Mary Natvig Ph. D. (Advisor); Katherine Meizel Ph. D., D.M.A. (Committee Member); Ryan Ebright Ph. D. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; History; Music

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2021, Arts and Sciences: Romance Languages and Literatures

This dissertation examines how the historical context has influenced the adaptations to cinema in Spanish of Pedro Calderon de la Barca's plays during the XX century, and how these new works contribute to the vitality of the adapted plays. The corpus of this work includes seven films: El alcalde de Zalamea (1914), La dama duende (1945), El alcalde de Zalamea (1954), El principe encadenado (1960), La leyenda del alcalde de Zalamea (1973), Extasis (1996) and Nino nadie (1997), adaptations of three of Calderon's plays: La vida es sueno (1635), El alcalde de Zalamea (c.1636), and La dama duende (1629). The current research proposes three paths of history that relate to the reception in which these films were created. First, socio-political history, second, the history and specificity of the mediums involved: theatre and cinema, and third, the history of the theory of adaptation and its relationship with the history of art and of thought. We take the definition of the work of art as a sign subject to a changing interpretation through time, an interpretation shaped by a system of norms, functions, and values as social facts, as proposed by Jan Mukarovsky, and we document how these norms, functions, and values, conditioned different concretizations under different historical periods, what Felix Vodicka called context. This historical context is divided in three chronologically progressive periods that relate to the history of Spain: a first period from the arrival of the kinetoscope to Spain to the end of the first Francoist period in 1959, a second period from 1960 to the end of Franco's dictatorship in 1975, and a third period within the democratic era in Spain from 1975-1997. By approaching the study of these films with the structure proposed by Linda Hutcheon, via the questions, “what”, “who”, “when”, “where”, “why”, and “how” we adapt, we focus this study on adaptation, as described by Hutcheon: a process and a product, an act of reinterpretation and recreation. We (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Andrés Pérez-Simón Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Carlos Gutiérrez Ph.D. (Committee Member); Maria-Paz Moreno Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature

PHD, Kent State University, 2020, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies

Although the study of reception has not been ignored in the field of Translation Studies, the role of lay readers largely has been. Some of the reasons for this are practical; before the advent of the Internet, reader reaction could be gauged mostly through statistical analysis of books sales or library records. The Internet has made possible the collection of actual reviews by readers, which makes more nuanced, qualitative analysis of reader response feasible. The research possibilities represented by online reader reviews, however, have yet to be exploited in a systematic way. Hence, this research argues that it is time for the full integration of end-readers into reception studies of translated literature. This research aims to explore images and representations of the Arabs and their cultures transmitted to the West through translated Arabic literature. Previous studies have adopted positivist approaches, investigating how accurately the Arabs and their cultures were represented in the translations as well as what images are inserted in them. This research, informed by post-positivist approaches, explores not how the source culture and its images have been depicted and represented in translations, but how lay readers interpreted and constructed those images and representations after reading. To carry out the investigation, four case studies were selected for this corpus-based, corpus-driven study. The responses of readers in the form of online book reviews of original Arabic works and their translations were compiled for analysis using corpus tools. The analysis explored how each of these works was packaged and received in the source and target cultures.

Committee: Brian Baer (Advisor); Judy Wakabayashi (Committee Member); Kelly Washbourne (Committee Member); M'Baye Babacar (Committee Member); Andrew Barnes (Committee Member) Subjects: Foreign Language; Linguistics; Literature; Middle Eastern Literature; Modern Language; Modern Literature; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, History

This dissertation examines Communist Party propaganda and agitation (agitprop) in Kazakhstan, both the mechanics of agitprop production and dissemination, as well as the influence that agitprop had on the Kazakh populace during the Stalinist era in the Soviet Union (1929-1953). It argues that authorities in Moscow did not dictate Communist Party agitprop content and preferred to leave the responsibility of propaganda creation and dissemination to propagandists (agitprop workers) at the grassroots level. This heavy reliance on low-ranking agitprop workers proved problematic in Kazakhstan because most did not receive sufficient training to convey complex Marxist political theories to a largely illiterate population. In fact, many Kazakh propagandists were themselves semi-literate. Under-qualified agitprop workers resulted in shortcomings with propaganda production and dissemination, including teachings that ran against the official ideology. These shortcomings undermined the potency of Communist Party propaganda to educate and transform the Kazakh populace into modern Soviet citizens.

Committee: David Hoffmann (Advisor); Nicholas Breyfogle (Committee Member); Scott Levi (Committee Member); Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Comparative Studies

As the number of forcibly displaced people increases globally, border crossing into Global North countries is often discussed as a crisis or emergency. Europe's recent "refugee crisis" illustrates the range of circumstances to which these discourses refer: humanitarian issues requiring urgent response; institutional crises, given the insufficiency of extant systems and structures to accommodate arriving migrants; or dangers for local and national communities who perceive the arrival of outsiders as a threat to their security and cultural identity. In Witnessing Emergency: Testimonial Narratives of Precarious Migration to Italy, I argue that in Italy, a key port of entry for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, the "emergency imaginary" that has shaped public and political responses to migrant arrivals perpetuates the idea that Africa-Europe migration via the Mediterranean Sea is sudden, unforeseen, and detached from historical mobilities. In fact, the recent crisis bears echoes of longer histories of transit, in particular between former African colonies and former European colonizing powers. To map the stakes and contours of "emergency," and to understand its limits and omissions, this dissertation examines how media and political framings of irregular Mediterranean migration as a crisis or emergency enable the racialization of migrants and obscure the colonial relations that continue to shape notions of identity and otherness in Italy and across Europe. I interrogate these framings through testimonial transactions that contextualize and challenge emergency discourses. The testimonies I put in conversation include published life writing (memoir and documentary film) that centers migrant experiences; oral history interviews I conducted with migrants, staff, and volunteers at multiple reception sites in Italy in 2017, 2018, and 2019; and a set of encounters in urban spaces and art installations. The transactions reflected in or mobilized through thes (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dana Renga (Advisor); Amy Shuman (Advisor); Ashley Pérez (Committee Member); Julia Watson (Committee Member) Subjects: Comparative Literature; Cultural Anthropology; Ethnic Studies; European Studies; Film Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Dance Studies

Since its premiere, YouTube has rapidly emerged as the most important venue shaping popular dance practitioners and consumers, introducing paradigm shifts in the ways dances are learned, practiced, and shared. YouTube is a technological platform, an economic system, and a means of social affiliation and expression. In this dissertation, I contribute to ongoing debates on the social, political, and economic effects of technological change by focusing on the bodily and emotional labor performed and archived on the site in videos, comments sections, and advertisements. In particular I look at comments and fan video as social paratexts which shape dance reception and production through policing genre, citationality, and legitimacy; position studio dance class videos as an Internet screendance genre which entextualizes the pedagogical context through creative documentation; and analyze the use of dance in online advertisements to promote identity-based consumption. Taken together, these inquiries show that YouTube perpetuates and reshapes established modes and genres of production, distribution, and consumption. These phenomena require an analysis that accounts for their multivalence and the ways the texts circulating on YouTube subvert existing categories, binaries, and hierarchies. A cyclical exchange—between perpetuation and innovation, subculture and pop culture, amateur and professional, the subversive and the neoliberal—is what defines YouTube and the investigation I undertake in this dissertation.

Committee: Harmony Bench PhD (Advisor); Katherine Borland PhD (Committee Member); Karen Eliot PhD (Committee Member); Ryan Skinner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Criticism; Communication; Dance; Ethnic Studies; Intellectual Property; Mass Media; Performing Arts; Technology; Web Studies

Bachelor of Science of Media Arts and Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2019, Media Arts and Studies

In the modern media industry, despite the rise of participatory culture, traditional producer-audience paradigms continue to dominate storytelling practice, creating undesirable rifts between audiences and content creators. Some of these issues include mistrust of production companies and increased traffic to fan-made content over canon content. In response to these trends, the Emter Model of Audience Engagement (EMAE) challenges traditional storytelling strategy and encourages content creators to continue to tell compelling stories, but to also portray themselves as a character in the overall storytelling experience, create collaborative opportunities for the audience, and reward creative initiative that presents itself in the audience. To test the viability of this alternative storytelling model, the EMAE was applied to written fiction in a qualitative study conducted to gauge the model's feasibility, ability to engage the audience, impact on the content creator, and potential professional application. Although found to be structurally sound, engaging for the audience, and enjoyable for the content creator, industry professionals strongly resist the idea of allowing the audience to weigh in on the storytelling process. Although pushback is expected in reaction to major shifts in power dynamics, further study of the EMAE is necessary to develop a better understanding of its effect on the audience, content creator, and media industry.

Committee: Eric Williams (Advisor) Subjects: Multimedia Communications

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Film Studies

In this paper I examine an Argentine special-interest magazine dedicated to imported, localized Japanese anime that appeared on broadcast television in Latin America at the turn of the century. In doing so, I focus primarily on the authorial role of its editor, Leandro Oberto, and his role as gatekeeper of an emergent subculture in post-dictatorial Argentina. The entrepreneurial, political, and personal agendas of Oberto at this time are demonstrated by samples of his own articles and letters from the editor, as well as accompanying interviews from Argentine news outlets. Selected letters to the editor are also featured in order to reveal Oberto's engagement with his readership. In order to explore and explain these complex, mediated interactions and the subculture in which they take place, I utilize established concepts of transculturation as coined by Fernando Ortiz. Emphasizing the transactional component of transculturation in a global marketplace, I draw upon newer methodologies put forth by Elizabeth Kath so as to better account for the profit-driven exchange of culture and ideas that occur through media such as television and the internet rather than face-to-face interactions. In doing so, I demonstrate a previously unused application of transculturation which may also be modeled in comparable circumstances involving other media within different localities. I also provide a complement to the overall history of Argentine cinema as adeptly described by Tamara Falicov, whose work denoting the cultural divide between the middle class and working class as evidenced by viewing habits proved insightful.

Committee: Laura Podalsky Dr. (Advisor); Margaret Flinn Dr. (Committee Member); James Genova Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Film Studies