Transformation and job creation in the cultural and creative industries in South Africa

The cultural and creative industries (CCIs) have been hailed as offering great potential to create jobs and to be socially inclusive. Since artistic success is defined by individual talent, or merit, the CCIs should be one sector that is especially open to, and appreciative of, social diversity in terms of race, class, cultural group and gender. However, as expected, recent studies in both the UK and the US have revealed that employment in the CCIs is heavily dominated by the middle classes, and is not as diverse in terms of other characteristics. Since the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994, transformation of firm ownership, previously dominated by white people, to include more black, coloured and Indian/Asian-origin South Africans, has been an important part of achieving greater economic equality and social cohesion, as well as being more representative of the cultures of the majority of the population. Using data from a survey of 2400 CCIs firms in South Africa, this paper examines the extent to which the CCIs in South Africa have transformed in terms of ownership and employment. Comparisons are also made across the six UNESCO [(2009). Framework for cultural statistics. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.uis.unesco.org/culture/Pages/framework-cultural-statistics.aspx] “Cultural Domains” in terms of ownership, average monthly turnover and the number of full-time, part-time and contract employees. Results show some diversity in the industry, but significant differences between the Domains. Statistical analysis demonstrates that CCI funding policy in South Africa is sensitive to advancing the transformation agenda in that more transformed firms were shown to be more likely to have received some form of government grant as part of their income.     

以数字技术驱动和建构丝绸之路民族体育文化认同

该文基于文化认同理论,运用文献资料法,结合田野调查与专家咨询,探析如何通过数字技术驱动和建构丝绸之路民族体育文化认同。研究发现：数字技术颠覆了传统信息流通的方式,满足了受众对民族体育文化的认知需求。数字技术带来的时空一体化,有效推进了民族体育文化的共享,有望弥合民族文化鸿沟,塑造"他者"认知的想象空间,推进丝绸之路各国之间的文化交流与经济合作。建议以数字驱动、体验交流作为技术支撑,以中国主导、多边合作作为建构的主体,以民间体育文化交流、赛事品牌打造进行内容建构,多管齐下,共同打造民族体育文化数字空间,增进丝绸之路民族体育文化认同,助推"一带一路"经济合作与发展。     

以“区校共建”模式促进市民体育生活圈建设——以上海市长白社区与上海理工大学为例

采用文献资料、问卷调查、数理统计等研究方法,对上海市长白社区与上海理工大学通过“区校共建”模式来推动市民“30分钟体育生活圈”的建设进行实地调查研究。主要结论：“区校共建”模式符合社区居民参加体育锻炼活动的时空要求;可以充分整合现有资源来满足社区居民的体育场馆要求和体育锻炼活动多样化的需求;对市民体育锻炼行为产生了积极的影响;可以充分发挥高校对社区体育的健身指导和组织功能。实践证明,通过此模式可以充分发挥社区所辖高校的辐射功能,建立起以高校为核心的社区健身圈,从而促进市民体育生活圈的发展。     

Arts participation and the three faces of time: A reflection on disentangling the impact of life stage,period and socialization on arts participation,exemplified by an analysis of the US arts audience

Arts participation bears the threefold imprint of time: people's life stage (age), their earlier socializing imprint (cohort) and the historical circumstances of the moment (period). A proper understanding of these three effects is of great importance in understanding the present and future sizes and preferences of arts audiences. Such understanding implies disentangling those three effects properly, rather than overlooking or confusing them. An example of how that might be done is presented here with regard to arts participation in the US.     

Editorial statement

Grounded in the interdisciplinary educational work of Cultural Studies, this paper examines the pedagogical potentials of narrative and performance for the teaching of writing as a mode of public discourse. Guided to address a wide readership, students engage in critical communication aimed at linking self inquiry and narrative discourse to the contextual analysis of the social. Drawing on research findings derived from the undergraduate teaching of cultural criticism as a genre of public writing at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, we look at how educational drama mediates the work of narrative and performative acts involving the young learner-writers and contributes to the shaping of a dialogic mode of address and communication, thus articulating the process and impact of writing to the public-oriented discourse in Cultural Studies education. In light of such acts in critical discourse and imagination targeted at the potential reader, we show how the young writers' own engagement with critical thinking and communication are opened up by drama-in-education adopted in the class, and argue how, in this sense, both writing and its learning process become effective stages in the making of the kind of cultural criticism we want to help students to learn.     

Managing Disagreement while Managing not to Disagree: Polite Disagreement in Negotiation Discourse

This paper explores the exercise of politeness by Malays in business negotiations with Japanese. The study looks at how disagreement is realized linguistically. Its linguistic configurations in the form of speech acts and discourse strategies and their underlying politeness strategies are identified and described. The study also reports on how Malay cultural values are reflected in the language use. The implications of the study for negotiation in general and the expression of disagreement in particular are then discussed. The findings are significant for an understanding of disagreement by Malays, particularly when interacting in English. Additionally it provides insights into how Malay cultural values impinge on Malay interaction styles vis-à-vis styles of disagreement. The findings work towards an understanding of how Malay values are manifested in the discourse of disagreement in oral communication.     

Somewhere in the Middle: The Measurement of Third Culture

This study explores the concept of “third culture,” which has not been tested by quantified measures since it was introduced. This study develops the 10-item measurement of third culture based on three dimensions—equality, commonality, and transcendence. Two hundred and fifteen international married individuals from 42 countries participated in a self-administered email survey. The findings indicated that the new scale is reliable and functions as a single dimension instead of as three subdimensions. Suggestions for future study as well as several implications on theory and methodology are discussed, drawing on the experience of this study.     

Passing on Political Information between Major Powers: The Key Role of Ambassadors between Byzantium and some of its Neighbours

Ambassadors and embassies were numerous between Byzantium and its Muslim and Western Christian neighbours during the Middle Byzantine Period. This article seeks to demonstrate that these official envoys constituted major players involved in the transfer of political information between the courts considered. Ambassadors were those who travelled the most in the Mediterranean area during our period – at least between 700 and 900. Furthermore, as official envoys acting for sovereigns, they were carefully listened to by those sovereigns when they returned. Information coming from ambassadors is found in various sources and concerned military matters and foreign policy. But we also find precise data on domestic affairs and internal political information. Furthermore, news of usurpations and troubles in Byzantium may have constituted an important part of the information transferred beyond the Empire. Foreign ambassadors witnessed usurpations and palace revolutions. Their testimonies could have nourished the idea of a Byzantine government weakened by political instability and this theme became prominent during the twelfth century in some Western Christian courts.