Film reviews and the public's perceptions of stereotypes: Movie critics' discourse about the siege

This paper investigates the public discourse surrounding the representation of cultural and ethnic groups in U.S. entertainment media by examining movie reviews of a specific film. It examines the types of arguments and support that popular film critics used in their evaluations of the 1998 action film The Siege. The film was publicly criticized by activist groups before its release and reviewers found it necessary to address the issue of whether the film contained stereotypes or could contribute to prejudicial understandings in their evaluations of the film. Three types of arguments that consistently appeared in the reviews’ evaluations of the film are described and explored: the film's relationship to real‐world events, the intentions of the film's creators, and the constraints of the genre. Implications of the consistent use of these criteria for audiences’ decisions to see the film, their evaluations of the film, and their understanding of the role of the media in maintaining or challenging racism and ethnocentrism are discussed.     

SATELLITE TV NEWS AND ARAB DEMOCRACY

The red and white banners of Lebanon's anti-Syrian protests in the spring of 2005 were a testament to the transformational power of the Arab media revolution. Without al-Jazeera and the new constellation of Arab satellite broadcasters, it is unlikely there would ever have been a “Cedar Revolution,” as a Bush Administration official quickly dubbed the spontaneous protests that ended Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon. However, television did not drive out the Syrians, any more than it gave birth to some new form of Lebanese democracy. TV cannot alone create change. It is an agent of change—more specifically, a tool used by the architects of change. Arab television is providing a level of cover to those who seek democratic change and it may even be supplanting at least some of the traditionally more bloody battlefields of the Middle East by allowing confrontations to play out through the camera rather than the gun. Yet an emerging corporate feudalism, in which the majority of semi-independent media outlets are owned by individuals who are part of, or close to, the ruling families of the region, means that red lines still exist which constrain journalists and limit the pace of change.     

Using human figure drawing as a tool for examining self-perception and emotional attitudes among Jewish and Arab children in Israel

The study examined ingroup and outgroup perceptions among Jewish and Arab children in Israel. The sample comprised 191 children aged 10–12, 131 Jewish and 60 Arab participants who live in a mixed city. The main instrument used to examine the children's perceptions was a multidimensional analysis of Jewish and Arab figures drawn by the participants, as well as a questionnaire relating to the drawn figures. The findings revealed that, even though they lived in a mixed city and studied in the same classes, the Jewish children differentiated between the figures and overwhelmingly preferred Jewish figures to Arab figures. Moreover, they revealed negative stereotypes and expressed aggression in drawings of Arab figures. In contrast, among the Arab participants, the findings were inconsistent. In most of the variables, they did not distinguish between the various figures. However, in the quality variables, they tended to prefer figures of their own nationality and rejected Jewish figures. The findings are discussed in relation to the context of the residential environment (a mixed city), majority-minority status, and the Israeli-Arab conflict.     

Valuing diversity in Spain and Canada: The role of multicultural ideology in intergroup attitudes and intentions to reduce inequalities

Multicultural ideology proposes that group memberships should be not just acknowledged but also valued in order to accommodate diversity and attain equality. In three studies conducted in Spain and Canada we analyzed, using different measures, the relationship between multicultural ideology on the one hand and prejudice, support for social policies, and motivation for social change on the other hand. In Spain we focused on responses to Gitanos (Spanish Roma) and, in Canada, on First Nations people. Results showed that multicultural ideology was related in both cases to lower prejudice and higher support for social policies to support the minority group and motivation for social change. The internal motivation to control prejudice was an important mediator of this relationship in both countries. In contrast, the way in which social identities are represented played a different role as a function of country: whereas a dual identity representation played a mediating role in Canada, a common identity representation was the mediator in Spain. These results support the importance of valuing cultural diversity to harmonize intergroup relations and to reduce inequalities between majorities and minority groups.     

浅析伊斯兰教对中世纪阿拉伯体育的影响

伊斯兰教是重视体育的宗教。不仅《古兰经》鼓励人们进行体育锻炼,重视军事体育,而且哈里发们也倡导体育游戏,致使中世纪阿拉伯体育呈现出繁盛的局面。     

Education reform for the knowledge economy in the state of Sangon

This paper aims to highlight the issues associated with the implementation of education reform policies relating to ‘future schools’ in a small state in the Middle East and North Africa region. The study points to the consistency with which global corporations and the supranational organisations, such as UNESCO and the World Bank, promote a twenty-first-century skill agenda as an essential component for educational renewal and innovation; but, with equal consistency, it highlights the difficulties that school practitioners face in trying to enact this agenda by way of the reformist policies. Through focus-group discussions supplemented by interviews with senior school leaders and government officers, a complex web unfolds related to the enactment of education reforms in a fragile Arab state, to such an extent that the ‘future schools’ narrative is seen to have little or no importance in the wider reform process. Arising from interview data, three main themes emerge related to: organisational culture, technology and tradition. Far from promoting, amongst students, the development of twenty-first-century skills, the strength of local traditions and epistemology are of much greater importance than the neoliberal imaginary with which policies from the Global North are imbued. Whilst avoiding essentialist arguments, the study contributes to the growing body of literature, in the wake of the Arab Spring, that questions the boiler plate implementation of Western ideals upon countries with very different cultural and epistemological traditions.     

Towards a common ground: Arab versus Western views about challenges of Islamic religious education curriculum of the twenty-first century

The Islamic religious education curriculum of the twenty-first century is a cornerstone in a hot debate about necessary educational reforms in the Islamic World. This study aimed at investigating the depth of agreement/disagreement between Arab and Western educational views about challenges of this curriculum through reviewing academic articles/reports that were published in this field between 2001 and 2011. Fifty-seven Arabic and English academic articles/reports were chosen from a pool of around 500, to be analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Contrary to expectations, findings revealed that views of Arab authors about reforming Islamic religious education curriculum of the twenty-first century are not far from those of Western authors. Conferences and co-projects between Arab and Western educators are recommended.     

Another Kind of Pride and Prejudice

This article has an analysis of the theme in Jane Austen’s novel,Pride and Prejudice,with reference to its irony and satire.     

《傲慢与偏见》的人物话语的礼貌原则分析

《傲慢与偏见》是英国小说家简.奥斯丁的代表作,具有很高的可读性和艺术性。采用语用学中礼貌原则对小说《傲慢与偏见》中的部分人物话语进行分析,通过一些违反礼貌原则的例子,说明礼貌得体的言语是交际中的润滑剂,并对交际的成败起着至关重要的作用。     

试论关汉卿杂剧《哭存孝》的主题意蕴

《哭存孝》写了一个因小人陷害而导致英雄遇难的故事,作者揭示的,不仅仅是宵小弄权的现实黑暗,更是人际往来中内外亲疏的世俗成见,以及这种成见下人们的善恶因缘。追究剧本对人物心态的细摹,以及戏剧结构的特殊处理,都可以发现作者的这种深意。