Testing the rhetoric of China's soft power campaign: a case analysis of its strategic ambiguity in the Six Party Talks over North Korea's nuclear program

China's soft power campaign has spawned many scholarly studies on it, but few have examined its rhetorical aspect. Through keyword analysis, this research examines strategic ambiguity in China's public affairs rhetoric surrounding the Six Party Talks over North Korea's nuclear program. The two keywords, ‘the Six Party Talks’ and ‘da ju’ (big picture, overall view), are semantically open and central to China's rhetoric in defining ‘What is it?’ and ‘Why is it?’ with regard to the talks. Analysis shows that strategic ambiguity contributed to some of China's goals. However, it was not adjusted when it stopped working. Its effectiveness was undercut by certain inconsistent messages, and da ju failed to differentiate between domestic and international political context and was also culturally maladaptive. This research contributes to public diplomacy and public affairs rhetoric research.     

White or tan? A cross-cultural analysis of skin beauty advertisements between China and the United States

Femininity and beauty ideals are historically and culturally constructed. The current study examines the role of advertising in cultivating and accentuating cultural ideals of skin beauty. A content analysis was conducted on skin beauty advertisements (SBAs) in women's magazines (local editions Cosmopolitan and Vogue) from China and the USA. The findings provide evidence for the ‘white or tan’ dichotomy in skin beauty ideals between contemporary Eastern and Western cultures as how they are reflected and reproduced in SBAs, although the ‘tan ideal’ in the US was not as apparent as the ‘white ideal’ in China. The study also sheds light on the divergence and similarity in global advertising strategies (level of localization and standardization in execution elements) within the two markets. Implications for the globalization of beauty ideals and marketing practices are discussed.     

Smart cities & citizen discontent: A systematic review of the literature

Governments across the world are experimenting with smart city technologies but recent studies suggest that not all citizens support this development. However, a comprehensive understanding of citizen discontent with the smart city is missing. This study systematically reviews academic research addressing citizen discontent with the smart city. Based on a set of 58 articles, two perspectives on citizens' discontent are identified. One perspective focuses on active discontent: citizens are dissatisfied with the technology, democratic process, and societal impact of the smart city and show different types of behavior to express their discontentment. The other perspective emphasizes passive discontent: citizen discontent does not manifest itself due to citizens' lack of awareness and skills and the absence of channels to express their discontentment. Both perspectives on discontent suggest different government responses respectively to overcome citizen discontent through ‘the right technologies’, ‘the right rules’, and ‘the right information’, or to stimulate critical citizenship through ‘the right to smart city education and empowerment’ and the ‘right to participate and challenge’. Based on our findings, a fine-grained understanding of attitudes and behavior, and government actions to address citizen discontent is developed.     

‘No hugging please,we are Muslims’: Akademi Fantasia,Malay television audiences and the negotiation of global popular cultural forms

This paper analyses the audience reception of the Malaysian reality television programme Akademi Fantasia (AF), which first aired in 2003 and completed its ninth season in 2011. AF has been an influential pioneer in the national television industry, inaugurating the trend of local reality shows and weathering intense competition from similar shows to remain at the top of the ratings chart over the last decade. Based on the Mexican talent search show, La Academia, Malaysia's AF is a unique hybrid blend of an Idol-style talent contest and Big Brother observational spectacle. The article draws on primary audience research to investigate the ways in which Malay audiences interpret the potentially incommensurable cultural meanings generated within the context of a localised version of a global television format. Chua's concept of ‘identification and distancing’ is employed as a framework to analyse the complex ways in which perceived Malay ‘cultural norms’ assume primacy as interpretative lenses for audience evaluations of the show and measures of its local difference from similar global cultural products. The research also reveals how these cultural norms are themselves being negotiated by the audience as part of the everyday experience of inhabiting coexisting local and global popular cultural spaces. The analysis focuses on audience understandings and pleasure in the programme in relation to fashion and taste; the behaviour of the official judges; voyeurism and conflict in ‘backstage’ coverage; and emotional intimacy onstage in the public performance component of the programme.     

Do conservators dream of electric sheep? Replicas and replication

The paper crosses the boundaries between different genres, drawing on key material and emphasising the philosophical challenges around decision-making and values in relation to replication and replicas. In 1968, Philip K. Dick wrote the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which became the inspiration for the 1982 film Bladerunner. The book is set in Los Angeles in a post-apocalyptic future where mankind has left Earth, resulting in androids being created to develop new ‘off-world’ colonies. The book and film create a novel and interesting framework to discuss the subject of replicas and replication within contemporary conservation practice. Key themes are decay promoting replication, original versus replica, creating empathy in replication. The debate focuses on the case study of Naum Gabo's Construction in Space (Crystal) of 1937–39; which was the sculpture replicated in the most recent replication project at Tate, completed in July 2015.     

TheScientificWorldJOURNAL: sustainability through innovation

How can a new publisher and new publication survive in today's climate, where ‘Big Deal’ bundling arrangements and cuts in library budgets are squeezing out smaller publishers and publications? That is a key question for TheScientificWorldJOURNAL. The Journal's innovative editorial approaches together with a new business model combine to present part of the answer, and enable a new journal to make a significant difference.     

HAROLD D. LASSWELL'S ANALYSIS OF HITLER'S SPEECHES

The War-Time Communications Project (WTCP), conducted during the Second World War, was a major event in the evolution of communication science. A prominent place in it was occupied by Professor Harold D. Lasswell's study on Hitler's speeches, in which the ‘speech model’ was examined in reference to its vocal components and non-verbal communication elements – in terms of ‘how spoken’, rather than of ‘what said’, with an emphasis on audience feedback. This approach formed part of Lasswell's innovative idea: quantification of the word domain. The study was of one of a series of content analysis research works undertaken at the Library of Congress at that time, part of an attempt at ‘keeping an eye’ on world peace. The present article, the first exposition of Lasswell's opus, highlights one of his central concepts – linguistic transformation.     

Refining a theory of cross-cultural adaptation: an exploration of a new methodological approach to institutional completeness

The current study explored a whole-network approach to measure the impact of institutional completeness at an individual-level with regards to [Kim, Y. (2001). Becoming intercultural: An integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.] a theoretical model of cross-cultural adaptation. A new construct of ‘ethnic entrainment’ was proposed as a way to bridge the different levels of theoretical constructs in the model. The analytical challenge of verifying the influence of institutional completeness (a group-level construct in the model) on individuals’ communication patterns was partially overcome in this study by measuring the degree of one's structural embeddedness in various ethnic community networks (i.e. information, emotional support, and tangible help exchange networks). A community member survey (N?=?172) was utilized to construct social networks of a Korean immigrant community. The research tested hypotheses generated from Kim's theorems on the relationships between ethnic group strength and host/ethnic interpersonal/mass communication. Three out of five hypotheses were supported through hierarchical regression analyses.     

Vedic metal and e-mediated space: a perspective from Singapore

This paper explores the local and transnational social linkages engendered among communities of practice from the production of cyberspace in the musical practice of a notable Singapore-based Extreme Metal group Rudra which they call Vedic metal. The significance of space in lived and living experiences of contemporary communities of practice is encapsulated in Lefebvre's writings, notably his triad of spatial concerns: spatial practice, representations of space and representational space. In the present context of Rudra, phenomena and practice of space via musical behaviour cannot avoid terms of reference such as technique and technology, particularly with the Internet as new mediated space. Technique, as skill acquisition of ‘instrumental techniques’, in conventions of practice and standards of excellence emerges as disciplined behaviour. But these techniques serve more as a/venues by which voices are en/abled towards what may be considered expressive ‘know-how’. From the case study of Rudra's cultural productions, therefore technology as ‘know-how’ cannot be understood merely as a function of musical and instrumental technique, but also as a function of the human capacity in intentional material action. Both practice-as-technique and practice-as-technology suggest that intentional materiality is amenable to observation and replicable elsewhere. Re/productivity of living space is therefore contingent upon other spaces of connectivity, albeit with varying degrees of strength contributing to their myriad activities.     

Preliminary tests for mechanical properties of wooden ‘buttons’ used for attaching auxiliary supports behind panel paintings

Abstract

When wooden supports of panel paintings have been severely altered or damaged and the original cross beams are missing, new cross beams or other types of auxiliary supports are connected to the panel's back-face in order to achieve desired effects including panel strengthening and control of deformations. Some conservation laboratories use small wooden blocks, each glued on the back face of the panel and holding freely the head of a screw connected (often by means of springs) to the auxiliary support; such blocks being called in Italian ‘piedini’ or ‘bottoni’, the English term ‘buttons’ is proposed here. This paper reports research aiming to characterize the mechanical behavior of three types of ‘buttons’ having different geometries and made of various wood types (oak, walnut, lime, beech, and a medium density fiberboard). Short-term mechanical tests (～1 minute duration) were performed with a universal testing machine by axially pulling out the 4 mm diameter steel screw from the button, glued onto a dummy board. Load and deformation were recorded, and the load–deformation curves were analyzed. The results show that the deformability and the load-carrying capacity of the buttons were influenced primarily by the manufacturing geometry and secondarily by the wood density.     

Why do authors publish in predatory journals?

This study examines the reasons why authors publish in ‘predatory’ OA journals. In total, 50 journals were randomly selected from Beall's list of ‘predatory’ journals. Different methods, including WHOIS tracking, were utilized to query basic information about the selected journals, including location and registrant. Then, 300 articles were randomly selected from within selected journals in various scientific fields. Authors of the selected articles were contacted and sent survey questions to complete. A grounded theory qualitative methods approach was used for data collection and analysis. The results demonstrated that most of these journals were located in the developing world, usually Asia or Africa, even when they claimed they were in the USA or UK. Furthermore, four themes emerged after authors’ survey responses were coded, categorized, and sub‐categorized. The themes were: social identity threat, unawareness, high pressure, and lack of research proficiency. Scholars in the developing world felt that reputable Western journals might be prejudiced against them and sometimes felt more comfortable publishing in journals from the developing world. Other scholars were unaware of the reputation of the journals in which they published and would not have selected them had they known. However, some scholars said they would still have published in the same journals if their institution recognised them. The pressure to ‘publish or perish’ was another factor influencing many scholars’ decisions to publish in these fast‐turnaround journals. In some cases, researchers did not have adequate guidance and felt they lacked the knowledge of research to submit to a more reputable journal. More needs to be done by institutions and reputable journals to make researchers aware of the problem of ‘predatory’ journals.     

The forced choice as a measure of television station image

That intangible attribute of a broadcast station commonly called its “image” isn't quite as hard to measure as that other intangible asset, “good will.” Nevertheless, measurement isn't simple, and the standards for measurement are not yet agreed upon. In the following article, a new technique of indexing a station's image without special training and supervision of the respondents is illustrated. Malachi C. Topping, author of “The Cultural Orientation of Certain ‘Western’ Characters on Television” in the Fall, 1965 issue of the Journal, earned his Ph.D. at Ohio State University and is Assistant Professor of Radio and Television at Oklahoma State University.     

From ‘poison’ to ‘seeder’: the gap between propaganda and xuanchuan is cultural*

Propaganda has been perceived as ‘poison’ in the field of communication study. Xuanchuan, propaganda’s counterpart in China with a master metaphor of ‘seeder,’ however, has different histories and traditions that do not fit into the ideology-charged theoretical framework. Drawing upon Chinese thought and scholarship on xuanchuan/propaganda, the author demonstrates a deep conceptual and perceptual gap, rooted in culture, between propaganda and xuanchuan. Revelation of the gap is of paramount importance for studying China’s propaganda, both theoretically and empirically.     

Heshang (River Elegy) a television orchestration of a new ideology in China

This paper analyses the extensive reactions and intensive discussions generated by Heshang, a six‐part documentary series aired in June 1988 in China. The documentary, advocating a ‘full‐scale adoption of Western ideas’, and ‘total abandoning of Chinese traditional culture’, stirred up party leaders' displeasure.

Furthermore, the paper also analyses the presentation rationale and strategy (such as use of symbols, emotional appeal, etc.) used in Heshang. The analysis suggests that the programme producers' experiment of conveying complex social, cultural and historical contents in a documentary format is successful and innovative. Additionally, Heshang has enormous implications for contemporary Chinese politics, in particular the use of television as a public forum on controversial issues. As such, this paper enhances our understanding of the role and impact of the mass media in China.     

Homonationalism and Western progressive narrative: locating ‘conservative heartlands’ with Zenne Dancer (2012) and its Western reviews

In this paper, we analyze the Turkish film Zenne Dancer (2012), which is largely based on what has been called a first gay honor killing in Turkey. We employ a framing analysis to both the film's content and its Western reviews to compare how different media texts frame the murder. The results indicate that while both the film and the reviews recognize tradition, understood here as native and archaic values as well as Islamic religion, as a key factor behind the murder, they locate this tradition quite differently: the film relegates it to the eastern Turkey, and thus implicitly to Kurds, while the reviews tend to extend it to the entire country or even the whole Middle East. We relate these results to the Western progressive narrative that positions the West as a civic and moral ideal that could be achieved by others over time. In particular, we employ Puar's concept of homonationalism to show how different media texts challenge or exploit the Western imperative to ‘come out’ and what effects it has for the East–West juxtapositions.     

Same Questions,Different Venue

Abstract

This study applied traditional categories used for classifying questions presented at reference desks to online reference services. Questions presented at Penn State's subject libraries were classified as ‘Where Is,’ ‘Troubleshooting,’ ‘Policy and Service,’ and ‘Reference.’ Definitions and examples were provided to the librarians and staff covering thirteen reference desks. These categories were then applied to Penn State's e-mail and chat reference transactions for the Fall 2002 semester. Although the types of questions were similar across the three services, there were differences in the proportion of questions by categories. This suggests that services have similar, yet distinct, functions and that the type of questions submitted differ between in-person and online and also between e-mail and chat.     

The bookstore war on Orchard Road: a study of contemporary sponsors of literacy and ideologies of globalized book retailing in Singapore

Based on a year's worth of fieldwork in Singapore, this article is a case study of the much-publicized ‘bookstore war on Orchard Road’ that pitted Borders' American ‘loosey-goosey’ model of bookselling against Kinokuniya's ‘serious’ Japanese model. It examines the distinctive role that country-of-origin effects play in the cultural practices and perceptions of these two global sponsors of literacy, which have in recent decades rivaled traditional sponsors of literacy such as libraries in guiding individuals on ‘what, when and how’ to read. An analysis of the Orchard Road bookstore war captures some of the competing ideologies of textual practices circulating in Singapore as cosmopolitan print consumers and their professional counterparts express their acceptance and/or rejection of particular bookselling practices. For the professionals, good bookselling involves the promotion of local print cultures. In contrast, the cosmopolitan consumers seldom mentioned this criterion. In fact, many of them were drawn to the ‘globality’ of transnational booksellers. While print professionals clearly favored Kinokuniya's globalization localization practices over Borders, a clear-cut preference did not emerge among cosmopolitan consumers. This study suggests that country-of-origin effects likely informed the way in which print professionals and cosmopolitan consumers perceived Borders and Kinokuniya and the globalization localization strategies of these global sponsors of literacy.     

Unpublishable research: examining and organizing the ‘file drawer’

It is well known that a number of research outcomes are not reported (the so‐called ‘file drawer problem’). It is generally assumed that what is not reported are ‘negative results’. Our study approaches the issue from a new angle by exploring what researchers perceive to be ‘unpublishable’. A survey regarding ‘unpublishables’ was sent out to 2,535 faculty members at Indiana University. Forty of these individuals consented to in‐depth interviews, which more fully explored these academics' views on the issue of unpublishable work. Our results indicate that there are several types of research besides negative results that are perceived to be unpublishable yet worthy of publication. Moreover, there is a great diversity within and across disciplines as to what constitutes ‘unpublishable’ research. Respondents indicated that academic discourse would benefit from the formal dissemination of papers that included inconclusive or null results, as well as replication and refutation studies. The results of our study suggest that there is a perceived gap in scholarly communication, which is to the detriment of science. These results can be used by administrators, educators, and publishers in order to refine scholarly communication practices so as to create a more robust, accurate literature and to inform future generations of researchers.