Literature, Cultural and Media Studies

Tracing the cultural interactions between South and Southeast Asia since prehistoric times, the book critically scrutinizes the current cultural diplomacy initiatives of India´s Look-Act East Policy. Reminding the need to look at culture as a two-way process and the need to re-define the understanding of culture in its Space Age setting, the author emphasizes on India realising its unique multicultural potentiality to broaden the outlook and parameters of cultural diplomacy to suit the unfolding World Order in the region. The nature and composition of the demography of Southeast Asia and its Indian diaspora calls for a balanced approach in covering the land and maritime sectors, the book further observes. Adopting a peoples-centric approach, the author argues for cultural interactions to go beyond the union government and its agencies and advocates for the role of state governments, non-governmental actors, and other community initiatives as well. 

Professor Drew’s latest work makes the case that even great public policy needs to be deliberately and strategically sold in order for it to ultimately be considered a success. However, it seems that most people charged with the task of selling public policy simply do not have the requisite skills to do so.

Selling public policy is an art that draws on disparate strands of scholarship spanning the political sciences, economics, sociology, ethics and the classics. To perform the art of selling public policy one must first master the lessons from the greats in the field. Following this, it is necessary to learn how to apply the knowledge to real-world complex scenarios in such a way that the policy is indeed sold and stays sold over the implied returns period.

This book is unique in the corpus of scholarly literature because it provides both the knowledge and real-world case studies required for students, scholars, and policy practitioners to master the art of selling public policy.

This edited book is an innovative collection of studies—pioneering scholarship systematically exploring the various features of debasement language used by political leaders in their speeches, statements, and remarks during parliamentary and other official as well as unofficial, private activities. The book examines in particular the forms, functions, and effects of political debasement in Western and non-Western countries, including Spain, Malaysia, the UK, Japan, China, India, Montenegro, Greece, Poland, and Israel. It addresses the growing interest in recent years in issues related to the increase of debasement in the public sphere. These include high-echelon politicians’ invective and vulgarity toward their colleagues in houses of parliament; their abusive and cynical language toward sections of the public, including women and minorities; and their crude sarcasm and irony expressed toward media representatives. The book focuses on those instances where political leaders at the very highest-level employ debasement discourse; it identifies the specific language they use in different political cultures and under different situations; the reasons for using this type of language; and its consequences. The book brings together a team of distinguished political scientists, communication and linguistics researchers, and social and political psychologists, with expert backgrounds and experience in understanding the reciprocal interaction between language and politics, in this case: debasement. They discuss and provide a number of novel insights of theoretical and practical importance regarding debasing discourse, as well as potential avenues for future research on the nature and effect of this type of language.

This book highlights how horror in film and television creates platforms to address distinct areas of modern-day concern. In examining the prevalence of dark tropes in contemporary horror films such as Get Out, Annabelle: Creation, A Quiet Place, Hereditary and The Nun, as well as series such as Stranger Things, American Horror Story and Game of Thrones, amongst numerous others, the authors contend that we are witnessing the emergence of a ‘horror renaissance’. They posit that horror films or programmes, once widely considered to be a low form of popular culture entertainment, can contain deeper meanings or subtext and are increasingly covering serious subject matter. This book thus explores how horror is utilised as a tool to explore social and political anxieties of the cultural moment and is thus presented as a site for contestation, exploration and expansion to discuss present-day fears. It demonstrates how contemporary horror reflects the horror of modern-day life, be it political, biological, social or environmental. A vital contribution to studies of the horror genre in contemporary culture, and the effect it has on social anxieties in a threatening and seemingly apocalyptic time for the world, this is a vital text for students and researchers in popular culture, film, television and media studies.

The goal of this book is to show the role of TikTok as a tool for political purposes. To this end, the authors analyse the messages posted on this social medium by political figures and institutions such as politicians and political parties, their impact on political landscapes, as well as the transformation of political communication techniques in order to suit the platform’s features. 

In the last two years, the exponential growth of TikTok has led an increasing number of politicians and institutions to incorporate it into their communication strategies. The platform displays some very different features from other social media that determine the way in which the content is presented. In addition, it manages to reach an audience that normally does not access or share political messages.

Within this context, the volume pursues two main objectives. First, to examine how the communication techniques and the peculiarities of this social medium – where short videos with actors in informal attitudes prevail – affect the political message. A second objective is to analyse the influence of the messages distributed through TikTok that redefine political scenarios, and of the relationships of politicians and parties with voters. The core of the book comprises case studies that are organised into three parts, with nine chapters in all.

The authors are scholars and practitioners of political communication, with diverse geographical representation, who approach the topics from a range of methodological perspectives. The first part addresses the state of the art and the influence of TikTok features on the way political communication is performed. The second part discusses the influence of TikTok on electoral scenarios and political culture in India, Bangladesh, the United States, and Ecuador. Finally, in the third part, TikTok is analysed as an instrument for promoting far right politicians and parties in Europe, as in the case of MatteoSalvini in Italy, and AfD in Germany and Vox in Spain.

The volume is oriented to both scholars and communication professionals, such as journalists, communication consultants, and speechwriters, who want to become familiar with the platform, learn about its political impact, or wish to deepen their understanding of transformations in communication techniques and their adaptation to this growing social medium.

Chapter 2 “The Moving Body as the Articulator, Meme and Affective Link in Political Communication on TikTok” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Do Chinese and English speakers think differently? While the strong version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis — the idea that language determines thought — has long been discredited, this book offers a more nuanced perspective on whether linguistic differences between Chinese and English influence how native speakers perceive the world. Bringing together a multidisciplinary collection of papers from fields such as philosophy, translation studies, language acquisition, and psycholinguistics, this volume explores the complex interplay between language and thought in these two languages. It will serve as a valuable reference for sinologists, linguists, and scholars of Asian studies alike.