FCH - Teses de Doutoramento / Doctoral Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
- On the borderlands of culture : Israeli migrants beyond the TejoPublication . Iancu, Zohar; Gil, Isabel Maria de Oliveira Capeloa; Barkay, TamarAt the heart of this dissertation is the phenomenon of Israeli-Jewish citizens migrating to Europe, specifically to rural Portugal. This migration trend has gained increasing visibility in Israeli media in recent years. Numerous articles and news reports are dedicated to the emigration of Israeli-Jewish citizens from the nation-state. Within this context, migration to Portugal has often been portrayed as "the new dream" for Israelis. Against this backdrop, this study focuses on migration to the region of south-western Alentejo, Portugal. This area has become a popular destination for those seeking alternative lifestyles, including Israelis. The trend suggests that migration to Alentejo is influenced by and reflective of cultural and socio-economic trends at the Israeli, global, and local levels. To achieve a multi-dimensional and nuanced comprehension of the phenomenon at hand, the research is analytically grounded in cultural and sociological theorizations of migration and diaspora, particularly in the context of contemporary Israeli society. Concretely, the study juxtaposes considerations from culture, border, and diaspora studies, utilizes the notion of symbolic boundaries, and builds on research on in- and out-migration within Israel, and global trends of counterurbanization. This body of research and scholarship allows for the exploration of the thesis that phenomenon of the “borderlands” of Israeli cultural identity can challenge both the collective boundaries and the internal divisions within Israeli culture. Essentially, Israeli emigration to Portugal represents a territorial border crossing. However, this dissertation suggests that contextualizing this border crossing within a broader perspective contributes to our understanding of how physical and symbolic boundaries work together to shape mental, physical, and social human existence. To thoroughly explore the subjective experiences and perceptions of Jewish-Israelis in Alentejo, Portugal, the study employed an interdisciplinary qualitative approach. Data was collected over three years, from August 2021 to May 2023, using multiple research methods, including participant observations of holiday ceremonies, gatherings, and cultural events; 21 in-depth interviews with JewishIsraeli citizens residing in Alentejo, and a focus group of Jewish-Israeli women. The visual research method known as “photovoice” was utilized to document the daily lives of the women in the focus group. The research shows that while initially aiming to distance themselves from Israeli culture and other Israelis while pursuing cosmopolitan, alternative lifestyles, the participants in the fieldwork maintain close and intricate connections with their culture of origin, often forging meaningful social relationships with other Israelis in the region. Based on this finding, the study suggests that the participants operate within a “cultural borderland”—a liminal and hybrid space that draws on Israeli cultural practices while at the same time challenging conventional Israeli-Jewish collective identity. Overall, the dissertation suggests that the case study of the Israeli diasporic space in Alentejo illuminates how ex-Israeli communities are constructed and reimagined beyond Israeli national and cultural borders. In doing so, this dissertation aims to amplify voices that are often excluded from discourses on Israeli migration. The study’s empirical and analytical contributions enrich the literature on diasporas, particularly in the emerging field of modern Israeli diasporas, as well as in research on current migration patterns to rural Portugal, academic inquiry into the nexus of culture and borders, and the study of Israeli society and culture.
- The representation of homosexual cowboys in hollywood westerns, 1946-1972Publication . Ni, Bing; Burnay, Catarina do Amaral Dias Duff; Baptista, Tiago Ribeiro RamosThe presence of homosexual cowboy is inextricably linked to the narrative of the American West set on the frontier. This connection has been consistently corroborated: in historical accounts, frequent and abundant homosexual male behavior, relationships, and even family patterns became an integral part of the Western movement; in literature, homosexual stories and complexes with cowboys as protagonists exist either as main narratives or as hidden plots; in life, a large number of homosexual cowboys have dominated the once heterosexual male-dominated rodeo scene. However, in the world of Westerns, homosexual men and cowboys seem to be forced to exist in the zone between the closet and the world. "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), "The Power of the Dog" (2021), and even Pedro Almodóvar's short film "Strange Way of Life" (2023) all present the theme of homosexual cowboys on the big screen through different genres. Most of these films have been met with great controversy. The controversy, destined to become a topic, centered on whether homosexual cowboys were allowed to exist in the frontier narrative. Therefore, we need to ask: What if homosexual cowboys in Western films were not "invented" in the 21st century? What if they were hidden in the closet of film due to censorship and other factors? This study will focus on the depiction of homosexual content in Westerns from the 1950s to the 1970s and argue that homosexual cowboys exist in these movies and their portrayal is not merely a two-dimensional reference but a fully developed representation. This study will use quantitative methods to conduct a content analysis of selected films. It aims to explore the representation of the homosexual cowboy figure in both traditional Westerns and post-Westerns by examining recurring themes such as masculinity, violence, eroticism, and intimacy across different time periods, thereby establishing the significance of their presence in Western films.
- Poverty and precarity in post-2008 Europe : visual practices and processes of social (in)visibilityPublication . Juvonen, Annimari Elisa; Gil, Isabel Maria de Oliveira CapeloaThis study focuses on the visual construction of contemporary poverty and precarity within the discursive space of the post-2008 economic and debt crises in Europe. As the understanding of poverty has shifted from material deprivation to a more complex and relative phenomenon, the traditional idea of poverty as social invisibility no longer reflects the contemporary social condition. Instead, a more holistic view of the field of (in)visibility allows for a more nuanced approach. The historically informed analysis focuses on three European collective artistic projects, Depression Era (Greece), Crónica21 (Spain), and Projecto Troika (Portugal). The framework for the discussion is the social documentary tradition that began in the urban peripheries of modernizing cities and crystallized in the Farm Security Administration photography project (1937–1946) that existed during the American Great Depression in the 1930s. The analysis addresses historical continuities and disruptions in the visual construction of the social world, highlighting patterns of othering that derive from colonial and anthropological practices of looking, problematized by the postmodern critique in the 1970s and 1980s. This study argues that there has occurred a zooming out from the human body toward alternative expressions of social experience, such as “social landscapes” that merely connote human presence and draw connections with other, present or looming, catastrophes from a critical perspective. However, the research also shows how the importance of the human subject continues to be relevant in discourses of social justice. In this perspective, Depression Era, Crónica21, and Projecto Troika are discussed through their collective visual practices, from digital archives and exhibition practices to photobooks, as platforms and networks with civil society. In this context, the analysis contributes to an understanding of how images of poverty have shaped social imaginaries and have a central role in the negotiations of social relationality and communality in changing societies.
- A dialogue on shock and culture: the queer case of BeirutPublication . Khairallah, Jad; Barba, Maria Luísa Homem Leal de Faria GeraldesThe aim of this dissertation is to locate the concept of shock within a political economy formation that responds to the queer situation of the city of Beirut. Moving away from shock as trauma, I redefine the notion as an investigative tool and lens, transcending a reactionary feeling. Shock, in this context, is understood as a phenomenological and embodied experience that is temporal, affective and relational, one that communicates within a triangulation of triggers, players and culture. Instead of pursuing reasons and causes, the thesis explores shock operations, focusing on how it exists, it maneuvers, and is applied. The dialogue between shock and culture establishes a methodological foundation within Lebanon, specifically emphasizing queerness in Beirut. In a setting where regional disconnects, colonial histories and pseudo religious socio-political powers intersect normativity with continuous instabilities, the research investigates the shock’s affective valence and queer future within its cityscape. I contextualize shock by means of analytical engagements that are informed by culture studies as an essential component for understanding the site and development of a culture that assimilates with shock as it moves along through societies, community dynamics and power structures. I underscore queer theoretical approaches that hone in on the relational figure of ‘the shocking other,’ to reveal the intricate negotiation of implied normativity, difference, and otherness within broader social, economic and political systems. I explore the shock’s navigation in both the digital and material landscapes of Beirut by means of LGBT subjectivities. Through field visits to the city, auto-ethnography, and an analysis of the October 17th protest ground in 2019, I account for embodied shock experiences that document shock traces. Additionally, I integrate conceptual, practical, and lived applications that encourage a reflexive approach, especially when recalling the August 4th Beirut port explosion in 2020. By dwelling on the shock’s destructive path, both literally and metaphorically, the thesis identifies shock as a political tool, particularly advantageous for the queer body. It highlights the economy of shock within discussions of temporalities, emphasizing affective exchanges with established cultural concepts. Furthermore, it serves as a hopeful opening carrying potentiality in its aftermath. This dynamic interplay between shock and culture offers a fresh investigative lens into the evolving human outlook amid unexpected escalations and an abundance of shocks from within the contemporary experience.
- Online activism : social media and socio-political activism by young women in Saudi ArabiaPublication . Yousef, Rola Khalid Ahmad; Ribeiro, Nelson CostaIn most democratic countries around the world, ordinary citizens in general and young women in particular have access to different avenues to participate and demand social and political changes and rights. However, in Saudi Arabia, access to and participation in social and political activism were and are still highly limited and restricted, especially for women. Therefore, the emergence of "online activism", which was aided and facilitated by new communication technologies and social media platforms, offered Saudi women enormous potential for democratic exchange, to pressurize state institutions, foster political participation, and foster social change. In this regard, young Saudi women are establishing their own virtual communities and advocacy campaigns in the online sphere in order to fight for their political and social rights and the right to participate, as we witnessed in the Twitter campaign against the male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia. In line with the volatile political and social situations and the authoritative environment in Saudi Arabia and based on 3500 tweets and six semi-structured interviews, this thesis explores young Saudi women's participation, activism, and usage of social media platforms to demand political and social change. In particular, it investigates the context of Saudi Arabia and its effect on Saudi women's online engagement and activism on social and political issues and the rise of the phenomenon of Saudi online feminism. This research shows that social media platforms were a potential tool for women's activism and played an unprecedented role in paving the way for Saudi young women's participation in socio-political issues in general and activism against the male guardianship system in particular despite the several obstacles that had to be dealt with within the country9s authoritarian context. The anti-male guardianship campaign's internet observation revealed that there was no set model of communication that was adhered to. The communication was informal and approachable, but because every participant made their own posts independently, it was challenging to standardize the messaging. However, the message is intended to reach men, women, and society at large, as well as political and religious organizations. Finally, this study demonstrates that Twitter, in particular, and social media in general were particularly useful tools for women living in challenging social, political, and economic contexts. By addressing the obstacles and constraints that feminism movements face and exposing the limitations and repression that the Saudi government and the general public impose on internet activism in general and women's activism in particular, this study also sheds light on another crucial fact that contradicts the first.
- A solid mass of humanity, all on velvet : humour, comedy and life in P. G. Wodehous's Jeeves sagaPublication . Simões, Hugo Miguel de Almeida Sousa; Lopes, Maria Alexandra AmbrósioIn this thesis I argue that P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves saga is deeply embedded in a comedic tradition that uses humour in order to assuage the distress caused by a fundamental incongruity in human life: the difference between our desires of perfection and unity and what is often a stark reality. By adopting a perspective in line with Frye (1973), Goodman (1978) and Iser’s (1990) views on the relation between literature and life, I argue that a contextualised reading of the Jeeves saga is valuable, but only insofar as it provides a reading that, in line with Brooks (1994), prioritises its poetics and how it ultimately engenders meaning. I thus begin with a contextual analysis that is solely focused on establishing the mimetic aspects and sources of Wodehouse’s style, proceed to an analysis of humour and comedy, and then perform a close-reading of a representative selection of his stories and novels that bears out my argument. Ultimately, I argue that the Jeeves saga adopts a comic perspective on life, creating the good cheer and detachment that allows temporary respite from existential suffering and the pressures of convention, and thus an ability to derive greater pleasure from life, one which in no way consigns its readers to nihilistic complacency.
- Para uma cultura visual do farol : uma abordagem semiótica a partir do bilhete-postal ilustradoPublication . Costa, Maria Teresa da Conceição; Gil, Isabel Maria de Oliveira CapeloaPara uma Cultura Visual do Farol: uma Abordagem Semiótica a partir do Bilhete-postal Ilustrado analisa um corpus selecionado de postais ilustrados, do século XX, com representações fotográficas de faróis da costa continental portuguesa. Desde a sua introdução em finais do século XIX e ao longo do século XX, o bilhete-postal ilustrado foi um meio de comunicação amplamente utilizado, correspondendo o seu apogeu ao primeiro quartel do último século. Com efeito, o bilhete-postal promoveu a circulação de uma ampla variedade de imagens fotográficas. Porque as imagens que transportou – e ainda transporta – merecem um olhar crítico, nas últimas décadas, veio a originar produção científica prolífica que contribuiu para a sua valorização enquanto objeto cultural complexo. Por isso, o bilhete-postal prefigura-se como um meio adequado para a análise daquele que é o protagonista visual das imagens fotográficas deste estudo: o farol. Por seu lado, os faróis são marcas marítimas imprescindíveis de auxílio à navegação que traçaram um longo trajeto histórico-evolutivo. São edifícios semióticos na medida em que emitem um sinal visual que anuncia uma mensagem simples: “zona de perigo” e “estais aqui” (segurança e geoposicionamento). Os próprios edifícios, pelas respetivas configurações físicas únicas, são sinais e a sua fisionomia surge registada nas cartas náuticas enquanto ponto de referência. Esta pesquisa questiona e investiga o modo como o bilhete-postal ilustrado constrói uma cultura visual do farol e, também, o modo como o farol tem impacto na construção de uma cultura visual. Para atender a estas perguntas, o estudo problematiza e demonstra as características intrínsecas do artefacto compósito bilhete-postal/farol. Ambos os objetos são analisados, nas suas singularidades individuais e no que têm em comum, enquanto meios de transmissão de mensagens, à luz de uma abordagem semiótica. Porque as imagens originais, reunidas em coleção, exibem edifícios da costa continental portuguesa, o estudo enquadra-se na realidade nacional. Como consequência disso, o estudo lança as bases para o entendimento da lógica político-administrativa e da analogia ontológica que fundamenta a fusão dos serviços de comunicações e alumiamento, efetuado pelo Estado, em Portugal, num período específico (1880-1892). O estudo revela, também, as circunstâncias que possibilitaram a união do bilhete-postal ao farol para cumprir o seu objetivo: o studium (Barthes, 2000) do corpus selecionado de bilhetes-postais com imagens fotográficas numa perspetiva denotativa, mas, também, numa perspetiva conotativa com o fito último de desvelar uma cultura visual do farol.
- O Youtube de beleza e moda em Portugal : práticas, discursos e perceçõesPublication . Coelho, Ana Margarida Castelo Baptista; Jorge, Ana Margarida Ferreira Rato; Soares, Fátima Patrícia Nunes da Encarnação Marques DiasNuma sociedade global que se rege por um sistema em rede, na qual os indivíduos são agregados em grupos de interesses comuns, desenvolve-se, nos meios digitais, um ecossistema tecnológico e económico com repercussões em várias esferas da vida social contemporânea. No contexto das indústrias culturais e criativas surge um arquétipo de trabalhador desejável, baseado em valores neoliberais e pós-fordistas, e destinado à maximização da produtividade das empresas: autónomo, flexível, autorresponsável e empreendedor. Com expressão a partir de finais do século XX, esta herança histórica e política vem aliar-se ao ambiente de plataformização digital que se consolidou nas primeiras décadas do século XXI, acentuando a promoção de uma lógica individualista, de que a atividade dos social media influencers é indicativa. Considerando o impacto desta nova morfologia social moldada pelos meios digitais, esta investigação centra-se no estudo da plataforma do YouTube e, especificamente, da sua comunidade de beleza e moda em Portugal. A pesquisa segue uma linha teórica baseada em estudos (pós-)feministas e de género aplicados aos media digitais, cultura de consumo e influência, economias de visibilidade, trabalho nas indústrias culturais e criativas, e representações de girlhood. A abordagem do caso português prende-se com a inexistência de um olhar académico aprofundado sobre este que, ainda que inserido num contexto de práticas global, é um mercado periférico e de pequenas dimensões, cujas características diferem invariavelmente dos seus pares internacionais, apontando para descobertas díspares, em larga escala, sobre o fenómeno. Numa incursão junto deste grupo social – constituído, maioritariamente, por mulheres jovens-adultas –, analisámos as práticas (Produção), os discursos (Conteúdo), e as perceções da comunidade (Audiência), explorando os conteúdos das criadoras digitais, bem como o posicionamento da camada mais significativa da sua audiência, entre os 18 e os 30 anos. No domínio da Produção, estudámos métricas analíticas; no do Conteúdo, 32 vídeos do YouTube; e no da Receção, o testemunho de 16 participantes distribuídas por cinco grupos de foco. O estudo revelou um paralelismo entre o universo dos influenciadores digitais e o imaginário das celebridades – sublinhando-se que, ao contrário das estrelas nascidas nos meios tradicionais, as influenciadoras conservam uma aura de proximidade e relatability crucial ao desenvolvimento da atividade. As criadoras partem de uma condição de anonimato, conquistando uma audiência fiel da qual procuram obter atenção e visibilidade, com vista a, posteriormente, se tornarem relevantes para o mercado, cativando o interesse de marcas que invistam na sua influência digital. Neste sentido, a investigação apresenta-nos também uma comunidade altamente estratega, em que imperam o self-branding ou discursos próprios do affective labour, e fortemente comodificada, na qual o consumo detém um papel fundamental. Enquanto as criadoras utilizam o comercialismo para subsistir na profissão, o seu público cria uma identificação com estas personalidades, encarando-as como um exemplo a seguir e aspirando construir um estilo de vida semelhante, ao qual se aproxima através de uma lógica de compra dos bens e produtos promovidos nas plataformas digitais. Deve assinalar-se também o caráter precário da atividade de criador de conteúdos digitais, sobretudo no setor específico da beleza e moda. Encontramo-nos na presença de uma comunidade padronizada e altamente genderizada, que, apesar de ser fruto do legado neoliberal, e não menosprezando o papel decisivo dessa herança histórico-política, adota comportamentos e discursos pós-feministas como modo de sobrevivência na atividade. Compelida a uma tripla adaptação que deve considerar os interesses da audiência; corresponder aos valores das marcas; e comportar-se de acordo com as preferências das plataformas, a comunidade é perpetuadora de valores normativos e patriarcais, alinhando-se com estruturas de poder que procuram conservar uma imagem feminina tradicionalista.
- O papel da comunicação interna como reforço do bem-estar nas organizações : o caso de estudo : metropolitano de LisboaPublication . Claro, Rute Alexandra Lopes; Brandão, Nuno Manuel Coelho de GoulartNum mundo cada vez mais global, digital e competitivo, as organizações precisam de se adaptar para subsistir. O foco deixou de ser apenas a maximização de lucros, passando agora pela otimização de processos e valorização das suas vantagens competitivas. Já os colaboradores estão cada vez mais informados, com expectativas mais elevadas sobre o seu futuro e sobre as organizações para as quais trabalham. A aplicação de práticas internas estratégicas com vista ao bem-estar dos colaboradores permite impactar positivamente a confiança, compromisso e identificação com a organização, aumentando a sua motivação e, por consequência, a sua produtividade. É neste contexto que se destaca a comunicação interna, que, quando aplicada de forma estratégica, permite a construção e o desenvolvimento de relacionamentos, promovendo um ambiente de crescimento e partilha, e cultivando nos colaboradores um sentimento de pertença e significado, o que se reflete diretamente no bem-estar organizacional. Nesta perspetiva, as dinâmicas comunicacionais e de bem-estar têm tido crescente importância nas organizações, mas também na academia. Considerando a importância de perceber tais dinâmicas, o objetivo desta investigação passou por perceber qual a influência da comunicação interna no reforço do bem-estar dos colaboradores de uma organização. Por se tratar do estudo de uma organização em particular, esta investigação tomou a forma de um caso de estudo. Esta investigação focou-se no contexto organizacional do Metropolitano de Lisboa, contando com a recolha de dados por intermédio de uma entrevista exploratória e da aplicação de um inquérito por questionário contruído tendo por base os modelos teóricos de Verčič et al. (2009) e Dessen e Paz (2010b). Este estudo permitiu auferir que a comunicação interna tem um impacto positivo no reforço do bem-estar, verificando-se que os colaboradores percecionam valores importantes de uma gestão humanizada e que valorizam a comunicação interna como área estratégica de reforço do bem-estar organizacional.
- English-language retellings of the Rāmāyaṇa and the ideas of India : culture and society (2010-2020)Publication . Oliveira, João Pedro Marques Morgado Ferreira de; Barba, Maria Luísa Homem Leal de Faria GerladesThe Rāmāyaṇa is one of the most important narrative traditions for the Indian civilisation. This story has been recreated through different media and across the broad social spectrum of India for centuries. In the 21st century, especially from the second decade onwards, several adaptations of the epic in English have appeared in the Indian literary market. The most successful authors have adopted unique approaches to the epic: Anand Neelakantan often adapts colonial, anticolonial, regional, and postcolonial discourses to invert the traditional roles of the main protagonists and antagonists; Devdutt Pattanaik recreates Indian mythology as a system with psychological value opposed to the Western and Hindu nationalist approaches, which the author regards as materialistic; Amish Tripathi recreates the epic as a nationalist narrative for a globalised audience used to the popular transnational epic fantasy genre; Kavita Kané tells the story of the epic from the perspective of less important female characters; and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni does the same, but from the perspective of the main female characters. Despite these differences, the most successful adaptations of the Rāmāyaṇa have followed two important discursive lines: male authors have tended to use the epic to create positive representations of the Indian civilisation and Hindu religion, often by explicitly or implicitly opposing them with foreign civilisations and religions, while female authors have tended to use the epic to create positive representations and models of Indian women. Structurally, both male and female authors have used the epic as a collective memory that encapsulates past virtues, which are regarded as containing the answer to current social problems. By adopting values that have become relevant in India since the anticolonial period and especially after the implementation of neoliberal reforms in 1991, which include greater global openness coupled with a fear of losing one’s native roots and the desire to decolonise contemporary Indian culture, these authors have become important spokespersons for contemporary India among middleclass, English-speaking Indian readers. In this dissertation, I use Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis based on qualitative data combined with the fields of Orientalism, re-Orientalism, postcolonialism and decoloniality to understand: 1. how the male authors have created a socio-historical worldview centred on Indian civilisation and Hindu religion, with both being simultaneously regarded as traditional and modern; 2. how the female authors have adopted a similar approach to create a new representation of Indian femininity, which is also regarded as traditional and modern. Although the authors promote a discourse according to which they have based their approaches on Indian perspectives, often explicitly contradicting Western discourses and creating socially holistic adaptations, they are actually authors who come from a privileged and Westernised social class. The protagonists of the epic have been recreated as ideal characters that embody positive global characteristics such as equality of choice, equality of opportunity, and social justice, here often reinterpreted as pre-colonial characteristics. With the exception of female characters, subaltern groups are often described with negative characteristics associated with non-Indian and non-Hindu ways of being and living in the world.