Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/10
Browse
8 results
Search Results
Item Restricted Navigating Margins and Mirrors: The Legacy of Shakespeare’s Caliban Across Comics, Film, and Digital Realms(The University of Sydney, 2024-11) Alsobaie, Sarah Saad; Semler, LiamThis dissertation examines the multifaceted legacy of Shakespeare's Caliban, tracing his evolution from a theatrical character to a complex icon in comics, film, and video games. Through a comprehensive analysis of Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope, the idea of Shakespeare User, and Foucault’s concept of Heterotopia. This study explores how Caliban’s portrayals across various media reflect and influence societal attitudes towards themes of marginalisation, discrimination, and identity. Each chapter dissects a different medium—Marvel Comics, the film Logan, and interactive digital games and gaming communities—revealing the nuanced ways in which Caliban's character challenges or reinforces cultural narratives about otherness and belonging. In Marvel Comics, Caliban’s visual and narrative depictions illustrate the ongoing struggles with inclusion and exclusion within American culture. The film Logan provides a more intimate look at Caliban's role, highlighting his journey towards self-autonomy and the impact of existential challenges marginalised individuals face. However, video games offer a new dimension where players directly influence Caliban’s representation, thereby actively contributing to the discourse on identity and alienation. This research contributes to academic discussions on the adaptation and persistence of literary figures in modern media. It suggests that the evolution of Caliban's character in popular culture mirrors contemporary societal issues and serves as a canvas for exploring deep-seated cultural dynamics. Through this exploration, the dissertation not only addresses the adaptability and resilience of Shakespearean characters in contemporary settings but also underscores the importance of narrative spaces in shaping and reshaping cultural identity and societal norms.19 0Item Restricted THE MOTIVATIONS OF AMERICAN PUBLIC ATTENTION TO THE MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR(University of Missouri-Columbia, 2024-07) Alamer, Yousef Fouad; Houston, BrianThe Russian-Ukraine war presents a significant event to understand the American public's attention to international crises that the US is not directly involved in them. Drawing on Use and Gratification Theory as a theoretical framework, I conducted a survey combined with an experimental condition to explore several internal and external motivations that influenced American public attention to the media coverage of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Data collected in an online survey of 453 college students revealed a positive direct influence of social interaction, political interest, and worry on their media consumption related to that war. In addition, partisanship and identification with Russia showed a negative influence on the attention given to the war news in Ukraine. However, personal connection, view on Russia, beliefs about democracy in Ukraine, and identification with Ukraine showed no relationship with media use related to the war. About the differences in the condition between the peer concern message and the peer non-concern message, participants who received the peer concern message about the implications of the Russian-Ukrainian war reported a higher level of worry and a desire for social interaction linked to the war. The analysis reveals that peer concern-inducing message influence the worry and social interaction associated with the implications of the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, this is not the case with their need to consume more media related to the war. Overall, this dissertation contributes to our understanding of the motivations behind media consumption during the Russo-Ukrainian war. Finally, we discuss some implications of our findings, the limitations of this research, and directions for future research.22 0Item Restricted “The Gift of Music”: Understanding Dedicating Music Practices Among University Students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia(University of Liverpool, 2023) Alshebel, Rahaf; Tarnovskaya, EkaterinaSharing files and links of music privately among Saudi students is a common and usual behavior in the current state of the digital age. However, the intentions of this exchange can vary. Musical gift-giving or dedicating music is a socially mediated practice where individuals send music links to others. This dissertation explores this practice within the complex context of Islam and the Saudi culture of university students in Riyadh. This research uses a mixed methodology to maneuver around the conservative culture and the possible sensitivity of the topic. Using a survey and conducting interviews, this dissertation found that university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, have polarized into three categories. First, those who intensely indulge in music gifting practices. Secondly, those who slightly care for dedicating music. Finally, those who never partake in the practice. However, This heterogeneous behavior does not reflect the students’ listening habits or religious views. Most students have acknowledged the Islamic ruling against music. The data also clearly shows that the students showed diversity in performing the practice. Some of them dedicate links to complete songs, clips of parts, or written texts of music and songs they like and enjoy. The music they gift is diverse in language (Arabic, English, Spanish, Korean) and genera (Khaliji, Egyptian or Levant, and Western music) and is mostly used in positive contexts or expressing complicated feelings with family, friends, and life partners.40 0Item Restricted Using cultural colloquial terms to position a brand in the minds of local consumers- a case study of Almarai's L’usine's brand positioning for the product 'cheese puff', using the term "Tasbeera" as a slogan and recurring advertising message(University of Leicester, 2023-11-16) Almuhaimid, Mazen; Smith, DavidBrand positioning strategies and their advertisements have become pivotal to today's business, brand management, marketing and advertising. The various brand positioning concepts scattered among pieces of literature of all the aforementioned need to be combined, and this study does this through a case study. In particular, it examines the extent to which the use of a cultural colloquial term to position a brand in the minds of local consumers facilitates communication of the brand's position to an audience, as well as investigating how such a term is applied in advertisements. The research objectives are to investigate the use of the term 'Tasbeera' in L'usine brand advertisements; to highlight and unpack the L’usine brand positioning strategy; and to provide an example of a brand positioning strategy that utilises a cultural colloquial term. This study seeks to do this through the case study of Almarai's brand positioning for the L’usine product 'cheese puff', using the term ‘Tasbeera’ as a slogan and recurring advertising message. Semiotics analysis is employed as the main methodology. After analysing four Instagram advertising posts and two YouTube advertising videos, the researcher concludes that the use of the term Tasbeera facilitates communication of L’usine's brand position to a high extent. Tasbeera is utilised in L’usine brand advertisements to communicate brand messages related to the brand position. This is done first through a great existence and presence that have the identifying nature of the term Tasbeera in the advertisements; second, pre-known contextual situations, narratives or myths are employed to convey the whole meaning in batches of smaller aspects or meanings; and third, the product or brand is linguistically referred to as Tasbeera in the advertising messaging. This is important to understand the effect of the use of colloquial terms generally in advertising and, particularly, in brand positioning advertising.49 0Item Restricted Evaluating the impact of Twitter as a news source on the Saudi public during the COVID-19(Brunel University, 2023-11-28) Aldahmash, Hind Hamad I; Han, SamIn the contemporary era of digital technology, Twitter has emerged as one of the foremost platforms utilised by individuals as a significant online source of information. This is mostly due to its ability to provide access to a wide range of ideas, news, and original content. Twitter predominantly attracts a user base that is primarily interested in news consumption, as the platform offers features such as headline links and media tools that facilitate users' access to content. The aim of the current research is to evaluate the impact of Twitter on the Saudi public as a source of news during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this research, interview method has been taken into account in which the interviews have been conducted with 10 Saudis people aged between 18 years and 60 years. The individuals included in the sample were selected via the Twitter platform, and their agreement to participate was obtained by sending them private messages via the Twitter site. From the findings, it has been found out that the utilisation of Twitter as a news source had a significant impact on the Saudi population during the Covid-19 pandemic. Twitter has been demonstrated to be a very informative platform and an effective news medium for the population of Saudi Arabia amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The majority of individuals in Saudi Arabia possessed Twitter accounts and actively engaged with the platform. During the Covid-19 pandemic, individuals residing in Saudi Arabia were provided with a comprehensive array of updates and information via the social media platform Twitter, encompassing both anticipated and unanticipated content.41 0Item Restricted Environmental Portraits of Saudi Women Entrepreneurs: A Digital Ethnography Study(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-11-28) Bajandouh, Abeer Hussain; Karatzogianni, Athina; Goodwin, JohnThis thesis investigates Saudi women’s experiences as social media entrepreneurs, within the context of the Saudi national reform plan, Saudi Vision 2030 (SV2030), which defines women as labour assets and aims to “empower” them in the workforce, by analysing how they navigate the external and internal structural opportunities and constraints during the implementation of SV2030. Research about the visual representation of Saudi women at work is very limited mostly due to socio-cultural factors that preclude it. This study seeks to address this by documenting Saudi women entrepreneurs' visual representation and by determining whether it hinders or enhances their entrepreneurial activity and, by extension, their socio-economic and political standing in Saudi society. The research develops an innovative integrated theoretical framework which explains the digital visual labour of Saudi women social media entrepreneurship. In terms of methodology, this is a qualitative case study using a mix of research techniques for triangulation purposes: digital visual ethnography with online participant observation (24 Instagram accounts), including semi-structured interviews of those same research participants with the scroll-back method online, and offline via photo-elicitation with nine research participants at their workplace, as well as eight expert online interviews. The resulting three data sets were analysed thematically using deductive, inductive, and co-analysis methods. The thesis finds that on the one hand, SV2030 results in governmental support for women entrepreneurs, through resources and regulations in the mixed workplace, to achieve the formal requirement of equality. On the other hand, and crucially, practices stemming from the patriarchal system do reproduce, and still cause a lack of human and social capital. Moreover, Instagram can be beneficial, only if women have equal access, skills, agency, and visibility. Therefore, time is required, before we shall witness substantial transformational change for women in Saudi society, but important first steps are currently being made.20 0Item Restricted Disney Thesis Media Studies(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-11-23) Algarni, Azzah; Kwame PhillipsUsing Disney as a case study, this thesis explores the significant effects of digital transformation within the television industry. This research searches into the complex dynamics of Disney's evolution through Internet by using a thorough analytical framework that includes content analysis, theme analysis, Hofstede's Cultural Framework, PESTLE analysis, SWOT analysis, and Porter's Five Forces Analysis. The study reveals how the internet has significantly changed consumer behavior and content distribution methods, turning watching television from a passive activity into an active and personalized activity. This thesis offers insight on the company's navigation of these shifting circumstances through an examination of Disney's strategic reactions to these shifts, such as its strategic acquisitions and innovative streaming services. This study offers insights helpful to media companies coping with the problems of the digital era in addition to helping us understand how the television business has adapted to digital changes.25 0Item Restricted Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia: A Conflict of Laws, Custom and Policy Reforms(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-10-25) Barnawi, Samiyah; Batlan, Felice; Walters, AdrianIn the contexts of Saudi Vision 2030 introduced in 2016 as well as moderate Islamic policy reforms introduced in 2017, issues of women empowerment through education and employment occurred in various domains, including health, sport, law, media, economics, politics, and oil and gas sectors, to name just a few. In this climate, there are still no studies that engage with how Saudi women’s rights have been understood, advocated, enacted, contested, justified and even protected from being challenged. This nascent study frames and examines the intersectionality between Saudi women’s rights, Islamic law and customary law in the context of those recent policy reforms. It explores the following research questions: (a) how Saudi women’s rights are defined, practiced and justified in the context of moderate Islamic policy reforms?, (b) what do the stories of Saudi women reveal about their lived experiences in the context of moderate Islamic reforms?, (c) what challenges do Saudi women encounter related to their rights?, (d) what strategies do Saudi women use to negotiate emerging challenges?, and (f) how do the findings of this study help improve women’s law in Saudi Arabia today? The data of this phenomenological qualitative study emerge from two sources: autobiographical narratives and semi-structured interviews with 15 Saudi females with different social-economic backgrounds (married, singles and/or college female students). The findings revealed that although recent policy reforms enabled some women to have access to different educational and employment opportunities, there were still some women struggling to fully benefit from these reforms. This is due to the fact that the boundaries among (i) customary law/practices (ii) Saudi women’s rights, and (iii) social and policy reforms for women’s rights are still not clearly set. The study highlights its contributions to the scholarship of women’s rights in the Arab and Muslim communities. It also proposes a conceptual framework, grounded in Islamic legal theory, for understand women’s rights and its complexities.43 0