Focus: Narrative Storytelling and Critical Studies
Grady knows the importance of telling a good story. Critical scholars at Grady are constantly monitoring and evaluating the media and its role in culture. Areas of particular focus are research on the history, theory and practice of alternative media and democratic communication. Critical-cultural research at Grady includes immersive studies of Latin American television series, research in Diasporic media cultures and the use of comedy in narrative political satire.
Abstract: Written for the theoretical section of this edited book, this chapter maps the conceptual terrain for the concept of “transcultural subjectivity.” It offers new insights into thinking about the idea, practice and constructed personhood in contemporary global media forms in post-colonial contexts. It draws on the literature of post-colonial studies, transnational media studies and […]
Read MoreAbstract: This essay considers the American heroine as portrayed in life and death on the pages of newspapers and magazines. Journalists use, and sometimes misuse, the term “hero” as a type of news frame, a tradition of highlighting extraordinary feats of individuals. In the United States, journalistic references to heroism both increased and evolved as […]
Read MoreAbstract: This paper is a textual analysis of the media culture (music videos, performances, advertising, visual/ viral culture) around the greatest exponent of the Sufi musical form called “Qawalli,” through the life and work of the Pakistani maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997). Using insights from post-colonial theory, cultural studies, ethno-musicology and identity politics, it […]
Read MoreAbstract: This reflexive auto-ethnographic essay of eco-criticism tells the story of the authors visit to Cheung Eeok Killing fields in Cambodia focusing on themes of peace, place, and the politics of cultural renewal in a country devastated by the Khmer Rouge. Informed by the literature of post-colonialism, cultural studies, and identity politics, it offers a […]
Read MoreAbstract: Recent years have seen changes to the video game industry and the image of video game players. There are more games on the market and larger variety of ways to play those games. Yet, despite market shifts, authors such as Shaw (2012)demonstrate that there are still tensions surrounding gamer identification. Even as next-generation systems […]
Read MoreAbstract: Applying uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this study examined users of four social networking sites (SNSs): Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, and their influence on online bridging and bonding social capital. Results (N = 297) indicated that Snapchat users scored highest for passing time, sharing problems, and gaining social knowledge, while Instagram users scored […]
Read MoreIn recent years, scholars have theorized about the narrative potential of video games. These conversations have helped to situate a complex new medium into the parameters of older forms of storytelling. This paper argues that these debates often privilege heteronormative formulations of narrative structure. Building on the work of Judith Roof (1996), I illustrate how traditional […]
Read MoreAbstract: Following DiGRA 2014, our Fishbowl was used by some members of the GamerGate movement as proof of the “nefarious” dealings within our academic community. Some have asked the question of whether our Fishbowl “The Playful is Political” should have been accepted, given the negative attention on DiGRA it engendered and ongoing ramifications of that attention […]
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