As five friends paddle around the bay in their dinghy, none of them see a storm coming until it's too late. Swept out to sea, the children end up on a desert island. Follow them in this exciting playscript, as they explore the island and try to find a way to escape - and discover that sometimes it's the most unlikely person who saves the day.
A comprehensive introduction to conspiracy theories and their growing presence in the age of the internet--
The book examines how Adolf Hitler is portrayed in American fiction, tracing his transformation from a symbol used for left-wing critique to one that serves right-wing affirmation. It delves into the evolving literary representations and their implications in the context of political and cultural narratives.
This is an essential addition to the library of any home cocktail enthusiast, providing cost-effective ways to make the most out of your collection of WHITE SPIRITS.
Today, virtually all BA programs in English at German universities place a strong focus on Cultural Studies. However, textbooks that introduce first-year students to the subject are rare, and the few existing ones are too complicated or not comprehensive enough. By contrast, this textbook introduces the key theories and concepts of Cultural Studies systematically and thoroughly. It puts particular emphasis on their application, aiming to enable students to do their own analyses of cultural artefacts and practices. The author draws on many examples, mostly taken from American culture, but in each chapter, he applies the ideas introduced to The Hunger Games franchise and the coronavirus pandemic to show how different theories can lead to very different interpretations of the same phenomenon. Each chapter ends with exercises that allow students to apply what they have learned. With YouTube videos.
American Conspiracy Theories from the Puritans to the Present
This study investigates the long history of American conspiracy theories through literary and cultural studies, focusing on the period before 1960. It includes four detailed case studies: the Salem witchcraft crisis of 1692, fears of Catholic invasion from the 1830s to 1850s, antebellum conspiracy theories about slavery, and anxieties regarding Communist subversion in the 1950s. The analysis primarily engages with factual texts, including sermons, pamphlets, political speeches, and confessional narratives, while also examining how these fears were depicted in fiction, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown and Hermann Melville's Benito Cereno. The book presents three key insights: first, the American inclination toward conspiracy theorizing is rooted in a specific epistemological paradigm linking effects to intentional human action, alongside the ideologies of republicanism and Puritan heritage. Second, conspiracy theories were once seen as legitimate knowledge, influencing how Americans, both elite and common, understood historical events, with the Revolutionary and Civil Wars significantly shaped by such theories. Lastly, contrary to the prevailing view, conspiracy theories were never as marginal as suggested; their stigmatization as illegitimate knowledge began around 1960, coinciding with a shift from identifying conspiracies against the government to recognizing those orchestrated by it.
Conspiracy Theories in the United States and the Middle East is the first book to approach conspiracy theorizing from a decidedly comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. Whereas previous studies have engaged with conspiracy theories within national frameworks only, this collection of essays draws attention to the fact that conspiracist visions are transnational narratives that travel between and connect different cultures. It focuses on the United States and the Middle East because these two regions of the world are entangled in manifold ways and conspiracy theories are currently extremely prominent in both. The contributors to the volume are scholars of Middle Eastern Studies, Anthropology, History, Political Science, Cultural Studies, and American Studies, who approach the subject from a variety of different theories and methodologies. However, all of them share the fundamental assumption that conspiracy theories must not be dismissed out of hand or ridiculed. Usually wrong and frequently dangerous, they are nevertheless articulations of and distorted responses to needs and anxieties that must be taken seriously. Focusing on individual case studies and displaying a high sensitivity for local conditions and the cultural environment, the essays offer a nuanced image of the workings of conspiracy theories in the United States and the Middle East.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is at the center of multiple overlapping themes that have defined the United States over the past fifty years: immigration and the American Dream, body and gender, Hollywood and the star system, public images and political campaigns, and California conservatism and the challenge of green politics. In his careers as a bodybuilder, film star, and politician, Schwarzenegger both shaped and was shaped by the discourses that define how we think about American history, culture, and politics. Consequently, studying Arnold Schwarzenegger means much more than studying a famous bodybuilder, actor, or politician: it means studying America. The contributors to this volume are scholars from the fields of history, political science, art history, media studies, film studies, cultural studies, and American studies. As they bring the concepts of „body“ and „image“ to bear on Schwarzenegger, they provide a unique perspective on both this cultural icon and on contemporary America.
Seit 2015 Hunderttausende Flüchtlinge in die Bundesrepublik kamen, kursiert im Netz die Theorie vom "Großen Austausch": Das Land solle von einer globalen "Finanzoligarchie" mittels der "Migrationswaffe" ausgeschaltet werden. Neben mangelndem Vertrauen in die Politik ist der Glaube an Verschwörungstheorien ein Merkmal des populistischen Brodelns. Doch was macht eine Erklärung zu einer Verschwörungstheorie? Warum sind sie für viele so attraktiv? Und was kann man dagegen unternehmen? Antworten auf solche Fragen findet man seltener als Verschwörungstheorien selbst. Michael Butter erläutert, wie solche Erzählungen funktionieren, wo sie herkommen und welche Auswirkungen sie haben können. Da sie die Eigenlogik sozialer Systeme unterschätzten, seien solche Theorien zwar immer falsch; als Symptom müsse man sie dennoch ernstnehmen. Gegenwärtig seien sie ein Indikator für die demokratiegefährdende Fragmentierung der Öffentlichkeit
Die Bachelorarbeit untersucht die entscheidenden Faktoren für erfolgreiches Social Media Marketing in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen. Sie analysiert Strategien und Methoden, die speziell auf die Bedürfnisse dieser Unternehmen zugeschnitten sind, um ihre Online-Präsenz zu optimieren und die Zielgruppe effektiv zu erreichen. Die Arbeit bietet praxisnahe Empfehlungen und beleuchtet die Herausforderungen, mit denen kleinere Unternehmen im digitalen Marketing konfrontiert sind.