Construction of Heroes

Situated in a frontier region, in a space that belongs at the same time to Central Europe, to Eastern Europe and to the Balkan area 1 , but deeply wanting to become part of European Union, Romania has to built a new economic, social, political and cultural environment but equally to redefine its national identity 2. The long transition from communism to a democratic regime inspired by the Western European model was the beginning of a questioning period on the Romanian identity. The red dictatorship left a complicated legacy to Romania: not only a quasi-disastrous economical environment but also a very "sensitive" national identity. Constructed throughout the last two centuries but getting its final shape during the nationalistic communism, the Romanian identity made difficult not only the relationships with its own minorities but also the economic transition (one could here in 1990 slogans like "We do not sell our country"). A short outline on the building process of the nation state will clarify our point of view.

Italy’s interest in the Balkans rose in the wake of the revolutionary year of 1848, due to the plans of the great Italian political thinker Giuseppe
Mazzini. His ideas on the common fight of the Italians, Polish émigrés gathered around Prince Adam Czartorisky, and the nations of the Balkans and Southern Europe, against the Habsburg Monarchy, even though they remained unheeded, set a pattern for the following period. The leadership of the Risorgimento in the next decade passed into the hands of Count Cavour, who approached it from the standing point of European diplomacy. He was able to obtain the French support that led to the success in the battles in Lombardy and the Italian unification. Cavour’s thoughts on the Balkans were limited as he saw to region as a possible compensation for the Habsburg possessions in Italy. Another hero
of the Risorgimento, Giuseppe Garibaldi, was seen as a possible liberator of the Balkans, following the example of his expedition of the Thousand in Sicily. However, Garibaldi’s red coats never came to the Balkans, and Italy’s involvement was limited to few and far between diplomatic initiatives. Cultural and religious ties were more frequent and more important.

Keywords: Italy, Balkans, Risorgimento, 1848-1870

In this chapter, allusions to King Arthur in the Final Fantasy role-playing video game series are read in the "splintered light" of mythic narratives: primarily the works of J.R.R. Tolkien as interpreted by Verlyn Flieger, along with sidelights from related cultural sources. Comparisons are drawn between two exemplary Arthuriana in Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VII, the Excalibur weapon and Knights of the Round summon magic, and their counterparts in two representative retellings, T.H. White's Sword in the Stone and Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon. Beyond the "light vs. dark" narrative legible in many role-playing games (RPGs), the chapter explores the tension between myth's tendency to crystallization, on the one hand, and to further splintering, on the other, in the video game medium. It seeks to elucidate ways in which the Final Fantasy series, like the fantastic and legendary stories upon which it draws, returns players and readers to their sources in myth and reunites them imaginatively with one another.

El culto por el cura de Dolores en la reivindicación institucional de los hombres que lograron la independencia se ha impuesto desde hace siglo y medio, pero hubo al menos tres décadas en que el trono de la heroicidad lo compartió con el coronel realista. La división del país entre conservadores y liberales atizaría las diferencias.

This article will explore on the portrayal of lawyers and the legal system in Daredevil comic books, particularly issues published in the Twenty-First Century. Because the Daredevil movie and the first two seasons of the Netflix television series have already been examined from various legal perspectives in past articles, this piece will highlight legal storylines from the comics themselves. This exploration is important because writers of future Netflix seasons will surely draw story elements from the comics discussed here and will very likely adapt these exact stories, encouraging the larger television audience to seek out and read the original comics. Given the character’s newfound fame and popularity, Daredevil can accomplish a heroic feat few superheroes can – his comics and television episodes can add to the general public’s ideas of legal practice, ideally portraying lawyers and the legal system accurately, or at least positively, turning entertaining, dramatic, action-packed...

What are the deferences between the heroes of classical antiquity and the saints of Christianity? This study attempts to identify fundamental aspects of the construction mechanism, medialisation and semantics between saints and heroes. Analysing the example of the patriarch Joseph, we can conclude that the classical qualities and virtues of the hero are passed on through the saints without interruption. Thus, Joseph is distinguished by a wide range of outstanding characteristics that helped him to achieve extraordinary achievements. These include: Wisdom, leadership and intellect, courage and bravery, piety and humility, compassion and a willingness to forgive. In addition to agonality, a further component of the heroic can be verified in Joseph: exceptional beauty. Ve qualities and complexity of Joseph's character are also the reason why some outstanding pictorial narratives – such as the Coton Genesis, the Vienna Genesis or the atrium-mosaics of San Marco in Venice – place more emphasis on this story. Finally, the study shows that the analysis of the hero- / saint-concept opens up a new path for recognizing typical value- systems in Byzantine culture.
Keywords: Joseph, heroes, saints, Genesis, reception of Antiquity

¿Cuál es el proceso de formación del historiador profesional en Venezuela? ¿Cómo se construye la carrera en las Escuelas de Historia e institutos pedagógicos? ¿Cómo se estructura la especialización en maestrías y doctorados? ¿Qué es ser un historiador en este país? De esas preguntas dan cuenta las intervenciones públicas tan de moda, los artículos en revistas de especialidad nacionales y extranjeras, los libros. La calidad de esos productos determinará la ubicación de la historiografía venezolana en América Latina y el mundo.

This paper deals with an interactive storytelling of game, based on Campbells heroes journey. It begins by introducing Campbell analysis and then presents how this model has been transformed in order to support for interactive storytelling. Then, it shows how this model can be used for educational games. It finishes by an experimentation of an implementation of this interactive storytelling in the field of a robot

Based on Ulrich Bröckling’s typology of the heroic, this article examines representations of Antonius in cinema and television. Is Antonius a hero who loses this status over the course of the plot, or is he an anti-hero from the beginning? What is the relationship between his cinematic characterisation and his portrayal in historical records? Does the cultural assessment of a film character change over time? Related to these points is the observation that the changing expectations towards heroes over time (can) also lead to different interpretations of the role of Antony.

La presente memoria de grado busca identificar los rasgos de narrativa japonesa en el universo ficcional de la serie Super Mario Bros de Nintendo. Partiendo de la premisa de que todo producto cultural contiene características del contexto que lo crea, se discute la idea de que los relatos de Super Mario hayan sido deliberadamente diseñados para agradar al público occidental. Tras un repaso de su creación y evolución, se analiza la constitución del universo a través de tramas, personajes, recursos y escenarios cuyas relaciones varían en función de los textos donde se representan (el videojuego, considerado como la obra núcleo, y la ficción animada, entendida como extensiones transmediáticas) y en función de la cultura donde esos textos se producen y circulan (Japón y Occidente).

Los resultados muestran que el universo de Super Mario presenta rasgos japoneses fundamentalmente en la relación de sus elementos más que en la iconografía retratada. La experiencia del universo difiere en Japón y en Occidente porque las extensiones transmediáticas japonesas tienden a reforzar los rasgos específicamente japoneses, en tanto las extensiones occidentales suelen disimularlos e incorporar aspectos propios de sus narrativas.
Descriptores:

Videojuegos, transmedia, intertextualidad, Japón, comunicación intercultural, cultura popular.

The article explores (posthumous) veneration and canonisation of poets and writers in Europe with a special focus on those features that connect such veneration to various religious traditions. Departing from poets hero cults in Ancient Greece, it briefly surveys the veneration of poets in early modern Europe and goes on to review in more detail the essential developments during the long nineteenth century that brought commemoration to the forefront like no period before or after. Paying particular attention to commemorations most distinctive features, such as the cult of centenary and the statuary fever, it outlines its ritual dimensions that bind it with the veneration of religious saints. At the end, it discusses the connections of commemoration culture with nation-building and analyses the rise of national poets as paradigmatic cultural saints.

Disability representation in films is often viewed as a means of inspiring and evoking emotions from able-bodied audiences. Disability activists have long challenged these ableist norms and called for greater recognition of the diversity of human experience. The representation of characters like Matt Murdock and Charles Xavier from the American superhero films Daredevil (2003) directed by Mark Steven Johnson and X-Men (2000) by Bryan Singer has evolved to offer audiences more thought-provoking narratives that transcend simplistic notions of good versus evil. By portraying Matt and Charles Xavier as disabled superheroes, these stories challenge traditional conventions of heroism. This study analyzes how Matt and Charles Xavier disrupt the perception of heroism, particularly in the science fiction genre, thereby examining how their representation emphasises that disability does not hinder heroism or the ability to make a difference. This study combines the fields of disability studies and science fiction to challenge and showcase how the science fiction world is an inviting home for disabled characters and fans. This paper highlights how these characters, despite their physical disabilities, are depicted as powerful, determined, and capable of performing incredible feats and challenge conventional ideas about non-normative bodies in the science fiction genre. This paper concludes that such portrayals can provide disabled audiences with a sense of connection and validation through characters who share similar experiences. Seeing themselves positively reflected in fictional narratives can contribute to a stronger and more positive self-identity. Such characteristics can be included in the world of literature and movies as protagonists with persistence and resilience.

Desde el inicio del actual milenio, en la cinematografía cubana se ha hecho visible la emergencia de un tipo de producción independiente que contiende la singularidad discursiva institucional predominante en décadas anteriores. Entre los asuntos que han merecido la atención de los jóvenes directores se ubica la evaluación de los paradigmas heroicos dentro de la memoria nacional. Es en el género documental donde dichas búsquedas se despliegan con mayor fuerza, al constituir este el medio más empleado por el Estado en la creación de una concepción heroica asociada a la Revolución y sus líderes; así como por su naturaleza genérica híbrida entre realidad y escritura. "Héroe de culto" (Ernesto Sánchez, 2015), "Reconstruyendo al héroe" (Javier Castro, 2007), "Antígona, el proceso" (Lilián Broche y Yaima Pardo, 2015) y "La Despedida" (Alejandro Alonso, 2014) son algunas obras a través de las cuales se pueden rastrear estas otras narrativas épicas contemporáneas. El presente capítulo examina cómo dichos documentales rescriben lo heroico a través de la mirada etnográfica, la tematización del archivo y la exposición de los mecanismos de construcción del material audiovisual, recursos discursivos que cuestionan el modelo de representación institucional.

La existencia de una afinidad entre la ciencia ficción y el mito es una idea que desde hace mucho tiempo ha sido esgrimida por críticos, teóricos y autores de CF ocupados de definir al género. El primero (seguido por la etnología y la historia de las religiones) consiste en estudiar el mito en la historia, es decir, como la forma discur-siva dominante en las sociedades ágrafas y tradicionales. El segundo consiste en examinar lo mítico en conexión con el problema de los «arque-tipos»: imágenes primordiales de la psique colectiva que po-seen un gran parecido con los símbolos míticos. Desde cualquier perspectiva que se la mire —ya sea el prisma de la mitología tradicional o el de la teoría de los arquetipos— la CF exhibe múltiples puntos de contacto con el ámbito de lo mítico y lo arquetípico, y esta relación no se reduce a las ocasionales relecturas de un mito particular o un esquema mítico. Es propio de la CF que los motivos míticos aparezcan en for-mas «racionalizadas» (es decir, el «mundo otro» mítico aparece como «otro planeta», los espíritus como «alienígenas», y así sucesivamente). Aparte de estos casos cabe también señalar en la CF la fre-cuente utilización de los motivos de la quest (2001. Una Odisea espacial), el mito del héroe (Dune), el nuevo nacimiento (Holy Fire), y otros, como el tema del «mundo caído», los motivos iniciáticos, la peregrinación eterna, el descenso a los infiernos, la muerte-resurrección, etc. El trabajo relaciona los motivos y símbolos míticos que con más frecuencia se encuentran en la CF, deteniéndose en particular en el esquema del mito heroico, tomando como ejemplo la novela Dune de Frank Herbert. El estudio concluye que a través de su búsqueda de lo maravilloso y el sense of wonder, la CF reintroduce (subrepticiamente) una dimensión mítica en el seno de una cultura secularizada, en la cual ha te-nido lugar un proceso de «desencantamiento del mundo».

Many localities have two histories, the actual and the mythical. Myths can become so well-established that they overshadow the history of a place, as demonstrated in the first part of this study. In this instance, the myth is that Brighton was a fishing village which was transformed into a resort by the patronage of the Prince of Wales. The article explore how myths can influence our perception of the history of a place and then disproves this myth by proving that Brighton was already a well-established resort before the Prince arrived.

A década de 1870 é particularmente relevante para a história social da ciência, pois foi o momento em que a filosofia positivista se consolidou na cultura mexicana por meio do ensino secundário nas salas de aula da Escuela Nacional Preparatoria; e nestes anos foi realizado sob a reorganização da comunidade científica através de mandatos liberais. Além disso, nesta década, as revistas literárias infantis tiveram um papel de destaque na divulgação do conhecimento científico, como a geografia, e na representação territorial do país, graças ao apoio que esses governos deram para levar a ciência a todos os grupos sociais. As crianças das classes média e alta tinham à disposição uma variedade de revistas infantis que, entre os diversos saberes que lhes eram disponibilizados, estava a geografia científica. Vários desses meninos foram os homens que construíram as instituições médicas do último terço do século XIX e ocuparam cargos-chave em instituições científicas e educacionais, além de ca...

Over and beyond questions of familiarity with the offering, purchase intention and willingness to pay, fair trade actors are currently questioning the motivations of consumers and the cognitive representations that they develop. Pursuing the same track as the initial academic investigations into this problematic, this study examines the semantic content of the signifier “fair trade” by clarifying the various semio-narrative programs associated with it. An original method of inquiry, the micro-mythanalysis of discourse, is proposed and the findings, drawn from ten types of narrative, are discussed.

The purpose of this ludonarratological analysis of the hero’s journey in Final Fantasy (FF) games is to analyse the efforts of game developers (devs) in trying to provide a fairer representation for women in the videogame medium. These efforts stem from the criticisms by the women in the community (devs, critics and gamers alike) who argue that female characters are often hypersexualized in the medium. Hence, my decision to analyse games that feature women as heroes is to determine whether game companies are successful in representing women fairly. I will be
comparing two female-led FF games with two male-led FF games that have similar ludonarrative designs. Their similarity will make it easier for me to detect any instances of double standards in its design due to the main character’s gender. The theoretical framework that I have adopted for this research is called Gendered Play (GP). It is an approach that I have created specifically for this dissertation due to the absence of a comprehensive framework that will allow researchers to study gender in the videogame medium. GP is a result of borrowing several ludic, narrative and feminist theories such as Real-Time Hermeneutics, Ludonarrative Dissonance and Monomyth. GP is defined as a situation where there is a difference in the game design when the avatar is male or female. As for my methodology, it is divided into two phases: free play and critical play. My findings reveal that GP indeed exists in these FF games which in turn affects how the player perceives the female characters as believable heroes. Firstly, it is found that heroines experience less monomyth tropes compared to the heroes. There are also certain design decisions in their
ludonarratives that impede the women’s agency as heroes, ergo affects how the player perceives them as believable heroes. While I believe that there are instances where the heroines are seen empowered, it is evident that the major portion of their games still uphold normative gender values and pander towards the interests of the presumed male audience.

Keywords: Ludonarrative, Gendered Play, Hero’s Journey, Real-Time, Ludonarrative Dissonance.

Циљ овог рада је да кроз имаголошки приступ успостави дијалектички и критички однос хетерослика и аутослика у путописној прози Ребеке Вест Црно Јагње и сиви соко. Конкретан приступ заснива се на анализи динамике која се одвија на релацији поларитета аутослика и хетерослика, која има тенденцију да укаже на дијалог различитих националних или узајамних културних суочавања. Тежиште анализе усмерено је на делове путописа Црно јагње и сиви соко који садрже елементе есеја, лирске записе, историјске податке и психолошка запажања ауторке о балканском простору и Јужним Словенима, те су као такви неисцрпан извор за имаголошка тумачења. Одлике ове прозе, које пружају посебан подстицај за њено тумачење у имаголошком кључу су: изразита интеркултуралност, имаготипичне структуре, а потом и имагеми, слике и искуства Другог. Ауторкина идеја да кроз Епилог путописа досегне и најјаснију слику о себи и преломи је кроз призму конкретног историјског тренутка у којем се на просторима Балкана затекла, уједно је и покушај да проникне у властити идентитет, као и позицију сопственог народа у критичној историјској ситуацији пред избијање Другог светског рата. Закључак рада потврђује да свака слика о Другом предочава и слику о ономе који за Другим трага, те да се свака представа ствара кроз поређења која се крећу од идентитета до алтеритета.

У дугој професионалној каријери, сликарка, ликовна педагошкиња и
карикатуристкиња Бета Вукановић развила је широк тематски репертоар, који
обухвата портрете, актове, жанр-сцене, слике оријенталног и интими-стичког
садржаја.
Посебну целину у њеном богатом уметничком опусу чине фолклорни мотиви заступљени на сликама свакодневног живота жене и деце са села. Приказани на
пољу, приликом бербе или у ретким тренуцима доколице, анонимни модели одевени у народне ношње, оличење су идеала изворног, неисквареног народског живота. Настали као последица сликаркиних бројних путовања по оновременој Југославији, али и родној Баварској, ови идеализовани портрети и исечци из сеоске
свакодневице створени су призори који, наизглед, почивају на документаристичкој вредности аутентичних физиономија и костима.
Изведени у духу етнограђанског модернизма, који се темељи на извесној тензији између „традиционалног“ садржаја и „модерног“ ликовног израза, фолклорни
сижеи Бете Вукановић сродни су етнограђанским представама сликаркиних савременица, попут Надежде Петровић, Данице Јовановић, Зоре Петровић и других, које су на идиличним призорима сеоског живота тежиле да дочарају „романтизам поднебља“, карактеристичан феномен српске уметности и визуелне
културе првих деценија 20. века.
У стваралаштву Бете Вукановић овакви призори не представљају искључиво намеру да се у слици садашњег тренутка као одредници модерности истакне етнос,
већ указују и на благонаклон поглед европског „другог“ на србијанске „слатке
фолк мотиве.“
Кључне речи: Бета Вукановић, етнограђански модернизам, фолклорни мотиви, слике народског живота, село, европски „други

Este artículo busca el «héroe perdido» o héroe clásico en la narración audiovisual desde la perspectiva de la teoría de la narrativa. El primer paso de esta búsqueda será la definición del héroe contemporáneo según la academia. En segundo lugar, se analizará el estado del héroe en la narración audiovisual, cuya relevancia plantea la duda de si existen diferencias entre el héroe literario y el héroe audiovisual. Todos estos planteamientos desembocarán en el análisis concreto de un personaje, Walter White, protagonista de la ficción televisiva Breaking Bad.

Resumen: Tras la fracasada intentona golpista protagonizada en Sevilla por el general africanista Sanjurjo, el gobierno ordenó tanto la detención de los insurrectos como la suspensión de hasta más de un centenar de publicaciones simpatizantes de sesgo monárquico y católico-siendo buena parte de ellas carlo-integristas-. A sabiendas de la escasa vinculación del carlismo con aquella intentona, salvo el seguimiento en Sevilla, nuestro propósito es analizar los comentarios posteriores a la supresión periodística y el tratamiento informativo de los "mártires" deportados a Villa Cisneros. Con este fin profundizaremos por medio de la combinación de fuentes hemerográficas, archivísticas y bibliografía coetánea.

Este artículo pretende comparar el proceso de creación de héroes y mártires por parte de los propagandistas carlistas en dos coyunturas muy concretas. Por un lado, a raíz de la Sanjurjada de agosto de 1932 se produjo la detención y deportación de parte de los militares y civiles implicados al penal de Villa Cisneros en el Sahara Occidental. El diario Siglo Futuro cedió sus páginas para que los penados expresaran las vejaciones y severidades que sufrieron. Por otro lado, y a consecuencia de los hechos de Octubre de 1934, el carlismo perdió a varios dirigentes, militantes y veteranos de la última carlistada que fueron elevados al poco tiempo a la categoría de mártires por decisión de la secretaría de Manuel Fal Conde y del pretendiente Alfonso Carlos I. Conscientemente, y como ya se había hecho en 1932 con algunos de los caídos en la sublevación militar del 10 de agosto, el tradicionalismo y sus publicaciones idealizarían a estos nuevos mártires sin perjuicio de su adhesión a la disidencia cruzadista.

Heroes play a role in every nation's founding narrative, embodying a group's strength and courage, its dedication to protecting all within its fold, and its most important traditions and promises. Yet hero images and tropes have not received the attention they deserve in the social science literature on nations and nationalism. Recent theories of character work – the rhetorical construction of heroes, villains, victims, and minions – reveal the challenges of building an inclusive nationalism in post-colonial states. We engage the debates over some of Namibia's most prominent and contested heroes through the memorials dedicated to them and the commemorations honoring victims of past struggles. We study the victims that these heroes sought to defend and trace the process by which victims become heroes of endurance. The Namibian state has, after its recent independence, constructed a memorial to fallen heroes, Heroes Acre, and an Independence Memorial Museum. Alongside thes...