(Σημ. επιμ: Το κείμενο που ακολουθεί είναι πολύ διαφορετικό από αυτά που συνήθως δημοσιεύει το Filmicon. Γραμμένο από μια κινηματογραφίστρια, δεν μιλά για τον κινηματογράφο. Αλλά για το τεράστιο ανθρωπιστικό πρόβλημα του πνιγμού προσφύγων που επιχειρούν να διασχίσουν τα θαλάσσια σύνορα).
Ξημερώματα Τρίτης 3/6/2014, ένας νεαρός Αφγανός πέφτει στην θάλασσα μαζί με τους υπόλοιπους 14 επιβάτες της πλαστικής βάρκας που τους έφερνε στη Μυτιλήνη. Τρόμαξαν από ένα σκάφος που είδαν να πλησιάζει. Βρίσκονταν 150 μέτρα από τη στεριά κι έπεσαν στο νερό για να μην τους γυρίσει πίσω το λιμενικό. Ο 19χρονος δεν βγήκε ζωντανός, το σώμα του το βρήκε λίγο αργότερα το λιμενικό στην ακτή Τσώνια. Κάποιος δημοσιογράφος, μάλιστα, βιαστικά τον χαρακτήρισε οικονομικό μετανάστη. Λες και οι νεκροί έχουν ταμπέλες. Λες και οι νεκροί δίνουν συνέντευξη για άσυλο και απορρίπτονται κιόλας. ... More
This is an ethnographic discussion of the presentation and the construction of the self in the Internet Era and, more specifically, on Facebook, one of the most popular websites of social interaction.
Facebook falls under the broader context of cyberspace, which, as an object of anthropological interest, belongs to the broader research context of what ethnographers call “multi-sited fields” (Marcus 1995). As Marcus explains, “[…] any ethnography of a cultural formation in the world system is also an ethnography of the system, and therefore cannot be understood only in terms of the conventional single-site mise-en-scene of ethnographic research” (1995: 99). Here, Facebook is approached as such a cultural formation, whose ethnographic study requires a redefinition of key concepts (e.g. time, space, and – in our case – identity) as parts of a multi-sited context.
In addition, cyberspace, from a philosophical point of view, integrates into the concept of virtual reality. Virtual reality, according to Pierre Lévy, is a way for the actual reality to become innovative and powerful, to give space for creation and to open the horizons for potential features and meanings beyond the shallowness of the immediate physical presence (Lévy 1995: 16). However, the virtual should not be considered as the opposite of actual reality. “Virtuality” is not a simple representation but mostly a transition of space, time, the self and other elements that constitute the new conditions of the existence (Lévy 1995: 30). In order for this recreation to be established, the French philosopher (Lévy 1995: 30) introduces in his analysis the term “deterritorialisation” describing the situation when space and time are reinvented in a reality with no common characteristics of what we perceive as actual reality and where the construction of the self occurs in a different context. ... More
(Writer’s note: The following text is a general description of a PhD project in progress at the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication of the University of Gothenburg. I would like to take this opportunity to invite thoughts, comments and suggestions for literature and/or audiovisual material which the project could benefit from. What is more, it would be highly appreciated if this project could be communicated to people from the Greek television industry who would be interested in contributing in the form of interviews with the researcher. For more information about the project or for feedback, suggestions, etc., I can be contacted by email: georgia.aitaki@jmg.gu.se)
In December 2012, during one of the most difficult seasons for Greek television fiction, a public discussion took place with the title “The magnificent absence of television fiction from Greek television” organized by the Scriptwriters Guild of Greece (1). Indeed, the seasons 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 marked a record low for the production of domestic fiction, both in terms of public and private broadcasting. Up until then, and especially after the deregulation of broadcasting in 1989, fictional programmes held a very prestigious position within the programming strategies of the channels and were mostly shown during the prime-time slots. However, when the economic crisis hit Greece, fictional programmes were framed as one of the greatest victims since the channels had to cut down on costs, and fiction has always been an expensive programme to make. Hence, during the above discussion, people from the industry talked about the dangers of having a media landscape without fictional programmes, the importance of fiction for the audience’s social imagination, the function of fiction as a provider of guidelines for everyday life and the value of fiction as a cultural product associated with national culture. ... More