Category Archives: Volume 14, no. 1 (2019)

Social Media – A Vehicle for Personalisation in Politics? Political communication before the 2017 parliamentary elections in Iceland

This paper focuses on political communication prior to the 2017 parliamentary elections in Iceland.  By means of content analysis and interviews with party officials the extent of central party control and the extent to which social media are a vehicle for personalisation are explored. The findings suggest a relatively low level of central party control and that social media, in particular Facebook is indeed a vehicle for personalisation. The analysis furthermore shows a difference in the social media use of plain candidates and party leaders, parties, and regions/constituencies.  Finally, Facebook is more of a tool for personalization while Twitter is a more political platform.

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The Power of the Camera-Presenting Politicians. A study in the rhetoric of camera techniques

The aim of this paper is to contribute to a critical phenomenological and rhetorical discussion of how politicians appear to the general public in today’s visual digital media. Special attention is drawn to the often unnoticed, but appealing and persuasive potential of various forms of camera techniques such as zoom in/zoom out, point-of-view, and reaction-shots.

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Shaping an Image of Europe: Half Way Over Iceland (George Bowering: “Discoloured Metal”)

This paper deals with George Bowering’s short story “Discoloured Metal” from his 1994 collection of short prose The Rain Barrel. Analysis of the short story is focused on four main points: 1. a possible approach to shaped short prose, 2. cultural issues regarding Canadian appreciation of Europe, 3. the position of Iceland as a ‘place in between’, and 4. the interrelations of notions and depictions of Canada-Iceland-Europe in a multimodal shaped short prose. In the end of the paper there are possible conclusions on how Iceland as a neutral territory, a place to refill (not just kerosene), functions in Bowering’s short story (literary approach), and how does that reflect the perception of Iceland and Europe in Canada (cultural studies).

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Basit Bilal Koshul, Max Weber and Charles Peirce: At the Crossroads of Sciences, Philosophy, and Culture (Lanham, Maryand: Lexington Books / Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)

A review of the book: Basit Bilal Koshul, Max Weber and Charles Peirce: At the Crossroads of Sciences, Philosophy, and Culture (Lanham, Maryand: Lexington Books/ Rowman & Littlefield, 2014; ISBN 978-0-739100-3 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-7391-7801-0 (electronic) 227 pages)

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Hilmar Þór Hilmarsson, The Economic Crisis and its Aftermath in the Nordic and Baltic Countries: Do As We Say and Not As We Do (London: Routledge, 2019)

A review of the book: Hilmar Þór Hilmarsson, The Economic Crisis and its Aftermath in the Nordic and Baltic Countries: Do As We Say and Not As We Do (London: Routledge, 2019, p. xxii & 212)

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Ósýnileiki barna sem leita alþjóðlegrar verndar á Íslandi í fylgd foreldra

According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, asylum-seeking children should be given the same rights as other children in Iceland. The aim is to describe and analyse how their rights and needs are taken into consideration. In the autumn 2015, interviews were taken with 12 children and 10 parents. The results indicate that the asylum process is adult-centered. The children were seldom given the opportunity to express their opinions on issues of importance to them, and housing arrangements and facilities of service providers were not always child-friendly. The asylum-seeking process for families in Iceland needs revision.

(Invisibility of children of asylum-seeking families in Iceland)

Samkvæmt Barnasáttmála Sameinuðu þjóðanna ber að veita börnum sem leita alþjóðlegrar verndar hér á landi sömu réttindi og öðrum börnum. Markmið rannsóknarinnar er að lýsa og greina hvernig komið er til móts við börn og réttindi þeirra í umsóknarferli fjölskyldna þeirra um alþjóðlega vernd á Íslandi. Tekin voru viðtöl haustið 2015 við 12 börn og 10 foreldra. Niðurstöður sýna að umsóknarferlið er fullorðinsmiðað. Börnum var sjaldan gefið tækifæri til þess að tjá sig um málefni er þau varða og barnvæn búsetuúrræði og aðstaða hjá þjónustuaðilum var ekki alltaf til staðar. Mikilvægt er að endurskoða umsóknarferli fjölskyldna um alþjóðlega vernd.

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