Synergy

2

Authors: Anca-Teodora ṢERBAN-OPRESCU

Written in the exemplary manner of modern Cultural Studies, or, better yet, American Studies, the book of Florian Andrei Vlad makes for a valuable addition to philological studies looking at four American fiction writers that, “in principle, support a patriarchal, monologic American cultural narrative in a long tradition of white, male voices from John Winthrop, the Founding Fathers, all the way to, and past the War on Terror narrative”, as the author himself summarizes on the back cover of the book.

7

Authors: Irina-Ana DROBOT

The paper starts from the observation that topics of discussion proposed by students for the Culture and Civilization Course I teach at the Engineering in Foreign Languages Faculty centered on myths and mythology of various cultures: Norse, ancient Greek, Chinese, etc. The fact that fantasy novels are very popular nowadays may have influenced them and built their curiosity for these topics. Fantasy novels can be useful for getting the students’ interest in culture and civilization topics starting from what they know. We can use as examples of culture identity manifestations these fabulous worlds, with their traditions, habits, heroes, values, rituals. The research methodology is provided by popular culture and English Language Teaching. The hypothesis of the paper is that students have a tendency to prefer certain topics due to the influence of popular culture and that this interest can be used productively to engage them in course participation.

13

Authors: Ayusman CHAKRABORTY

Thuggee as a distinct class of criminal homicide has generated much interest ever since the British colonizers in India exposed it in the nineteenth century. While the male thugs were certainly more common, female practitioners of thuggee were not entirely unknown. Curiously, both colonial writers and contemporary researchers have conceptualized thuggee as an all-male activity, thereby consigning the female thugs to oblivion. By bringing the focus back on the female thugs, this paper questions the gendering of thuggee. It also shows how the acknowledgement of the existence of the female thugs destabilizes both colonial constructions of thuggee and contemporary understandings of the subject.

15

Authors: Maria GRAJDIAN

After its release in 2003, The Last Samurai became a major success at the Japanese (and international) box-office, simultaneously marking a turning point in the illustration of Japan by Western media, and more specifically, by US-American institutions of mass entertainment, such as Hollywood. The Last Samurai has been mostly discussed on the background of the historical realities it depicts (the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the unconditional import of Western artefacts and values, the clash between old and new in Japan by mid-19th century) or from the perspective of the impact it had on the representation of Asian or other non-European cultures by American mainstream mass-media. Based on a 15-year empiric-phenomenological fieldwork in the slippery domain of Japanese mass-media, as well as in-depth literature research on new media, masculinity studies and entertainment industry with specific focus on Japan, this paper argues that the character embodied by Tom Cruise – the typical white male from Japanese perspective – displayed an unexpectedly refreshing insight into the prevalent masculinity ideal in Japan, as subliminally suggested by the Japanese characters. On the one hand, it challenges the image of the samurai, both in its historical idealization (stoic warriors and social elite) and in their contemporary adaptation (carriers of Japan’s post-war recovery). On the other hand, it questions the values incorporated by classical Japanese masculinity and suggests a credible alternative, with emotional flexibility, human warmth and mental vulnerability as potential core attributes.

19

Authors: Antonia ENACHE

The present article looks into Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid in the US general election, providing an overview of the main factors that led to her surprising defeat by Republican contender Donald Trump, a former businessman and reality TV star with no political experience, who had never before sought public office. The aspects that significantly impacted the final outcome pertain to emotion rather than reason; out of these, our research analyses the flaws in the overall vision of her campaign, her gender, the negative campaigning against Trump and the “likability” factor, along with other oversights. The list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it possible to weigh the exact impact of each lapse; however, we believe that in a campaign where, from the voters’ standpoint, it all came down to choosing the lesser evil, the aspects we have highlighted were the most important in overturning poll results and leading to Hillary Clinton’s loss.