The People in Arms in the Peoples Entertainment: Cinema and Political Propaganda in Portugal (1916-1917)
This article seeks to contribute to the historiographical debate on First World War propaganda in Portugal. The fact that it was precisely during this war that the first official body concerned with film production appeared (the Photographic and Cinematographic Section of the Army, SFCE) is a strong indication that the First Republic kept pace with the most innovatory aspects of this conflict in the various belligerent countries. In fact, it was precisely at this time that official bodies devoted to cinema appeared in countries such as Great Britain, France and Germany. We start by studying the pioneering experiment in film which made the people in arms the protagonists in the peoples entertainment, in the context of a military and propaganda exercise conducted by the Minister of War, Norton de Matos, in the summer of 1916. The success of this first film was so great that the captain who produced it was asked to set up the SFCE, in time to film the embarkation of the first troops for France, in January 1917. As well as clarifying the origins, objectives and more institutional aspects of the SFCE, which previously had remained obscure, the article presents data about the exhibition and the public reception of films produced by this unit.
A produção e programação audiovisual pelo exército português no contexto das guerras coloniais (1965-1973). A imagem como elemento difusor e construtor de um regime politico-colonial
Starting from the analysis and understanding of what were the ideological and political foundations of the Portuguese “Estado Novo”, we investigate how cinema, especially the one programmed and produced by the military, contributed to the construction of a colonial image. By analyzing the cinema that was programmed and produced in a colonial context, we search for the idea, or its absence, that was intended to be built through its exhibition as part of the general purpose of motivating for the war and spreading the cardinal items of colonial propaganda. Characterizing what were the psychosocial actions carried out by the army in the context of colonial wars and the images, particularly cinematographic, that were produced and / or used in this context, we thrive to understand their contribution to the creation of a community imagined according to the canons of colonial ideology. Having as methodology looking beyond the point of view of official cinematography, searching for other framings, reviewing in slow motion, analyzing the materiality of the film product itself, its forms and distribution circuits, etc., we look for hidden symptoms that betray the ideological and racial construction and its hidden structures of power. In proposing a way of reading in order to perceive the connection between Fascist mass rhetoric, Nazi aesthetics, "politics of the spirit" and Lusotropicalism (especially in its iconic, symbolic elements and consequent semiotic discourse) we suggest how this was translated to the colonial imaginary. As final conclusions emerge the fact that the military where full aware of the importance of cinema in the propaganda process, and, as so, in the construction of the colonial image imagined by the regime, mainly widely using the iconic elements of Lusotropicalism, but with a strategy that has been mostly inconsequent.
The Role of Nonclassroom Spaces in Living-Learning Communities.
A body of research suggests that learning communities provide a range of academic benefits by increasing social connectedness. Researchers have also hypothesized that informal learning spaces -- nonclassroom spaces (NCSs) -- can facilitate learning by supporting social connectedness. This study uses qualitative methods to explore the way nonclassroom spaces facilitate learning-related activities within a recently established learning community at State University. Our findings suggest that NCSs function as social hubs, help make intellectual and creative work visible to the larger learning community, and provide access to important resources. More generally, NCSs help to facilitate community formation and identity.