Spoiler

2015. “Spoiler” es el nombre de la información no requerida que adelanta partes importantes de un relato de ficción, de aquellos elementos que el semiólogo Roland Barthes, en Introducción al análisis estructural del relato, su ensayo de 1966, llamaba “funciones cardinales”: los “nudos del relato” que inauguran o concluyen una incertidumbre. En su acepción contemporánea, el spoiler se vincula con el renacimiento y la renovada legitimidad del serial televisivo del siglo XXI y con la posibilidad de romper los patrones de consumo vigentes hasta hace apenas una década o dos.

El miedo al spoiler ―el miedo a no consumir de modo correcto el producto, a no obtener la plena satisfacción prometida por toda mercancía― surge cuando el show televisivo ya no está atado a cierta hora de un día de la semana y puede consumirse cuando el espectador lo disponga. Este espectador que traza su propio recorrido convive con otros espectadores que trazan sus propios recorridos y desintegran las nociones de espacio como pieza fija en un territorio demarcado por límites políticos y geográficos. Los efectos de los soportes mundializados de información e interacción son difíciles de controlar. La amenaza acecha en cualquier enlace, texto e imagen.

Recent spikes in fuel prices and concern regarding greenhouse gas emissions, automotive design engineers are faced with the immediate task of introducing more efficient aerodynamic designs vehicles. The aerodynamic drags of a road vehicle is responsible for a large part of the vehicle's fuel consumption and contribute up to 50% of the total vehicle fuel consumption at highway speeds. This review intends to provide information on the current approaches and their efficiency in reducing pressure drag of ground vehicles. The review mainly focuses on the methods employed to prevent or delay air flow separation on the body of vehicle. The exterior styling and aerodynamically efficient design for reduction of engine load which reflects in the reduction of fuel consumption are the two essential factors for a successful operation in the competitive world. The main objective of the study is to predict the drag coefficient experimentally as well as computationally. Several factors that influence the drag coefficient such as flow separation, vortex and the effect of pressure coefficient have been studied. Passive control methods such as Vortex Generator (VG), Spoiler, Surface dimples and Diffuser are among the methods that have been reviewed.

This thesis studies the involvement of spoilers in the provision of governance in the areas under their occupation. In most post-conflict contexts, the international community is supporting the rebuilding and strengthening of a single, sovereign state. The shortcoming of mainstream Western partners to include the diversity of non-state governance actors might add one explanation to why this process of statebuilding fails. Making use of a single case study, I will study the involvement of the latest rebel movement (M23) in eastern Congo in the provision of governance. I will look at how this reality can contribute to or oppose the statebuilding process, as part of the stabilisation process for Eastern Congo. Through a qualitative study of different types of sources, my research hopes to contribute to the uncovering of this fairly unstudied phenomenon. Additionally, I hope to contribute to the knowledge on the rebuilding of effective states, especially in very complex political environments.

This paper puts forward an account of imaginative immersion. Elaborating on Kendall Walton's thesis that imagining aims at the fictional truth, it first argues that imaginings are inherently rule-or norm-governed: they are 'regulated' by that which is presented as fictionally true. It then shows that an imaginer can follow the rule or norm mandating her to imagine the propositions presented as fictional truths either by acquiring explicit beliefs about how the rule (norm) is to be followed, or directly, without acquiring such beliefs. It proceeds to argue that to the extent that an imaginer follows this rule (norm) without holding such beliefs, she is more immersed in her imaginings. The general idea is that immersion in an activity is a matter of following rules or norms that apply to that activity without explicitly thinking about how to follow them, that is, without 'doxastic mediation.' Lastly, the paper shows that this thesis can explain various features associated with imaginative immersion, such as the sort of attentiveness it involves, the emotional response it generates, and its relation to spoilers.

According to a recent philosophical claim, "works of fiction are thought experiments" (Elgin 2007: 47), though there are relevant differences, as the role of spoilers shows – they can ruin a novel but improve the understanding we can gain through a thought experiment. In the present article I will analyze the role of spoilers and argue for a more differentiated perspective on the relation between literature and thought experiments. I will start with a short discussion of different perspectives on thought experiments and argue that the mental-model view and the conception of games of make-believe are most promising for developing the present analogy. Then I will assess the similarities and differences between thought experiments and other works of fiction. I will focus on the role of spoilers and, more generally, on the foretaste context, of which they are part. This context guides readers of literary works of art to draw their attention to the literary and aesthetic quality of the text. In the case of thought experiments, on the other hand, it (i) prompts them to accept the presence of fictional elements in worldly-cognitive works and (ii) draws their attention towards cognitively relevant elements of the story. A discussion of Borges' Pierre Menard in the last part will show that literary works of art become thought experiments if they are embedded in an appropriate foretaste context. Spoilers, thus, unveil that even works which – due to their length or plenty of detail – usually are not considered thought experiments, can perform similar cognitive functions.

For nearly forty years a violent conflict has been raging in Mindanao where the Moros are fighting for independence from the Philippine state. On August 5 th  2008 the peace negotiation panels of the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were set to sign a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD), a final stepping  stone  on  the  way  to  a  comprehensive  peace  agreement.  However,  a well-organised wave of protest swept from Christian settlers in Mindanao to the Supreme Court in Manila which declared the agreement unconstitutional. This paper presents a chronology of events surrounding the debate, analyses the arguments used in support and opposition of the MoA-AD and searches for causes of its demise, before looking at lessons to be learned for the future, especially regarding that President Arroyo can achieve before leaving office this year and what will be left to her successor.

RESUMO Este artigo analisa o spoiler, entendido como fenômeno típico da cultura participativa, a partir da ótica de Jenkins (2009; 2014). Para isso, traça um panorama teórico, por meio de uma pesquisa bibliográfica, acerca dos conceitos de cultura participativa, fã, interator e prosumidor. Desse modo, busca-se inserir as discussões sobre a circulação do spoiler no âmbito das teorias que observam mudanças graduais nas formas de relacionamento do público com os conteúdos. A fim de exemplificar os traços constitutivos do fenômeno, apresenta-se a distinção da compreensão do spoiler em diferentes narrativas. Por fim, problematiza-se de que modo os temas debatidos ao longo do texto contribuem para o arsenal contemporâneo de discussões sobre a comunicação, a partir da constatação da convergência das mídias que caracteriza a pós-modernidade. Introdução Na contemporaneidade, o público tem buscado e encontrado formas mais eficazes de participar ativamente do consumo dos conteúdos audiovisuais. Se, por um tempo, as audiências foram vistas de modo superficial e homogeneizante, por meio de estudos que agrupavam os espectadores em um mesmo grupo supostamente passivo, hoje, tal interpretação não consegue mais abarcar a complexa rede de fãs, leitores, espectadores e internautas. A produção de conteúdos para diferentes nichos tem mostrado que, quanto mais o acesso à tecnologia avança, maior são os espaços de participação do público. Assim, o controle acerca das atrações televisivas se torna, aos poucos, mais delicado, uma vez que as redes sociais, as narrativas criadas pelos fãs e outros mecanismos de interação constroem um novo elo entre o público e os programas. Nessa seara, o fenômeno do spoiler, a antecipação de conteúdos que serão apresentados nas produções audiovisuais, mostra-se como um elemento típico da cultura

This paper which has been presented at the DAVO-Conference in 2013, offers a theoretical approach to occurrence of "islands" beyond state control in destabilized and failing states, based on the case of Yemen.

The approach explicitly combines concepts of International Relations Theory and International Law.

Major Hypotheses: Whenever the external borders of a state do not correspond with the internal spatial and temporal extension of the monopoly of effective and legitimate use of violence,  a condition of “Asymmetric Sovereignty” is created.

"Asymmetric Sovereignty” produces a temporal and spatial sovereignty gap which may may be translated into a power vacuum within the state and then filled and/or abused by foreign powers or disruptive non-state actors.

En los procesos de paz existen individuos u organizaciones que pueden utilizar diversos medios para entorpecer las negociaciones, firma o implementación de los acuerdos. Las diferentes escuelas de estudios
de paz y resolución de conflictos denominan a estos actores como “spoilers” (saboteadores). En el caso
colombiano, en el año 2016 se firmó la paz entre el gobierno de Juan Manuel Santos y la guerrilla Fuerzas
Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP). A partir de un estudio de caso se analizará al grupo armado ilegal “Clan del Golfo” como un spoiler externo al proceso de implementación del acuerdo de paz, que hace uso de estrategias violentas como el asesinato de líderes sociales y ex miembros de las FARC-EP, masacres, desapariciones, torturas, entre otras, con el propósito de debilitar el proceso de implementación del Acuerdo Final.

The peripheries of the spectacle, the text, and the peritext (covers, posters of films, teasers, trailers, announcements and other signs of finishing work) is fully involved in the preparation of the recipient, in the development of the mood which precedes the act of reception. The redundancy of modern information endows the periphery of a work of art with a very important functional load. The valorization of intrigue and the tension of narrative associated with it are the most important elements of narration which generate interest and control the attention of the audience. At the same time, narrative tension acts as a kind of pledge for narrative productivity and, therefore, possesses economic value, always very significant in the culture of mass entertainment. In this aspect, for example, the fear of spoilers (spoiler-phobia) to a large extent becomes a basis. The spoiler and the teasers act as communicative practices which implement new forms of interaction with the audience. The teaser is involved in the creation of intrigue, while the spoiler destroys it, but both of them are related communicatively and semantically with the charm by the novelty of the product and the interest of the recipients. In addition, the spoiler, presenting a variety of communicative coercion, presents a problem for new media and the relatively new forms of narration, suggesting a long involvement in the process of reception of artistic productions. Although the narrative of the series itself creates a field mapping, the teaser is intended here to implement two communicative strategies: to introduce a new element (what would be aired in the upcoming episode) and to demonstrate the serial affiliation of the episode to the overall integral art of storytelling. The relative autonomous status of this part of the statement from the main narrative also provides additional opportunities for the implementation of some communicative strategies of artistic discourse. The position on the periphery of the text transforms the teaser into an experimental platform, in which it is possible to establish an ambivalent motion between discontinuity and the connectivity of the narrative. Consequently, the teaser is able to deviate considerably from the linear progress of the narrative. Along with the perspective/retrospective elements, it becomes possible to notice even more significant deviations, contrasting with the main product: teasers-parodies and a teaser which presents an additional separate story (a story within a story). The tendency to abandon the linearity of the narrative also makes it possible for us to presume the aspiration to complexify the artistic product.

Периферия зрелища, текста, перитекст (обложки, афиши фильмов, тизеры, трейлеры, анонсы и прочие знаки отделочный работы) в полной мере участвует в подготовке реципиента, в выработке настроя, предваряющего акт рецепции. Современная информационная избыточность наделяет периферию художественного произведения весьма важной функциональной нагрузкой. Валоризация интриги и связанного с нею нарративного напряжения оказываются важнейшими элементами повествовательности, порождающими интерес и управляющими вниманием аудитории. При этом нарративное напряжение выступает в роли своеобразного залога продуктивности повествования и, следовательно, обладает экономическим значением, всегда весьма существенным в массовой развлекательной культуре. В этом аспекте, например, в немалой степени обретает основания боязнь спойлеров (спойлерофобия). Спойлер и тизер выступают в роли коммуникативных практик, осуществляющих новые формы взаимодействия с аудиторией. Тизер участвует в создании интриги, а спойлер ее разрушает, но при этом оба они коммуникативно и семантически связаны с очарованием от новизны произведения и интересом реципиентов. Кроме того, спойлер, являясь разновидностью коммуникативного насилия, представляет собой проблему новых медиа и относительно новых форм повествовательности, предполагающих длительное вовлечение в процесс рецепции художественной продукции. Хотя нарратив сериала сам себе создает поле соотнесения, но тизер здесь призван реализовывать две коммуникативные стратегии: представлять новое (что будет показано в данном эпизоде сериала) и демонстрировать серийную принадлежность данного эпизода сериала к общему целому художественного повествования. Относительная автономность этой части высказывания от основного нарратива дает также дополнительные возможности для реализации некоторых коммуникативных стратегий художественного дискурса. Положение на периферии текста превращает тизер в экспериментальную площадку, в рамках которой оказывается возможным амбивалентное перемещение между прерывистостью и связностью нарратива. Следовательно, тизер может достаточно свободно отступать от линейного хода повествования. Наряду с проспективными/ретроспективными можно замечать и еще более значительные отступления, контрастирующие с основным произведением: тизеры-пародии и тизеры, представляющие собой отдельную дополнительную историю (рассказ в рассказе). Тенденция отказа от линейности нарратива также позволяет предполагать стремление усложнить художественный продукт.