Artur Skweres – författare

This groundbreaking book uses observations made by Marshall McLuhan to analyze the aesthetics of science fiction films, treating them as visual metaphors or probes into the new reality dominated by electronic media: -          it considers the relations between the senses and sensuality in Blade Runner, the visually-tactile character of the film, and the status of replicants as humanity’s new clothes; -          it analyzes the mixture of Eastern and Western aesthetics in Star Wars, analyzing Darth Vader as a combination of the literate and the tribal mindset; -          it discusses the failure of visual society presented in the Terminator and Alien franchises, the rekindling of horror vacui, tribalism, and the desire to obliterate the past as a result of the simultaneity of the acoustic space; -          finally, the book discusses the Matrix trilogy and Avatar as being deeply related in terms of the growing importance of tactility, easternization, tribalization, as well as connectivity and the implosion of human civilization.

This collected book analyzes the phenomenon of crisis manifested across various historical periods. It offers unique, multifaceted, and interdisciplinary perspectives on the issues of crises and finds numerous applications in the fields of literature, linguistics, advertising, photography, and foreign language teaching. The collection is divided into two parts. The chapters in its first part analyze literature and language: from medieval England to cultural changes in America occurring under the influence of the transformation caused by the propagation of print culture. The incisive commentaries consider the works of culture that span not only literature but also film. They reveal how much we can learn by considering how past generations perceived reality in times of crisis. The second part of the book contains chapters, which examine texts related to contemporary crises expressed in the visual media of advertising and photography, but also in foreign language teaching. As the authorsshow, both ads and non-commercial, socially engaged photographs can influence the viewer in a swift and impactful manner by conveying messages of great social importance. The authors convincingly that argue both photographs and ads can be used for social benefit by visualizing even the unpleasant or shocking sides of reality. Finally, the notion of crisis experienced by students of English as a foreign language is analyzed and supplemented by research which may prove useful for researchers and practitioners alike.

This collected book analyzes the phenomenon of crisis manifested across various historical periods. It offers unique, multifaceted, and interdisciplinary perspectives on the issues of crises and finds numerous applications in the fields of literature, linguistics, advertising, photography, and foreign language teaching. The collection is divided into two parts. The chapters in its first part analyze literature and language: from medieval England to cultural changes in America occurring under the influence of the transformation caused by the propagation of print culture. The incisive commentaries consider the works of culture that span not only literature but also film. They reveal how much we can learn by considering how past generations perceived reality in times of crisis. The second part of the book contains chapters, which examine texts related to contemporary crises expressed in the visual media of advertising and photography, but also in foreign language teaching. As the authorsshow, both ads and non-commercial, socially engaged photographs can influence the viewer in a swift and impactful manner by conveying messages of great social importance. The authors convincingly that argue both photographs and ads can be used for social benefit by visualizing even the unpleasant or shocking sides of reality. Finally, the notion of crisis experienced by students of English as a foreign language is analyzed and supplemented by research which may prove useful for researchers and practitioners alike.

Homo Viator in Contemporary European Comedy Movies explores the popular yet critically underexamined theme of travel and vacation in European comedic cinema, while also engaging with urgent topics such as migration, displacement, and the refugee experience across various comic genres. Despite the commercial success of these comedies produced after 1989, scholarly engagement with them has remained limited. Authors Artur Skweres and Adam Domalewski aim to fill this gap by examining how humor becomes a powerful lens through which Europe laughs at, negotiates, and reimagines its borders.Structured in two parts, the book first focuses on the figure of the traveler (homo viator) and their pursuit of meaning, transformation, and comic adventure. The second part turns to comedies centered on migrants and refugees, revealing how comic genres can interrogate and even challenge dominant narratives of exclusion, adaptation, and mobility. Unlike many traditional and contemporary media platforms that often adopt clear political stances and dismiss opposing perspectives, the comedies discussed in this book offer a space where conflicting discourses can coexist—highlighting comedy’s unique ability to approach sensitive and contentious issues in a playful yet thought-provoking manner.This study shows that comedy provides a rich framework not only for exploring movement and migration-related themes, but also for addressing broader issues such as family dynamics, spiritual growth, economic struggle, and shifting urban–rural relationships.

This book reveals the hitherto critically disregarded ludic elements in popular American comedy films, building on and expanding the theories developed by Johan Huizinga in his classic study Homo Ludens (1938) and Roger Caillois in Les jeux et les hommes (1958).