Cultural Studies Theory

cultural studies theory lecture 1 10th apr. 2019 what is culture? schedule: 1. the history of the concept of culture 2. definitions of culture 3. what is the aim of cultural studies guiding questions: 1. explain the development of the concept of culture from the 19th century to today! 2. elaborate on different possible definitions of culture (4 approaches) 3. describe what the discipline of cultural studies is interested in! 1. the history of the concept of culture - destinct culture of hospitality culture is seen as a trait, an attribute or value that combines people from the specific groups culture is seen as all aspects used together from a particular period specific set of rules of what to do or what not to do illustrations or examples from culture attaching the label of culture „one of the two or three most complicated words in the english language.“ (williams) - germany: 19th-century german conception of „culture“ - Herder: „die Kultur eines Volkes ist die Blüte seines Daseins“ - usage of a metaphor of a flower to describe what culture is, aesthetic standards, best bits of pieces of a specific group, or most precious and desirable parts (as of a flower) - expression is the idea of a deep and organic relationship of a group of people - united quality of culture - early and traditional explanation/ definition of what culture is - Introduction: the 19th century, industrialisation, emergence of the welfare state, rise of the working class, urbanization, - idea of technology replacing manual labor, christian faith is attacked from various sides (darwins theory of mankind) - dramatic changes - Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), 1869, inspector of schools, professor of poetry at the university of oxford - wrote book „culture and anarchy“ - used the phrase „sweetness and light“ - greek and roman civilization is used to show his methods of sweetness and light/ culture and anarchy - elaborated and high form of civilization “The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. He who works for sweetness and light works to make reason and the will of God prevail. He who works for machinery, he who works for hatred, works only for confusion. Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred; culture has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light...It is not satisfied till we all come to a perfect man, it knows that the sweetness and light of the few must be imperfect until the raw and unkindled masses of humanity are touched with sweetness and light...” (Arnold 1869, in Giles & Middleton, 12) Seite 1 von 34 - Arnolds view: culture or anarchy, has to be understood in the context of its time: - thought that the working class one day may be the ruling class - culture as the best that has been thought and known - cultural critic F.R. Leavis (1895-1978) - mass culture occurred —> seemed to be inferior - linked to the industrialized and modernized society - situation of world war II - the cold war as a fixed expression of the global politics - social context was the bigger emphasis of education—> to give more people the access to higher education - Richard Hoggart ( 1918-2014), working class origins - wrote about those very precious traditions of working class society - literacy was seen as a very important part of power in the working class - Raymond Williams (1921-1988), working class origins - „strucutres of feeling“: enable communication, provide common understandings of the world - traditional views on „popular culture" (1950s, 1960s): understanding the people and the popular culture - seeing culture as ordinary, and including everything in their definition of culture 2. definitions of culture - so how to define culture exactly? - commonality of thought and behavior, as well as conformity with reigning standards, norms and rules - shared sings and signals - culture means embedded norms all obey usually without thinking about it - the software of our lives, the program we live by, the rules that determine how we think and act= rewritable script (in flux-in movement) 4 main definitions of culture: 1. the „normative concept of culture“ (high culture) —> talks about the great artists and writers of our history and all of the most famous things like icons, restrictive version of culture, william shakespeare are as an example/ illustration of high culture 2. the „totalizing concept of culture“ —> tradition of cultural studies, culture as „whole way of life“; concerts or sports as a representative way of culture 3. the „difference-theoretical concept of culture“ —> much more restrictive again, focuses on a very narrow field of art and education, includes science and intellectual activities, intellectual achievement is the prime essence in here 4. the „semiotic and constructivist concept of culture“ —> adopted by many scholars today, culture as a discursive formation, culture is made out of signs wich are understandable for the members of culture, includes constructivism 3 dimensions of culture: - material dimension: variety of media, language, texts, film, theatre - social dimension: studied in the form of the institutions - cognitive dimensions: mentalities, main ideas in a society - Seite 2 von 34 - is everything culture? what is a rose? woody perennial of the genus rosa, within the family of rosaceae ancient symbol of love and beauty in classical mythology, rose meaning is associated with aphrodite (greek) … 3. what is the aim of cultural studies? - understand the functioning of culture, particularly in the modern world - how far we are manipulated by cultural forms and how far or in what ways we are able to use them for other purposes - why do we need cultural studies? - critically examining the staged version of our traditions of truth and justice or the mythical version of our shared past - difference to literary studies: - de-naturalization, culture is a constructed and manufactured kind of society to further the interest of a specific group - Contingency: … Seite 3 von 34 lecture 2 17th april 2019 the history of the cultural studies schedule: 1. theories of mass culture and the „frankfurt school“ 2. the rise of British cultural studies 3. german „kulturwissenschaften“ and cultural studies in the USA 4. key methods guiding questions: - explain the main ideas of mass culture theory and provide examples. - in wich way was the emergence of cultural studies in great britain linked to conception if class? - what is the difference between „quantitative research methods“ and „qualitative research methods“? 1. theories of mass culture and the „frankfurt school“ 19th century Britain: anxieties over „american populism“ in Britain imagine that the american culture has a bad influence erosion of boundaries between the classes seemed to loom united states was seen as a democratic state wich the Victorian Britain wasn't yet (monarchy still) - mass culture: - wide spread term in the 1920´s and 1930´s - new forms of media and communication wich developed over the years (newspaper, film cinema, radio..) - great concern: new mass media would undermine the class system in Britain, give more power to the working class, destabilize the situation in Britain - reading popular fiction as „drug addiction“ - lower the state of education bc the fiction was seen as trivial the „frankfurt school“ and the „culture industry“: what is the „frankfurt school“?engaged in critique of enlightenment Theodor Adorno (1903-1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) „culture industry“: Tarzan trailer from the end of 1930s—> white woman in danger, threatened by black people in groups, … - the „frankfurt school“ and marxism: - zentral to the ideas of the frankfurt school: women class presented their ideas and values as the one of the whole society, - draws extensively on marxism - popular culture is In the service of the ruling elite the „frankfurt school“ and popular culture: - popular culture defined by commodification, standardization, reglementation - so they appeal to the biggest possible audience - notion of the „passive consumer“ Seite 4 von 34 citicism: - problem of mass culture theory and „frankfurt school“: - seeing culture as an industry or as a product allegedly given to us, bc thats not the way culture works - elite holds the key to cultural truth 2. the rise of the British cultural studies the beginnings of British cultural studies: - important developments after WW2 - rise of education, working class people getting degrees and turning into scholars - two texts regarded as starting points for cultural studies in Britain: Richard Hoggarts „the Uses of Literacy“ (1957) and Raymond Williams „Culture and Society“ (1958) Raymond Williams definition of culture: - abandoning an exclusive idea of culture as the „best that has been thought and said in the world“ (Arnold) - culture is a way more complex phenomenon - „culture is a description of a particular way of life, wich expresses certain meanings and values not only in art or learning, but also in institutions and ordinary behavior“ the emphasis on working-class culture: position of Hoggart and Williams as in between two cultures demanded recognition for a culture that had been neglected as a consequence: the idea of the underprivileged as an object of observation and studying insistence on culture opened english studies in Britain to new concerns: culture was included as object in economy and academics, including ways on looking at culture, language and history - central to this vision of cultural studies: the meanings what texts hold for the audience and what this has to say about the way society is structured - british cultural studies and American popular culture: - ambivalent relationship to American popular culture in early cultural studies - slashes American culture as the enemy for its bad and non victorian themes such as (alcoholism, brutality and sex) - example of rock`n`roll - Richard Hoggart in „The Use of Literacy“ (1957) the CCCS in Birmingham: - centre for contemporary cultural studies, founded in 1964 by Richard Hoggart - stuart hall - thematic shift of cultural studies: it moved away from working class culture, instead of watching at that exclusively they looked at underprivileged parts of society - what role does culture play in keeping this alive? - Paul Willis: main target was youth culture, forming into different groups an subcultures (punk) - Paul Gilroy: focused on ethnic representation of black culture, how culture defined for them, did research on slavery and its long-term effects for todays society - Angela McRobbie: interested in gender-culture, established a major direction in this field - when the CCCS closed in 2002: broad field of research established British cultural studies in Germany: - arrival in Germany: early 1990s, newly founded Journey for the Study of British Cultures - British Cultural Studies in Germany remain a textual, interpretative science - some universities in Germany don't include culture studies in their lectures Seite 5 von 34 3. german „kulturwissenschaften“ and cultural studies in the USA „Kulturwissenschaften“ in Germany: - Germany: tradition of Kulturwissenschaft long before the arrival of British Cultural Studies in the early 1990s - German „Kulturwissenschaften“: more interested in a kind of more philosophical way of culture studies, concepts of existing in a philosophical way - German „Kulturwissenschaften“ should not be confused with the English term „Cultural Studies“ - main difference between „Kulturwissenschaften“ and „Cultural Studies“: „Kulturwissenschaften“ developed out of the idea that society is unjust and we have to study why the society is how it is - both disciplines have developed different research questions, topics and methods Cultural Studies in the United States: - cultural studies in the USA: dealing with the slavery, how to end discrimination, equality for all kind of people - 1970s: feminism as a major influence in American culture studies and universities - Britain: close connection between culture and politics 4. key methods Researching Culture as „A Whole way of Life“: - ideological analysis: - universal distinction between „high“ and „low“ culture is unsustainable Quantitative and Qualitative research methods: - standard methodology distinction between „quantitative research methods“ and qualitative research methods“ Qualitative: focused on interpretations and arriving at an conclusion, also objektive concrete and measured Quantitative: focuses on statistics, numbers and experiments main research methods: -three main approaches in cultural studies: ethnography: empirical and theoretical approach, inherited from anthropology textual approaches: textual approaches: drawn from semiotics, narrative theory reception studies: audiences are active creators of meaning in relation to texts Seite 6 von 34 lecture 3 24th apr. 2018 cultural theory I schedule: 1. Structuralism & semiotics 2. Poststructuralism 3. Postmodernism 4. Summary: the „5 points of theory“ (Barry) guiding questions: - describe the major ideas of structuralism and poststructuralism - what is postmodernism and what is its relevance for cultural studies? - explain the „5 points of theory“ 1. Structuralism what is it? - originated in france in the 1950s, linguistics - essential: things can never be treated in isolation - things we can analyze all are part of a bigger structure the roots: Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) swiss linguist famous claims: a. the meanings we give to words are completely arbitrary b. the meanings of words are relational c. Language constitutes the world - from languages to cultures: - individual speech acts: - 1950s: sausaures model of how language works was seen to be also used in analysis of cultures and literatures - culture could also be studied as a system of signs example 1: Roland Barthes (1915-1980) - applied methods of structuralism to the field of popular culture - boxing: is all about repression and endurance, not to show any pain, stick to the rules, has no identity apart from his own, structure of boxing as very clear observable rules - wrestling: is not about rules, a show and theatre spectacle, pain is celebrated, the rules are to be broken, wrestlers represent not only their own identity but types (good against evil) example 2: story of the hero (campbell, vogler) - story of the hero: all have a typical structure - the heros journey: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. the ordinary world the call to adventure refusal of the call meeting with the mentor crossing the threshold to the „special world“ Tests, allies, enemies approach to the innermost cave the ordeal reward the road back the resurrection Return with the elixir Seite 7 von 34 difference between structuralism and semiotics: - structuralism is mainly concerned with the underlined structures - Semiotics is the science of signs, systems of signification by which groups communicate - famous representative: Roland Barthes Semiotics: denotation/ connotation: - Roland Barthes - denotation: the kind of neutral meaning - connotation: figurative meaning criticism: - problematic role of audiences in structuralism - ahistorical 2. Poststructuralism after structuralism: - originated in france in the late 1960´s - most prominent representatives: Roland Barthes (again) and Jaques Derrida (1930-2004) - most important difference: post structuralism: questions the idea of stable structures in the first place the struggle over meaning: multi-accentuality of the sign what determines meaning? —> different meanings bc it depends on the reader, there is no unchaining fixed meaning text is independent - derrida and „deconstruction“: - jaques derrida: we live in a „decentred“ universe - readers can „deconstruct“ texts: - —> breaking texts down to its little parts can change the inner meaning aka „deconstruct“ anti-essentialism: essentialism? Essence? Essential: —> stable reference and categories wich are fixed, stable truth can be found anti-essentialism: letting go of the thought of an objective truth, bc truth is made by society there can be no truths outside language - 3. Postmodernism what is it? - after „modernism“ - modernism: its the idea of shaking up the classical models, to find something complete new that characterizes modernity - rejection of traditional values of what constitutes art - general way to look at culture, born in the 1960s and the 1970s - general tenets: culture is fragmentary, ambivalent and contingent the decline of metanarratives: meta? metahistory, metalanguage suggested by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1924-1998) in The Postmodern Condition (1979) decline of metanarratives: difficult argument first metanarrative is progress, second would be religion and the third is communism - Seite 8 von 34 art and popular culture: - breakdown of distinction between art and popular culture: - example: Andy Warhol postmodernism and identity: - traditional sources of identity - fragmentation and differentiation of identity elements of postmodernism in culture: - collage - pastiche - quotation and intertextuality 4. the 5 points of theory (barry) - common fundament of much contemporary theory („TPLMH“) 1. truth is provisional —>everything is a creation, as well as the truth 2. politics is pervasive —>all thinking and ideas are shaped by the interest of certain groups 3. language is constitutive —> without language we wouldn't be able to change ideas, it even creates and shapes reality to a certain extent 4. meaning is contingent —> closely linked to language, the meanings and intends are never stable and shifts as well as changes with the death of the author (lost authority to give the true meaning) 5. human nature is a myth —> everything changes through times, its not a biological or essentialist creation and is shaped by traditions, standards & society that changes Seite 9 von 34 lecture 4 may 8th 2019 cultural theory II schedule: 1. Representation & Discourse 2. Encoding/decoding and the Circuit of Culture 3. Concepts of identity guiding questions: - what is representation? - explain the following models: encoding/ decoding and the circuit of culture. what is their relevance for cultural studies? - compare traditional and modern notions on the concept of „identity“. 1.representation and discourse what is representation? - three possible senses to the word „represent“: to stand in for something (flag=symbol), to speak or act on behalf of someone (lawyer= interest of a client), to represent events of the past/ to reimagine them - all three aspects often intertwine or overlap - Work through the use of language or signs - linked to aspects of power representation and reality - the media is not just a window to the world, its more, its not a reflection, it presents us with a specific version of reality, selective and objective angle on reality - depending on wich type of media we are using - there is no unbiased representation of the world that is possible, every representation is shaped by certain mindsets, traditions, views, opinions representation and popular culture cultural studies is very much interested in representations of groups in popular culture Example: representation of refugees in Germany today Why? Example: music videos genre: locations in the videos: the body: female body is used to create entertainment, sexualized and objectified while the male body is used to show strength - Drake: , Justine bieber ,jason derulo , - way in which black people are represented in music videos can be traced back to victorian discoursed of colonialism and race what is discourse? - basic term in the humanities - linked to Michael Foucault (1926-1984) - „discourse“: describes the sum of claims, statements, stories and practices by which certain beliefs or set of ideas about a particular topic are produced, distributed and sustained in order to naturalize these as self-evident or common sense Seite 10 von 34 Foucault on „discourse“: - characteristics: 1. knowledge is not universal -> its specific 2. knowledge is perspectival -> no totaling or objective knowledge possible 3. knowledge is not pure or neutral -> its always colored and influenced by perspectives, main convictions, etc… 4. casts doubt on the understanding of „progress“ -> discourse and power - discourse is linked to power: uses homosexuality to show how discourse works (aka homosexuality as cultural practice) - example: book-> the „invention“ of homosexuality Capturing the essence of something 2.Encoding and Decoding and the Circuit of Culture Stuart Hall: Encoding/Decoding (1980) - traditional idea: communication as straightforward process - Encoding: what the media wants to convey, specific reading from the audience, media encodes the texts, groups information into specific topics - Decoding: encoding and decoding and the audience 1. dominant hegemonic position: 2. negotiated position: refers to an idea of semi acceptance of what the media tells and shows, audience accepts the general content but is critical about the all over aspect of media 3. oppositional position: audience as an active agent to make the meaning out of the media, consuming whats out there but not critically thinking about it the Circuit of Culture (1997) - circuit: (kreislauf) explore the cultural meanings and dimensions of a product - relational model - production: focuses on the producers or authors of the texts - regulation: targets the idea of convention and practices that regulate the way a text is made public or in wich way a text circulates, or ways of using the product - consumption: what the users do with the product, how the text or the product is consumed, involves the idea of how a product is interpreted by the users or the audiences - identity: refers to how the meaning of the text or the product is internalized by the audience, or how to rephrase it, how the product influences the way i think about myself or about others - representation: how is the meaning of a text or a product conveyed to the customers, —> analysis of a cultural text/ product must include all components of the circle in order to be complete Seite 11 von 34 example: the iphone - production: divergent conditions in factories - regulation: marketing strategy used the equality of being able to use it (stars and normal life people), only specific could sell the iPhone in earlier years, - representation: closely linked to youth, music, technics (upbeat, funny, fast ad video) - consumption: - identity: do i consider myself as a more successful person bc i have an iphone? what is it? - another central concept in cultural studies - is both something within us (ideas, feelings, assumptions, perceptions, values, judgments) as well as something that happens to us as we live in the world - identity is about how we define who we are 3.concepts of identity self identity and social identity - subjectivity: the condition of being a person, process of becoming a person or rephrasing it again, how do we experience being ourselves - self-identity: conceptions we hold about ourselves, emotional identification with self discriptions, who do we think we are, hoe do we describe ourselves, - social identity: expectations and opinions of others that they have of us, Traditional concepts of identity - essentialist vs. non-essentialist perspectives on identity - essentialist: the idea of a true and unchaining set of characteristics, are used to describe a certain group, (asian people, introverts, students…) - non-essentialist perspective: true and unchanging nature of people a real me? - who are u? - however: belief in fundamental, ahistorical human nature is problematic - we want to believe that this real me pre exists or is independent of the categories mentioned below Who am I? sex: female/male/none of these ethnicity: white/black/mixed race habits: prefer tea/coffee/cocoa family: a mother/father/son/daughter political views: liberal/conservative sexuality: straight/gay/bisexual religion: Christian/Hindu/Atheist etc. social status: upper/middle/lower class profession: student/teacher/worker/ food: meat eater/vegetarian/vegan nationality: German/English/British/French age: young/middle-aged/old - social constructivist approaches to identity - materialost view of society (marx) - identity is not something from within but product of specific social, cultural and historical situation Seite 12 von 34 relational instead of fixed identities - identities are relational and contingent rather than fixed - the ways in wich groups are symbolically marked (represented) will influence the social relations and practices that society identity and privilege - in western societies, certain identities have been privileged over others - normative construction aka the white straight man collective identity - identities are not only experienced at the level of the individual - essentialist version: - anti-essentialist version: fractured identities and political change? - view in cultural studies: - But: „practical consciousness“ necessary - „strategic essentialism“ (Appiah, 1995) Seite 13 von 34 lecture 5 may 15th 2019 culture and politics schedule: 1. ideology 2. history 3. nation guiding questions: - what is ideology and how is it related to society? - discuss the role of „heritage culture“? - what are the components of a „nation“ and how do we understand the concept of „national identity“? 1. ideology and hegemony what is ideology? - from french „ideologie“: study or science of ideas - Origins of the term: Antoine destutt de tracy Ideology and politics - ideology as masking, concealment - „False consciousness“: - traditional concept of ideology: Example: discriminatorsation of afro-americans - ideology turns effects into causes newer perspectives on ideology - ideology: traditionally seen as tool of the dominant groups - ideology as a „systematic body of ideas articulated by a particular group of people“ (Storey, 2009) ideology and cultural studies - role of „ideology“ in cultural studies: - must be redefined: - what is „our“ ideology?: hegemony: etymology: from greek „hegemonia“ linked to Antonio gramsci: Italian intellectual and communist (1891-1937) Hegemony: how does that work? - the concept of hegemony: example of British crime series: - british crime series in the 1970s: - Example: „Midsomer murders“ (inspector barnaby), British crime series, started in 1997 Hegemony: a valid concept? - gramscis concept could only be helpful if it is not too close to the ideas of the Frankfurt school 2. history what is history? - history as reconstruction Seite 14 von 34 - „all history is contemporary history“ history and heritage - heritage: that wich is inherited - mass tourism, but also pillars of national identity history and heritage: heritage films often filmic adaptions of literary tests period settings link them with „high art“ like literature and theatre images of englishness recent example: ITV series „downtown abbey“; started in 2010, six seasons now, immensely popular - role of aristocratic culture: - Critics: - collective identities: - race, nation, culture - traditonally established through factors such as territory, race, language, religion etc. the modern nation state - common definition of nation: - modern nation state: container of power (giddens) Seite 15 von 34 lecture 6 may 22nd 2019 culture and gender schedule: 1. gender studies: the basics 2. feminism 3. masculinity studies 4. queer studies guiding questions: - explain the difference between sex and gender and include a discussion of dominant gender roles in society - discuss the various branches of feminism and explain the idea of „postfeminism“ - what are the goals of masculinity studies of queer studies? 1. gender studies: the basics what is gender studies? - idea that constitutes a man or a woman in society are laden with expectations, claims, norms, ambiguities and this is the territory of gender studies - a system in wich men dominate women, command appropriate roles for both men and women - academic discipline, important since the 1990s sex and gender: sex: does refer to the body and the biology gender: socially constructed roles that men and women have to fulfill argument: the inequality of roles in a society, patriarchal domination debate nature vs. nurture biological reductionism: refers to the way that biological psychologists try to reduce behaviour to a physical level and explain it in terms of neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones, brain structure, etc - example: victorian gender stereotypes - gender as social construction - gender as social construction: society has certain norms and conventions wich describes certain behaviors that need to be fulfilled by men and women Judith Butler: - cultural theorist and philosopher Judith Butler: constructed as different roles, you can only find fulfillment in picking your partner from the opposite gender - Book „Gender Trouble“ (1990) - the „heterosexual matrix“ Judith Butler and the perfomativity of gender - problematizes the distinction between sex and gender: - „(S)ex is a normative „regulatory ideal“ that produces the bodies it governs through citation and reiteration of hegemonic discourses (the heterosexual imperative) to generate a performativity that is always derivative.“ (Barker, 239) - central to butlers argument: there is no original feminine or masculine behaviour, from the very early age we learn to perform our gender role bc that is what our society makes us do Judith Butler: reception - much debated and very controversial - rather a theoretical view Seite 16 von 34 2. feminism history: - gender studies: developed in the 1990s out of an earlier academic practice: feminism - three main traditional strands of feminism: unequal employment situation, offends and enraged by the representation of women by the media, it argues for equal opportunities, radical feminism contends that patriarchy is the most crucial invention of society bc it divides men and women, creating different spaces for women - partiarchy: social relationship in wich men dominate, exploit and oppress women, it symbolized the heart of inequality between men and women, there are also hierarchy between men, so men do not only dominate women but also other men feminism today: - socialist feminism: - problems with patriarchy: categories of women and men - Feminism/ feminisms Postfeminsim - idea of „postfeminsim“: - Postfeminsim is strongly criticized: - example of „raunch culture“ representation of women in film and tv - importance of representations - “Public representations have the power to select, arrange, and prioritise certain assumptions and ideas about different kinds of people, bringing some to the fore, dramatising and idealising or demonising them, while casting others into the social margins, so that they have little public presence or only a narrow or negative public image.” (Pickering, xiii) representation of women in film and tv: mulvey & the male gaze - laura Mulvey: British film theorist - „male gaze“ (mulvey, 1975): - criticism: representing women as objects in films representation of women in film and tv: Tuchman & the „reflection hypothesis“ - gaye tuchman (1978): „symbolic annihilation of women“ in media - reflection hypothesis: traditionally portrayed women with typical images of women - „traditional“ content analysis: quantitative approach Representation of Women in Film and TV: Traditional Images of Women in Cinema • Meehan, 1983 • the good wife • the mother • the girlfriend • the harpy • the bitch • the victim • the decoy • the imp • the siren • the courtesan • the witch • the matriarch Seite 17 von 34 Representation of women: different media - difference film/ tv and novels: - works of literature: 3. gender studies: masculinity studies what is masculinity studies? - man and masculinity as a subject of analysis - Influenced by feminism and its theories and methods - men have no history of themselves as men what is hegemonic masculinity? (connell) - potent concept of gender studies, born in the 1980s - relationship between men and power, allows men to dominate other men - only enacted by a minority of men how does hegemonic masculinity look like? - commercial sports as major field in which hegemonic masculinities appear: - hegemonic masculinities vs. subordinated masculinities research questions - do all men in society have power (over women/ other men)? - how does the „performance“ of masculinity depend on race/ ethnicity, class and sexuality? 4. gender studies: queer studies what are queer studies? - „queer“: odd, strange, not ordinary - main target: consequences of feminism, to question and challenge the heterosexual norm or nature, Example: little Britain - queer studies examines the representation of gay, lesbian, transgender characters in the media - Example: bbc sketch show little Britain - what makes us laugh in this sketch? Seite 18 von 34 lecture 7 may 29th 2019 culture and ethnicity schedule: 1. race/ ethnicity 2. postcolonialism 3. race and representation 4. critical whiteness studies guiding questions: - describe the concepts of „race“ and „ethnicity“ and give an overview of the history of racial thinking! - provide examples of historical and contemporary representations of race/ ethnicity in the media! - what are the goals of „critical whiteness studies“? 1. race and ethnicity definitions race: biological characteritics, like skin color etc ethnicity: cultural and not biological concept, norms, traditions, practices and values of a specific community or group the history of racism origins of „race“ its a concept that is no longer valid 18th and 19th century: rise of „scientific explanations“ social darwinism: some society are fitter than other societies „racial color“ - racism and „naturalization“ - european colonialism: a relationship between a natural centre (london) and a fringe or periphery of regions away from a centre - “Typical of this racialized regime of representation was the practice of reducing the cultures of black people to Nature, or naturalizing ‘difference’. The logic behind naturalization is simple. If the differences between black and white people are ‘cultural’, then they are open to modification and change. But if they are ‘natural’ – as the slave-holders believed – then they are beyond history, permanent and fixed. ‘Naturalization’ is therefore a representational strategy designed to fix ‘difference’, and thus secure it forever.” (Stuart Hall, 1997, in Oswell, 132) ethnic minorities and multiculturalism - today: western metropoles have substantial ethnic minorities - multiculturalism: ethnically diverse, preservation of different cultures/ cultural identities as a unified society, mixture of cultural groups with peaceful co existence - multicultural society 2. postcolonialism what is postcolonialism? - two basic meanings: 1. can be seen as a period, 2. as a body of theories and approaches - looks at relationship between former metropolitan centre and colonial periphery/ margin - political dimension: persistence and thinking Seite 19 von 34 orientalism „orientalism“, Edward Said, 1977: Travellers, intellectuals, artists produced a version of the orient (arabia, north africa, etc) distinct patterns of „othering“ criticism of „orientalism“ : seeing the medieval structures by autocratic rulers, west as progressive and east as regressive, the west was described as superior - Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths & Helen Tiffin: The Empire Writes Back (1989) - interested in postcolonial literatures - Investive themes and strategies of how these literatures enter into a dialogue with western literatures Eurocentrism - the west has viewed the world through Eurocentric lens throughout history - harsh critique of „Eurocentrism“ in postcolonial studies: - Example: mapping rivers in africa or australia diaspora and hybridity - diaspora: the dispersion or spread of any people from their original homeland - hybridity: refers to a person when to or more identities mix, associated with notions of identity and cultural origins in its most rudimentary form 3. representations of race and ethnicity Representation and Race/ Ethnicity - one of the major field of postcolonial studies stereotypes - representation: raises questions of inclusion and exclusion - Dyer (1977): distinction between „types“ and „stereotypes“ : merging between typing and typical representation of specific groups/ types contemporary representations of black people - invisibility of black people within the media - representation of black people as sportsmen stereotypes: example of slavery - five distinct stereotypes which derive from plantation and slave images (Bogle, 1973) - toms, coons, mulattoes, mammies, bucks stereotypes: the irish - the irish in english history: very linked to stereotypical features such as extreme poverty, ravished by famine, physical charactereristics being similar to black people stereotypes: positive representations? - abundance of stereotypes: should positive images be used to counter that? - Problematic: - so what can be done? race/ ethnicity in advertising - process of targeting ethnic groups in advertising: Example: james camerons avatar (2009) - blockbuster - similarity of avatar to the genre of the western: Seite 20 von 34 4. critical whiteness studies Are white people „ethnic“? - problems with concept of „ethnicity“: usually „ethnic“ means non-white - whiteness as a taken-for-granted universal Richard dyer: white (1997) - richard dyers book white: paradegmatic shift - black always marked as color - “As long as race is something only applied to non-white peoples, as long as white people are not racially seen and named, they/we function as a human norm. Other people are raced, we are just people.” (Dyer, 1) - white as the standard, the norm, the ordinary Whiteness and representation - earliest example on the OED for „white“ as referring to skin color in 1604 - example of Pears soap - binary of clothed vs. naked Cosmopolitan whiteness: the legacy of racism? - whiteness as ideal - whiteness as marker of success - examples: whitening creams ?????? Seite 21 von 34 lecture 8 june 5th 2019 culture, youth and the popular schedule: 1. youth and the popular 2. subcultures 3. fandom studies guiding questions: - explain the rise of popular youth culture in great britain after 1945 - define the concept of „subculture“ and provide examples in great britain after 1945 - what is a „fan“ and how is „Fandom“ explored in cultural studies ? 1. youth and the popular what is popular? - definition of the „popular“: somethings that is made from the people and the entertainment industry - popular culture today: attracting large audiences or listeners to the genre or theme cultural formations - cultural formations can be grouped under three broad headings (williams): it comes up at a - specific time and lasts for a specific period until it gets replaced with anbohre emergent: formed dominant: residual: Bakhtin: „heteroglossia“: describes it as a mixture of high and popular culture the rise of the youth culture in post-war Britain - after ww2: represented the need and the taste of young people that were forced to work -> earned actual money at young ages - pop music as a mass phenomenon - influence of American popular culture 2. Subcultures what is subculture? - usage of the term „subcultures“: relationship in despairing of subculture vs dominant culture/ mainstream culture - subculture vs. dominant culture subcultures and dominant culture - subcultures: not unique to young people - positive view on subcultures in CS: subcultures are usually at odds with “dominant cultures that are conservative, that favour the repression of natural impulses, that promote unfairness and inequality, that rely on power, authority, and force to exert discipline on or control over others so that resources can be mobilized by a minority, that are anti-intellectual and suspicious of imagination or theoretical speculation of any kind, and the like” (Ryan, 92) what is appeal of subcultures? - traditional characteristics of subcultures by the Chicago school (sociological research, early 20th century): the idea of success in work or business, earning more money - attraction of subcultures: Seite 22 von 34 subcultures: individuality/ conformity - one becomes recognizable by being „one of us“ - subcultures demand their own sets of rules, conformity subcultural capital - bourdieu: cultural, economic and social capital - Thornton: „subcultural capital“: - Notion of the „mainstream“: authenticity - subcultures think of themselves as authentic and against the mainstream - „authenticity“ and „being authentic“ are difficult terms early research in subcultures - why did scholars in cultural studies become interested in subcultures? - resistance through rituals: youth subcultures in post- war Britain (eds. hall&Jefferson, 1975) early research: - example: skinheads - example: punk - rejecting the notion of work, middle class values, proud national identity or capitalism early research: „bricolage“. (Hebdige) - bricolage: describes what subcultures borrow from conventional culture and use these elements in new setting or new meanings example: goth culture (Rojek) - goth culture: emerged in the post punk scene in the late 1970s opposition to the healthy, attractive orthodox consumer example: emo subculture - emo subculture: distinct way of dressing and styling - subcultures like emo differentiate and lend distinction to a particular marked identity problems with subcultural theory - relies on unsustainable binaries - youth cultures are not formed outside and opposed to the media, but within and through the media the end of subcultures? - today: „end of subcultures“ often stressed - styletribes instead of subcultures 3. fandom studies fans and fandom - fans: they poach the texts and suit them for their own needs - fandom as particular form of engagement that is different to the patterns of reception of popular culture of most other people fans and fandom: research - early fandom studies from the 1980s onwards: - fans in opposition to bourgeois, middle class „high culture“ (fiske, 1989) Seite 23 von 34 fans and fandom: fans as „textual poachers“ - henry jenkins, media scholar, 1992 - textual poachers fans and fandom: research - more recent fandom studies: - fan culture as a substitute for cultural status denied elsewhere - fandom as integral part of globalized media landscape different groups of fans - three different groups of fans (Abercrombie & Longhurst, 1998) - fans - cultists - enthusiasts Seite 24 von 34 lecture 9 june 19th 2019 culture and consumption schedule: 1. consumption and consumers 2. perspectives on consumption guiding questions: - what is meant by the „ideology of consumerism“? - explain representational strategies in advertising. - introduce and discuss various perspectives on consumption in cultural studies. 1. consumption and consumers what is consumption? - consumption: the process of consuming thing/ products, buying and using things - economic defintion: the purchase of a product and its exchange value, what value does the product have? - sociological conceptions of consumption: we give need to the product by using it, usage creates the meaning of the product the ideology of consumer culture - ideology? we have the freedom of choice what to buy, an indiendual choice and right to choose - what to buy consumer culture post modern consumerism the idea of individual decisions of consumers to keep the system flowing we buy things that represent our personal choice, or manifest our personal choice, our way of consuming things represents our person by consuming things we reshape our identity, it is not neutral products and meanings - consumer goods: polysemic/ connotation-> if products would not have connotations there wouldn't be that many brands, they show a specific way of life (aka apple, ray ban, nike..) - taking part in the meaning of a brand, showing a specific lifestyle - products have rich sets of meanings, „connotations“ advertising - advertising: representational and economic practice for products - common representational strategies in advertising: using existing meanings and then extend these existing meanings and add something new, to convince us that this product is better than anything else - circuit of culture how advertising works: - advertising: central to consumer culture - creating a story for the representation of the product - mixture of rhetoric, theatre and visual design advertising and representation: - people often think, that advertisements simply reflect the social world of real consumers - advertising is not just a reflection, it contributes to what its all about Seite 25 von 34 production and consumption: - production and consumption: - consumer feedback feeds back into production - is used to optimize their products Consumption and lifestyle lifestyle in the context of advertising production sells a lifestyle, means that the consumer is addressed as a specific person rise of niche marketing and creation of lifestyles focuses on target groups, wich are represented by advertising to create this bond between them and the product - not to focus on mainstream but rather in smaller groups to create a more precise product - 2. Perspectives in consumption Frankfurt school & the „production of consumption“ perspective - adorno and horkheimers term „culture industry“: products produced by industries, consumers are manipulated in to believing that we need these products - Ciritque of the „production of consumption“ perspective: Bourdieus „habitus“ (1984) - consumers: influenced by the social world in wich we grown up - Bourdieus „habitus“: things that we do without reflecting, we grow up in a specific social environment and we inhabit these values and things in this specific environment even in our life after we have grown up - „taste“ as an acquired social skill and an illustration of the habitus - idea of classical music Bourdieus „habitus“: criticism - criticism of bourdieus „habitus“: the pleasures of consumption thesis - third way: ethnographic method, observing people in action Seite 26 von 34 lecture 10 june 26th 2019 culture and media schedule: 1. media: introduction 2. studying media guiding questions: - what is a medium? - how did media cultures develop in the past? - introduce the three main fields of media research and provide examples! 1. media medium and media - media are the material bearers of sign systems - Sign: 1. sign system: signifier and signified 2. sign bearer: medium mass media - impact of mass media: voting a certain way, individual beliefs and views, false information that can influence a persons knowledge and thoughts about a specific topic - news media: are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or targeted public, these include print media, broadcast news and the internet - stuart hall: encoding/decoding model, three positions development of media - oral culture: is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural - material is received, preserved and transmitted orally from one generation to another. it transmits history, literature or laws across generations without being written down writing and print culture: great expansion of written culture at the expense of oral culture, the development of printing like the development of writing itself had profound effects on human societies and knowledge telegraphy: broadcast culture: internet: begins with the development of electronic computers in the 1950s. Initial concepts of wide area networking originated in several computer science laboratories in the United States, United Kingdom, and France media and power: - media is not just an impartial provider of news and information - different media organizations: quantitative and qualitative research: quantitative:In natural and social sciences, and sometimes in other fields, quantitative research is the systematic empirical investigation of observable phenomena via statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques qualitative: inquires deeply into specific experiences, with the intention of describing and exploring meaning through text, narrative, or visual-based data, by developing themes exclusive to that set of participants hermeneutics: is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts Seite 27 von 34 2. studying media doing research on media products: texts, industry, audience texts: industry: audience: - studying texts: - in cultural studies: broader approach studying industry: - most typical methods: archive research (documentary evidence) and interviews - often neglected studying audiences: - participant observation, survey, interview, focus group, oral history - Audience: - Jay Rosen: „the people formerly known as the audience“ (2006) Seite 28 von 34 lecture 11 july 3rd 2019 culture and media: tv and film schedule: 1. television 2. feature films (movies) guiding questions: - outline the main ideas on tv news, its structures and content and consider three major research models - describe the characteristics of blockbuster films as cultural products and reflect on their appeal to audiences - what do blockbuster films have to do with politics? provide examples 1. television Introduction major form of communication in western societies television has major competitives nowadays texts: programmes and individual folders the relationship between texts and audiences political economy patterns of cultural meaning - (anything that creates meaning is text) history first television station in 1928 tv broadcasts in Britain from 1936 onwards first tv stats can be found in the 1940s programmmes of tv can easily categorized: news, tv series, documentaries,… dominant medium in the 20th century - tvs „bardic function“ - tvs „bardic function“ (fiske &hartley, 1978): modern barde, who made a living by entertaining - those who could pay for being entertained serves the needs of people and it addresses cultural and political concerns addresses the needs of the culture in specific ways addresses the collective and not much the individual, appears to be the voice of society puts the dominant issues and myths of society on a center stage and telling its relevance, addresses the consumers of this specific program example 1: tv news - news: one of the essential texts of tv - they shape influence and opinions in the society - news can never be entirely objective, bc what is shown is a choice, and the moment you choose you get subjective - they always present a particular version of the world - the give us a viewers an explanation of the way things are and how the world works example 1: tv news and the consensual nature of society (Hall, 1978) - news as end-product of a complex process wich starts with the sytematic sorting and selecting of events - news as a story that is constructed and that follows certain conventions, these conventions have been established in the media Seite 29 von 34 - events wich interrupt the consensus example 1: tv news: structures - topics of news: politics, economy, foreign affairs, domestic affairs, sports, human interest stories, events - different tv channels have different topics of news, depending on the audience the channel is trying to include - traditionally: four prime news values in western news (Galtung& Ruge, 1973): elite nations, elite persons, personalization, negativity example 1: tv news: primary and secondary definers - media does not in itself create items autonomously - who are these sources? - primary definers: very high relevance how their are seen in the public, politicians, leaders of organisations, academic experts, … - secondary definers: outside the centers of power, activists, NGOs, they're occupying less space than the primary definers, to present alternative versions of that what the primary definers are giving them example 1: tv news: research models - manipulative model: very biased, the reader is entirely in the ends of the elite, the government controls ans shapes the media and tv news (frankfurt school) protects the interest of the ruling parts of the society - pluralist model: market of the tv news, structure of tv news, the market cares about specific interests of different channels and audiences, the audience is not manipulated and gets for what its interested in, different audiences= different forms of tv news - hegemonic model: claims that conventions and coats are very decisive in tv news, dominant model of tv news, we all expect tv news to work in a specific way, also includes the idea of primary and secondary definers, we as consumers rely on the voices of the powerful to give us their ideas, consequence= dominant parts of the society reproduce their world view via tv news, but those dominant groups don't need to be politicians, they can also be tv groups, etc .. example 2: reality tv (Rojek, 2011) pften elevates people temporarily into stardom operates by bringing together people from very different backgrounds and social conditions entertainment to viewers of that tv channel reality tv as a post-documentary genre: - example 2: reality tv: why do we watch it? - what makes us watch reality tv? - explanation 1: reality tv is entertaining bc we all know it is staged, its funny to see how this staged thing works, we don't take it as real but as pleasure to see how the tv wants to sell this as real - explanation 2: a kind of mirror to how life really is, and in rtv we can all find a situation of our life or see something that people have to put up with that we don't or we actually can relate to. - explanation 3: sees reality tv as pure escapism, forget our problems by looking at the problems of others, has the idea of kind of a holiday of my own problems, lets look at the problems of others, entertainment is the more centered idea the future of television? - youtube manager: tv will be gone by 2020 - fragmentation of the audience - 2009 is the year that the audiences rates started to fall rapidly - age, taste, gender, political orientation-> the audience seems too fragmented today so there is no adequate type of television anymore Seite 30 von 34 2. feature films (movies) definition: what is a feature film ( movie) - film, movie, feature film - usually between 75-120 min long—> bc filmmakers looked at musicals etc and the best ones always lasted to max 120 min so they decided that its also the perfect length for movies - recording of moving images that tells a story and that the audience watches on a screen history - 1890s: first short films, silent films - from 1927 onwards: films produced with sound - actors and the rise of the film star from 1910 onwards, emergence of the star system, celebrity culture - films been advertised that specific actors are included, modern film stars - biggest early movie industry in sowiet union and germany, biggest todays film industry can be found in India basic plots - seven basic plots )Booker, 2004) that are structural transformations of ancient tales overcoming the monster rags to riches the quest voyage and return rebirth comedy tragedy - all of these can be combined or overlap each other in one movie (example: lord of the rings: overcoming the monster, the quest and soyage and return) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. basic outlines of stories in film 1. anticipation stage: we are given normality at the end, then something unexpected happens and changes the protagonist and/ or he goes on a journey 2. dream stage: things seem to be working out, everything seems to be on the right track, but this is then by the so called: 3. frustration stage: breakdown and confrontation with the antagonist, things now begin to come serious and the positive development seems to be reversed 4. nightmare stage: usually the point of massive dramatic tensions, disaster has striked and everything seems to be lost, the protagonist wants to give up 5. resolution: the fade is turned around, and the protagonist is victorious and reunited with their families, partners or friends, we see the protagonist as part of normality again, we as viewers seem to be satisfied - most viewers are happy with a closed story, if not they're probably unsatisfied and are losing money general film analysis - literary level: interested in the main topic of the film, whats the film about, who are the characters, relationships between the characters, setting, major povs, what happens in the beginning, middle and end, main conflicts, way of narration - dramatic level: who are the actors in the film, is their acting appropriate, from what genre do their come, are they fitting for the role?, what about the location, costumes and probs that are chosen? relates to the idea of performance - cinematographic level: captured the added things by the camera, the editing of the film, camera angles (most dominant angle/ relating to the emotions), how are the scenes shot and cut Seite 31 von 34 (short cut/ longer cuts), what colors dominated the film, lighting, added music, is the music heard by the actors or just put in for the viewers - important in cultural studies: all three parts have to be paid attention to, moving beyond the film itself, what about the content or political social climate of society in wich the film appears, do the topics relate to what is relevant the hollywood blockbuster film - blockbuster: - provides multiple entry points for diverse audiences - access for all-policy as a dominant convention needs to have something for everyone, appealing topic blockbuster films a cultural products - film and reality? - reflections of reality, since films do not only reflect reality but create reality, provide resources for our identities and our self fashioning (example: Arnold Schwarzenegger —> more men going to the gym) - film and television as expensive cultural products - while in books the problems can be risky and absolutely honest while the number of problems in movies is way less bc it needs to be appealing blockbuster films and the circuit of culture: (avatar 2009) folgt am 10.7. - production: special effects hollywood blockbuster, name giving process, media coverage the film received before release, characteristics of a 3d film - reglementation: the film was handed to selected cinemas (picking special locations), the global distribution-> in other countries the film was banned/ censored, rebellion in film= rebellion of real people was feared - consumption: typical science fiction film- genre for a specific audience, but exclusive audiences got there by plot, action spectacle, effects, development of a blockbuster, etc… - representation: how the film was marketed and advertised, frequently advertised as James Camerons avatar (giving this product a kind of authority/credibility), action film and love storytargeting the maximum of possible audiences - identity work: how did it help or contribute to the process of what people see of themselves, Hollywood product provides activists and justice for problematic issues (indian tribe and their mountain case) feature films and politics - compelling question in CS: how do they present certain ideas of politics as questionable and understandable, enemies of bad guys are either big corporations, companies or oppressive governments or dictatorial leaders, questioning major structures seems to be an important part of cinema - example: criticism of authority in recent Hollywood films, heterosexual male protagonist rebelling against an already existing regime Seite 32 von 34 lecture 11 july 10th 2019 culture and the media III- digital media schedule: 1. networked digital media 2. social media: youtube guiding questions: - explain henry Jenkins concept of „convergence culture“ - what is meant by „participatory culture“ and the „prosumer“? provide examples - describe the role of social media platforms like youtube in popular culture 1. networked digital media new media: the internet - internet: more than 40 years old - first email 1969 - important themes in relation to the rise of the internet: boundaries between what is public/ official and what private/ intimate, does everything belong to everybody?, idealized version of the internet: everybody is allowed to participate, cant be controlled, democratic nature of the medium - traditional media lives by corporations, massive power by spreading their influence via internet - 1958- first video games - technology might not be new but the way we work with it what are digital networked media? - digital media: digital technologies are everywhere so the label has lost, even traditional newspapers are produced with digital technologies-> so digital media - when we talk about digital web based media we talk about= networked digital media - allows a two way communication convergence culture - media convergence (Jenkins): describes the flow of content across multiple platforms, is part of the corporation between different media industries, as an illustration of media convergence we can use iTunes as an example - iTunes illustrates the process of media convergence very well, it brings together 3 things: 1. media content like a source 2. computer hardware wich is necessary 3. software for programs to work - sharing and downloading as a part of communication, you see how different media converges (pc, mobile phone, tablet) media is flexible participatory culture and prosumer - traditional broadcast era: “some get to speak and some to listen, some to write and some to read, some to film and some to view” (Carey, 1989)- non participatory - participatory culture: describes this idea: everyone can participate as in receiving, producing/ distributing—> all can do both - prosumer: merging of producer and consumer, today everybody can do both, shifting and changing these roles web 2.0 and social media platforms - web 2.0: described the new internet feuds after the crash of the early 2000s, can be characterized by the presence of social network media, sharing of music, pictures, blogging and the creation of profiles and the continuing exchange with others, - what are social network media? Seite 33 von 34 - bring together different forms of communication and interaction features of social media platforms - features of networks digital media like FB (boyd, 2011) persistency: content is persistence replicability: everybody can repost scalability: searchability: data base with wich others can explore, - mass self communication (Castell, 2009) - „screenager“ (Rushkoff, 1997) 1. 2. 3. 4. the smartphone - „convergent medium“ -> combines a lot of functions - Social media - „virtual mobile social space“ in wich you can communicate face to face, regardless of time and location - „connected presence“ (Licoppe) - „absent presence“ although you are physically in a specific space, you can be mentally absent 2. YouTube structure - platform for content, but not primarily a content producer itself - provides convenient and usable platform for online video sharing - example of „meta business“: channel of communication content - content on youtube - roughly 1/2 = user created content (memes, gifs, vines, movies)-> reloads - another half comes from traditional media companies: movie trailers, music/ music videos, uploads from television shows youtube and diy celebrity - yt and participatory culture: assumes shift in power relations between media industries and their consumers (Jenkins) - Everyone of us has at least a potential chance of becoming a celebrity - diy celebrity: shift in power relations between traditional media companies and their consumers vlogging - vlogging: video blogging, user created content, letting the audience into their lives - self-promotion as principal motivation in means of income, confessional culture—> people share their secrets in these blogging journals while trying to create an intimate connection between them and their fans, similar to reality tv, talk shows or talent shows youtubes role in popular culture - potential site of cosmopolitan cultural citizenship - were we can engage with the self representations of others, provide a stage were everyone is equal, - accidental archive: everything is stored while uploading the videos, youtube functions as a source so everybody finds the content their searching for - competing ideas of what dominates in yt: is it primarily a social network site? wich lives through what users do with it? is it rather a distribution platform?how will the future of social network sites like these will look like? -> to go beyond the scope of… Seite 34 von 34