CS251 Post Midterm Flashcards
What is media?
- the plural form of medium
- describes the means or technology used for storing and communicating information
Media today involves…
an exchange between media consumers and media producers rather than one way communication
What is a medium according to McLuhan?
a technological form that extends the self
Media are…
forms through which we amplify, accelerate, and prosthetically extend our bodies for information communication and cultural transmission
The medium has a major impact on the meaning it conveys
True
Media convergence describes…
the coming together of previously separate media forms and industries through computing and digital technology
Convergence entails:
- intersections of media platforms
- intersections of industry sectors, genres, and media forms
What are forms of media through which we negotiate social space? Media are extensions of our natural senses…
- extensions like shoes
- a cane
- a wheelchair
- a bus
- a gps system
The masses is a synonym for …
the people or the proletariat
What does mass media mean?
refers to forms of communication that reach large numbers of people in a relatively short time frame
Propaganda is:
speech designed to convince people of something
What is red-baiting?
a practice in which accusations of communist learnings were used to discredit progressive views and to silence dissent
Who introduced the concepts of mass culture and the culture industry?
Adorno and Horkheimer
Hall and others described a circuit of culture where
meaning is produced and circulated through intersecting modes of production, consumption, regulation, representation, and identity
Spectacle refers to:
- an event or image that is particularly striking in its visual display to the point of inspiring awe
- involving enormous scale like fireworks or movie screens
- technologies through which we look and alter our vision
- debord talks about the spectacle
Narrowcasting…
identified small niche groups not fully served by or satisfied with mass programming and then cable producers designed channels to appeal to viewers who did not fit the tastes or languages profiled of the proverbial masses
The internet is a network that allows for multiple modalities of communication and circulation
True
Habermas sees the public as
a group of private persons who can assemble to discuss matters of common public interest in ways that mediate state power
The public sphere is a public space in which private interest is inadmissable
True
A counterpublic
understands itself to be subordinate in some way to the dominant public sphere but is still a site from which people can speak up in a society
Brands are
often equated with feelings of belonging, authenticity, patriotism, and community
Pseudo Individuality refers to
the ways that cultural forms can define and interpellate viewer-consumer-users as individuals when in fact they are selling homogenous experiences
Consumerism is as much about spatial relationships as it is about social and economic relationships
True
The flaneur was
a man who strolled the streets observing the urban landscape while moving through it
Brand identity shapes the child’s
culture, informing their values, tastes and perspectives
Commonly said that commodities fill our emotional needs
True
This sense of feeling unfulfilled is crucial to our psyches, motivating us to keep searching for the things (relationships, material goods, activities) that will help us to feel whole
True
Brands are tied to desire but brands do not just satisfy desires, they also produce them. Brands sell stories and make promises
True
Commodity fetishism refers to
the process by which mass-produced goods are emptied of the meaning of their production and then filled with new meanings in ways that both mystify the product and turn it into a fetish object
Fetishizaton often
affirms deeply personal kinds of relationships to commodities
Algorithms are…
unmanned forms of data tracking and collection
What does Cohen say social media is?
sites where the spirit of access, interactivity and participation are harnessed and capitalized on
Modernity refers to
a historical period characterized by industrialization, an emphasis on science as a means of achieving universal human progress
Postmodernity describes
a period characterized by a more skeptical view of science and technology
A master narrative is
a framework that purports to explain the structural basis of society, the economy or the world itself
What is the objective of postmodern thought?
To grasp the relativism, instability, and contingency of each system in its various forms
Simulation is
the process by which an action or process is imitated
The simulacrum is
the actual substitution for the real, calls into question the real
ex. pumpkin spice latte (no such thing as pumpkin spice)
Modern thought was characterized by…
a sense of knowing that was forward looking and positivistic, embracing the new and promoting the belief that one could know what is objectively true and real
Postmodern thought was characterized by…
the questioning of the supposed universality of structural knowledge, as well as skepticism about modern belief in progress
Foucault and the medical gaze
- elicits hidden truths about life by looking inside dead bodies through which one could discern, paradoxically, the structure of the living system
Vitruvian Man, the famous sketch of the human figure was drawn by
Da Vinci
Thomas Eakins painting The Gross Clinic
- Dr. Gross surrounded by assistants and others who watch a body under surgical intervention
Positivism is
the belief that we should not go beyond the boundaries of what can be observed
Photography is tied to the drive to reveal facts and truths that the human senses alone are not equipped to perceive
True
Biopower is
- the techniques used in a culture used to subjugate bodies and control populations by targeting the biological features of the human species
- involves managing populations through social hygiene, public health, education, demography, census-taking, and reproductive regulation
Phrenology is
the study of the cranium’s shape and size
Craniology is
the study of the skulls shape and size
Physiognomy is
the study of facial features and expressions
Eugenics is
- guided by the belief that people of certain types and races should not breed so that their traits might be eliminated from humankind
- founded by Sir Francis Galton
Bertillon was
a police officer who came up with the mugshot and fingerprinting, both distinct aspects of the physical body to identify an individual
Donna Haraway theorized the
Cyborg. As a means to think about the transformation of subjectivity in a late capitalist world of science, technology, and biomedicine
Looking engenders…
wonder, not only because we know more when we look but because what we see may engender more questions rather than certainty
Pinkwashing is
a narrowly gendered response to disease demanding breast cancer patients that they be upbeat and cheery, feminine subjects festooned in an ideology of pink ribbons and merchandise
What is the anthropocene?
- the name given to the current geological time period in which the Earth’s formations and environments have been degraded by human activity to an extent that can be seen and felt pervasively
- Nicholas Mirzoeff
Definitions of globalization…
- Giddens: the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities
- Harvey: reconfigures time and space
What is diaspora?
- formation of identity in ways that involve cross-border movement, affiliation with more than one nation, and changes in identity and culture relative to this flow
- used to denote an ethnic community that exists in a state of being dispersed across different places outside the country of origin
The globe was a key visual icon used to signify world power by imperial forces such as the British Empire
True
Satellites serve as
- a primary force in communication and visualization practices
- used to survey land and development, spy on other nations, transmit tv and news images
Bollywood is
- the world’s biggest filmmaking entity
- Indian film industry
Nollywood is
- the Nigerian film industry
An ethnoscape is
a group of people of similar ethnicity whose members move across borders in roles such as refugee, tourist, exile, and guest worker
A technoscape is
a framework that contains the complex technological industries that circulate information and services
A financescape is
an economic framework in which global capital flows
An ideoscape is
made up of ideologies that circulate with a given set of cultural products, capital, and populations
