cultural studies Flashcards
1
Q
What is culture? Definition by J.T. Adams
A
About how to live/the art of living, not how to survive
2
Q
What are examples for low vs. High culture
A
Low: popular press, blockbuster, popular entertainment
High: quality press, art cinema, entertainment
3
Q
What counts to culture
A
- rituals
- Behaviour
- Religion
- Traditions
- Language
- Beliefs
- Values/norms (internalised via socialisation acculturation)
- Attitudes
- Art (visible)
- Music
- drama
- Food
- Customs
4
Q
What does it take to understand other cultures?
A
Intercultural competence
5
Q
Who was Ferdinand de Saussure?
A
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) was a Swiss linguist and
philosopher
6
Q
What was Ferdinand de Saussures „idea“?
A
Sign = Signifier + Signified
Relation arbitrary
7
Q
Who was Raymond Williams?
A
Raymond Williams (1921-1988) was a welsh socialist writer, academic,
novelist and critical influential.
Co-founder of the center for contemporary cultural studies
8
Q
What are Raymond Williams 3 definitions on culture?
A
- artistic activity: music, literature, theatre, film, painting, dance
- Way of life: complex, inclusive, dynamic
- Networks of signification, meaning, power relation,
constructed and (re)negotiated by various agencies and
forces; governed by the desire for and struggle over power
9
Q
Who was Stuart Hall?
A
Stuart Hall (1932-2014) was a Marxist sociologist, cultural theorist and
political activist.
10
Q
What is Stuart Hall‘s definition on culture?
A
„The framework through which we represent, interpret, understand and
make sense of some aspect of social existence.“
„Is about binaries that define what is normal, what belongs to us and
what is excluded.“
11
Q
What are macro-social factors?
A
Geopolitical/territorial
Gender
Racial/ethnic
Language
Religious
Socio-economical
12
Q
What happens when identity is under attack?
A
Marginalised identities develop through discrimination and exclusion.
13
Q
What’s the conceptual definition of culture? (3
A
- A complex frame of reference consisting of norms, beliefs, traditions,
values, symbols and meanings that are shared - shared to varying degrees by members of a community
- it guides their behaviour and helps their understanding of the world
14
Q
What is identity about?
A
Difference and sameness
15
Q
What are responses of marginalised identities through discrimination and
exclusion?
A
Individual (try hard)
Collective (embracing + fighting (in politics) = identity politics +
challenging + transformative
16
Q
What is self-identity?
A
- emotional identification
- Defined by commonalities (shared features) and differences towards
others
17
Q
What is a social identity?
A
our expectations
* Opinions others have of us
* Description of ourselves and social ascriptions (Zuschreibungen
18
Q
What’s a cultural identity? (3)
A
- sense of belonging to a group
- Overlaps with social identity
- Media shapes our identity
19
Q
What is truth based on?
A
It’s based on different kinds of knowledge
20
Q
Identity…(4)
A
… is culturally and historically specific
… is always a narrative identity
… is not static. It’s subject to change
… shapes us and cannot exist outside of culture/society; subjectivity
21
Q
What’s subjectivity?
A
- the processes by which we become a person
- How we are constituted as subjects
22
Q
What’s discourse? (Foucault)5
A
- sum of activities and texts that create (cultural) meaning = shape our identity
- Governs conditions and possibilities for how people construct their identity
- Organises our knowledge of the world
- Written influence on identity (for example Immanuel Kant/discourse on hysteria
- The regime of truth
23
Q
What’s discourse? (Barker + Jane)
A
Conditions and possibilities for how people construct their identity
24
Q
What’s identity politics?
A
a tendency for people of a particular religion, race or social background, etc., to form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad-based party politics.
25
What’s national identity?
A form of imaginative identification with the nation-state as expressed through symbols and discourses. Thus, nations are not only political formations but also systems of cultural representation, so that national identity is continually reproduced through discursive action.
26
Who was Michael Foucault?
1926-1984
French Philosopher
27
What’s heteronormative gender order determined by?
* socialisation (f.e. Family, school)
* Media culture
* Everyday culture
28
What’s gender?
* marker of social difference
* Performance of normativity
* matter of discourse
* Historically specific/unstable/melleable
29
What’s performance in gender?
Role-playing
30
What’s performative in gender?
It produces effects
31
What’s performativity in gender?
Repetition of painful gender norms
32
What are examples of sexual and domestic violence?
* rape culture
* Locker room talk
* Culture of silence
33
What factors count to politics of sexism?
* social
* Media
* Education
* Health
* Culture
* Economic
* Political
* Legal
34
Example politics of sexism: social?
* sexist behaviour at work
* Pornography
* Fashion
* Motherhood = no career
* Care-giver for free
* Sports
35
Examples politics of sexism: media?
* male heroes
* Women in distress
* No female directors
* Pay gap
* Cyberbullying
* Abuse
36
Examples politics of sexism: education?
* no access to college
* No/fewer female presidents/professors
* Grant money
37
Examples politics of sexism: health?
* generic medication
* Data gap for female illnesses
* Blood pressure
38
Examples politics of sexism: culture?
* language
* No (few) female directors of cultural institutions
* Separate spheres= housewife vs bread winner
* Stereotypes
* Objectification
* Practices: femicide, male gaze, genital mutilation
39
Examples politics of sexism: economic?
* no/few female CEOs
* Pay gap
* Pensions
* Covid
40
Examples politics of sexism: political?
* no/few female members of congress/head of state
41
Examples politics of sexism: legal?
* in past/other countries: no right to own property, no voting rights, abortion, same-sex marriage/love, headscarf obligation
42
What’s feminism?
* academic and social movement to end sexism
* Rejects sex-based discrimination
* Demands full rights for all women and men
* Challenges subordination and devaluation of women trying to further their interests
43
1st wave of feminism?
19th cent.-1920: struggle of the suffragettes to win the vote/gain political and legal Equality
44
2nd wave of feminism?
1960s: civil rights movement; breaking free from domestic roles, fight for abortion rights and social equality
45
3rd wave of feminism?
1990s: very diverse movement, addresses multitude topics, gender
theory
46
4th wave of feminism?
2010s: pop or postfeminism
47
5th wave of feminism?
2020s: bad and angry feminists, activism: BLM
48
Milestones: 1964?
1964: Civil Rights Act: prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, origin and sex
49
Milestones: 1972?
1972: Equal Rights Amendmend (ERA) passes in Senat, falls in 1982
50
Milestones: 1973?
1973: Abortion becomes legal (Roe vs Wade)
51
Milestones: 1994?
1994: Violence Against Women Act provides services for victims of race/domestic violence
52
Milestones: 2003?
2003: Supreme Court overturns sodomy laws
53
What’s sodomy?
Sexuelle Handlung, die nicht zur Fortpflanzung dient
54
Milestones: 2015?
Same-sex marriage legalised in the US nationwide
55
Cultural studies on gender and sexual identity
It’s a matter of discourse
Is historically specific, unstable, malleable
56
Gender identity is constructed through…
Difference
57
Milestones: 2022?
2022: Supreme Court overturns Roe vs Wade and exacerbates access to safe abortions
58
What’s social constructivism?
"what we consider to be natural sexual or genader behavior is culturally constructed."
Gender is constructed by the reteration of th norm.
Gender is also regulated and these regulations have consequences. - Judith Butler
59
Who’s Judith butler?
1956
US American philosopher
60
What’s polyamory?
Intimate relationships with more than one partner, with the consent of all partners involved
61
What’s monogamish?
A couple that allows varying degrees of sexual contact with others, or is consensually exchanging partners (swinging)
62
What’s relationship anarchy?
No priority of romantic and sex-based relationships over non-sexual relationships, no demands or expectations
63
What’s TERF?
Trans exclusionary radical feminists
64
What’s patriarchy? (Bell Hooks)
"Patricarchy is the single most-lifethreatening social disease assaulting the male body and spirit in our nation. Yet most men never think about patriarchy- what it means, how it is created and sustained."
65
What’s race? Definition bell adams 2007
A social construct that atrificially divides people into distinct groups based certain characteristics such as physical appearences(skin color) acestral heritage, cultural history, ethnicity,...
Racial categories subsume thcnic groups
66
What is culture war?
* a political struggle for control of cultural and educational institutions
* An ideological struggle for political and cultural dominance’s between
conservatives and liberals
67
What’s the original meaning of wokeness?
What’s the meaning of wokeness now?
Original: recognising racial subjugation committed by whites
Now: entire political ideology: woke Americans see themselves as
promoters of the right of minorities, from people of colour and
immigrants of the LGBTQ and transgender communities
68
What’s anti-colonialsm?
* Resisting colonialism and its
effects
* Political emancipation
* cultural self-determination
69
What’s abolitionism?
When?
Die Bewegung zur Beendung der Sklaverei
17th-19th century
The end: 1863
70
What’s race? Definition Chris Barker
Race indicates categories of people based on alleged biological
characteristics, including skin pigmentation.
71
NAACP?
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Eine der ältesten Organisationen der schwarzen
Bürgerrechtsbewegung der USA
1900-1930
72
Harlem Renaissance?
Die Harlem-Renaissance war eine soziale, kulturelle und künstlerische
Bewegung afroamerikanischer Schriftsteller und Maler zwischen
ungefähr 1920 und 1930.
73
When was the black civil rights and black arts movement?
1960-70
74
When was the new black renaissance?
1990s
75
When started the Black Lives Matter movement?
2013
76
What’s diaspora?
Dispersed networks of ethnically and culturally related peoples. The
concept is concerned with ideas of travel, migration, scattering,
displacement, homes and borders. It commonly, but not alway,
connotes aliens, displaced persons, wanderers, forced and reluctant
flight.
77
What’s race? Definition Barker, Jane
A signifier indicating categories of people based on alleged biological
characteristics, including skin pigmentation. A “racialised group”
would be one identified and subordinated on the grounds of race as a
discursive construct.
78
What are examples for structural racism?
* victims of racial profiling/police violence
* Imprisonment: 1 out of 3/ white people: 1 out of 17
* Less income/wealth
* Live in poverty (3 times more likely than white American
79
Structural racism: examples for culture
* stereotypes/negative connotations
* Blackface
* Cultural appropriation
80
Structural racism: language example
Curse words
81
Structural racism: education examples?
* lesser access to text books
* Past: no access = segregation
* Under-funded black schools/colleges
* Diploma gap, few black professors
82
Structural racism: social examples?
* racism violence
* Racial profiling
* Child poverty
* Mass incarceration
* Prejudice
* Micro aggressions
83
Structural racism: examples for media?
* media invisibility
* Hollywood pay gap
* Few non-white producers
* Past: racism in film history
84
Structural racism: examples for political?
* racial divide in Congress/senate
* Immigration, law enforcement
* Housing policies
* Voting registration
85
Structural racism: examples economic?
* income and wealth disparity
* Un-employment
* Poverty
* Labour and housing market
* Credit market
86
Structural racism: legal examples?
race based hair discrimination
* Past: no voting rights
* Segregation
* Immigration laws
* Slavery
* Police violence
87
What are micro-aggressions?
A statement, action or incident regarded as an instance of indirect,
subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalised
group such as a racial or ethnic minority
88
What’s the critical race theory?
A theoretical framework for examining race and racism
89
Who coined the term “critical race theory”?
1989 Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw
90
What’s intersectionality?
Discrimination overlapping and compounding each other
91
Who are critics of CRT?
politicians
* School adminstrators: banning teaching about race theory
* Media
* President (Trump)
* Anti-CRT-Movement
92
What’s political correctness?
Political correctness is a way of respectfully addressing minorities and
marginalised social groups in a way that demonstrates the speaker’s
awareness and critical reflection of their own privilege. It promotes social
change, equality and justice for all.
93
What are the goals of political correctness?
social transformation through (linguistic) change
* Attain more equity for marginalised groups
* Anti-discrimination measures (no slurs, gender-sensitive, inclusive
language, no cultural appropriation)
94
What’s the overlap of Political Correctness and CRT?
* inclusion
* Recognition
* Visibility
* No erasure
95
Who coined identity politics
1977, black feminists
96
What’s identity politics?
It revolves around a specific groups shared experiences of injustice
(marginalisation, discrimination, invisibility, erasure)
* about cultural distinctiveness/belonging
* Political mobilisation based on identitarian affirmation
* New left is invested in identity politics
97
What are critique of identity politics? 8
* universities = full of political correctness
* =thought police
* Created climate of fear
* Reverses the racial hierarchy
* Ignores questions regarding economic inequality
* Form of illiberalism
* Co-opted by capitalism
* It fuelled the emergence of white identity politics
98
What is race?
Race: "a signifier indicating categories of people based on alleged biologicl characteristics, including skin pigmentation. A racialed group would be one identified and subordinated on the grounds of race as a discursiv construct." - Barker and JAne
99
What is a social construct?
It divides people into distinct groups based on certain characteristics
(physical appearance) etc.
100
What’s racialisation?
A process/structure in which people are categorised according to
racist characteristics, stereotyped and hierarchised
101
H.L. Gates
Is known for his pioneering theories of African literatures and African
American literature
102
James Baldwin
= civil rights activist who was best known for his semiautobiographical novels that Center on race/sexuality/politics
103
Tony Morrison
Writer who won a lot of prestigious prizes
104
Bell Hooks
Author and social activist
Wrote about race, feminism, class, teached at an university
105
Ibram X. Kendi
Author, professor, anti-racist activist and historian of race and
discriminatory policy
106
Trayvon Martin
2012
Killed on his way to the store, unarmed, 17 years old
⑭
107
Michael Brown
2014
Ferguson, 18 years old, unarmed
108
What did happen in Ferguson, Aug 14?
The Protests started
109
When was George Floyd killed?
May 25, 2020
110
What was April 20th, 2021?
Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd
111
How to combat racism? Steps to understanding racial bias 7
7Teach it!
6 Advocate /Ally
5
Action
4 Reflection/ Acceptance
3 Understanding
2 Awareness
1 I don'tknow anything.
112
What’s wokeness?
* stands for larger anti-racist and pro social justice ideology/movement
* Recognising racial subjugation committed by whites
* Popularity: stay woke as watchword for BLM activists in Ferguson
(2014)
* Backlash: conservatives (2011) took it up as a slur
113
What is DEI
Diversity
Equity
Inclusion
114
When was European slave trade in west Africa?
15th-19th century
115
What’s Anti-Colonialism?
* political emancipation: national independence
* Cultural self-determination: revision of educational and literary canon,
celebration of traditional clothing, music, holidays
116
What’s Orientalism?
* milestone in postcolonial theory
* A system of patronising perceptions and fictional depictions of “the
east”. Representations that brought the Orient into western learning
117
Stereotypes of west and east
West is: reational, democratic, ordered, adult, cvilized
East is: irrational, despotic, chaotic, child-like, unciilized
118
What’s diaspora?
* transnational networks, dispersal as a result of violence and
displacement
* Identities are concerned with routes than with roots
* Intergenerational differences
119
What’s hybridity?
Cultural mixing, transcultural forms produced by colonisation
120
Reality doesn‘t exist outside the process of ______.
______ doesn‘t exist without representations.
Culture is a signifying ______ of representation.
Representation
Culture
Practice
121
What does representation work with?
signs
122
What are examples for linguistic and non-verbal signs?
Language and facial expression, body, clothing, flags, symbols,…
123
What’s ISA? (Ideological State Apparatus) -
Louis Althusser
Mental control: education, socialisation, family, church, art, literature,
media
124
Social stratification?
Soziale schichtung
125
What’s RSA? (Reppressive State Apparatus) -
Louis Althusser
Physical control through the police, military, judicial system, prison
126
What are examples for written signs?
Non-literary and literary, pop-culture, lyrics
127
What are examples for audio- and visual texts?
Photo, image, digital, film, ads, art, architecture, sound, music
128
How are representations produced?
In contexts
129
What do representations secure?
A certain framework of meaning
130
What’s ideology? Urban Dictionary
How one believes the world should be run
131
Who was the first to use the term „ideology“?
marx
132
What can ideology not be reduced to?
opinions
133
What is typically the ideology?
The ideas of the ruling class
134
The _____ shapes (and maintains the superstructure.
The base is being maintained (and shaped) by the ______.
Base
Superstructure
135
Who was Antonio Gramsci?
* leader of Italian communist party, was imprisoned by Italian fascists
* Came up with cultural hegemony (gr. egemonia = ruling ideas), which
Marx didn‘t use
136
Who was Louis Althusser?
born in Algeria, member of French Communist Party
* Strangled his wife in 1980 (bi-polar disorder)
137
What does Louis Althusser differentiates between?
2 types of ideology:
1. Ideological State Apparatus (ISA): mental control: education,
socialisation, family, church, art, literature, media
2. Repressive State Apparatus (RSA): physical control through police,
military, judicial system, prison
138
What is cultural hegemony?
dominant ideas that control the minds
* Become the prevailing cultural norm of a society
* Ruling by consent, it secures dominance of one group over others
* Instrument of social-class domination, imposed by ruling class
* Produced, reproduced and transformed in popular culture and mass
media
139
Whats cultural studies‘ definition of ideology?
A set of meaning which makes sense of the world (ideological
discourse) in ways that misrecognize and misrepresent power and class
relations
140
What are political ideologies in the US today (Republicans) - political,
racial and cultural?
Political: tax cuts, fracking, military spending
Racial: anti-affirmative action
Cultural: anti-abortion/pro-life, gun control
141
What are political ideologies in the US today (Democrats) -
political, racial and cultural?
Political: Government spending, government health insurance,
minimum wage, UBI, environmental issues
Racial: support for civil rights, racial equality, immigration, integration,
fair housing
Cultural: sexual diversity, LGBTQI+, gender roles
142
What are indicators of class? 8
* environmental safety
* Inheritance
* Wealth
* Income
* Education
* Occupation
* Job security
* Political participation
143
What are markers of class?
* homeownership
* (Un-)employment
* Life expectancy
* Lifestyle
144
Membership of class?
By birth but class mobility exists
US: 4% of bottom make it to the top, in EU the rate is higher
145
Ideology of class?
American Dream Narrative vs. Marxist view
Upwards mobility vs. Class antagonism
146
What does SES mean?
Socio-economic-status
147
What comes with higher-class status?
* good health care
* Speaking the same dialect as people with institutional power
* Social contacts
* Parental power
* Good looks
148
What does HSES mean?
What are the stereotypes?
High socio economic status
Posh, greedy, cold-hearted
149
What does MSES mean?
What are the stereotypes?
Middle socio economic status
Educated, well dressed, well mannered, happy family
150
What does LSES mean?
What are the stereotypes?
Low socio economic status
Chavs, welfare queen, redneck, white trash, hillbilly
151
Whats cultural capital, according to Pierre Bourdieu?
* education
* Language
* Mannerism
* Social activities, hobbies
* Dress code, body type
* Worldview and political beliefs
* Knowledge (IT), emotional skills
152
Whats classism?
Discrimination and lack of respect for any human and their needs based
on their class
153
Whats the belief of classism?
Classist institutions and policies are fair
154
Whats povertyism?
Individuals are discriminated agains and socially excluded for being
poor. This stigma can lead to internalised classism and class shaming.
155
Classism in psychology?
* class shaming
* Internalised classism
156
What are tropes of the American dream?
* the self made man
* From rags to riches
* Opportunity
157
What are values of the American dream?
* competition
* Self determination
* Self interest
* Hard work and ambition
* Liberty
* Prosperity
* Prestige
158
What are core concepts of the American dream?
* individualism
* Socio-economic mobility
* Meritocracy
159
What are promises of the American dream?
* comfort
* Security
* Happiness
* Luxury
* Consumption
* Fame
* Success
160
When did neoliberalism begun?
30s/40s
161
What’s neoliberalism?
(Video)
A normalised culture of economic absurdity
162
What do we associate with neoliberalism?8
* success
* Business
* Team
* Support
* Marketing
* Competition
* Opportunities
* Innovation
163
What do we need to overcome neoliberalism?
We need to recognise how we arrived at this contemporary moment
164
What are 3 basic components to capitalism and neoliberalism?
1. Growth and profit
2. Division of capital vs labor
3. Competition
165
Capitalism: Diachronic: 17th century?
Replacing feudalism, colonialism (trade and commerce with India,
Tulip trade bloomed)
In 1637 prices fell drastically
166
Capitalism: Diachronic: 18th century
Early modern capitalism (textile industry and technology f.e. Spinning
Jenny)
167
Capitalism: Diachronic: 19th century ?
Industrial revolution, resources from the colonies, steam power (coal)
and railroads
168
Capitalism: Diachronic: 20th century?
Mass production (Fordism)
Neoliberal capitalism
Corporations
169
Capitalism: Diachronic: 21st century?
Financial of cognitive capitalism; globalisation and digitalisation
170
Capitalism: Diachronic: 1940?
Economics: Milton Friedman (intellectual head) = pro state regulation
(welfare, health care, …) investment in the market during crisis
(depression) = embedded liberalism
171
1980 (capitalism, diachronic)?
neoliberal politics:
MArgaret Thatcher (UK Prime Minister)
Ronald Reagan (US President)
172
What is social constructivism?
"What we consider to be "natural" sexual oder gender behavior is culturally constructed"
Gender is constructed by the reitreration of the norm
Gender is also regulated and these regulations have consequences
173
Who started #blacklivesmatter?
Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi
174
Who is H.L. Gates and what did he do?
Is known for his pioneering theories of African literatures and African
American literature
Picture of a man with suit and tie, glasses and white beard, no hair
175
Who is James Baldwin and what did he do?
civil rights activist who was best known for his semi-autobiographical novels that Center on race/sexuality/politics
Black and white photo of black man in white shirt and black tie
176
Who is Tony Morrison and what did she do?
Writer who won a lot of prestigious prizes
Photo: Black women with grey hair
177
Who is Bell Hooks and what did she do?
Author and social activist
Wrote about race, feminism, class, teached at an university
photo middleaged woman with black hair and nice smile
178
Who is Ibram X. Kendi and what did he do ?
Author, professor, anti-racist activist and historian of race and
discriminatory policy
photo: ende 30, long black braids
179
Who was Trevor Martin?
2012
Killed on his way to the store, unarmed, 17 years old
photo: black and white, boy hat kapuze über kopf
180
Who was Michael Brown?
2014
Ferguson, 18 years old, unarmed
photo of graduation with green gown and hat
181
Who was Eric Garner?
Died 2014
Photo: seems to be struggling with someone
182
Who was Tamir Rice?
Cleveland, 2014, shot dead at 12 yrs
Photo: cute little boy with hoodie
183
Who was Ahmaud Arbery?
Killed in 2020 when jogging by residents
photo: man in suit and tie, looks like yearbook photo
184
who was Breonna Taylor?
Killed iin 2020 by police officers while asleep
photo: young woman in her 20 black hair, chin length
185
How to combat racism? Steps to understanding racial bias
1. I don't know anything
2. Awareness
3. Understanding
4. Reflecting/ Acceptance
5. Action
6. Advocate/ Ally
7. Teach it!
186
Different stereotypes of afroamerican people
Mulatta: beautiful, exotic, mixed race, “stained” woman --> photo: black and white picture of woman in gown and hat in some kind of park
Toms: Good submissive stoic --> Photo: old black man reading a story to little white girl
Coons: slapstick entertainers, Sambo, Jim Crow --> Picture of black man in very weird position, looks like he is dancing
Mammies: Big, bossy, devoted house servant -->Photo of black woman with headscarf and maid outfit
Bucks: big, strong, violent, oversexed male --> Photo of man harrassing a woman
187
Start Hall on representation
Representation: to depict, stand in for, imagine, present, represent
it is: textual, political, a signifying practice
188
What is class consciousness?
"Class consciousness", however, aims to establish a system 'from each according to his ability' to 'each according to his need', not built on the profit imperative of the ruling class
189
Marx's critique of Ideology
Ideology = false consciousness that aimes to
___ the structure of exploitation
___ the extraction of surplus value from the proletariat
___ the socio-economic, - political system and the interest of the ruling class
obscure
secure
legitimize
190
What are the 3 takeaways of Marx‘ and Engels‘ „German
Ideology“ (1845/46)
1. The nature of individuals depends on the material conditions determining their production --> humans neet to produce this to maintain themselves
2. division of labor: ruling class (eg. nobility, landowner, factory owner) and exploited class (worker) and expropriated class (enslaved people) --> conflict of interest
3. consciousness
191
Classism in economy/ finance?
CEOs are from upper class, trickle down economy
Finance: subprine mortgages started the financial crisis
192
Classism in space
> gated communiteies vs "ghetto"
> gentrification: expelling the homless from public spaces, defunding of public parks
> living spaces: crowded appartments vs lofts
193
Classism in culture and society
> high culture = status, prestige
> wealth adoration
> class beloning and different values
> parenting styles are different
194
Classism in media
ownership
ceo
Producer
Clisches
invisibility
screentime men vs woman
195
classism in psychology
> class shaming
> internalised classism
196
classism in education
>public, private high schools
>quality depends on neighbourhood
>state college vs Ivy League University
> lower SES makes students vicims of bullying or lunch-shaming
> discomfort about class excursions
197
Classism in health and medical classism
> 27 mill Americans are uninsured (2021)
> bad healt, lower life expectancy rate, addiction, disability, nutrtion
> low SES is associated with increased risks of cardiovascular and pulmonary desease
> many live in communites where they are exposed to toxicity, which in creases asthma
198
What are the 3 basic modes of representing poverty?
- the sentimental mode: romanticizing the poor
- the sensational mode: shocking, the poor as crude, grotesque mode, ffocus on the bodily, common in naturalism and modernism
- the precarious mode: marked by ambiguity, it unsettles the viewer; it elicts a precarious gaze
199
Main goal and beliefs of growth and profit?
main goal: profit by maximizing exchange instead of use od value and investment, how: free market and marketing --> result: capital accumulation, free trade
main beliefs: economic growth secures individual's well-being, freedom to act in one's self- interest
200
division of capital vs labor
- wealth accumulation
- inequality
- privatization of the public sector
- mass production of consumer goods
- multinational corporations
201
competition?
- Through competition towards growth (a. Smith)
- responsability on the individual
- impacts society, social relations, our ways of life, habits of the heart
202
What is capitalism?
- privately owned capital or means of production
- to grow
- exploitative
- all about money
203
What is neoliberalism?
- philosophy
- deregulation of markets
- cutting taxes and tariffs
- privatization of government functions
204
David Harvey on Neoliberalism?
- theory of political practices proposing that human well-being can best be advanced by the maximisation of entreprenurial freedoms within institutional framework characterised by private property rights, individual liberty, unencumvered markets and free trade: The role of state is to create and preserve the right conditions ( no trade barrieres, regressive tax systems, no unions)
-above all a project to restore class dominance: succeeded in channeling welath from the lower to the higher class, dismantled institutions and narratives that promoted more egalitarian distributive measures
- has become a hegemonic discourse with pervasive effects on ways of thought and political economic practices to the point where it is now part of the common sense way we interpret, live in and understand the world
205
David Harvey on creative destruction?
= the decay of long-standing practices, procedures, products or services followed by innovative, disruptice ones
- the divisions of labor
- social relations
- welfare positions
- technological innovation
- ways of life
- ways of thought
206
What is the free market?
goal: to remain competitive in the global market, be cost efficient
Globalisation of trade: foreign investments, no tariffs, global corporations are off-shoring jobs
- Deregulation of the finance sector, but also gig economy, letterbox companions (tax heavens)
Privatisarion of the public sphere: e.g. hospitals, universities, transportation, schools, prisons, naturals resources (fracking)
Wealth inequality: rising income/pay for CEOs and top 1%, concentration of ownership, stagnating and falling wages for the majority, job insecuroty and working poverty
207
Neoliberalism
Economy: Free market, Global Corporations, Deregulation, Wealth inequalily
Politics: Pro-business, Global Trade Agreements, Withdrawal of the State
Society/ Ideology: Individualism, Comercialism, Media, The neoliberal self
208
What does "the neoliberal university" mean?
- student debt crisis in US --> pressure = good grades + internship + temp. jobs + top CV
- academic staff: underpaid with temp. contract
- professors should get external funding for research projects = revenue for university (overhead)
209
Society and culture in Neoliberalism
- Working 24/7 (17 vacation days taken by US workers in 2017)
- consumerism and consumer debt
- celebrity culture and weath adoration
210
what is the ethos of self-optimization?
-status and look fixation
- carreerism
- neoliberal parenting
- new "momism"
- entreprenurial self
211
Whats the ethos of self-realisation, - empowerment, - growth
happiness industry
- fitness blogger
- 5 am wake up
etc...
212
what is a body
physical flesh and bones of an organism.
within cultural studies: body is held to be stylized and performed/ worked over by culture
213
What are parts of the natural body
organs
skeletal -, circulatory-, nervous-, endocrine-, reproductive system
214
What are parts of the cultural body?
- organ transplants
- implants
-cognitive enhancements (drugs)
- diet, exercise, cosmetic surgury
- narratives of selfregulation (meditation, health gurus)
- Body modification
- surgury
- drug therapy
215
What’s ageism?
Discrimination against one’s age
* not getting a job
* Being ignored in certain contexts (invisibility)
* Not being listened to
* Feeling out of place
* Also young people suffer
216
Who had tattoos in the older days?
Sailors, imprisoned people
217
Media culture/Body studies:
What was significant of the 30s?
Bodybuilding
Body art
Prostitution
Pornography (in between/in rise a little later)
218
Media culture/body studies:
What was in rise in the 50s?
Aerobics
219
Media culture/body studies:
What was in rise in the 1980s?
Fitness industry
Eating disorders
220
Media culture/body studies:
What was in rise in the 2000s?
Artificial reproduction
Surrogate motherhood
Burnout
Cosmetic surgery
221
Media culture/body studies:
What was in rise in about 2010?
Biometric surveillance (f.e. Health trackers)
Cognitive enhancement
222
Media culture/body studies:
What was in rise in 2020s?
Pornification of pop culture
= extreme sexual positivity
Transgender
223
Whats BDD?
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
224
What does a slim body connotate?
Who profits?
* fitness
* Prestige
* Moral recitude/virtue
=capitalism profits
225
Body Performativity?
- corporeal project: "we are doing bodies"
- body = cultural sign
- body work= eg. diets, exercise, cosmetic surgury: "we are constantly called upon to perform"
226
Body neutrality vs _____?
Body positivity
227
What’s body politics?
... are about the regulative institutional power expressed in government and laws. thereby some bodies are marked as inferior, denied rights, regulated, or controlles "biopolitics is deployed to manage populations" (Foucault)
228
Body politics: The law?
* corporeal punishment (torture)
* Abortion
* Euthanasia
* Genetic engeneering
* Reproduction rights
* Biometric passports
229
Body politics: gender?
* body ideal
* Sexual violence
* FGM - female genital mutilation
* Rape
230
Body politics: institutions?
* coercion of bodies
* Prison
* School
* Military drill
231
Body politics: Racial?
* slavery
* Colonialism
* Human 200s
* Lynching
* Miscegenation laws
* Racial profiling
232
Body politics: counter hegemonic?
* feminism
* Strikes
* The black civil rights movement
* Last generation (sit ins
233
Michel Foucault on biopower
"... is literally having power over bodies; it is about numerous and diverse techniques for achieving the subjugation of bodies and the control of populations...
Certain institutions (psychiatry education, law) "watch unruly bodies, dicipline them, and ultimately turn them into docile bodies"
234
Embodiment as a concept in body studies
Bodies are contingent: moulded by factors outside the body
235
What’s neoliberalism’s impact on our bodies and souls?
* narcissism
* Happiness duty
* “We can do anything” = pressure
* Mental health
* Epidemics of depression
* Anxiety
* Eating disorders
* Addictions
* Burnout
236
What are images?
Visual signs or representations
237
What are kind of signs?
* linguistic
* Written
* Visual
238
Whats semiotics?
Semiotics (also known as semiology) is the science
of signs and symbols; of their processes of
development in culture and nature. Signs such as
words, gestures, and odours communicate
information of all kinds in time and space.
239
What are 3 kinds of visual signs?
Symbol: Conventional representation of an object. A culturally agreed sign
that must be learned. No resemblance. (bsp Baum als zeichen von leben)
Index: Signs where there is a direct link. Shows evidence of the represented
or causality. F.e. Road signs (bsp: baum auf schild bedeutet Gefahr von Baumumfallen)
Icon: A sign that bears a strong (physical) resemblance to the things it
represents: a stylized silhouette, drawing, cartoon, maps. Not just
popular. (bsp: baum als bildchen)
240
Images have 2 levels of meaning.
1. Denotation (literal, descriptive)
2. Connotation (implied, cultural, historical)
241
Visual studies: terminology?
* image
* picture
* Photo
* visual sign
* Visual text
* Representation
242
What was the most important visual representation of 2020?
The video of George Floyds death taken by 17 year old Darnella Frazier
243
How to read an image?
You analyze and determine its...
- Content: what deeper, conceptual themes does the artwork/ visual text convey and how
- Form: medium, design or aethetics
-Goal: offer plausible explanations about the historical, political meaning
- of course, there can be different, competing, and contradictory interpretations of the same artwork or text
244
Visual analysis check list
1. provide basic info on publ. date, artist, medium, etc
2. describe the image and the way it is put together (composition), name design elements such as
3. analysze the meaning of the image (for the artist): denotation/ connotation, genre, intertextuality
4. consider the (historical) context of the image
5. evaluate the effectiveness o the image (audience)
245
Whats digital humanities?
An academic field concerned with the application of computational tools and methods to tradidtionaö humanities disciplines such as literature, history and philosophy
246
Whats digital economy?
The UN warned in 2017 of the threat of widening thedivide between the haves and the have-nots. There are massive challenges ahead, if we are to create a global digital economy to benefit everyone
247
Whats digital distraction?
Information overload = lack of focus causes fragmented attention
248
What’s digital disorder?
Circulation of misinformation, disinformation and fake news
249
Whats digital disconnection?
Being unable or unwilling to engage with difference, resorting to one‘s
bubble causes stereotyping, back lash against globalization and
super diversity. Also disconnected from one‘s self and feelings.
250
What was Web 1.0
1990 www started
1994 J. Bezos starts Amazon
1999 first blogging site
251
What was Web 2.0
2004 Facebook
2005 Twitter
2005 Youtube
2007 Netflix
252
What was Web 3.0
2010 Instagram
2010 Semantic web: algorithm, data banks, speech (siri), wearables
2020 NFT
253
What was Web 4.0
The smart web: AI assistance, smart home, clothes
254
Tim Berners-Lee
1989: submits proposal on „Information Management“. It was rejected.
1990: Lee‘s team invents „WorldWideWeb“ and later offers seminars on WWW
2018: Laments that „The web failed instead of served humanity“ BErners-Lee
255
What did Orson Welles do on set of „Citizen Kane“?
* director
* Producer
* Actor
* Co-screenwriter
256
Who was the other screenwriter of „Citizen Kane“?
Herman J. Mankiewicz
257
What are the main themes of „Citizen Kane“?
* Old age, power, loneliness
* The media
* The American dream or materialism
* Psychology of wealth and narcissism
258
Whats citizen Kane about, according to orson Welles?
... the life of the magnate William Randolf Hearst. More generally, it is a "story about a tragic hero... I wished to make a picture which might be called a 'failure Story'. ... The protagonist of my "Failure story" must retreat from a democracy which his money fails to buy and his power fails to control."
259
Different types of shots
* extreme Close up (mund)
- close up (face)
* Medium shot (mit SChulter)
- American: 3/4 of a person
* Full shot (ganzer Körper)
* Long shot (weiter weg)
- extreme long shot ( ganz weit weg)
260
What’s deep focus cinematography?
... a kind of camera angle that allwos the cinematographer to keep everything in perspective wthout favoring foreground, mid-ground or background
261
What are the 3 narrative levels of citizen Kane?
Level 1: Kane’s search for happiness and greatness - tragic ending
Level 2: Thompson‘s search for rosebud through the accounts of 5
characters
Level 3: Spectators‘ search for meaning
262
Whats visual ambiguity?
Allows for 2 or more simultaneous interpretations of a word, phrase or
situation and can contribute to the richness of a work
263
What’s cinematography?
The way in which the camera is used to communicate meaning. It
includes shots (Framing), camera angles and movements and mis-enscene at the set.
264
What counts to mis-en-scene?
* colour, props, decoration
* Actors
* Special effects
* Make up and hairstyle
* Lighting
* Costume
* Location and set
265
Whats that?
Shoots up at subject. Used to increase size, power and status of subject
Low angle camera
266
Whats that? High angle camera
It shoots down at subject to show its vulnerability and powerlessness
267
Whats an aerial shot?
Birds eye view
268
Whats straight on angle?
Camera is about the same height as the object (default angle)
269
Whats that - position?
Over the shoulder
270
Whats an example for a crane shot in citizen Kane?
Fence scene („no trespassing“)
271
what is zoom used for?
Used to direct attention to a particular detail
272
Whats push in or pull back?
Moves towards or away from a stationary object
273
Whats a tracking or pulling shot?
Follows (Tracks) or precedes (pulls) an object which is in motion itself
274
Whats an example for a tracking/pulling shot in Citizen Kane?
Signing the contract scene
275
Whats a pan?
Tilting around its vertical or horizontal axis
276
Whats a frame?
Showing a single picture
277
Whats a shot?
Sequence of frames filmed in a continuous take of camera
reverse shot: 2 or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a
conversation
shot reverse shot: one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen),
and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character
278
Whats a scene?
Sequence of shots
279
Cuts
Direct cut: no trasition
junp cut: leaving a gap in the continous shot
Shock cut: Graphic dicontinutiy, unexpected visuals and noise
cross-cutting: Cutting away from action occurring at the same time and usually in the
same place
280
Transitions/ camera movement
Fade out/ in: End of a shot fading out to empty screen, pause, then a fade introduces
new shot
Dissolve: Fading out the current shot and at the same time fading in the new shot
Swish pan: Brief, fast pan from object A in the current shot to object B in the next (or
match shot)
wipe: Smoothly continuous left-right or up-down replacement of the current
shot to the next
281
(non) Diegetic sound
diagetic: Dialogue and noises in the story, ambient sound
non diegetic: Score
282
Whats the homodiegetic narrative?
Story is told by a narrator who is present as a character in the story
283
Whats the heterodiegetic narrative?
Story is told by a narrator who is not present as a character in the story
284
Whats focalization?
The ways and means of presenting information from somebody’s POV
285
Whats the focaliser?
The position from which something is seen
286
What is the focalised?
The center of attention
287
When does the story of citizen Kane starts?
1871
288
Whats the storyline of citizen Kane?
* childhood
* At the newspaper (25 yrs)
* First marriage
* Desolution of marriage
* Meets susan
* Trip to europe
* Governor
* 2nd marriage
* Opera
* Separation
* Death
289
Who are the 5 narrators of citizen Kane?
1. thatcher (childhood)
2. Bernstein (the inquirer)
3. Leland (marriage to Elizabeth)
4. Susan Alexander Kane (opera)
5. Raymond (fight with Susan)
290
When was classical Hollywood cinema?
30s-50s
291
What are important works of classical Hollywood cinema?
* gone with the wind (1939, Victor Fleming)
* Rebecca (1940, Hitchcock)
* Casablanca (1942, Michael Curtiz
292
What are 4 main features of classical Hollywood cinema
style according to David Bordwell?
1. Happy End
2. Denotative clarity
3. Linear action
4. Identification with the hero
293
When did humanism emerge?
During the renaissance (1350-1700)
294
What did humanists reject and why?
They rejected medieval authorianism and religious superstition in favour
of science
295
Humanism: What did the study of “god” replace?
The study of “man”
296
How did the enlightment differ from the renaissance?
* autonomy
* Reason
* Progress
* Ideal of political liberty
297
When was the enlightment?
17th-18th century
298
What’s industrial livestock farming?
Intensive Tierhaltung (Massentierhaltung)
299
What’s the enlightenment?
Aufklärung
300
What’s the Anthropocene?
period of time during which human activities have impacted the
environment enough to constitute a distinct geological change.
301
Environmentalism?
Umweltschutz
302
When did Posthumanism begin and what does it question, decenter, reject, critize?
In the 80s, peaking today,
question: the humanist ideal of “man” as universal
decenter: The human’s assumed superiority over non-humans (people, animals,
nature, etc.)
reject: The assumend superiority of “man” which correlates with an Eurocentric- and masculinise bias
critize: Criticises species hierarchy and masculinist, classism racist and
Eurocentric notions of humans (Bradotti)
303
1. Defies binary thinking and deconstructs the clear division between
nature/___, life/____, organic/____, human/____ and suggests that
human beings “have always been Posthuman
2. Conceives human diversity without pejorative Norming of f.e. “____”
1. Culture, death, synthetic, inhumane
2. Dis/ability
304
Posthumanism and the environment:
A) notices the limits of liberty or freedom to exploit ______
B) explores the connections between the human and the non-human
world: ____, ____, ____, ____
C) questions how humans treat other living creatures (______)
D) acknowledges that humans might have _______
E) overlaps with _____ and _____
F) differs from _____
A) natural resources
B) machines, animals, plants, robots
C) industrial livestock farming
D) non-human parts
E) post-anthropocentrism and environmental humanities
F) transhumanism
305
What’s Anthropocene?
Geological time (since the 70s) when humans are having a lasting and
negative effect upon the planet
It criticises species hierarchy
306
What’s environmental humanities?
Study of works of literature that demonstrate the way human life is
interwoven with the natural environment and how human activity
changes the natural world. This interdisciplinary field brings together
the human, social and natural sciences.
307
What’s transhumanism?
Refers to the human-enhancement project that often serves corporate
interests
308
Who’s Rosi Bradotti?
- philosophy professor
- director of the Centre for Humanities at Utrecht University
- trained at the Sorbonne
- taught in australia
- author of Posthuman Feminism (2021) and Posthuman Knowledge (2019)
- in this lecture, she gives an overview of the scholarship on posthumanism: 3 generations (1980s-2020s) and institutions
309
What are scholarly approaches to culture?
* cultural anthropology
* Cultural sociology
* Cultural geography
* Cultural philosophy
* Cultural politics
* Cultural linguistics
* Cultural communication
310
What is cultural studies?
an interdisicplunary field
311
What’s synchronic?
The sum of human production and art works, often defined by binary
oppositions: culture vs. Nature (F.e.
312
What’s diachronic?
Cultures transform over time, also the binary definitions:
Civilisation /barbarism: 18th century
High low: 20th century
313
What’s culture? (Matthew Arnold)
"Culture is, or ought to be, the study and pursuit of perfection ... by means of gettung to know, ... the best which has been thought and said in the world" ... Culture is the source of all "sweetness and light".
314
What are 5 basic elements of the socio cultural approach?
1. Art
2. Norms
3. Values
4. Language
5. Traditions
315
What’s the socio cultural definition of culture?
a national, geographical, ethnic or political entity or group with particular practices, rituals, customs, expressions, artifacts, symbols, normas, beliefs, and values
316
Who was Matthew Arnold?
English poet and cultural critic
1822-1888
317
What’s agency?
idea that people make their own decisions and are responsible for their
own actions
318
When started Ecocriticism, what does it pay attention to, what is it interested in?
1970s
attention: The (literary) representation of the natural world, the “wilderness”; the
countryside
interest: (Un)sustainable uses of energy and resources as discussed in
relevant “factual” and fictional writing
Caring about environmental issues can be seen as feminine
319
What is related?
What kind of proof?
Ecofeminism
Climate change and social justice are related
And proof for masculine dominance in society
320
What is connected? (Ecofeminism)
Why?
Oppressions of women and nature
* women play an important role in agricultural production
(especially in developing countries)
* Women are most vulnerable to drought, floods, stormy
* Environmental destruction is more likely to have a detrimental
impact on women
321
Ecofeminism:
______ places value on productivity forcing natural regeneration cycles
into liberal flows of raw materials and goods
Capitalist patriarchy is maintained through _______ as it puts humans
over nature
Patriarchal capitalism
Hierarchical thinking
322
What’s the socio-cultural environment?
All the surroundings that affect the growth and development of an
individual, society, or any institution
323
What’s the socio-cultural environment made up of?
* social institutions
* Class structures
* Beliefs
* Values
* Accepted patterns of behaviour
* Customs and their expectations
324
What are 5 sustainable development goals?
1. No poverty
2. Zero hunger
3. Good health
4. Quality education
5. Gender equality
325
What are 4 aspects of climate justice?
1. Politics
2. Economics (global)
3. Social (ethnic)
4. Cultural (intersectional)
326
Name 5 main features of cultural studies
1. Methodology: interdisciplinary and intersectional
2. Focus: representation, discourse, ideology
3. Focus on inequalities: gender, race, class, ability, environmental
4. Political goal: to bring about social transformations
5. Critique of neoliberalism/capitalism
