Lecture 2: Representation and Resistance Flashcards
regime of representation
people in charge that are oppressive, the power to represent
Ex: black face: people put on black face and act out stereotypes usually in comedy
Ex: characachur of black child, exaggerated features
Recall Hegemony
hegemony is never complete because people disagree
It is a constant struggle to keep hegemony stable
This struggle is seen in negotiation
Hall: Can a regime of representation be challenged, contested, or changed?
It is easy to challenge and contest a regime or representation, but it is difficult to change it, and the methods are controversial
Ex: IKE & Tina Turner wear white face eating a watermelon, it confronts the stereotype and mocks it
Protests are…
campaigns to eliminate representations
Issues that shape campaigns and their success:
- Political influence: whether the people with power will listen to the protestors
- Industrial influence: one can impact an industry, and thus people will pay attention
-Ex: teen girls have huge impact on popular culture but these girls don’t have political power
Examples of protests
Protest against native mascots: people protested for decades before this practice started changing
Most media and culture campaigns are done through social media now
- ex: #metoo well circulated for BLM
Transcoding is…
attempting to change the meaning of a representation
Transcoding Strategies
- Culture Jamming Strategy
- Integrationist Strategy
- Reversal Strategy
- Reclamation Strategy
- Contesting from within Strategy
Culture Jamming Strategy
Modifying existing signs and products to critique them
Ex: “Thinking Different” Apple campaign; using social figures (such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr.) to sell computers. Profiting from social struggles
Integrationist Strategy
An attempt to show that stereotypes are “false.”
Portrays marginalized groups as “just as good” or “better” than the dominant group
POLITICS OF RESPECTABILITY: like you are at a job interview everyday, must present best self
Emphasis on changing the signifier (the image that the signified represents)
Ex: movie about a morally good doctor who is better than white guy, sought to correct stereotype
Ex: Lena Horne: showed that black people can be glamorous, beautiful, and sophisticated
Problems with the Integrationist Strategy
Who decided what is positive? What is excluded?
The “successful” images make it seem like society is fair and equal: “they made it, why can’t everybody?”
Reversal strategy
Use negative representation but put positive value on them
“yes I’m _____, but that’s a good thing”
This strategy attempts to flip BINARY OPPOSITIONS so that the lesser category becomes dominant
Ex: FEMININE/strong; STRONG/weak
Problems with reversal strategy
It can reinforce stereotypes and create new ones
It requires a savvy audience
Reclamation Strategy
It embraces what has been derided/criticized
Focuses on changing the signified
- keeps the term/representation, tries to change what it means
Tries to undermine the dominant power to represent
Examples of reclamation strategy
pink triangle used to represent gays in concentration camps is now on t shirts to represent pride
Queer used to be a slur now it is not
“Bitch Magazine” (bitch: a word used against women wielding power)
Chow: if we call ourselves yellow
Problems with the reclamation strategy
Relies on a savvy audience
Circulates difficult signs
- Can all signs really be reclaimed (swastika)
