Topic run-down

Question 1

NOSTALGIA

Answer 1

• Hobsbawm - Use of past to make present more satisfactory, political and societal defining utopia in nostalgic terms (seen recently with Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ campaign
• characterising postmodernism, with nostalgia viewed as being embedded in the fabric of postmodern culture due to the decline of the grand narratives, invalidation of institutions once held in wide regard, the exploitation of the highly lucrative memory industry by corporations and the acceleration of media and technology
• Baudrillard viewing the past as a third order simulation, with some of the characteristics as followed: mediation of the past, historical signifiers without any real reference,

Question 2

DISNEYIZATION

Answer 2

• Disneyization definitions, what it is concerned with, four principles, who created the theory, what it can be applied to
• Theming, ties with entertainment economy and expectation to be entertained at all times, differentiates the same type of environments, consumers seek out different experiences that will give them a source for memory creation (the experience economy), attempts to sell itself to consumers based on experience instead of activities that lie at the heart of it (thereby connecting with the consumer’s identity and lifestyle projects), sources for themes (Gottdiener’s nine prominent themes: wild-west, status, tropical paradise, classical civilisation, nostalgia, Arabian fantasy, urban motif, fortress architecture and sruveillance, and modernism and progress), examples
• Hybrid consumption, definition, examples, Main Street USA putting consumption in context, it is essentially a disguised supermarket
• Merchandising, definition, why it is important, examples of success of merchandising, close links to hybrid consumption as it is one of the main points for consumption in these environments, rooted in the mass production of souvenirs, keeps the images in people’s minds and acts as a constant advertisement for both upcoming and existing products/services
• Emotional labour, definition, importance to inspire consumers to return,
• Disneyification
• Baudrillard’s opinion of Disney
• Baudrillard and the transformation of the sign into simulacra
• Move toward infantalisation
• Blurring of the lines between real and imaginary