chapter 2 Flashcards
(25 cards)
Aesthetics
Refers to judgments about beauty and taste.
Example: The difference in viewing a classical painting versus a street mural can evoke distinct aesthetic responses, which are culturally informed.
Agency
The ability of individuals to act independently and make their own choices.
Example: A viewer can resist a commercial’s intended message by interpreting it differently.
Appropriation
Appropriation means using an image or cultural item in a new way to change its meaning. For example, a street artist might take a famous logo and alter it to comment on brand culture.
Bricolage
Assembling different media and cultural elements to create something new.
Example: Punk fashion uses bricolage by combining traditional clothing with unexpected objects, like safety pins.
Connoisseur
Someone with refined taste and knowledge, usually in art or culture.
Example: A connoisseur might distinguish between an original painting and a high-quality reproduction.
Counter-hegemony
Opposing or resisting dominant cultural norms. Example: Subcultures like punk challenge mainstream fashion and music.
False Consciousness
Marxist idea that people are unaware of their exploitation under capitalism.
Example: Workers may believe in upward mobility through hard work, even though the system limits such opportunities.
Gender-Blending
Challenging traditional gender roles.
Example: Fashion that blurs male and female gender norms, like David Bowie’s androgynous look.
Hegemony
The dominance of one group’s values over others, seen as “common sense”.
Example: Western beauty standards are often considered universal, overshadowing other cultural perspectives.
Interpellation
The process by which individuals recognize themselves as being “hailed” by an ideology.
Example: An advertisement addressing “you” makes viewers feel they are personally targeted.
Intervisuality
The interaction between various media forms and the meanings viewers derive from them
Example: A political cartoon may gain new meaning when viewed alongside a news broadcast.
Kitsch
Mass-produced, low-quality items that often appeal to popular taste.
Example: Velvet paintings or plastic figurines of historical figures, considered cheap or sentimental.
Marxism
A theory about class struggle and the influence of capitalism on culture and society. Example: Marxist critiques often analyze how media uphold capitalist ideologies.
Resistance
Actively opposing dominant meanings or ideologies.
Example: protest music. Artists use their songs to speak out against social issues, challenging mainstream views and inspiring change.
Subculture
A group that differentiates itself from the dominant culture.
Example: Goth culture has its own distinct fashion and music, separate from mainstream trends.
Taste
Taste is shaped by our culture and background, influencing what we find beautiful or appealing.
Example: A preference for classical music may reflect high cultural capital.
Textual Poaching
Fans appropriating and repurposing media content for their own uses.
Example: Fan fiction writers creating alternate stories for popular television characters.
Dominant-Intended, Negotiated, and Oppositional Reading:
Dominant-Intended: The viewer accepts the intended message.
Example: Seeing a military recruitment poster and agreeing to enlist.
Negotiated: The viewer partially accepts the message but may interpret certain aspects differently.
Example: Appreciating the design of the recruitment poster but rejecting the idea of joining the military.
Oppositional: The viewer completely rejects the intended message.
Example: Viewing the poster as propaganda and refusing to engage with it.
Transcoding
Reworking or reinterpreting a media message to convey a different meaning.
Example: LGBTQ+ activists may reframe a previously negative stereotype in a positive light.
High vs Low Culture
vs Low Culture:
High Culture: Associated with elite cultural forms such as opera or fine art.
Low Culture: Linked with popular or mass culture, like television shows or comic books.
Example: The Mona Lisa represents high culture, while a Marvel movie could represent low culture.
Viewer vs Audience:
Viewer: An individual engaging with a media product.
Audience: A collective group of people who consume media.
Example: A viewer’s personal interpretation of a film differs from how a mass audience may react collectively.
What does it mean to say that we are all ideological subjects? How do ideologies maintain themselves? How are images utilized in this process?
We are ideological subjects because we are always situated within ideologies that shape how we see the world. Ideologies maintain themselves by presenting certain ideas as “common sense” or natural. Images play a role in this process by subtly promoting dominant ideologies, such as advertisements that link consumer products to happiness and success.
Discuss some of the ways that viewers create meaning, and how this relates to producers’ intended meanings.
Viewers create meaning through their own cultural backgrounds and experiences, which may align or conflict with the producer’s intended message. For instance, an advertisement may intend to portray luxury, but a viewer from a less affluent background might interpret it as ostentatious or wasteful.
Define appropriation (and re-appropriation), and give some examples.
Appropriation is when a cultural item is used in a new way, often without permission. Re-appropriation is when a marginalized group takes back something that was used against them. For example, the LGBTQ+ community has reclaimed “queer” from being a hurtful term to something positive.
An example of appropriation is when a fashion brand uses traditional designs from a culture without permission or acknowledgment. This can often lead to criticism for exploiting that culture.
