- the atlantic slave trade
Orientalism – Edward Said
The link between culture, imperial power & colonalism
- “the power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, it is very important to culture and imperialism”
- this means that the rise of dominant ideologies is ensured
- imperialism is a system based on economics
- in english literature, it creates “an accepted grid for filtering through the Orient int Western consciousness”
- the production of culture affects the view of the world of the public
The Orient as the ‘other’
- the recognition of the ‘other’ is mainly attributed to the french philosopher and psychoanalyst Jacques lecan
- Lecan proposed that in infancy the first recognition occurs when we see ourselves in a mirror
- culture and literature works as a way of identifying ‘the other’
- for example the dominant ideology: white male and the ‘other’
- ‘US vs THEM’
Louis Althusser: ISA’s and the notion of ‘interpolation’
- all ideology hails or interpolates concrete individuals as concrete
- society is structured to keep you in your place
- “we are socially constructed”
- “what constructs us is the ruling ideology”
- ruling ideology is the ideology of the ruling class
- you are interpolated/hailed in that system as a certain subject
- marxism
Franz Fanon
- from martinique and went to france
- wrote about how white strangers would point out that he was black
- black man in france was constructed as “the other”
- encourages colionalised people to reclaim their own past by finding a voice and an identity:
- find your culture – your mother country.
- immerse yourself in your culture
- fight for your rights: revolutionise
Gramsci – Hegemonic struggle
- culture is a ‘tug of war’ for power
- reclaiming language – slurs
- culture can change the world
- some cultural norms can overtake others
- certain ideas are more influential
- hegemony is a struggle that emerges from negotiation and consent
- in order to take control of that power, the set minority must rise up
Common: Letter to the Free
- How can you apply Orientalism to Letter to the Free?
- Can you apply Fanon’s 3 phase plan of action to this music video?
- How is the audience hailed/interpoled/etc?
- in letter to the free the imagery of a black mirror is used. this may refer to Lecan’s theory of the ‘other’
Ghost Town
- Where can you identify ‘hybridity’, ambiguity,
Paul Gilroy
- double consciousness: the idea of the duality of “black” and “british”. “British” and “black British” are different.
- hybridisation: as mix of nationalities: cultural polyvalency
- cross identities
- syncretism
- identity as ‘doubled’ or ‘less clear’
Equal Justice initiative: a narrative of white supremacy
- in alabama even after the slavery ban slavery skyrocketed up from 40,000 to 435,000
- montromery biggest slave capital of america
- 13th amendment (no slavery except as a punishment)
- southerners who were angry after losing the civil war killed and murdered black people
- black person 6 times more as likely to be enprisoned as white person
Letter to the Free
- slavery is still here in ‘different forms’ – incarceration
Dubois: the “veil”
POSSIBLE ESSAY STRUCTURE
(note don’t forget to support all of your ideas with details, examples and illustrations from the 2 CSP’s)
- What is the link between society and media (ie McDougall/ Fenton)
- How best to link 2 music videos and society? Postcolonialism
- Postcolonial theory – Gilroy & WEB du Bois (double consciousness, hybridisation)
- Postcolonialism is a way of understanding ‘the other’ Lacan – mirror theory / Edward Said Orientialism
- How can music videos change ideas? Culture as a site of struggle – Althusser ISA / Gramsci Hegemony
- Conclusion
Lecan: Mirror Theory
- seeing yourself in the other
- we use “the other” as a way of exploring ourselves
- for example, if you were black in the 1970s, you would have no appearance of identity due to a lack of representation
Edward Said and The “Orient”
- The orient could not represent itself
- media is the lens at which identity is formed
Hegemonic Struggle (Althusser)
- ideological state apparatus (ISAs) used to describe the ideologies tht are displayed to children through media that forms an identity
- interpolation – all ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, through the functioning of the category of the subject
- a ‘tug of war’ – forced to look and think but you can reject ideology to create a struggle within society
Blackface
- historically popular stereotype that is a combination of mockery, fear and fascination from the white majority