Orientalism– Edward said, the link between culture, imperial power and colonialism ‘the power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism’ ,‘an accepted grid for filtering through the Orient into Western consciousness‘. Media is not neutral, western culture defines the orient as a lesser culture sue to stereotypes. ‘an economic system like a nation or a religion, lives not by bread alone, but by beliefs, visions, daydreams as well, and these may be no less vital to it for being erroneous’
The orient as the ‘Other’-the recognition of the ‘Other’ is mainly attributed the French philosopher and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’
Louis Althusser: ISA’s & the notion of ‘Interpellation’– ‘all ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, through the functioning of the category of the subject’.Ideological state apparatus (ISA), which is used to describe the way in which structures of civic society which keeps people in there place. ‘the ruling ideology, which is the ideology of ‘the ruling class’.
Frantz Fanon– ‘mechanics of colonialism and its effects of those it ensnared‘, articulating the way he was constructed as ‘other’ specifically through the way he was hailed, called, perceived and understood. ‘colonialised’ people to reclaim their own past by finding a voice and an identity.
- Assimilation of colonial culture corresponding to the ‘mother country’ Chinua Achebe talks of the colonial writer as a ‘somewhat unfinished European who with patience guidance will grow up one day and write like every other European.’ (1988:46)
- Immersion into an ‘authentic’ culture ‘brought up out of the depths of his memory; old legends will be reinterpreted’
- Fighting, revolutionary, national literature, ‘the mouthpiece of a new reality in action’.
Antonio Gramsci – Hegemony is a tug of war for power, and that balance can be changed, how certain cultural forms predominate over others, which means that certain ideas are more influential than other, post colonialism articulates a desire to reclaim, re-write and re-establish cultural identity and thus maintain power of The Empire
Syncretism, double consciousness & hybridisation, mechanisms for understanding cross-cultural identities. Paul Gilroy – W. E. B. Dubois – ‘cross-cultural’ interactions is indeed a characteristic of postcolonial criticism. ‘cultural polyvalency’. Two tone movement-eclectic mix of stylistic influences
equal justice initiative- “narrative of white supremacy created” “slavery did not end it simply evolved”
Black British history- David Olusoga
Questions, letter to the free;
- Q1:How can you apply the concept of Orientalism to Common’s Letter to the Free?
- This could be applied to letter of the free as common tried to reverse the stereoytypes given to black americans similar to those with orientalism.
- Q2: Can you apply Fanon’s 3 phase plan of action to this music video?
- Fanon’s 3 phase plan could be applied as the music video is inspiring people to become more educated on their own culture and heritage in order to start the 3 phase plan.
- Q3: How is the audience called / addressed / hailed (interpellated)? Use examples from both the lyrics and the visual grammar (shot, edit, mise-en-scene) to show how audiences are drawn into a specific subject position / ideological framework?
- The audience is called to address the systematic racism in the USA caused by the constitution and the 13th amendment, they used emotive language to demonstrate what has been happening for years. ‘The caged birds sings for freedom to bring, Black bodies being lost in the American dream’. The language used makes the audience sympathetic and inspired to make a change.
Questions, Ghost town;
- Q1: Where can you identify ‘hybridity’, ‘ambiguity’ and ‘cultural polyvalency’ in this music video?
- Hybridity, ambiguity and cultural polyvalency can be show in this video due to cross of cultures between white people and black and Jamaican culture. The two tone movement mixes these cultures in order to educate the society on other cultures by making it more accessible.
- Q2: How does this text apply to Fanon’s 3 phase plan of action?
- This text applies to Fanon’s 3 phase plan as alike with commons, letter to the free it it hopes to aspire people to begin to educate themselves. The specials used this to bring cultures together but to also educate on the problems within the uk at the time.
- Q3: How is the audience called / addressed / hailed (interpellation)? Use examples from both the lyrics and the visual grammar (shot, edit, mise-en-scene) to show how audiences are drawn into a specific subject position / ideological framework?
- In ghost town the audience is called to address the problems in the uk at the time. Unemployment rates were high, violence had risen since the riots and the video helped to call responsibility to these problems. ‘Government leaving the youth on the shelf’ they are acknowledging the problems that need to be changed and they use this to get the audience to engage and fight for change.
