LIT 249: Cultural Studies

LIT 249: Cultural Studies

Download course outline
...................................................................................................................................................................................
Notice:

Make-up class and quiz

Friday, December 13, 2013 @ 9:00 am.
........................................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................................
Final Exam Syllabus:

"The Precession of Simulacra" by Jean Baudrillard &

"Cultural Production" by Terry Lovell
........................................................................................................................................................................................

"Cultural Production" by Terry Lovell

Final Lecture on Cultural Production

Lovell observes that it is not possible to determine the use-value of a product without investigating its actual use. However, Marx did not say anything about the use-value of a product, but its labour power. And his ignorance to the use-value of a product results from the indifference of capitalism. Capitalist economy does not have any concern for the use-value of a commodity. Its chief concern is surplus-value, that means profit. And making profit from a product depends on its value-form (i.e. market value), not on use-value. And the value-form of a commodity relies on the labour spent for its production. Still a commodity’s use-value must be considered, otherwise people won’t buy it. As a result, capitalist producers are highly interested in creating demands or wants in people which will lead the consumers buy their product.    

Then Lovell goes on to mark a difference between ‘left pessimism’ and Marxism. The transformation of cultural production into capitalist commodity production is not a new incident and is usually connected to ‘left pessimism’. According to ‘left pessimism’ cultural production often refers to the production of cheap goods. The reason shown in favour of this argument is that plainness and mildness form “the lowest common denominator or public taste” whereas public taste is the main constraint of reaching the largest market. But ‘left pessimism’ has failed to show logic in its favour from the writings of Marx. Marx viewed that creation of demands in consumers is the main justification of capitalism. And whereas Marx sees the civilizing effects of creation of demands as a positive element of capitalism, ‘left pessimism’ notices only a loss of standards, a cultural devaluation process. Again, on the contrary, Marx has not acknowledged anything called ‘second-rate goods’. Besides, to Marx there is no such thing as is called ‘false needs’. As all use-values cannot take the form of commodity, so the development of the commodity cannot transform use-values. Similarly creation of demands does not necessarily indicate the loss of quality. Moreover, the tradition of hand-made craft product considers standardization as a loss. For example, home-made foods and restaurant-cooked foods are not the same in taste and quality. Again, you might like to have a grand dinner with restaurant-cooked rich foods but your home-made foods appeal you on a daily basis for its mediocre and classic taste and quality which is impossible in the case of outside foods.

In ‘some contradictions of capitalist penetration of cultural production’ Lovell focuses on the contradiction between capitalist production and cultural production and attempts to justify the commercialization of cultural production following the capitalist ideology of surplus value. Marx views that the key to capitalist commodity production lies in the difference between the use-value and the value of the commodity labour-power. Labour-power is that commodity which enables a worker to create value. When a capitalist producer pays less exchange-value (the wage) to the labour-power than the use-value of a product, the surplus-value remains as profit. Capitalist economy is guided by this ideology of surplus-value (i.e. profit making). In a similar pattern, the use-value of a product may be different from its value. That’s why Marx suggests that commodities need to be produced in proportion to social necessity. But determining the social necessity of commodities is not a simple job. However, in Volume II of Capital Marx shows how equilibrium between individual consumption and collective consumption may be maintained. But Ernest Mandel views that disequilibrium whether in greater or lesser degree must be the norm in commodity production.

However, all the diverse needs created by capitalism are not, or cannot be, met by the purchase and sale of products. Because much ideological production takes place in schools, homes, mosques, etc. and therefore, in all of these the production of ideological effect does not depend on the consumption of a commodity. But this idea is not universal, that is the vice versa may happen. I mean the production of ideological effect may be subject to the consumption of product. For example, if you want to learn about and apply the capitalist ideology of Karl Marx, you have to purchase Capital written by him which falls into the category of consumption of a product. The reason is that this book is produced by some publishing company for collective consumption (purchase by large number of people) in order to make profit. If not, who will invest money for publishing books in this era of global capitalism? Same thing is applicable with respect to films, television programmes, etc. Moreover, the ideological effect of a cultural product and its use-value may not compatible for a consumer. Take for example, a television programme which has been produced for the purpose of creating a particular ideological effect in you. That programme is usually sponsored by some consumer products (soap, powder, spice, etc.). And while you watch that programme you see the advertisements of those products which disrupt your smooth entertainment and learning of the attempted ideology. In this case, usually there is conflict between the interest of capitalist commodity production and cultural production.  This example illustrates that cultural production may be interested in surplus-value, i.e. the producer of the television programme sells the programme to a capitalist commodity producer at a higher price than the money s/he spent for producing it. And when surplus-value may be extracted from cultural production, with all other aspects keeping equal, a group of capitalists may be interested in producing such cultural commodities. For example, remember the publishing companies like Norton, McGraw Hill, Penguin Books, etc and film producing companies like Paramount, Warner Brothers, etc. Thus cultural production in the age of capitalism has penetrated into the area of capitalist commodity production.            

In ‘use-value, and the pleasure of the text’ Lovell provides her views on the utility-value of cultural products and their extent of satisfaction when consumed. The section begins with a shift from capitalist commodity production to capitalist commodity consumption. She declares it unfortunate that there is no Marxist theory related to capitalist commodity consumption. Though Frankfurt School raised some questions about it, the issues were neglected on the pretext of ‘humanist’ and ‘historicist’.   

The author writes that had there been any Marxist theory of consumption, it would have had use-value as its central category and would have focused on ‘the pleasure of the text’. Though Jacques Lacan and Louis Althusser related cultural studies to this important issue of pleasure, its meaning has been restricted to the narrow Freudian sense (i.e. Instincts drive and direct behavior, the goal of which is the satisfaction of needs derived from the instincts. Needs create tension, and behavior is directed towards reduction of this tension. This concept of needs is called the Pleasure Principle, the attempt to keep excitation or tension as low as possible.). Cultural products are such products that communicate the feeling and sensibility which originate from communal experience and individual desires and pleasures. “The pleasure of the text [i.e. books, films, television programmes, etc] ” come at least to some degree from combined utopias[1], social wish fulfillment and social aspirations.

No matter how the centre and nature of the ‘use-values’ of cultural commodities are, capitalist producers of these products will attempt to sell them at market for a higher price for receiving surplus-value [i.e. making profit]. The capitalist producer need ‘give the public what it wants’ and what it wants is not necessarily fair to bourgeois ideology[2].

An important question here is – are the wants the independent expression of the random and varied desires of the sovereign consumer? The answer is “Wants are systematically, socially produced, and their production is not independent of the dominant mode of production of the society in which they occur” (p. 481). In one hand, wants are partially created by the capitalist commodity producers and on the other hand, commodities are produced for meeting those wants. Thereby the capitalist commodity producers are benefitted. And for their own interest they won’t allow the wants of the consumers to be left at their whim. So, capitalist commodity consumers are developing lots of stimulating and thriving wants for their consumers. Next, Lovell views “Wants are not natural or eternal” (p. 481). But this view is partially true. The reason is some wants like food, clothes, accommodation, etc are natural and eternal. Thus, it is clear that “… the production of wants is never fully under the control of the dominant class” (p. 481). Consequently, capitalism would not desire to satisfy some consumer needs, some would be inimical to its interests and others would be impossible to meet, and difficult to control.            

The intrusion of capitalism into cultural (commodity) production has become a matter of great concern for Gramsci’s ‘traditional intellectuals’.  Many have considered this a threat to morality of the consumers. For example, the production of novels, films, and television programmes have created tension in people at different times. In the eighteenth century the rise of the novel took many people aback for its morally harmful effects on its readers. Next, in the nineteen thirties anxieties of the same category developed over the production of films and over the production of television programmes in the nineteen fifties. Intellectuals viewed that exposure to media containing violence and pornography may cause weak-minded children and adolescents go astray. However, cultural production like capitalist commodity production is not independent of capitalist ideology. Because of the continuous growth of capitalism the role of state has expanded. As a result, state needs to censor films so that they don’t contain excessive vulgar scenes and violence.  Even state interferes in the production of books and broadcast of television programmes when it feels necessary of doing so.

In conclusion, it is obvious that Marxist perspective does not produce any acceptable grounds for analysis of capitalist intrusion in cultural commodity produced by different media. It is also clear that cultural commodities probably “express a wide variety of ideas, emotions, values and sensibilities” (p. 482). And some of these ideas, emotions, values, and sensibilities are impacted by the dominant ideology whereas many of them are born from class experience and aspirations which are contrary to capitalism. However, the effects and aesthetic value of cultural commodities cannot be measured by us even if their production is impacted by capitalist ideology of commodity production.                            

---

[1] See ‘Soap opera and utopia’ by Christine Geraghty.

[2] The dominant ideology of every society is the ideology of the dominant class.

Reference:

Storey, J. (1998). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. New York: Longman.

"The Precession of Simulacra" by Jean Baudrillard     

Download Text

Lecture sheet 1: The Precession of Simulacra

Jean Baudrillard begins his essay “The Precession of Simulacra” with a quote from Ecclesiastes. The quotation says that simulacrum (i.e. a copy of something) never hides the truth of originality, rather the originality of an object conceals that there is no copy of it. Thus simulacrum itself is not false, it is true. Baudrillard then goes to set an example of simulacrum. He exploits the allegory of simulation of the Borges' tale. In the story of Borges an Emperor ordered his cartographers to draw a detailed map of his empire. The cartographers worked on it so sincerely and minutely that it explained every element of the empire. The Emperor was very happy with the map. Later the empire was ruined with the passage of time. However, the map remained unchanged. Therefore, the map (i.e. a simulation of the geographical entity of the empire) became the reality. Hence, in the case of Borges' tale simulation replaced reality.

Next, the author observes that at present our consideration is not that map, rather our thought is far distant, it is the “mirror or the concept” (p. 350). Today we don't require any original object like that territory in Borges' tale, or a substance, for simulation. People nowadays can make a copy of an object from their concept. This means people can make a copy of something which yet has not come into reality, “the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal” (p. 350). For example, think that you want to purchase a flat from a real estate company. When you talk to them, they show you how your flat will look. The building has not yet been constructed, but they have made a design of it. The building, its floors, flats (including the one you want to buy), etc. will be constructed following the design. Seeing the picture you make decision whether you like the flat and you want to buy it or not. In this case the design of your flat (i.e. a simulation) is the reality whereas the original flat is a simulation. Because you will judge your flat when constructed in terms of the design of it. Thereby nowadays originality no longer comes first, rather simulation comes first- PRECESSION OF SIMULACRA- and originality comes later. Consequently, the ideas presented in the tale have turned upside down for our contemporary culture and society. Now we can make a copy without a real object, we can damage an object without its existence in reality. If the real estate company makes any changes in the design of your flat (say for minimizing their construction cost), your flat can be partially damaged.

Baudrillard says that the fable, even changed, is useless today. But the allegory of the Empire in it is significant for us. This is because “present-day simulators” try to make the real object matching with their simulation models. Imperialists at present try to extend their empire following a map, simulation of reality. Furthermore, the concern is no longer either of the map or of the territory. Rather it is more of the magic, charm, and imagination of the simulators and the cartographers. With the disappearance of the simulators or their magic, charm and imagination the simulation may disappear and with the disappearance of the simulation, the reality may disappear. What an irony! Again we no longer need “the mirror of being and appearances, of the real and its concept” (p.351). Because in many cases the imagination of the simulators has been replaced by genetic miniaturization which works as a dimension for simulation. Hence, miniaturization is being used for production of simulation models. The author says:

The real is produced from miniaturised units, from matrices, memory banks and command models - and with these it can be reproduced an indefinite number of times. It no longer has to be rational, since it is no longer measured against some ideal or negative instance. It is nothing more than operational. (p. 351)

Thus since no imagination is involved in production of simulation, it is no longer treated as real. Rather it is treated as hyperreal. The simulation is done “in a hyperspace without atmosphere” (p. 351). Therefore, in many walks of our present lives we are now living in a state of hyper-reality.

The space which is referred to in this essay is one of unreal, false and of liquidation-- the LCD (i.e. Liquid Crystal Display) monitor. It is the place where the artificial images and signs merge for shaping a simulated object. This operates with the help of some computer software built on “all binary oppositions and all combinatory algebra” (p. 351). Thus to produce the real object is not any longer necessary. Because the computer software uses the ideas from simulation models. On the other hand, since there is no production of real object, there is no question of death of it. Rather the computer helps the old models resurrect for building another new model. Thus in the hyperspace of the computer, apart from real space, modelling and remodelling take place times and again from artificial images and signs for building some hyperreal object: “A hyperreal henceforth sheltered from the imaginary, and from any distinction between the real and the imaginary, leaving room only for the orbital recurrence of models and the simulated generation of difference” (p. 351).

Next, Baudrillard discusses the difference between simulation and dissimulation. Simulation means to pretend to have what one does not have, whereas dissimulation means to pretend not to have what one has. Thus simulation implies absence and dissimulation implies presence. But the matter is very complicated. Because neither simulation nor dissimulation impacts or changes the reality. Rather, simulation transcends the difference between true and false and real and imaginary. For example, a person who pretends to be ill, stays in bed by pretending to have some symptoms of illness. This does not cause any change to the symptoms of illness. Rather, the medical science and psychology fall into trouble. This is because medicine and psychology can treat the real illness, not a fake illness. Since both simulation and dissimulation mask the reality the realists, either a doctor or a psychologist, fails to treat illness. Because the reference of the treatment or prescription of medicine cease to exist in such a case of illness.

Then, the author goes to argue that when such a state is reached (“outside of medicine”), a new model is introduced entitled simulacrum: “the affair goes back to religion and the simulacrum of divinity” (p. 352). The idea of the existence of god, the power of religion, and holiness are often represented by images. Inside a church there are usually images of Jesus Christ, his holiness, and power of religion. Such representations of religion, power, holiness, etc are worshiped by the followers of that church-goers. Such worship with the passage of time may cause problems. This is because the worshipers may take the simulacra of religion, god, holiness to be real, whereas they are simply images and as such are unreal. Thus the iconoclasts trouble the existence of reality. Take for example, the use and carrying of the image of Jesus Christ's crucification by the Jesuits. Many Christians use that image as a reality of holiness, power and divinity. But that is simply an image of the reality. Hence, we can say that image or representation of reality has the murderous capacity of the reality. In this case, Baudrillard views, the representation of the real or image endangers god, holiness, religion, etc. So the principle of divinity is murdered or damaged by simulacrum. He presents the successive phases of the image as follow:

1. It is the reflection of a basic reality.

2. It masks and perverts a basic reality.

3. It masks the absence of a basic reality.

4. It bears no relation to any reality whatever: it is its own pure simulacrum.

These four phases of the image provide us with a clear understanding of the use of image or simulacrum in our present society and culture.

Reference:

Storey, J. (1998). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. New York: Longman.

Lecture sheet 2: The Precession of Simulacra

Baudrillard cites Disneyland as a perfect example of “all the entangled order of simulation”. This theme park contains huge number of illusions and phantasms such as pirates, the frontier, future world, etc. It is a social microcosm for crowds who can visualize the miniaturized and religious leveling in real America and get delights of visiting different aspects of the whole American world. 

Thus Dineyland is presented to its visitors as a simulacrum of the real America. However, it also implies the absence of the real America through its representations of different images of the real entities America contains. This is because if the real America is present, a simulated America is not necessary at all inside the same geographical space. Disneyland serves another important purpose for the American world. It is presented as being imaginary to make us believe that it is real, whereas all of Los Angeles and the rest of America is no longer real but belongs to the order of hyperreal and of simulation. The existence of imaginary Disneyland is not a question of false representation of reality but of hiding the truth that “the real is no longer real and thus of saving the reality principle”. The Disneyland imaginary can also be taken as a deterrence machine which has been set up for revitalizing in opposite the fiction of the real. The presence of children inside this machine makes us think that the adults are outside in the “real” world and also exposes that childishness is everywhere when we find adults inside this machine for enjoying the illusions of their real childishness. In addition to Disneyland, Enchanted Village, Magic Mountain, and Marine World of Los Angeles feed reality, reality-energy to the town of Los Angeles whose mystery is endless with its fabulous proportions. Besides, the electrical and nuclear power stations along with its film studios, make Los Angeles seem to be a motion picture itself, a fiction for children. Los Angeles is thus an endless world without space for children.

Baudrillard next compares Watergate scandal to Disneyland. He sets both as perfect example to society. Watergate scandal can be taken as a simulation of all other scandals going outside in the American world. But this scandal is not a simulation, it is a reality. In this sense all other scandals going outside may be termed simulation of this reality. However, the author goes on to term Watergate scandal as no scandal at all- neither simulation nor reality. Because, he says, it is a simulation of what everyone outside tries to conceal, people’s attempt to conceal their lack of morality. But, he argues, this immorality is the creation of the economic system called capitalism which simply nurtures cruelty, ferocity and immorality. From this perspective, the people involved in Watergate scandal cannot be termed guilty. Rather the people involved in this scandal simply responded to the lure held out by the economic system which continuous y seems to display the binary oppositions of advantage-disadvantage, morality-immorality and rich-poor. Thus “Watergate was only a trap set by the system to catch its adversaries - a simulation of scandal to regenerative ends”.

Baudrillard next goes a step further to question the capacity and skill of people in political power. Whether these people are heads of state or other politicians they pretend to possess what they really do not. Many people who are in power for a long time are simulacrum of themselves, and this gives them the power and quality to govern. Are such power and quality enough for becoming an efficient politician? In the present perspective of our own politics we notice how people without any political experience come into power simply because they are the (family members or) relatives of the politicians in power and hence are taken for granted by many that they are capable of governing our country. Such dissimulation in politics endangers the real politics and in the long run the fate of the people of the country. However, this dissimulation also implies the presence of false politicians in a country like ours. This is so because no one would grant the least consent, the least devotion to a real person.

Finally, Baudrillard presents The Loud family as one of the examples of a simulation. The Loud family in 1971 was exposed to 7 months of uninterrupted shooting and 300 hours of non-stop broadcasting. And this was done without the presence of a script or a screenplay. The audience was exposed to the dramas, enjoys and unexpected events - in short a non-stop raw historical document. Baudrillard calls this a "TV vérité" (vérité is a French word which means truth and is used to define a genre in which realism and naturalism is portrayed within TV, film and radio.) He concludes by saying that "you are no longer watching television it is television that is watching you (live). You are the model, you are the majority. Such is the watershed of the hyperreal society in which the real is confused with the model…TV is watching us, TV alienates us, TV manipulates us and TV informs us." At this point is where the simulation begins where the two poles can no longer be maintained between passive and active, real and unreal, to inform and to entertain - is where the lines are blurred between difference - one enters into a simulation.

Some key points of the text to remember:

1. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal.
2. Simulation has become real and the real has become the simulation.
3. Dissemination is to pretend not to have what one has when simulation is to feign to have what one doesn't have.

4. A simulacrum is not unreal, that is to say it never exchanges from the real but exchanges from itself in an uninterrupted circuit without reference or circumference.

5. Whereas representation attempts to absorb simulation by interpreting it as a false representation, simulation envelops the whole edifice of representation itself as a simulacrum.

6. Disneyland is a perfect model of a simulacra.
7. Watergate is not a scandal, it was a simulation of scandal for regenerative ends.
8. You are no longer watching television it is television that is watching you (live). You are the model, you are the majority. Such is the watershed of the hyperreal society in which the real is confused with the model…TV is watching us, TV alienates us, TV manipulates us and TV informs us.

Reference:

Storey, J. (1998). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. New York: Longman.

Summary of the Text:

Science Fiction: Troopes

"To what extent are we living in a state of ‘hyperreality’, .... George Orwell’s ‘1984’."


"Soap Opera and Utopia" by Christine Geraghty

Please follow the links below to have materials on the above essay: 

The relationship between the text and the reader: Fiction and Escapism

Le Rêve ou La Révolution? Feminism and soap opera

Pleasure and meaningful discourse: An overview of research issues

Entertainment and Utopia

Gender and Media Reception

Feminist Media Perspectives


The Colour Purple: Black Women as Cultural Readers

Lecture 3

November 5, 2013 (Tuesday)

A Black feminist classified the production and reception of The Color Purple as the ‘renaissance of Black women writers’ of the 1970s and 1980s. And an important aspect of these renaissance writers has been the documentation of the personal lives and the collective histories of Black women. These writers are rebuilding a tradition of Black women which so far have been neglected or misrepresented. Black women are not only the readers but also the object of this reconstruction.

The writings of the current ‘renaissance of Black women writers’ are different from those of Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, protest literature of the 1940s and the Black activist literature of the 1960s in that they have a wide coverage, recognition and a new audience. In the earlier periods of Black writings, male authors were given dominant exposure and their target groups were the White people. The reason was that since Black people suffered due to white racism, it was thought addressing the White population might result in change of the condition of the Black people. But the idea did not work. The Blacks were the same as they were before; even today their status quo has not changed much. So, the target groups of the renaissance Black writers are Black women.

Hortense J. Spillers has viewed the Black community of women writers as a new and positive fact of the US nationality. She has admired those writers on the grounds that they have created their own tradition. She further argued that tradition is not born, but made. Thus she stated that traditions are “created social events” (p. 315). And of course, the birth of such type of tradition is motivated by socio-political needs and the presence of a conscious group of audience.

It is argued by Spillers that tradition has to be maintained by the audience for their survival. And the community of Black women is conscious of their conditions and responsibilities. Thus a fresh Black order has been created. And such creation of connection between the community of writers and readers is possible when both the authors and the audience are aware of creating new symbolic values and a sense of empowerment for themselves.

Articulation is a significant element in the creation of a community which takes control over their lives and rids them of other authorities. The Colour Purple is an example of the occurrence of articulation in Black women community. Therefore, “An articulation is defined as the form of a connection, a linkage, that can establish a unity among different elements within a culture, under certain conditions” (p. 316). Here the film creates a link between a discourse (the ideas inherent in the film) and a community (the audience). Such links make community stronger, infuse new values to lives, and above all lead to the creation of a new social order.  Bobo (1998) has viewed, “In the case of The Colour Purple, the film has been used to give new meaning to the lives of Black women” (p. 316).

Articulation, according to its definition, can have two meanings:  ‘joining up’ and ‘giving expression to’. Joining up means the linking of two things or objects as joining two hands and giving expression to means giving a message. However, the second meaning is not supported by Stuart Hall. According to my opinion, giving expression to is not an invalid meaning. It has some relevance to the way articulation takes place and works. Because when articulation takes place between two ideas, discourses, groups, communities, etc a message is given by the first to the second and this message convinces the receiver to form a unity. However, articulation takes place when separate discourses come together under specific circumstances and at particular times. And articulation forms unity among groups and communities and that goes on as long as there are social or political purposes relevant to their welfare. But it is to remember that the unity that forms is usually not of ‘an identity where one structure perfectly reproduces or recapitulates’ the other. Hence, the identity will give an expression to the other that transformation is essential but bringing transformation greatly relies on the group concerned. However is the fact, it is true that articulation works as a change maker.

The birth of an articulation displaces old ideologies and initiates a cultural transformation. Do remember, transformation means change of small scale, not radical or of large scale alteration.  As such, The Colour Purple brought about transformation in the outlooks and lives of the Black women in the US society. They began forming a new world, a new order, a new community. But they did not throw away their tradition; rather they kept connection with it.  An author can convey her message easily and more effectively if she has a knowledgeable community of readers. Therefore, most of the audience of the film, The Colour Purple viewed that it brought symbolic values to their lives and accordingly they were happy that transformation was in progress for the empowerment of Black women.   

Reference:

Storey, J. (1998). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. New York: Longman.

Class Lecture 2
November 3, 2013 (Sunday)

The University of Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies developed the encoding-decoding model of meaning. It propagates the need for understanding any communication in its cultural context. Therefore, any interpreted meaning of media/text is influenced by ideological and cultural power. For example, a young couple caressing each other in public will be interpreted in different ways by a Bangladeshi Muslim and a Western non-Muslim. Thus media analysts must consider the social and cultural context while extracting meaning from a text, movie, etc.

In political sociology the encoding-decoding model was taken from the work of Frank Parkin, who developed a theory of meaning system. According to this theory meanings are of three types: dominant, negotiated, and oppositional. When an audience of a film or a reader of a text accepts its meaning without any doubt or question, she/he receives the dominant meaning. In case of a negotiated meaning parts of the media/text are questioned by the viewer/reader. And oppositional meaning takes place if a viewer/reader of a film/text completely disagrees with the film/text. Thus a viewer or a reader can be a dominant respondent, negotiated respondent, and an oppositional respondent.

While a viewer watches a film or reads a text, he/she does not keep at a distance from his/her social, cultural, economic, racial, or sexual histories. Therefore, these factors highly influence his/her film watching or text reading. This is very true. Think of what you do and how you respond while reading a text or watching a movie. Of course, you compare yourself with the persons in the text/media.

Thereby a person of a marginalized group (i.e. a black African, a poor man, a woman, and so on) usually has oppositional response to a film/text of mainstream cultural product. Such counter response is generally motivated by their status quo in society. As we know, they are often discriminated , misunderstood, and deprived of their due rights.

Bobo then argues that mainstream producers/authors are not biased in their production. But this argument does not seem true to me. Since, they draw on their background, experience, and social and cultural milieu they may be be thrown into a sense of negative attitude toward the minorities.

Bobo writes that many black women love the film, “The Colour Purple” because they feel that it is significant in their lives. Next she provides the idea that a individual and a subject is different. The rational is that an individual is a biological product whereas a subject is a political product. As such a subject is “affected by the ideological construction of the text” (Storey, 1998, p. 313). However, many black women responded that they found the film much useful for them.

Bobo goes on to say that black women are conscious, in line with others, that oppression and harm may originate from a negative media history. This is very honest of her and true. Her next argument is that black women are also aware that their status has never been properly dealt with in mainstream media. Very often their negative aspects are exaggerated and positive aspects overlooked.

'Interpellation' plays a significant role in the process by which black women were able to form a positive relationship with The Colour Purple. “Interpellation” is the way in which the subject is hailed by the text; it is the method by which ideological discourses constitute subjects and draw them into the text/subject relationship” (Storey, 1998, p. 314). If the viewer/reader has a cooperative response to the subject, he/she has a positive relationship with it. Bobo next views that cultural competence is essential for 'interdiscourse'. Hence, competence or knowledge of culture is influential to the ways the readers respond to a text/media. Lack of cultural competence may result into irrelevant or highly negative response to a text/media. Positive response to or engagement with a media/text from a viewer/reader may be influenced by positive intertextual cultural experience. This means that the viewer may like or dislike a movie/text if she/he has previous textual knowledge relevant to the present one. Finally, black women also use their experience, history, daily lives, etc. while responding to the film, The Colour Purple.

Reference:

Storey, J. (1998). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader. New York: Longman.

The following links provide important information relevant to the above essay:

1) http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC33folder/ClPurpleBobo.html
2) http://voices.yahoo.com/color-purple-film-analysis-makes-film-impactful-11612800.html?cat=38
3) http://www.palgrave.com/PDFs/9780230201866.Pdf