Strinati, D., 1995., An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. London: Routledge.
"Where does popular culture come from? Does it emerge from the people themselves as an autonomous expression of their interests and modes of experience, or is it imposed from above by those in positions of power as a type of social control? Does popular culture rise up from the people 'below', or does it sink down from elites 'on high', or is it rather a question of an interaction between the two?" - pg 3
"Does the emergence of culture in commodity forms mean that criteria of profitability and marketability take precedence over quality, artistry, integrity an intellectual challenge? Or does the increasingly universal market for popular culture ensure that it is truly popular because it makes available commodities people actually want? What wins out when popular culture is manufactured industrially and sold according to the criteria of marketability and profitability - commerce or quality?" - pg 3
"Mass media like radio and film transmitted and inculcated the official ideology of the fascist state because they could be controlled centrally and broadcast to the population at large... Mass media equalled mass propaganda equalled mass repression." - pg 5 - Film can be used for more than just entertainment, it can be used to spread an ideology and reinforce regime.
"First, postmodernism is said to describe the emergence of a social order in which the importance and power of the mass media and popular culture means that they govern and shape all other forms of social relationships. The idea is that popular cultural signs and media images increasingly dominate our sense our sense of reality, and the way we define ourselves and the world around us." - pg 224
"To put it simply, the liberal view argued that the media held up a mirror to, and thereby reflected in a fairly accurate manner, a wider social reality. The radical rejoinder to this insisted that this mirror distorted rather than reflected reality... the media played some part in constructing our sense of social reality, and our sense of being part of this reality, It is a relatively short step from this... to the proposition that only the media can constitute our sense of reality. To return to the original metaphor, it is claimed that this mirror is now the only reality we have." - pg 224
"A crucial implication of the first point is that in a postmodern world, surfaces and style become more important, and evoke in their turn a kind of 'designer ideology'. Or as Harvey puts it: 'Images dominate narrative' (1989; pp. 341 - 348). The argument is that we increasingly consume images and signs for their own sake rather than for 'usefulness' or for the deeper values they may symbolise. We consume images and signs precisely because they are images and signs, and disregard questions of utility and value. This is evident in popular culture itself where surface and style, what things look like, and playfulness and jokes, are said to predominate at the expense of content, substance and meaning. As a result, qualities like artistic merit, integrity, seriousness, authenticity, realism, intellectual depth and strong narratives tend to be under-minded." - pg 225
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Practices of Looking.
Chapter 1 - Images, Power and Politics.
"Ideologies are systems of belief that exist within all culture. Images are an important means through which ideologies are produced and onto which ideologies are projected." - page 23
"Just as Simpson's mug shot took on new meanings when taken out of police records and reproduced on the cover of popular magazines, so an image appearing as a work of art in a museum takes on quite a different meaning when it is reproduced in advertisement... Thus image codes change meaning in different contexts." - page 27
"Language, according to Saussure, is like a game of chess. It depends on conventions and codes for it's meanings. At the same time, Saussure argued, the relationship between a word (or the sound of that when spoken) and things in the world is arbitrary and relative, not fixed. For example, the word dog in English, chein in French and hund in German all refer to the same kind of animal ; hence the relationship between the words and the animal itself is dictated by the conventions of language rather than some natural connection. It was central to Saussure's theory that meanings change according to context and to the rules of language." - page 28
"Peirce believed that language and thought are processes of sign interpretation. For Peirce, meaning resides not in the initial perception of a sign or representation of an object but in the interpretation of the perception and subsequent action based on that perception. Every thought is a sign without meaning until a subsequent thought (what he called an interpretant) allows for it's interpretation. For example, we perceive an octagonal red sign with the letters STOP inscribed. The meaning lies in the interpretation of the sign and the subsequent action (we stop)." - page 28
"In Barthes's model, in addition to the two levels of meanings of denotation and connotation, there is the sign, which is composed of the signifer - a sounds, written word, or image - and the signified, which is the concept evoked by that word or image. In the familiar smiley face icon, the smile is the signifer and happiness is the signified... The image (or word) and it's meaning together (the signifier and the signified together) form the sign." - page 29
"Ideologies are systems of belief that exist within all culture. Images are an important means through which ideologies are produced and onto which ideologies are projected." - page 23
"Just as Simpson's mug shot took on new meanings when taken out of police records and reproduced on the cover of popular magazines, so an image appearing as a work of art in a museum takes on quite a different meaning when it is reproduced in advertisement... Thus image codes change meaning in different contexts." - page 27
"Language, according to Saussure, is like a game of chess. It depends on conventions and codes for it's meanings. At the same time, Saussure argued, the relationship between a word (or the sound of that when spoken) and things in the world is arbitrary and relative, not fixed. For example, the word dog in English, chein in French and hund in German all refer to the same kind of animal ; hence the relationship between the words and the animal itself is dictated by the conventions of language rather than some natural connection. It was central to Saussure's theory that meanings change according to context and to the rules of language." - page 28
"Peirce believed that language and thought are processes of sign interpretation. For Peirce, meaning resides not in the initial perception of a sign or representation of an object but in the interpretation of the perception and subsequent action based on that perception. Every thought is a sign without meaning until a subsequent thought (what he called an interpretant) allows for it's interpretation. For example, we perceive an octagonal red sign with the letters STOP inscribed. The meaning lies in the interpretation of the sign and the subsequent action (we stop)." - page 28
"In Barthes's model, in addition to the two levels of meanings of denotation and connotation, there is the sign, which is composed of the signifer - a sounds, written word, or image - and the signified, which is the concept evoked by that word or image. In the familiar smiley face icon, the smile is the signifer and happiness is the signified... The image (or word) and it's meaning together (the signifier and the signified together) form the sign." - page 29
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Signs and Meaning in the Cinema - notes
Saussure proposed a future science of signs called semiology. He talked about how it must be approached in a scientific manner but also talks about how The sign does not have any natural connection to the concept that it's conveying.
"The signifier... has no natural connection with the signified ... To use Saussure's term, the sign is 'unmotivated'." p 117
Signs still require words to support them and help convey their meaning.
"Roland Barthes, ..., concluded that is was impossible to escape the pervasive presence of verbal language. Words enter into discourse of another order either to fix an ambiguous meaning, like a label or a title, or to contribute to the meaning that cannot otherwise be communicated, like the words in the bubbles in a stripe-cartoon. Words either anchor meaning or convey it." p 118
For example the existence of 'Explainers' during the age of the silent film.
" Part narrator and part actor, the film explainer stood next to the screen enriching the movies with an entertaining combination of background information, unique interpretation and theatrical storytelling. " http://www.eden-court.co.uk/whats-on/shows/silent-film-explainers 04/11/2012
Christian Metz declared " that cinema is indeed a language, but a language without a code... It is a language because it has texts; there is a meaningful discourse. But, unlike verbal language, it cannot be referred back to a pre-existent code." p 120
Metz talked of a "logic of implication" and claimed that "it is through a 'current of induction' that we make sense of films." p 120
Charles Sanders Peirce spoke of classifying different kinds of sign.
"Peirce called 'the second trichotomy of signs', their division into icons, indices and symbols. 'A sign is either an icon, an index or a sign.'" p 122
"An icon, according to Peirce, is a sign which represents its object mainly by its similarity to it; the relationship between signifier and signified is not arbitrary but is one of resemblance or likeness. Thus, for instance, the portrait of a man resembles him." p 122
"An index is a sign by virtue of a existential bond between itself and its object. Peirce gave several examples. I see a man with a rolling gait. This is a probable indication that he is a sailor. I see a bow-legged man in corduroys, gaiters and a jacket. These a probable indications that he is a jockey or something of the sort. A sundial or a clock indicates the time of day. Other examples cited by Peirce are the weathercock, a sign of the direction of wind which physically moves it, the barometer, the spirit-level." p 122 -123
"The third category of sign, the symbol, corresponds to Saussure's arbitrary sign. Like Saussure, Peirce speaks of a 'contract' by virtue of which the symbol is a sign. The symbolic sign eludes the individual will... A symbolic sign demands neither resemblance to it's object nor any existential bond with it. It is conventional and has the force of law." p 123
"Peirce's categories are the foundation for any advance in semiology. It is important to note, however, that Peirce did not consider them mutually exclusive. On the contrary, all three aspects frequently - or, as he sometimes suggests, invariably - overlap and are co-present." p 123
Friday, 2 November 2012
Barton Fink
A few weeks ago I sat down and watched Barton Fink and I found it not only a great film but it also got me thinking about symbolism.
Barton Fink is a film by the wonderful Coen Brothers about a writer who experience trouble writing after moving to Hollywood. The movie criticizes Hollywood and the studio system at the like, but ultimately the film is really about anything, there is no deeper meaning or message, which is very interesting to me. It's a great film and uses a lot symbolism in relation to some reoccurring themes including Fascism, Broadway and Hollywood, Writing, Slavery, "the common man" and Religion.
Ultimately the film is a tease for film nerds like me who enjoy reading a little too deeply into films, as I was watching it I was sure that there was a message that they were trying to express but there isn't and I actually like it for that. It's like a friendly trick they played on you, but you don't mind cause you see the funny side and ultimately you had fun. For example two characters, a pair of film noir style detectives question Barton about a murder, they are aggressive and clearly anti-Semitic and interestingly one has a German name and the other an Italian one. However, when question in an interview about the meaning behind this clearly intentional symbolism they responded "we just wanted them to be representative of the Axis world powers at the time. It just seemed kind of amusing. It's a tease. All that stuff with Charlie – the "Heil Hitler!" business – sure, it's all there, but it's kind of a tease." ( Allen, W. R., 2006, The Coen Brothers Interviews, Jackson: University press of Mississippi. p94 ) "That's how they've been trained to watch movies. In Barton Fink, we may have encouraged it – like teasing animals at the zoo. The movie is intentionally ambiguous in ways they may not be used to seeing." ( Allen, W. R., 2006, The Coen Brothers Interviews, Jackson: University press of Mississippi. p181 )
The reason I find this film so interesting, besides it being yet another simply brilliant Coen Brothers film, is that it uses Symbolism in very interesting ways without a deeper meaning or message, yet it is still a great film.
Barton Fink is a film by the wonderful Coen Brothers about a writer who experience trouble writing after moving to Hollywood. The movie criticizes Hollywood and the studio system at the like, but ultimately the film is really about anything, there is no deeper meaning or message, which is very interesting to me. It's a great film and uses a lot symbolism in relation to some reoccurring themes including Fascism, Broadway and Hollywood, Writing, Slavery, "the common man" and Religion.
Ultimately the film is a tease for film nerds like me who enjoy reading a little too deeply into films, as I was watching it I was sure that there was a message that they were trying to express but there isn't and I actually like it for that. It's like a friendly trick they played on you, but you don't mind cause you see the funny side and ultimately you had fun. For example two characters, a pair of film noir style detectives question Barton about a murder, they are aggressive and clearly anti-Semitic and interestingly one has a German name and the other an Italian one. However, when question in an interview about the meaning behind this clearly intentional symbolism they responded "we just wanted them to be representative of the Axis world powers at the time. It just seemed kind of amusing. It's a tease. All that stuff with Charlie – the "Heil Hitler!" business – sure, it's all there, but it's kind of a tease." ( Allen, W. R., 2006, The Coen Brothers Interviews, Jackson: University press of Mississippi. p94 ) "That's how they've been trained to watch movies. In Barton Fink, we may have encouraged it – like teasing animals at the zoo. The movie is intentionally ambiguous in ways they may not be used to seeing." ( Allen, W. R., 2006, The Coen Brothers Interviews, Jackson: University press of Mississippi. p181 )
The reason I find this film so interesting, besides it being yet another simply brilliant Coen Brothers film, is that it uses Symbolism in very interesting ways without a deeper meaning or message, yet it is still a great film.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Symbols. Images. Codes.
This is the first book I've read for my dissertation and I've found it very interesting. The book takes the same approach of a dictionary or thesaurus, after an Introduction it presents various methods of using symbolism to convey a deeper meaning. I quite like the book, however it does seem a bit formulaic and concentrates more on the practical side of things than the theory. The book is very interesting however and presents a good number of examples of the symbolic meanings of mise en scene, composition, costume etc.
Smith, P. J., 2010. Symbols. Images. Codes. The secret language of meaning in film, tv, games and visual media. Studio City. Michael Wise Productions.
One of the interesting points in this book raises is that the 'secret language' of symbolism is a universal one that can be understood by many people from many different cultures.
"In our multicultural, instantaneously interconnected global village, we speak hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects with diverse and specific cultural backgrounds. How can we communicate effectively across all these borders? Symbols and images affect people emotionally - hence their exceptional effectiveness. Because there is no particular rational attachment to them, visuals are a universal language that engages out intuition and imagination." page - x
It also argues that making use of symbolism in a story will heighten it's impact and help it convey it's meaning more effectively.
"The more consciously you use symbols , images and codes in your stories, the more effective your message will be. Using appropriate visuals will heighten the emotional impact of your story and will connect your audience to the rich stream of meaning - conscious and unconscious - that flows through humanity and our arts." page - xi
I also stress the importance of visual communication within society.
"Communication is the most important aspect of human interaction, and it is accomplished in a number of ways, from utilitarian to artistic. Some of the most primitive yet still most effective modes of communication are visual - that's just how are brains are wired." page - ix
"Our written and spoken communications can span the globe in seconds, but each individual, each culture, and each interest group will process such communication through a distinct set of identifiers and interpretations. One very effective way past these barriers to use visuals. Some are so universal as to be understood anywhere by anyone. Others require some cultural background. As media creator, you can make good use of the wide range of symbols, images and codes to enhance your meaning and enrich your stories" page- 104
The book goes into detail about what certain symbols could mean and gives examples how they have been used in films and other media.
It also explains how symbolism can make a story more compelling and interesting by adding depth.
"We're all living, breathing, fighting, and dying for something. Or certainly your characters should be; otherwise they'll be deadly boring. How do you show the concepts of freedom, equality, loyalty, spiritual aspiration? This is where symbols and images come to the rescue and plug you audience into those universal streams of meaning and make your media about more than just the plot line." - page 106
Smith, P. J., 2010. Symbols. Images. Codes. The secret language of meaning in film, tv, games and visual media. Studio City. Michael Wise Productions.
One of the interesting points in this book raises is that the 'secret language' of symbolism is a universal one that can be understood by many people from many different cultures.
"In our multicultural, instantaneously interconnected global village, we speak hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects with diverse and specific cultural backgrounds. How can we communicate effectively across all these borders? Symbols and images affect people emotionally - hence their exceptional effectiveness. Because there is no particular rational attachment to them, visuals are a universal language that engages out intuition and imagination." page - x
It also argues that making use of symbolism in a story will heighten it's impact and help it convey it's meaning more effectively.
"The more consciously you use symbols , images and codes in your stories, the more effective your message will be. Using appropriate visuals will heighten the emotional impact of your story and will connect your audience to the rich stream of meaning - conscious and unconscious - that flows through humanity and our arts." page - xi
I also stress the importance of visual communication within society.
"Communication is the most important aspect of human interaction, and it is accomplished in a number of ways, from utilitarian to artistic. Some of the most primitive yet still most effective modes of communication are visual - that's just how are brains are wired." page - ix
"Our written and spoken communications can span the globe in seconds, but each individual, each culture, and each interest group will process such communication through a distinct set of identifiers and interpretations. One very effective way past these barriers to use visuals. Some are so universal as to be understood anywhere by anyone. Others require some cultural background. As media creator, you can make good use of the wide range of symbols, images and codes to enhance your meaning and enrich your stories" page- 104
The book goes into detail about what certain symbols could mean and gives examples how they have been used in films and other media.
It also explains how symbolism can make a story more compelling and interesting by adding depth.
"We're all living, breathing, fighting, and dying for something. Or certainly your characters should be; otherwise they'll be deadly boring. How do you show the concepts of freedom, equality, loyalty, spiritual aspiration? This is where symbols and images come to the rescue and plug you audience into those universal streams of meaning and make your media about more than just the plot line." - page 106
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)