HUM3321 Midterm Exam Study Guide The Midterm Exam will consist of Multiple Choice True False Matching Author Quote Identification Film Character Quote IDs Douglas Kellner Cultural Studies Multiculturalism and Media Culture Anthology textual analysis Three parts of a multi perspectival approach 1 2 audience perception 3 political economy Stuart Hall Representation Meaning and Language Reflective In the reflective approach meaning is thought to lie in the object person idea or event in the real world and language functions like a mirror to reflect the true meaning as it already exists in the world Constructivist Things don t mean we construct meaning using representational systems concepts and signs Hence it is called the constructivist or constructionist approach to meaning in language According to this approach we must not confuse the material world where things and people exist and the symbolic practices and processes through which representation meaning and language operate Constructivists do not deny the existence of the material world However it is not the material world which conveys meaning it is the language system or whatever system we are using to repre sent our concepts Intentional It holds that it is the speaker the author who imposes his or her unique meaning on the world through language Words mean what the author intends they should mean This is the intentional approach Again there is some point to this argument since we all as individuals do use language to convey or communicate things which are special or unique to us to our way of seeing the world Two systems of representation So there are two processes two systems of representation involved First there is the system by which all sorts of objects people and events are correlated with a set of concepts or mental rep resentations which we carry around in our heads Without them we could not interpret the world meaningfully at all In the first place then 1 meaning depends on the system of concepts and images formed in our thoughts which can stand for or represent the world enabling us to refer to things both inside and outside our heads Before we move on to look at the second system of representation we should observe that what we have just said is a very simple version of a rather complex process It is simple enough to see how we might form concepts for things we can perceive people or material objects like chairs tables and desks But we also form concepts of rather obscure and abstract things which we can t in any simple way see feel or touch Think for example of our concepts of war or death or friendship or love And as we have remarked we also form concepts about things we have never seen and possibly can t or won t ever see and about people and places we have plainly made up We may have a clear concept of say angels mermaids God the Devil or of Heaven and Hell or of Middlemarch the fictional provincial town in George Eliot s novel or Elizabeth the heroine of Jane Austen s Pride and Prejudice Signifier signified There was he argued the form the actual word image photo etc and there was the idea or concept in your head with which the form was associated Saussure called the first element the signifier and the second element the corresponding concept it triggered off in your head the signified James Lull Hegemony Hegemony is the power or dominace that one social group holds over others Ideology normal reality or common sense Stephen J McNamee and Robert K Miller The Meritocracy Myth Meritocracy social system as a whole in which individuals get ahead and earn rewards in direct proportion to their indidual efforts and abilitles Closely linked to the American dream Problems with meritocracy couldn t find Four ways for America to become meritocratic couldn t find Louis Althusser Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses 1 Ideology Ideas about Ideology Ideology and ISAs are hidden even from the agents of the institution 1 2 3 Ideology expresses class positions Ideology has no history 2 4 5 6 7 8 Ideology is determined by class struggle Ideology is eternal transhistorical not ahistorical Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence Ideology has a material existence Ideology relies on obviousnesses claims that we understand as natural of course statements which is why it remains hidden so easily ISA Ideological State Apparatuses primarily through ideology and secondarily through repression and violence R SA Repressive State Apparatus RSA function primarily through repression and violence England et al Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princesses Constructivist approach theroy The constructivist approach and cultivation theory suggest that the gender role portrayals present in the films may influence children s beliefs and ideas about gender social behaviors and norms Mueleners Treat Students Right by Valuing their Diversity Three stages of dealing with diversity 1 recognition 2 tolerance 3 celebration Judith Andre Stereotypes Conceptual and Normative Considerations Definition of stereotypes A conventional formulaic and usually oversimplified conception opinion or belief reproduction of it Assumes and projects uniformity unvarying and patterned Janey Place Women in Film Noir Spider woman Femme fatale 3 Nurturing woman woman as redeemers gives love understanding and ask for very little in return Julie Grossman Film Noir s Femme Fatales Hard Boiled Women Femme fatale seen as female who resfuses to be defined by the norms of femininity Problems with category of femme fatale too independent and tricky Benedict Anderson Introduction to Imagined Communities Nation couldn t find Limited couldn t find Sovereign couldn t find Imagined community couldn t find Douglas Schrock and Michael Schwalbe Men Masculinity and Manhood Acts Multiple masculinities The multiple masculinities concept reflects a laudable desire to value diversity Manhood acts definition and purpose Manhood acts are how males distinguish themselves from females women and thus establish their eligibility for gender based privilege are aimed at claiming privilege eliciting deference and resisting exploitation Sharon R Bird Welcome to the Men s Club Hegemonic masculinity proposed practices that promote the dominant social position of men and the subordinate social position of women Heterosociality of relating to or involving social relationships between persons of the opposite sex fun fast vocab game
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