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ENGL 6310/7310 Popular Culture Studies Fall 2011 PH 300 M 240-540 Dr. David Lavery 9/26/11 Popular Culture Studies Marxism Marxism Popular Culture Studies My students, communists, at Wa Dong Shi Dah, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China (April, 1981) Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 7. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels—Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas 8. Karl Marx—Base and Superstructure 9. Frederick Engels—Letter to Joseph Bloch 10. Theodor W. Adorno—On Popular Music 11. Antonio Gramsci —Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State 12. Tony Bennett—Popular Culture and the 'turn of Gramsci' 13. John Storey—Rockin' Hegemony: West Coast Rock and Amerika's War in Vietnam (discussion led by Sherrie Michael) 14. Christine Gledhill—Pleasurable Negotiations 15. Stuart Hall—The Rediscovery of 'Ideology': Return of the Repressed in Media Studies 16. Ernesto Laclau with Chantal Mouffe—Post-Marxism without Apologies Karl Marx (1818-83). German economist, philosopher, sociologist Popular Culture Studies Marxism Popular Culture Studies Marxism Karl Marx (1818-83). Popular Culture Studies Marxism Popular Culture Studies “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling force in society , is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”—Marx and Engels “Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.”— A. J. Leibling Marxism Marxism Popular Culture Studies Opening of The Communist Manifesto A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies. Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by its opponents in power? Where is the opposition that has not hurled back the branding reproach of communism, against the more advanced opposition parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries? Two things result from this fact: I. Communism is already acknowledged by all European powers to be itself a power. II. It is high time that Communists should openly, in the face of the whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies, and meet this nursery tale of the Spectre of Communism with a manifesto of the party itself. To this end, Communists of various nationalities have assembled in London and sketched the following manifesto, to be published in the English, French, German, Italian, Flemish and Danish languages. Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 7. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels—Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 9. Frederick Engels—Letter to Joseph Bloch Marxism Popular Culture Studies Alienation The estrangement the proletariat feels from the work of his/her hands, the products of his/her labor. Marxism Popular Culture Studies “All that is solid melts into air.” “The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real condition of life and his relations with his kind.”—Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto Marxism Popular Culture Studies Authenticity In Marxism, describes a life lived according to the rational needs and ambitions of the individual, free from the imposed “false consciousness” of a capitalized society. Marxism Popular Culture Studies Base-superstructure: Both terms associated (initially) with classical Marxist theory. The 'base' refers to the economy and modes of production (e.g. feudal, capitalist). The 'superstructure' refers to the social, cultural, legal and other arrangements which operate in relation to a particular economic base. For example, compare the social and political institutions of a feudal economy with those institutions which are seen to typify late twentieth-century Western economies. (Storey Glossary) [Mass]Think on Base/Superstructure Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 8. Karl Marx—Base and Superstructure Marxism Popular Culture Studies Co-Optation In Neo-Marxism, the ability of a capitalist society to subsume criticism/opposition into its media content (advertising, media texts). Todd Gitlin famously observed that capitalism tends to transform “the desire for real change into the availability of novel goods.” Marxism Co-Optation Popular Culture Studies Ronald Reagan regularly used a song with the following lyrics as entrance music at campaign stops. I had a buddy at Khe Sahn Fighting off the Viet Cong They're still there, he's all gone He had a little girl in Saigon I got a picture of him in her arms Down in the shadow of the penitentiary Out by the gas fires of the refinery I'm ten years down the road Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A. I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A. --Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the USA” Marxism Marxism Popular Culture Studies Cultural Hegemony “Cultural hegemony is the philosophic and sociological concept, originated by the Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, that a culturally-diverse society can be ruled or dominated by one of its social classes. It is the dominance of one social group over another, e.g. the ruling class over all other classes. The theory claims that the ideas of the ruling class come to be seen as the norm; they are seen as universal ideologies, perceived to benefit everyone whilst only really benefiting the ruling class.”—Wikipedia. Hegemony: Term associated with the work of Antonio Gramsci, referring to the way in which dominant groups in society, through processes of intellectual/moral leadership, seek to win the consent of subordinate groups in society. Hegemony theory, especially as deployed by neo-Gramscian cultural theorists, stresses process of incorporation and resistance in the cultural field. Moreover, texts, practices and commodities have to be made to mean; texts do not mean anything outside the conflictual context in which meanings are articulated/contested. See also articulation above; bricolage above. Hegemony explained on the Theory.org Gramsci page. Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 11. Antonio Gramsci —Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State Marxism Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937). Italian cultural theorist and philosopher. Popular Culture Studies Watch a Lecture About Gramsci | Watch a Documentary in Italian on Gramsci (nice visuals) | Theory.org’s Gramsci Page Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 11. Antonio Gramsci —Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 12. Tony Bennett—Popular Culture and the 'turn of Gramsci' Marxism Popular Culture Studies Dialectic [Hegelian] The engagement of thesis and antithesis, yielding synthesis, which, according to the German philosopher Hegel, governs both intellectual and material history. Marx applied such a principle in his own conception of history, with capitalist society playing the role of thesis, the proletariat as antithesis, and the new communist society that would result as the synthesis Thesis Antithesis Synthesis Marxism Marxism Popular Culture Studies Dominant Culture “The dominant culture is the culture of the dominant social grouping. It is not necessarily the culture of the majority (though it often is) but rather the culture of those who have the resources, assets, and means by which to control the cultural mileaux of a society. The dominant social groupings sphere of influence affects language, fashion, norms, values, behaving, and thinking Dominant cultures always contain scripts and programs which support the economic and political interests of the dominant social groupings, and ensure uninterrupted operation of The System. For example, in western societies the dominant cultures emphasize hard work and achievement (i.e., wage slavery), respect for property owners, and individual responsibility for the manifestation of individual reality. These cultural/ideological prescriptions ensure people accept wage slavery and, more importantly for those who benefit from the exploitation and callous disregard for human life, dignity, and right, blame themselves when they are unable to find an acceptable niche within which to jack themselves into The System.” (Spirit Wiki) Popular Culture Studies Bricolage Term often associated with youth and subcultures. Products are combined and transformed in ways not intended by their producers; commodities are rearticulated to produce 'oppositional' meanings. See the work of Dick Hebdige and his readings of punk and other subcultures. (Storey’s Glossary) Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 14. Christine Gledhill—Pleasurable Negotiations Marxism Popular Culture Studies False Consciousness “Marxist theory that people are unable to see things, esp. exploitation, oppression, and social relations, as they really are; the hypothesized inability of the human mind to develop a sophisticated awareness of how it is developed and shaped by circumstances” (Dictionary.com) Marxism Todd Gitlin (1943- ). Americn sociologist and media critic. Popular Culture Studies “The genius of consumer society is its ability to convert the desire for change into a desire for novel goods.”—Todd Gitlin, Inside Prime Time Popular Culture Studies Fetishism To deify or give unnatural significance or meaning to objects. Marx argued that capitalism fetishizes commodities/objects. More on Commodity Festishism. Marxism Popular Culture Studies The Frankfurt School “The “Frankfurt School” refers to a group of German-American theorists who developed powerful analyses of the changes in Western capitalist societies that occurred since the classical theory of Marx. Working at the Institut fur Sozialforschung in Frankfurt, Germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s, theorists such as Max Horkheimer, T.W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Leo Lowenthal, and Erich Fromm produced some of the first accounts within critical social theory of the importance of mass culture and communication in social reproduction and domination. The Frankfurt School also generated one of the first models of a critical cultural studies that analyzes the processes of cultural production and political economy, the politics of cultural texts, and audience reception and use of cultural artifacts (Kellner 1989 and 1995).”—Douglas Kellner “Where Arnold and Leavis saw ‘anarchy,’ the Frankfurt School see only ‘conformity’: a situation in which ‘the deceived masses’ (133) are caught in a ‘circle of manipulation and retroactive need in wich the unity of the system grows ever strong” (Storey 62). Marxism Popular Culture Studies Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) Read “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979). German/American philosopher and Marxist. Popular Culture Studies Theodore Adorno (1903-1969). German sociologist and critic. Popular Culture Studies Popular Culture Studies According to the Frankfurt School . . . Culture Mass Culture Real False European American Multi-dimensional One-dimensional Active consumption Passive consumption Individual creation Mass production Imagination Distraction Negation Social cement Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 10. Theodor W. Adorno—On Popular Music The Two Spheres of Music Standardization Pseudo-Individualization Popular Music and “Leisure Time” The Social Cement Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 13. John Storey—Rockin' Hegemony: West Coast Rock and Amerika's War in Vietnam Shellie Michael Marxism Popular Culture Studies Ideology (a) Views, beliefs, values and opinions of a particular group or class; systematised body of ideas; (b) material practices (e.g. holidays; the celebration of Christmas); (c) ideological forms (as in the way texts offer a particular view or (distorted) perspective of the world. (Storey’s Glossary) Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 15. Stuart Hall—The Rediscovery of 'Ideology': Return of the Repressed in Media Studies Marxism Popular Culture Studies Interpellation “Taken from the work of Althusser and refers to the ways in which texts and institutions seem to 'speak to', 'hail' or 'address' subjects as unique individuals. Adverts, for example, seem to interpellate/address subjects in specific ways (especially the direct address 'You!'). Interpellation also operates alongside ideology (e.g. the capitalist notion of the unique individual). See the work of Judith Williamson.”— Storey’s Glossary Marxism John Berger (1926- ). British art critic, Marxist, novelist. Watch Ways of Seeing Clips) Popular Culture Studies Popular Culture Studies Popular Culture Studies John Berger (1926- ). British art critic, Marxist, novelist. Popular Culture Studies Popular Culture Studies Neo-Marxism/Post-Marxism “Neo-Marxism is a loose term for various twentieth-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist theory, usually by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions, such as: critical theory, psychoanalysis or Existentialism (in the case of Sartre). . . . As with many uses of the prefix neo-, many theorists and groups designated as neo-Marxist have attempted to supplement the perceived deficiencies of orthodox Marxism or dialectical materialism. Many prominent neoMarxists, such as Herbert Marcuse and other members of the Frankfurt School, were sociologists and psychologists. Neo-Marxism comes under the broader framework of the New Left. NeoMarxism is also used frequently to describe opposition to inequalities experienced by Lesser Developed Countries in a globalized world.” (Wikipedia) Marxism Popular Culture Studies Part Three: Marxism 16. Ernesto Laclau with Chantal Mouffe—Post-Marxism without Apologies Marxism Popular Culture Studies Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) “Althusser suggests that ideology is institutional, informing and structuring the operations of political administrations, media, art, etc. When such ideological state apparatuses fail to win the consent of subjects, then states will use repressive measures - where RSA refers to police force, army, prison system, etc.”—Storey’s Glossary Marxism Louis Althusser (1918-1990). French Marxist philosopher. “On 16 November 1980, Althusser strangled his wife Hélène to death, following a period of mental instability. There were no witnesses, and the exact circumstances are debated with some claiming it was deliberate, others accidental. Althusser himself claimed not to have a clear memory of the event, saying that, while he was massaging his wife's neck, he discovered he had strangled her. Althusser was diagnosed as suffering from diminished responsibility, and he was not tried, but instead committed to the Sainte-Anne psychiatric hospital. Althusser remained in hospital until 1983. Upon release, he moved to Northern Paris and lived reclusively, seeing few people. He continued to work and write, but published little. A notable exception is his autobiography, L'Avenir dure longtemps, in which Althusser describes the killing (among other topics). He died of a heart attack on 22 October 1990 at the age of 72. Much of his post-1980 work has been published posthumously.” --Wikipedia Popular Culture Studies Popular Culture Studies Surplus Value “In Marxist economics, the amount by which the value of the worker's product exceeds the wage the worker is paid, viewed as the source of capitalist profit.”—Webster’s Dictionary Marxism Popular Culture Studies Wants/Needs According to Ivan Illich (Toward a Theory of Needs), capitalism confuses needs—food, housing, clothing, etc.—with “wants”--longed-for material acquisitions, whose desirability is instilled via advertising and other mass media instruments. Marxism Popular Culture Studies Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1982. Music by Philip Glass. koyaanisqatsi (Hopi): life out of balance, crazy life, life about to change into something else. Marxism
