Term
| Define Myth. Does it matter if it is true or not? |
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Definition
| Myth: An idealized narrative master story of American Culture, the ones that we all know but don’t often think of what the narrative is. Upholds cultural values, defines acceptable morals, and validates certain beliefs, expectations and behaviors of a culture. The actual validity of the myth is unimportant, they hold power. What is important is if the ideas within the myth are accepted as true...myths are a way to teach narrative. Narrative is within the myth. |
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Term
| Three Primary Ways myths function in culture: |
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Definition
-To confirm, intensify, and reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values
-A way to escape reality myths talk about idealized settings, which makes us think beyond our everyday reality emphasizes certain aspects of life by ignoring others
-Meant to unify a diverse audience they can do this because they convey universal values. i.e. American myth liberty, freedom, patriotism and become teaching tools |
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Term
| When speakers invoke myths, what are they asking us as their audience to do? |
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Definition
Speakers don’t ask us to change our minds, they remind us this is what we believe because they are so structured into our culture we know them automatically.
The connection between myth and narrative is the fact that they’re story-like and meant to reach out to a diverse audience- the narrative is within the myth. |
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Term
| Explain the connection between myth and narrative. |
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Definition
1. it allows us to create mash ups
2. mock movies and spoofs
3. we can make our own home-made movies |
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Term
| Why are myths so powerful? |
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Definition
The power of myth lies in the fact that no one has to explain myth, we just know it.
Powerful because they tap into our emotions and do not need an explanation. |
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Term
| Why is it important to study myths in a class on popular culture? |
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Definition
Because if the power of myths is that you don't have to explain them, then our job as critics is to explain them.
-they are also a tool for living- tell morality tales, lessons, and convey universal values. |
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Term
| What are the five questions we asked in class that help us analyze myths? |
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Definition
Who are the main characters of the myth?
What are the major and minor events in the myth?
What is the moral of the myth?
What are the major themes of the myth?
What are the cause and effect relationships established in the myth? |
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Term
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Definition
- Narrative
- begins with birth of America - this nation was born out of Revolution; first new nation; new nation developed uniquely American ideology: liberty, egalitarianism, and individualism
- the U.S. is qualitatively different and exceptionally the best
- American founded on republican ideals
- Lesson Learned- we can accomplish anything- born out of a revolution- we are unique (superior), duty to lead the world, make the world safe for democracy (WW1 and WW2)
- Repercussions
- individualism, repercussions of the beliefs of individualism - given rise to “situational ethics” (it’s not wrong until we get caught)
- we get stretched too thin
- Critiques
- republicans - greedy, believe we are “God’s chosen people”
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Term
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Definition
- American Dream
- Narrative
- freedom includes the promise of prosperity and success - if we all work hard, we can all work hard, we can all live the American dream (e.g. nice car, nice home, good job, good family)
- Declaration of Independence: we all have these rights and we have the right to make these happen
- this is why America is sometimes called the land of opportunity
- Lesson Learned- you can do anything you want to if you try hard enough- we live in a society where anything is possible- rags to riches story- willing to work hard to make it possible
- Sports American Dream- work hard in a particular area- innate quality that you have to make you successful- we dont get the American Dream with the concept of exceptionalism
- Repercussions- when you don’t succeed we often judge people- arguments against welfare arguments for the American Dreams- if you’re not doing it, it is your responsibility
- Critques- small wealthy class holds most of the money and no matter what we do we will never get to it-
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Term
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Definition
- Narrative
- Constant challenge of an unknown and limitless frontier turns some individuals into heroes and because of these epic struggles those heroes symbolize American values (i.e. progress, prosperity)
- Lesson Learned- duty to explore the unknown- space is the last frontier. It is a morality tail of good vs. evil- we learn who are heroes are and who they are not. (how we are supposed to behave). We also face adversity and it is not really an easy place to live- creates a person that can do whatever they want.
- Indian is a nobel savage or savage- if noble has some western conept about him- Pocahantas- perfect example.
- Repercussions
- the gender dynamic - men are defined by their rugged self containedness, the women are homemakers and tied to the land (not really reflective of what women did)
- historically, women served in office more and owned land more, so women were actually given more rights than those lived in urban areas
- Critques
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Term
| How does Scott McCloud define comics? Characteristics of comics? |
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Definition
“Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in a deliberate sequence.” –Scott McCloud
Characteristics of comics:
Deliberate sequence
Very few to no words, just visual
Pictures within pictures
Expected to be bounded by a frame
There are subtitles to help you figure out what’s going on |
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Term
| Why are comics sometimes judged as being not sophisticated? Is it fair? |
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Definition
-We read comics really well but we often don’t think they’re sophisticated because they aren’t “great novels” (only words) or “great art” (only art) so we devalue them.
-It is not a fair critique because comics often serve as morality tales and comics draw from larger myths of American culture
-Teenagers are viewers and so people think they don’t need to be critiqued but that is incorrect |
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Term
| What was the first newspaper comic strip? |
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Definition
| Hearst ran the 1st comic- The Yellow Kid |
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Term
| What is the Sunday morning Test? |
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Definition
- If it was too controversial for the whole family to discuss it wasn’t in the comics
- Comics are less controversial on Sundays.
- Can’t be too graphic or harsh or it won’t pass
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Term
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Definition
- Created in the Great Depression
- Comes from the world of Krypton and lands in rural America - part of the frontier myth
- Adoptive father (from Kansas) finds him in the middle of the Great Depression in the middle of a corn field
- Families are getting broken apart due to migration and this is in Superman’s family and life as well
- Has a very “strong moral compass”
- i.e. fighting off evil, sacrificing his life for others, and fight evil in a selfless way (giving up identity)
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Term
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Definition
- Really rich, it is drive to do good because he witnessed the death of his parents, has technology and money to make things work for him
- his revenge is a little more dark than Superman
- Batman is dark (angry about life)
- Hides face - more internal
- American Dream - use all of the things that we have and wish we had to do good, lives in Gotham City
- historical context: war in europe, etc.
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Term
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Definition
- made to fight hitler in WWII as a morale booster for solidiers
- he was a weakling but with technology and science he was transformed into a military superhero
- american exceptionalism myth
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Term
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Definition
- during the cold war (1950)
- using capitalism and $$ to fight communism
- american exceptionalism: if there are bad guys out there, we will get them-- parallels with iron man story
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Term
How does each superhero’s story help us understand our culture’s ideas about heroes? What are the characteristics of heroes that develop in these comic stories? |
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Definition
Comics are an insight into what heroes look like and who heroes are. How their image changes over the years is important for us to notice. (For example, “the perfect man”). Mirrors what society is like at that particular time |
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Term
What are the similarities and differences between comic books and graphic novels? |
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Definition
- are longer than comics and more sophisticated
- deal with darker subjects
- assume a level of audience knowledge that is not the same for comics (often refer to literature)
1st graphic novel was A Contract With God by Will Eisner |
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Term
What is the purpose of political cartoons? Why are political cartoons almost always negative? |
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Definition
-used to sway public opinion
-Draw from culture in really clear ways
-Contextually focused
-Made to persuade social criticism
The problems, truths, and issues of society are uncovered and illustrated.
They are almost always negative because they are telling us what is wrong with society |
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Term
| What job is probably the most cartooned in our culture? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the five visual techniques used in political cartoons? Examples? |
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Definition
-Symbolism: Use symbols to stand for larger concepts
-Exaggeration: Over exaggerate a characteristic of a person to make a point
-Labeling: the label will make clear what objects people stand for
-Analogy: Compares to unlike situations to make an argument for how they’re alike
-Irony: Differences between reality and the way things ought to be |
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Term
| Why can political cartoons sometimes be difficult for us as critics to analyze? What do we have to put aside in order to analyze political cartoons? |
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Definition
Political cartoons are meant to initiate emotion. “Why do I love or hate this cartoon?” Why is it working so effectively?” We need to set aside our own emotions when analyzing political cartoons. |
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Term
What are the two competing stories of “Indian Country” laid out by Silliman? |
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Definition
In one aspect Indian Country signifies home, territory, families and friends, sacred space, landscape, and community. In the other aspect Indian Country is related to the US military and it refers to hostile, unpacified territories in active war zones. One sheds a positive light while the other sheds a much darker light. |
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Term
What is the history of the use of the term “Indian Country” in the US military? |
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Definition
emerges in military language during Vietnam-- actually more prevalent than officials might light to admit
-First emerges in Vietnam- Apache Hellocopter- more prevalent than officials like to think- symbolizes the area that the enemy controls- draws from this history and then applies it in problematic ways. |
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Term
On page 241 Silliman lays out the details of the metaphor of “Indian Country” – what are those details? What is the metaphor? |
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Definition
the metaphor relies on the believability and perceptibility of them; used to reference hostile
“The “Indian Country” metaphor entails a series of analog- ical links between Native Americans and Iraqis and their lands under military siege by the U.S. military. George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s (1980) terminology of map- ping “source” and “target” domains helps draw out the connections
territory”
-The metaphor references the hostile territory. |
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Term
What repercussions does Silliman see in the use of the metaphor of “Indian Country? |
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Definition
As a result, the military speaks of “Indian Country” as a place to dominate and control, not as the homeland of some of its current enlisted men and women who frequently serve their country in percentages higher than in the overall U.S. population. |
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Term
| What are the parallels that Richardson sees between Superman and the bible? |
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Definition
| Shame and guilt/Spirituality vs. flesh |
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Term
Richardson argues Spiderman is a metaphor for Christian shame. Explain. How does Richardson define shame? Guilt? What is the difference? How does Spiderman atone for his guilt? What is the dilemma Spiderman faces? How does that dilemma play out in the film? |
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Definition
Guilt refers to specific deeds or actions. In a court of law, a subject pleads guilty because he “did” it; he performed an action in which he is guilty. The subject can then “pay” for his guilt and once he has paid for his guilt it can be expunged and he no longer he has to be guilty. Shame by contrast, is a performative effect. It is a “doing” that constitutes a “being”. The subject cannot be separated from his shame. “Guilt refers to actions, shame to being.” Spiderman is a metaphor for Christian shame in the aspect that he didn’t take care of the robber when he had the chance and that robber eventually killed his uncle. He is always tied to his shame of his uncle being murdered. He tries to do good deeds to expunge the guilt but in reality he feels shame and can never escape it. Same idea in Christianity, Christians sin and then go to confession and feel better because their guilt is expunged but unfortunately we constantly live in sin and we can’t truly get it expunged so it’s actually shame. Spiderman has to decide if he should save Mary Jane (desire for the flesh) or save the innocent children (the greater good). He eventually rejects Mary Jane and instead tells her that he can only be “here” for her and protect her. He rejects the immediate pleasures of the body in order to foreground the body as vehicle for the expression of Christian ethics. |
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Term
What is Wonder Woman’s first origin myth? Why is it important that Wonder Woman saves Captain Trevor? |
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Definition
Wonder Woman’s original myth was Nationalism. It is important that Wonder Woman saves Captain Trevor because this triggers the beginning of rendering the familiar, strange, and presenting utopian ideals for social reform, which is set in motion with a gender-reversal image. (Wonder Woman carrying Captain Trevor in her arms) |
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Term
What role did comic books play in World War II? What role did Wonder Woman play? Who was the audience for Wonder Woman comics in World War II? Emad argues Wonder Woman was a positive symbol of femininity and nationalism during World War II – how? |
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Definition
Comic books played a large role in WW2, hundreds of thousands were sent to American military in attempts to “raise morale through patriotic fervor”. The audience grew from primarily children to include adults. Wonder Woman inspired women to “get strong and earn your own living” like joining WAACs or the WAVES and get involved in America’s war effort. The moral was women can empower themselves, changing from “weak girls” to economically and sexually independent women. |
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Term
What does Emad mean by calling Wonder Woman a trickster female? |
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Definition
Although in actuality Wonder Woman is strong and fights these battles she must hide her identity as Diana Prince. Where she is an army nurse reinforcing the idea that women’s power must be contained and exercised covertly not overtly. As Diana Prince, Wonder Woman must always pretend to be weaker and more submissive than she really is. |
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Term
What happens to the Wonder Woman character post World War II and into the 1960s? How are these character changes reflective of American culture? |
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Definition
Post WW2 Wonder Woman becomes much more domesticated, Diana Prince is a much more prevalent character. This is sparked by the idea that women should not compete with returning servicemen for employment and that they should return home to the kitchens and families which is reflective of American culture at that time. |
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Term
What happens to the Wonder Woman character in the 1970s and 1980s? |
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Definition
In the 1970’s Wonder Woman echoed the discourses of danger surrounding the women’s movement. Wonder Woman had become a “menace” to society, a female power unleashed- who by the 1980’s tried to quit the job and return to Paradise Island. The comic book had run out of steam and the new tamed, glamorized version of the character emerged as a marketing disaster. |
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Term
What is Wonder Woman’s second origin myth? What does the vanquishing of Decay mean? |
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Definition
Vanquishing Decay means that the spheres of gender and nationality can remain intact, femininity will not be corrupted by too much power, and gender-as long as it is feminine and beautiful- can coexist with nation. |
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Term
What happens to the Wonder Woman character in the 1990s? Who is the intended audience for the comic in the 1990s? |
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Definition
The intended audience of the 90’s is women in their 20’s. Following a notion that women like stories about relationships and emotions more than stories of battles, Wonder Woman’s heroic identity becomes more individual and personal at this time as well. |
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Term
What happens to the Wonder Woman character post 9/11? |
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Definition
She becomes related to the idea of America itself. You can replace her name in certain parts and place in the word America and it makes sense with the story. |
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Term
How does the theory of media logic help us understand the role of technology in our lives? |
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Definition
Two things-
1- Theory of media logic- we have a perception that everyone should have the most up to date technology- old cell phones are a total bust
2- high speed Internet- we assume everyone has access to high speed Internet and when they don’t we don’t understand it- take it for granted
-New technologies shape our sense of public and private, how we should socialize, and how people socialize around us
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Term
Describe 2 examples of how technology defines rules for how we act in public places and how we socialize with and around one another. |
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Definition
Technology forms a new set of rules for what constitutes public and private space and how we socialize with one another- 2 people on campus walking together and both people are on the telephone. Couple on the date are on their phone. |
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Term
How have cell phones changed our notions of public and private? How have tools like laptops changed the concept and location of work? |
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Definition
Cell phones: We can have any type of conversation anywhere at any time
Laptops: Anywhere can be a workspace |
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Term
What is personal culture? Why can personal culture be so powerful? |
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Definition
Instead of culture as social or public activity (concert), technology goes everywhere we go.
-Highly powerful because technology is immersive! Really involved with device that people forget what they’re doing. For example; Facebook distracts studying
-loses social activity and becomes all about you; emersive
-About our tastes and wants and desires- I don’t go to a concert but instead I get it on my phone in my room- I get to dictate what I do in social activity. |
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Term
What are some examples from popular culture of the theme “fear of new technology.” One example we talked about in class is the Matrix trilogy. |
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Definition
-1950’s people frightened by robot on movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still”
-Matrix trilogy; humans are batteries that become facilitation for technology instead of the other way around as we know it
-An extended theme of science fiction is to explore the consequences of scientific innovation
and technological developments |
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Term
How does the representation of different social groups in the media effect audience recall? Why does this matter? |
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Definition
Social groups that are recalled more often enjoy more status and power in daily life. The social groups that are more prevalent are recalled while the ones who are not represented are recalled less often. |
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Term
What does the videogame world look like in terms of gender and race? |
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Definition
-Male and White
-Females are secondary characters (along for the ride).
-Every other ethnic group is underrepresented. Whites and Asians are over represented.
-No Hispanics or Native American primary characters, which makes all of these underrepresented groups feel unimportant and powerless because they don’t see their own group when they play. (same applies for African Americans, women and children) |
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Term
What is social identity theory? How does it help us understand the impact of videogame characters on audiences? Specifically, how does it explain the representation of Latinos in videogames and the impact of those representations on Latino children? |
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Definition
Social Identity Theory: We look for representations of ourselves in media and then compare those representations with those of other groups.
-Lack of representation = invisibility and less importance
-Makes Latinos feel unimportant and powerless because they don’t see their own group when they play |
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Term
How do videogames function as gatekeepers to interest in technology? To what end? What is the impact of this gate keeping? |
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Definition
-kids who play a lot of videogames become interested in how video games work which leads to science/math careers-- girls are getting left out of this |
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Term
Using the concepts of amplification and reduction, analyze the impact of videogame representations of race and gender on audiences. |
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Definition
By amplifying one race or gender we reduce all others. This can skew viewers perception of what reality looks like. |
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Term
What are some consequences we talked about in class that our online lives have in the real world? For gossip, celebrity videos, online dating, cyber-bullying? |
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Definition
Consequences of
- celebrity videos: lose public support, jobs, etc. or positive because of exposure
- gossip:
- online dating: women lie about their weight, men lie about their height and income
- cyber-bullying: affects ½ the kids/teens in America
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Term
What are the 3 ways that we talked about in class that the Internet allows us to manage our experience of popular culture? What is the impact of this ability? |
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Definition
1. allows us to create matchups- i.e. george bush picture made up of troops that have died in iraq
2. mock movies and spoofs
3. we make our own homemade movies- get it for social press
*Able to make popular culture the way we want it |
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Term
Why talk about romance novels in a class on popular culture? |
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Definition
It’s a multibillion dollar industry, represents one of the largest genres in the industry. Historical research and accuracy has had an impact on other academic areas. romance novels have beat out mystery and sci-fi novels. |
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Term
What is the general storyline of a romance novel? |
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Definition
o Boy meets girl
o Almost immediate sexual tension
o Something stands in their way
o About 150 pages into the book they give into their attraction
o Some misunderstanding happens
o There’s often a choice that has to be made
o After the choice is made, they fall in love and live happily ever after |
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Term
What are some changes that we see in romance novels over time? |
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Definition
More expressive, almost vulgar at times. Females have become more active as opposed to passive like they used to be. |
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Term
How does race get represented in romance novels? How is gender represented? How are these representations problematic? What are the lessons being taught by romance novels? |
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Definition
- Western motif novels- white woman as heroine
- “savage” native American draws woman in
- Rarely see interracial relationships in romance novels
- There are multicultural aspects
- Gender:
- Early novels had passive female characters
- Now- females are more active and less passive
- Masculine and feminine aspects have remained the same
- Woman usually realizes that she has to love the man enough for the both of them
- Woman does the emotional labor in the relationship (male is incapable of doing these things)
- Women have to be convinced of their sexual desire because they are unsure of it
- Almost all romance novel authors are women
- Women writing for women
- Shows changes over time (women’s social/work lives evolving)
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Term
How is gender represented in the Twilight series? How is race represented? |
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Definition
Gender conformity as an underlying message
· Women are weak, passive, and need protection
· Men are strong, violent, and treat women as property
· Edward and Jacob fight for Bella, she doesn’t get to choose herself
Representations of race
· Vampires are white/ Werewolves are Native American
· White males are powerful, wealthy, and sophisticated
· Natives are in a low socioeconomic class, constantly in battle for the girl and never wins, they are animals (literally wolves),
· Vampires refer to Werewolves as dogs and say they smell bad |
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Term
What is imagetext? Apply the concept to a magazine cover. How do magazines for men and women represent sex? Same? Different? How? |
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Definition
- Image text- the way that images and text are presented together to make an argument
- We read images and text simultaneously
- Magazines
- Color pallets work together throughout the cover
- Race representations on magazines
- Some magazines cater to specific demographics
- Interracial representation does not exist even at magazine level
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Term
What was the controversy over the Bundchen and James cover of Vogue? Is James’s image on the cover different from or consistent with how African American athletes are portrayed in general in popular culture? The argument made by some during the controversy, that the cover just showed 2 superstars at the top of their game ignores what? What might have happened differently if Vogue had a more diverse work place? |
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Definition
Le Bron James and Gisele mirrors King Kong and Fay Ray. Also stereotypes the “dangerous black man” Perpetuating negative stereotypes. Black people are often shown angry or in crazy ways whereas whites are usually smiling and happy. James’s image is consistent with how African American athletes are generally portrayed. If Vogue had a more diverse work place someone may have stopped and noticed that it could be portrayed in this poor light. |
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Term
| Why is sports an important facet of popular culture to study? |
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Definition
The representation of sports is highly gendered, women are underrepresented in every aspect of sport culture, and when they are represented they are represented in stereotypical ways
-sports is a major artifact so it is very important to study w/ popular culture |
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Term
When we say sports in popular culture presents a very gendered portrait of American culture, what does this mean? |
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Definition
Women are underrepresented in every aspect of sports culture. Sports in pop culture is purely dominated by men. If women are talked about they are generally feminized or sexualized. |
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Term
What is media framing? What is the sports frame in political reporting? What effect does the sports frame have on audiences? How does media framing help us understand the practices of representing gender in sports? |
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Definition
-Media framing: How a given piece of information is being presented in the media. How information is framed actually influences how we as an audience think about it. They invoke familiar narratives (myths). Reporting on politics is often framed using the narrative of sports and is called “sports frame” (ex: “The Horse Race” – talking politics placement) If we use sports frame we’re inferring politics as a game and so we talk about politicians winning or losing and we also get reports on their strategy. What’s it framed as? And how does it affect the audience? It asks who is going to win rather than who might be better able to serve. Politicians are turned into performers due to the sports frame and lastly it turns voters into spectators. The goal is no longer about governance but about winning. Female athletes are framed the same way and that frame reinforces particular stereotypes. -The frame says only certain sports are acceptable for women to be in.
- The feminization undermines athletic competence, it’s about how pretty they are and how sexy they can be.
-The frame also makes an argument towards heterosexuality. “Don’t worry, even though they play manly sports they are heterosexual”
-Down play women’s achievements- cannot be as athletic as men |
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Term
What is Title IX? What effect has Title IX had on the number of women participating in sports? |
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Definition
Title IX was an amendement to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It states:
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance..."
Due to Title IX there has been a large increase in the number of women who participate in sports. |
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Term
What are some of the remaining disparities between men’s and women’s participation in sports? |
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Definition
- Women are underrepresented in sports culture
- And when they are represented it is in highly stereotypical ways
- Women have made little headway in managerial positions
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Term
How does the concept of power help us understand the underrepresentation of women in sports media reporting? Help us understand the underrepresentation of women in roles as owners, coaches, directors, and front office staff of sports teams? |
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Definition
- The number of women who are sports reporters
- Erin Andrews- 2 of the top 3 hits are the list of the hottest sports reporters
- Broadcasting the games themselves are highly out of reach
- In the entire NFL history there has been one female announcer and she did one game
- How women are framed in popular culture
- Study after study and year after year (constantly studied)
- Underrepresented, and if represented they are done in a stereotypical way
- Feminized and sexualized
- Sexualized and underrepresented
- Across all types of media- women are vastly underrepresented
- Coverage is done on individual sports instead of team sports
- Figure skating vs. basketball
- Don't have contact and individuals sports that are represented
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Term
How are female athletes framed in popular culture? How are women underrepresented in popular culture around sports? What type of coverage does happen? What is it focused on? |
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Definition
- Represented in a standardized way
- That frame reinforces stereotypes
- Women have made little headway in managerial positions
- Bypassed because of task or lack of experience on the business side
- The number of women who are sports reporters
- Erin Andrews- 2 of the top 3 hits are the list of the hottest sports reporters
- Broadcasting the games themselves are highly out of reach
- In the entire NFL history there has been one female announcer and she did one game
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Term
What does it mean to say that female athletes are framed as ladies first and athletes second? What does this look like? How is it reflected in language? |
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Definition
ramed as ladies first and athletes second
- Visually and through language
- Means that representations are often on how they look, act, dress instead of the level of performance
- Male athletes are framed that show their strength and athleticness, females are framed with their femininity
- More likely to see them off of the playing field, out of uniform, and often in passive poses and not playing their sport or in sexualized poses
- "women's athletic events" -not athletic events
- Women are also referred to in child terms
- Example: Bonnie Blair- ice skater- 28 year old called "America's Little Sister"
- Mary Lou- "America's Sweetheart"
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Term
What are the effects of this framing of female athletes? |
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Definition
- Female athletes are second rate (less important), and has the effect of rendering female athletes as virtually invisible
- The frame says that only certain sports are reasonable for women to partake in
- Feminism and sexualization overcome their athleticism
- Also makes the argument that female athletes are normal, AKA heterosexual
- Make-up, family, and husbands (shown with these things)
- Reinforces heterosexuality
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Term
Discuss/explore the problems with the statement that the lack of coverage of female athletes is because the media is just responding to the interests and desires of the audience. What concepts might we use to understand and critique this statement? |
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Definition
- Problems:
- Women don't represent the sports fans (not true)
- Also assumes that men are not invested in women sports (not true)
- Cyclical nature of lack of coverage means it is hard for female sports to play and watch
- If you have coverage you have an audience and vise versa
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Term
What makes stamps and stamp collecting an artifact of popular culture? Why is it important that stamps have an educational component? What does that mean we need to think about as critics of popular culture? |
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Definition
- Same 2 concepts as coins
- 1- has to be okayed by the government
- 2- circulates widely so images of national identity circulate widely so it makes sense to pay attention to the images
- USPS package sets of stamps together as collectibles
- USPS created educational material using their stamps to teach kids American History
- Celebrate the Century Stamps (1998-1999); reflection on the 1900s
- 150 stamps issued over 2 years
- 1900-1940s- post master general appointed a small group of people to choose this set of stamps
- 1950-1990s- stamps were voted on and chosen by the public (all ages)
- To generate and sustain interest, post offices were turned into mini-museums
- There was a traveling museum that went across the country that was set up in 4 train cars
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Term
As we look at the Celebrate the Century stamps what four themes emerge from their content? |
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Definition
- Themes in stamps
- 1. A lot of stamps focused in presidents, statesmen, military leaders, and explorers (more so in the 1900-1940s collection) (significant people)
- 2. Narrative of American progress
- Technological progress à trains, ships, airplanes, cars, cell phones, CGI
- Architectural progress à bridges, dams
- Medical progress à polio vaccine
- 3. Focus turns towards pop culture artifacts more as time goes by
- 4. Significant events in American history start to show up
-progress (technology, medical, etc), popular culture artifacts (barbie, cabage patch kdis), significant events in history, significant people in history
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Term
How do the stamps deal with controversy? What is the effect of the positive spin put on events by the stamps? |
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Definition
- Controversial events were represented in a particular way
- Some were not even shown
- Stamp would put a positive spin on the controversial event
- Chaos of e vent was eliminated
- If everything is important, then nothing is important
- Ex: desert storm portrayed as important as cabbage patch kids
- One over-arching narrative- even though stamps portray everything as equal, narrative is progress which is tied to American Exceptionalism
- See the ways America is getting better
- In the end (1990s) the result is progress
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Term
What is the overall narrative of the stamps in the Celebrate the Century collection? |
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Definition
-Progress- Everyone is equal
-Progress-- America just keeps going |
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Term
What is the basic plot of the sheikh romance? |
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Definition
A tall, dark and handsome sheikh meets a white western woman who teaches him how to be ruled by love |
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Term
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Definition
An ontological and epistemological distinction made between the “Orient” and the “occident”
b. A western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient
c. The Orient is the East, geographically encompasses the Middle East, North Africa, and India |
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Term
How does the cover art for the sheikh romances draw from Orientalist conventions? |
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Definition
Portray women in reclining poses with emphasis on display of female flesh
b. Include lush fabrics and patterns, the presence of hookah, and shadowed space behind figures |
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Term
Taylor argues the harem “becomes a symbol for a changing and unchanging Orient “(1041). Explain – what does this mean? |
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Definition
Pointing to the conventions of Orientalism and to the knowledge that the hero could have his choice of women, accentuating his choice of only one – the Anglo heroine
b. The Oriental past is still visible in the harem (emptied of its Oriental women) while the future is found in the Anglo woman |
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Term
| How is Wolverine libertarian? |
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Definition
-Liberal political stance stressing cooperation among individuals and minorities rather than conflict, moderation in politics rather than extremism and the right of each American to social recognition and economic opportunity
-sought to make personal choice, the basis for social behavior |
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