Sorry for the lateness of this post, I had some trouble finding a suitable article as Amazon are being slow in delivering the numerous books I have on order. However, I managed to find a suitable article on JSTOR which I ask you all to take a few moments to familliarise yourselves with prior to my presentation. The article is entitled The Edge and the Center: Gated Communities and the Discourse of Urban Fear by Setha M Lowe (2001). The article looks at gated communities and how a culture of fear has enabled such dwellings to become prominent in the American suburbs. Lowe outlines that Urban studies have traditionally focussed on the study of the city centre, and less on suburbia, an area which she intends to investigate. She uses primary research, in the form of the interviews with residents of gated communities, to attempt to answer questions on urban fear and reasons for moving to such residences. This article is relevant to my project as I intend to look at gated communities in the suburbs not only as an expression of fear of "otherness", but also as an expression of indiviualistic lifestyles chosen by many American citizens, and ingrained upon their mindests, think Jefferson, second ammendment etc..
I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday, and hopefully giving you all some insight into Gated Communities.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Keyword Articles
The two keywords I have chosen are "African" by Kevin Gaines and "Culture" by George Yudice. Although there were various keywords that I could have chosen, I felt these two were probably at the heart of my FYP which addresses how much race leaders have had to accommodate within the white mainstream culture in America and, since there appear to be no memorable race leaders now, whether class and culture are more important than political activism.
The African chapter helps to conceptualize the relationship of African Americans to Africa itself, not just in terms of the slave trade, but in the historical and on-going complex relationship. I found a comment by Frazier particularly interesting that 'the traumas of enslavement and the rigors of urbanization' have all but extinguished the tie to Africa. Since the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois and Malcolm X believed in ties with the African brotherhood and Booker T Washington and Martin Luther King Jr were more ingratiating to the American culture, this could be useful in assessing attitudes, particularly as the former two were from the more urban north.
The culture chapter is also vitally important since it is the culture of America that freed slaves and now modern day African Americans have to work within. Reading this chapter gives an idea of how wide the word 'culture' can be and historically how it has been defined through anthropological and social analysis into the political, with arguments as to how valuable anything that is not the dominant culture is.
The African chapter helps to conceptualize the relationship of African Americans to Africa itself, not just in terms of the slave trade, but in the historical and on-going complex relationship. I found a comment by Frazier particularly interesting that 'the traumas of enslavement and the rigors of urbanization' have all but extinguished the tie to Africa. Since the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois and Malcolm X believed in ties with the African brotherhood and Booker T Washington and Martin Luther King Jr were more ingratiating to the American culture, this could be useful in assessing attitudes, particularly as the former two were from the more urban north.
The culture chapter is also vitally important since it is the culture of America that freed slaves and now modern day African Americans have to work within. Reading this chapter gives an idea of how wide the word 'culture' can be and historically how it has been defined through anthropological and social analysis into the political, with arguments as to how valuable anything that is not the dominant culture is.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Keywords Presentation
'Exceptionalism' (Donald E. Pease) and 'Capitalism' (David F. Ruccio) are two keywords which are fundamental to my FYP. As both are open to wide interpretation, I will use this exercise to clarify their definitions relative to both my FYP subject (Theodore Dreiser, exceptionalist ideology) and its social and historic context (early twentieth century).
The essay on 'Exceptionalism' was a revelation. I wish I had read this around the end of Year 1, Semester 1 as Pease provides a history of, and an explanation for, the adoption of the exceptionalist myth within U.S. society. The 'who' (politicians and academics), 'when' (twentieth century) and 'why' (bi-polarity of world power US/USSR) is very illuminating relative to my hypothesis (which confronts the apparent lack of contestation of exceptionalism in American literature).
Pease's essay reveals how the ideology of exceptionalism may be linked to the critiques of capitalism (communist/capitalist USSR/US binaries) which pre-dated the adoption of the ideology per se. Dreiser's An American Tragedy (my primary text) was published in 1925 - researched and written over the preceding decade - and based on a 1906 murder case. It is strongly critical of the American Dream, capitalism and associated ideas of egalitarianism and a 'class-free' society. Dreiser was a committed socialist and, later, communist sympathiser, so the relationships between exceptionalism, capitalism (in opposition to communism/USSR) and world events/American interests and foreign policy, in his epoch, are key to understanding the nature of his contestation of an ideology which post-dated much of that epoch.
Pease's essay also reveals how (and why) American Studies as a discipline has been complicit in creating the exceptionalist myth. According to Pease, for much of the twentieth century, exceptionalism has been the primary paradigm upon which academics have based their research. Again, Pease explains this in terms of political/ideological opposition to the USSR. Since the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, that paradigm has evolved from exceptionalist, through non-exceptionalist, to a post-exceptionalist position. These are concepts that underpin American Studies as a discipline so are important for all reseachers to understand.
The penny has now dropped re: our discussions on the contested definition of 'America'. I now begin to see the impact of globalisation on our discipline and how geographic boundaries are reductionist when studying culture/society post-modernity. This requires a dramatic intellectual shift away from the USA as a geographic locus of study in favour of trans-national, cultural/social 'themes' within which the USA is just one node of a network. Think 'Black Atlantic' as an example for those who took that module.
I am now considering the impact of this 'eureka' moment on my FYP but starting to view American self-representation of exceptionalism as rooted in a reactive ideology (to perceived threats from global events) rather than as a product of an inherent sense of national superiority. That the latter superceded the former appears to be the result of world events in the latter part of the 20th century - a mythology that is now widely contested within a new world order.
The essay on 'Exceptionalism' was a revelation. I wish I had read this around the end of Year 1, Semester 1 as Pease provides a history of, and an explanation for, the adoption of the exceptionalist myth within U.S. society. The 'who' (politicians and academics), 'when' (twentieth century) and 'why' (bi-polarity of world power US/USSR) is very illuminating relative to my hypothesis (which confronts the apparent lack of contestation of exceptionalism in American literature).
Pease's essay reveals how the ideology of exceptionalism may be linked to the critiques of capitalism (communist/capitalist USSR/US binaries) which pre-dated the adoption of the ideology per se. Dreiser's An American Tragedy (my primary text) was published in 1925 - researched and written over the preceding decade - and based on a 1906 murder case. It is strongly critical of the American Dream, capitalism and associated ideas of egalitarianism and a 'class-free' society. Dreiser was a committed socialist and, later, communist sympathiser, so the relationships between exceptionalism, capitalism (in opposition to communism/USSR) and world events/American interests and foreign policy, in his epoch, are key to understanding the nature of his contestation of an ideology which post-dated much of that epoch.
Pease's essay also reveals how (and why) American Studies as a discipline has been complicit in creating the exceptionalist myth. According to Pease, for much of the twentieth century, exceptionalism has been the primary paradigm upon which academics have based their research. Again, Pease explains this in terms of political/ideological opposition to the USSR. Since the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, that paradigm has evolved from exceptionalist, through non-exceptionalist, to a post-exceptionalist position. These are concepts that underpin American Studies as a discipline so are important for all reseachers to understand.
The penny has now dropped re: our discussions on the contested definition of 'America'. I now begin to see the impact of globalisation on our discipline and how geographic boundaries are reductionist when studying culture/society post-modernity. This requires a dramatic intellectual shift away from the USA as a geographic locus of study in favour of trans-national, cultural/social 'themes' within which the USA is just one node of a network. Think 'Black Atlantic' as an example for those who took that module.
I am now considering the impact of this 'eureka' moment on my FYP but starting to view American self-representation of exceptionalism as rooted in a reactive ideology (to perceived threats from global events) rather than as a product of an inherent sense of national superiority. That the latter superceded the former appears to be the result of world events in the latter part of the 20th century - a mythology that is now widely contested within a new world order.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Keywords.......
A brief description of my FYP is how vampire, gothic and monster fiction in movies and tv are a representation of american anxieties and fears and how the fiction evolves with the changes in american society.
The Two Keywords I Looked at were
Citizenship (Lauren Berlant)
the article looks at how citizenship is percieved in America today and how it creates groups and segregation in society. especially when it looks at the issues between being a citizen and being a non-citizen. I chose this in relation to my topic because it talks about white anxieties about race, and disease and it is all about America's fear of the alien or unknown. These are the kind of issues that i am looking at in my fyp and how they are represented by vampire and gothic movies and television today.
African (Kevin Gaines)
This article is pretty self explained by the title and it deals with what the perception of "african" is in the USA. This relates to my article again because it is all about african americans feeling outside the system in america and feeling out of place. It deals with issues such as the pessimism the usa has about the word african and how it realtes to poverty, famine and disease. Again issues that i am looking at within my FYP in regards to how they are portrayed in gothic fiction.
The Two Keywords I Looked at were
Citizenship (Lauren Berlant)
the article looks at how citizenship is percieved in America today and how it creates groups and segregation in society. especially when it looks at the issues between being a citizen and being a non-citizen. I chose this in relation to my topic because it talks about white anxieties about race, and disease and it is all about America's fear of the alien or unknown. These are the kind of issues that i am looking at in my fyp and how they are represented by vampire and gothic movies and television today.
African (Kevin Gaines)
This article is pretty self explained by the title and it deals with what the perception of "african" is in the USA. This relates to my article again because it is all about african americans feeling outside the system in america and feeling out of place. It deals with issues such as the pessimism the usa has about the word african and how it realtes to poverty, famine and disease. Again issues that i am looking at within my FYP in regards to how they are portrayed in gothic fiction.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Keywords Presentation
The second keyword I will look at is Modern, by Chandan Reddy (pp160-164). This term informs my FYP as both the terms "modern" and "post-modern" can be used when examining the American city. The essay looks at the implications of the word "modern" from a variety of different disciplines such as sociology, history and geography, and can be used when looking at the changing landscape of the American city, and the ways in which both modernity and post modernity have helped develop cities in America.
Keywords
The three Keywords I have chosen for my presentation are; Identity, Gender, and Capitalism.
I have chosen these three as they relate most directly to my FYP out of those on offer.
The basis of my FYP is postmodernism in Tarantino's films, looking at the reasoning behind the portrayal of characters in my chosen field. Identity, gender, and capitalism through consumerism are important towards the characters self definition.
Identity - Carla Kaplan Pp. 123-127.
Kaplan's article coincides helpfully with an essay in Pulping Fictions called 'Pulpmodernism'. Kaplan talks of "Warring social identities" in her keywords, which follows Brooker and Brooker's 'Pulpmodernism' talking about the "need for and fragility of fixed identities and relationships".
Gender - Judith Halberstam Pp. 116-120.
The portrayal of gender in my FYP is crucial to looking at why the characters behave like they do. Halberstam discusses John Money and his invention of the term, "to describe the social enactment of sex roles; he used the term to formalize the distinction between bodily sex (male and female) and social roles (masculinity and femininity), and to note the frequent discontinuities between sex and role. This helps as a basis for gender definition when looking at the concept of gender portrayal in postmodernist theory.
Capitalism - David F. Ruccio Pp. 32-36.
Capitalism and consumerism plays a part in Trantinos films, especially Pulp Fiction with his invention of 'Red Apple' cigarettes and 'Jack Rabbit Slims' with the posters of Roger Corman films on the walls. This is important when looking at the postmodern aspect of his films, Umberto Eco's characterisation of the concept of cult films, "Cinema comes from the cinema", the cycle of consumer culture throughout the cinema.
I have chosen these three as they relate most directly to my FYP out of those on offer.
The basis of my FYP is postmodernism in Tarantino's films, looking at the reasoning behind the portrayal of characters in my chosen field. Identity, gender, and capitalism through consumerism are important towards the characters self definition.
Identity - Carla Kaplan Pp. 123-127.
Kaplan's article coincides helpfully with an essay in Pulping Fictions called 'Pulpmodernism'. Kaplan talks of "Warring social identities" in her keywords, which follows Brooker and Brooker's 'Pulpmodernism' talking about the "need for and fragility of fixed identities and relationships".
Gender - Judith Halberstam Pp. 116-120.
The portrayal of gender in my FYP is crucial to looking at why the characters behave like they do. Halberstam discusses John Money and his invention of the term, "to describe the social enactment of sex roles; he used the term to formalize the distinction between bodily sex (male and female) and social roles (masculinity and femininity), and to note the frequent discontinuities between sex and role. This helps as a basis for gender definition when looking at the concept of gender portrayal in postmodernist theory.
Capitalism - David F. Ruccio Pp. 32-36.
Capitalism and consumerism plays a part in Trantinos films, especially Pulp Fiction with his invention of 'Red Apple' cigarettes and 'Jack Rabbit Slims' with the posters of Roger Corman films on the walls. This is important when looking at the postmodern aspect of his films, Umberto Eco's characterisation of the concept of cult films, "Cinema comes from the cinema", the cycle of consumer culture throughout the cinema.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Keywords Presentation
The first keyword that I will look at in my presentation is "City" by Michaela di Leonardo. It breifly describes the history of the American city and discusses they ways in which the concept of the city has been portrayed in historical writings. This essay informs my FYP as it looks at one of the key themes of my dissertation - the city.
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