Week 7 - Cultural Studies

Culture has various definition. Each definition is specific depends on the particular aspect of study. Under sociology and anthropology, culture definition is the most commonly used in this area. Tylor (1871) defines culture under this area as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society.” (Ferraro, 1998, p.18). This means that culture is the way of life for a particular group of people. Edgar & Sedgwick (2008) also defines Culture as "it entails recognition that all human begins live in a world that is created by human beings, and in which they find meaning. Culture is the complex everyday world we all encounter and throughout which we all move." (p. 82). To my understanding, culture is how people behave and act with their belief, customs, knowledge and moral in their lives.

The definition is different in applying the study of culture into communication theory which is cultural studies. According to Griffin (March 7, 2011) defines cultural as "A neo-Marxist critique that sets forth the position that mass media manufacture consent for dominant ideologies." (P. 345). In my view, cultural studies is the study of cultural practices in everyday life.

Visual culture need to be understood in this theory. It is the message showcase of an identity or persuasion of a particular culture depending on particular environment. According to Irvine (2011) Visual cultures is defined as a "studies recognizes the predominance of visual forms of media, communication, and information in the postmodern world.". In this theory i will use TV series of The Walking Dead as my example:

The Walking Dead is about a tale of survival, horror, and deep human emotion set in a post apocalyptic setting. This isn’t normal zombie tale, rather it is the tale of humans struggling to survive from their new situation and each other. The story is gripping, well paced, and holds nothing back. No one is safe in this series which gives it a gritty realism.

Griffin (March 7, 2011) stated "frameworks of interpretation." (P.347). This means that discourse is the cultural framework of interpretation in which it is a primary function to make a meaning. In other words, discourse is more into understanding and interpreting about a phenomenon. In this theory, the subject which shaped by the author's structural rule referred as the discourse. The discourse of my example is “The Walking Dead”

According to Griffin (March 7, 2011) ideology is "frameworks through which we interpret, understand, and make sense of social existence." (P.344). In my point point of view, ideologies is the idea of understanding the interpretation of an image which is more likely like our own fundamental beliefs. Therefore, the ideologies of The Walking Dead are teamwork, survival, responsibility and leadership.

Politics definition is contestation of state power as mentioned during lecture. It is a description of cultural studies strategic practice. Also mentioned during lecture, Stuart Hall defined politics as “Struggle over meaning”. This means cultural studies sees the problems in a culture. Therefore politics for The Walking Dead are politics leading the team, politics of decisions, politics of relationship, politics of racism and politics of feminism






References:


Ferraro, G., (1998) Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective (3rd Ed.). Belmont.Wadsworth

Edgar, A. & Sedgwick, P. (2008). Cultural Theory: The key concepts (2nd Ed.) London; New York: Routledge

Griffin, Emory A (March 7, 2011). Cultural Studies Theory of Stuart Hall: A First Look at COMMUNICATION THEORY (8th ed.), New York, America: MCGRAW-HILL.

Irvine, M. (2011). Introducing Visual Culture: Ways of Looking at All Things Visual. Retrieved April 09, 2012, from www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/visualarts/Intro-VisualCulture.html.