Film Culture - Reading Response (Week 9)

This reading on film cultures was quite simple and more of a comparative case study done between films introducing the concepts of downfall and development. 

As the reading says, the publicity gained by the movie on the box office receipts, higher production costs marked its success during the early times. He shows that with an example of Titanic and El Mariachi. There were lesser number of independent movies being created.

From Oligopolies to Conglomerates - The Change

Soon there was a change from the number of oligopolies, where only certain studios were in the high position, soon had a vertical integration with a few other companies moving from the oligopolies to the conglomerates. This lead to the options of block booking of the studios.The majors started to slowly collect films and release them, rather than producing their own films. 

Under the 'laissez-faire', the economic policies also helped in merging of conglomerates. Soon after the vertical integration there was a wave of 'horizontal integration' which lead to aligning complementary businesses alongside the production unit. To earn a global perspective and interest towards the films developed, they joined hands with most of its global partners to reinforce a sense of control on a nationwide run.

There is also a brief on the industry labor practices, by introducing three different ideas.

• Outsourcing of labor
• Runaway productions
• Concentration of creative and intellectual control

Films and new technologies:

Film technology seems to rely on the new technologies to market their products by spreading DVD's

instead of video tapes and minimizing the work load and offering more choice. He explains how we can  market music videos and films before releasing it to a wider audience, spreading it to niche audience. This is a strategy in selling the goods before releasing them.

Overall a good read to understand more about how films and film studies work. 

(Pramaggiore, Maria and Wallis, Tom (2008) Film: A Critical Introduction. 
London: Pearson, pp415-431)

Fashion Blogs - Consumer Culture

Fashion blogs are all over the internet, advertising and advising people on what to buy. This is a leading way of advertising which grew alongside the rise of new technologies.

First when blogging was introduced to a large account of people, it was a way of informing or communicating thoughts and ideas with others. Nowadays the ease in access of blogs makes its success. Sharing in seconds and having a global connectivity are those that made most people love blogging these days. 

This post is going to discuss about the trend of Fashion blogs and what impact does it have on consumer culture. This clearly attributes to Berger who describes how and why common lifestyles are associated with brands and products. 

After so many  blogs were started it started to act like a vent for people to pour their money into. Bloggers earn money in advertising the products. In fashion blogs there exists a sense of selling things rather than inspiring. Consequently the behavior and attitudes of people towards buying things have also changed rapidly, in satisfying more of their wants rather than focusing on their needs. 

"Dulce candy" who is one of the famous fashion bloggers, is also associated with various companies that sells the products. Constantly viewing these products, the followers attain the mindset of "buying these products would make me happy" feel. So they end up spending thousands of pounds in the stores recommended by these bloggers. Not only this, people are pushed to a point that branded lifestyle has become a status symbol. "What you own defines who you are"

Mike Featherstone talks about the three components of consumer culture, which can be seen in the fashion blogs. 

• Vast expansion of capitalist commodity that leads to the vast accumulation of material goods - There are lots of companies producing these products to earn profit and as a result people tend to buy things which are not a necessity. This is more of a 'vicious circle'. In fashion industry there is constant updated trends which makes people buy more products.
• Sociological views on the satisfaction and the status. - These blogs create a tension in viewers mind to buy the products, so that they can be more privileged. Buying branded commodities has become more of a status symbol. To talk in fashion terms "Owning a Rebecca Minkoff bag or a Gucci bag makes a status statement"
• Emotional pleasure of consumption by satisfying the dreams and desires. - They put the followers under the pressure and make them think "Buying a new product would give a better feel".

As a result, people end up buying more than needed. To quote precisely, Berger says,

 "Consumer culture is the one where 'private' needs and desires are considered more important than the spending on the public ones".  

Consumer Cultures - Reading Response (Week 9)

In this reading, Berger provides a complete picture of consumer culture. He explains about the two extremes of consumer cultures and quotes different people's thoughts on consumer culture.

He touches upon varies ideologies of consumer culture, starting from defining consumer culture, discussing about the origin of it, Psychological imperatives in consumer culture, Marxist or the capitalist approaches, Advertising of these consumer cultures.

Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages purchase of goods and services even in greater amounts.Berger describes how the common 'lifestyles' are associated with brands and products and also the changing attitudes and behavior of people towards the product. 

Consumer cultures are divided into two extremes. The one's who live in a subsistence economy where the consumption of material goods are not important and the other extreme is where goods place an important role in day to day activities. Consumer culture is the one where 'private' needs and desires are considered more important than the spending on the public ones.

Mike Featherstone talks about 3 components of consumer culture, they are,

• Vast expansion of capitalist commodity that leads to the vast accumulation of material goods
• Sociological views on the satisfaction and the status. 
• Emotional pleasure of consumption by satisfying the dreams and desires.

John Calvin mentions about the origin of the consumer culture and its religious background. He attacks asceticism in his writing. He talks about the divine beneficence, where he says that God wanted us to enjoy life and has provided with unlimited supply of goods.

In the psychological understandings of the consumer culture, Joan Riviere says Psychological impulses lead to desire for possessions which generate consumer culture. She makes the point that people constantly are psychologically moved to buy a good, even though they have to pay debts as buying makes them believe to break the class barrier. As it is constantly changing people are used to buy the products. Advertising is an important one in increasing people's desires and wants which would thus lead to mass consumption. Riviere defines the wants and desires as greed.

In the Marxist capitalist approach, Karl Marx mentions that its not the consciousness that determine society but it is the society that determine the consciousness. He explains how if we don't buy things then we are secluded and feel that society rejects us. To engage with the society consumer culture seems to be important as it acts as a barrier for alienation. 

So overall, this reading explains how we need to consume endlessly, so that we are recognized as a part of this society. This gives a clear overview on the consumer cultures.

(Berger, Arthur Asa (2010) The Objects of Affection: Semiotics and Consumer)

♔♚ City of culture - Spring break ! LONDON ♔♚

♚♛♚ ....Coming soon...♛♚♛

A City of Culture - Kolkata

Kolkata, a city in West Bengal, nicknamed as the 'Culture capital of India’ is a place where art, architecture and culture flourishes immensely. It is one of the most elegant places in India where all things get along well.

The choice I made is because it is most famous for its architectural heritages. As a former capital of India this city is also credited with the title "The city of joy”. The architectural master pieces of Kolkata include the Victoria memorial, which is one of the finest art museums. This is about 184 ft tall and constructed in 64 acres of land. The museum houses picturesque masterpieces of art above the north porch that epitomizes prudence, learning and motherhood. 

Victoria memorial, Kolkata

The significance of this architectural building is that this was constructed for young writers to engage in writing about culture.  This ginormous site is also known as ‘Mahakaran’. This sumptuous white marble Victoria memorial is a copy of the Taj Mahal, opened in 1911 surrounded by serene ponds on the sides situated on the banks of the Hooghly River as the showpiece of the British Empire portraying the culture.

The other major attraction in Kolkata is the Howrah Bridge. This long unwinding bridge which is placed above the Hooghly River is a famous symbol of Kolkata. The illuminated picture of this Howrah Bridge at night is such a visual treat.

 Howrah Bridge, Kolkata

In the book “Lonely Planet the Cities Book: a Journey through the Best Cities in the World” by Trent Holden, Anna Metcalfe says “Kolkata is a land of poets and artists, with penchant for arts and culture and a level of intellectual vitality”  which certainly describes Kolkata’s rich cultural and architectural heritage in a few sentences. 

The specialty of this bridge is that it has no pillars for its support but it is hung by steel wires. Essentially, it does not have any intermediate supports in between. It is supported on 2 pillars at each end. It was the first of its kind in India so it was special. It even has a high utility value since it connects to the suburban areas.

The culture in Kolkata is fresh and special. Apart from architectural towers like the memorials, museums, marble palace, the dance and festivals is one which put forward a fresh look to Kolkata. The traditional festivals include Durga puja, which is celebrated all over. 

Durga puja festival, Kolkata

Durga puja is a festival which is a special occasion that occurs in this city. This festival epitomizes the victory of good over evil. 

This is celebrated in a big level in Kolkata. The dance forms of Kolkata are also very unique. Dandiya, kathak, odissi, manipuri and some other dance forms are also famous in Kolkata.

As a cultural capital of India, Kolkata stands unique in art, architecture and tradition. That is the reason why I chose this as a city of culture.

Ethnographic Methods - Reading response (Week 8)

In this reading, Ethnographic Methods by Anderson, he has presented a very detailed brief on what is ethnography, what are the different ethnographic methods, what are the problems faced in doing an ethnographic research. 

Ethnography is essentially writing of culture. It is the process where members of one culture observe and participate in the culture of another. The four necessary topics that Anderson talks about in this are Participant observation, Membership, Reflexivity and answering questions of what and how the process takes place.

In Member understanding which is a theoretical concept according to Anderson he divides it into two things. The modern and structuralist that are the expression of universals, Postmodern and Post structuralist which gives importance to the social practices that gives meanings to the foundations. Essentially the structuralist thought is to discover underlying foundations and the post structuralist thought is exploring the member knowledge of the foundation. 

The member knowledge is understanding the intersection of how, which signifies the practices and Why which signifies the demand justification. The participant observation is the engine for ethnographic research as pointed out by Anderson. He presents examples from four people Tutt, Mayer Antonio, Moser and David Ryfe. The five ethnographic methods that he discusses are the ethnographic problems, the membership, gaining access, field work and making sense of it all. 

As far as I understood,  Ethnography doesn't have any shortcuts, its a long unwinding process, in which there is a key framework and a specific structure in which the research must be carried out.

(Anderson, James (2012) Media Research Methods. London: Sage, pp351-373)

Soho road - Multicultural mirror of Brum (A field trip record)

Asked a question on cultural space, “Soho road” is a place in Birmingham that immediately popped up to my mind. Being a multicultural city, Birmingham brings people from diversified cultures and traditions under the same roof. Soho road begins in the fringes of Lozells neighborhood and heads into Handsworth. It consists of a mosque, Gurudhwara, church, a Buddhist temple, Victorian buildings and so many Asian shops. The place is completely transformed into a shopper’s stop, where you can get anything Indian. Photographer Liz Hingley spent about 18 months in Soho road capturing the seconds of life in Soho. St Mary's Convent is one of the oldest religious communities in Soho set up in 1841. 

Liz Hingley quotes his Soho road photographs as “the photographs show the reality and intensity of different lifestyles and the beauty religion brings to everyday inner city life”. As I went to Soho, the place painted before me a completely different picture than what I thought it would offer. There is a different mix of people and a scenic setup structured in Soho road. It was just more than a shopping centre. 

I did a documentary on Soho road, essentially logging my journey through this multicultural mirror of Birmingham. It presents the views and opinions of different people in Soho whom I met, and covers the multicultural aspect of Soho to its best. The link to the documentary can be seen below. I first talked to an Asian bridal jewelry shop owner at Soho. In my opinion the people who have lived in the place for about years now and who have experienced what Soho it had to offer them can spell out the beauty in it. I then walked through the streets of Soho, among the flutter of pigeons a peaceful yet buzzing place in Handsworth. Restaurants, fast food centers form the most of Soho, which provides a great deal of Asian, Caribbean, Chinese cuisines.

On my way, I stopped near the famous Gurudhwara of Soho road. As I neared it I could hear chants and prayers. There was a distinct music been played at the Gurudhwara which I suppose is Sikh religious song? In the Gurudhwara I was surrounded by people of different age groups. I saw people from 5 to 50 years at the Gurudhwara. I could easily guess from the look of Gurudwara, its familiarity among the Sikh people. It was built in late 1970’s. There were five main halls and three darbar halls in it.

As a person in the Gurudhwara explained to me, this Gurudhwara was about four storey’s high and has about 100 rooms for those who want to stay in the Gurudhwara overnight and complete their prayers. The visits to it must be registered in advance. As a sacred place head coverings are required for both male and female who enter the Gurudhwara. This place also offers free vegetarian meals 24 hours a day, known as Langar. He explains that it was started to reinforce the ‘belief in equality’. It seems that the club premises belonged to the polish community at first. More number of buildings in Soho road is acquired by this Gurudhwara to provide educational facilities like schools, nurseries. 

The history of Soho shows it as a much different place than now. The Soho story unwinds as fine red brick seat built by the local government in 1877. The first building added to Soho is a library which is now also popularly known as Soho library built in early 1880’s. It is astonishing to see the difference between today’s Soho and early Soho. There are a lot of buildings built adjacently, there are lots and lots of shops and the sparking fact of it is pictured now as a Shopper’s paradise lately. As we walk through the pavements one can see the three things that strikes your mind in Soho are the Gurudhwara, Church and the South and City University. There are places in Soho named as ‘Gateway to India’. It can be clearly called as the ‘junction of diverse faith’. 

Having talked about all these historical landmarks like the Gurudwara, church and the college, people on the roads of Soho are dressed in frilled lehangas, brightly colored dresses, blinging jewels all around and the taste and feel of all different cultures in Birmingham. The cuisines and the shopping exclusives stand as the one important mark for many to know about Soho road. Even though there are many more unknown hidden historical facts about the culture of Soho, people bring out and portray their own culture in the streets of Soho.  

It was a very good experience in visiting Soho and getting to know about the cultural importance of such a place in Birmingham. As a cultural space it provides ‘Sweetness and light’ to everyone and also brings everyone together in one culture and creates a sense of oneness to ‘do away with the classes’ (Arnold, 1896) as discussed in the theory of Mathew Arnold. As presented by Barthes Soho road connotes a varied picture to everyone. The clothes worn by people, the language spoken in a different dialect connotes the sense of diverged cultures converging under one roof.

I read a journal article concerning with the multicultural aspect, ‘Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology’, Multicultural experience, Idea receptiveness and creativity. This says that “experience in a single culture may limit creativity; multicultural experiences may foster creative expansion of ideas.”  Everything in Soho road looks creative and artistic. The multicultural aspect may be the one reason as suggested by the article which embraces the beauty of Soho.

Overall, it was a great experience for me to learn and understand different cultures in this field trip.

Bibliographies:

- Arnold, Matthew (1869) ‘Culture and Anarchy’ Oxford: OUP Oxford

-‘Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology’, Multicultural experience, Idea receptiveness and creativity 2010-Leung-(723-741)
-Anderson, James (2012) Media Research Methods. London: Sage, pp351-373

Have a listen to the documentary! 

David Parker and Paul Long - The mistakes of the past

       
           In this reading David Parker and Paul Long talk about the urban decline and rebirth of Birmingham after post-war. He mentions about how the importance given to culture of Birmingham has been destroyed because of the so called urban imaginary. He exemplifies how "Buildings are imagined through words and images before they are constructed in bricks and mortar." This reading depicts  the changes the city has undergone till today. This shows how their has been a significant amount of transformation like new shopping malls, roundabouts and underpasses that has played a role in distorting the beauty of culture in the city.

         Kevin Lynch terms this crucial element of urban imaginary as the 'image of the city'. Personal hopes that are invested in are often thwarted by the ambitions of architects and urban planners. The Urban Task Force observed, 'the successful urban regeneration was design-led'. He describes about how Birmingham has become industrialized surrounded by 'sprawling motorways, bisected by canals and punctuated by modern shopping centers', which make Birmingham seem like a concrete maze. These things after the post-war has erased the memories of Victorian slums from both reality and memory. These has destroyed skylines in the city and anything that can be closely oriented with the image of the city and subordinated style to efficiency.

              After a series of downfalls, the New Birmingham plans reflected a general intellectual shift away from the heroic modernism to a post pragmatic and piecemeal approach. This renovation, attracted many building a new image, or symbolic economy. Now after the rebirth Birmingham has become a 'creative and learning quarter'. The idea of Selfridges, one of Birmingham's iconic buildings, was a design by Gordon Selfridge who sought to combine 'shopping with entertainment'.

               

What is the cultural significance of Vlogging community?

      

       Vlogging is one popular form well-known among the YouTube community. By combining the grassroots of blogging with richness of expression, these video blogs are known as vlogs. This widespread popularity of video clips has evolved into something called ‘clip culture’. Many vloggers get paid for recording these vlogs and posting it on YouTube. With this research I will try to find out the impact of vlogging on popular culture.

       The research methodology I am going to use for this is Virtual ethnography. I will try to connect and engage in these communities to find out its impact on popular culture. As it is a growing community it has become a ‘way of life’ for many as mentioned by Raymond Williams. The focus groups here are the certain vloggers and the viewers. I will also find out the behavior and attitude of people posting videos and the impact of these on the audience.

       The main theory I am going to utilize in this is with a post-modern approach, ‘Hyper-realism’ suggested by theorists like Baulliard, where these YouTubers create vlogs talking to their audience and with a daily dosage of this, they portray a sense of Utopia even to the viewers by making them feel everything is perfect and entertaining them. It is also an edited version of a person’s life which makes it a hyper-real concept. These videos are updated frequently so that they retain their subscribers. The other theory I would relate to this vlogging community is by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer who describe it with the term ‘Culture Industry’ where popular culture is completely related to standardized cultural goods. They tend to manipulate the society and also put them in passivity. The people are all kept under the mirage that they are being offered what they want, but then we generally don't quite feel that we are influenced by the power in some or the other way. This can be explained as how YouTuber’s vlogs are all the same and in a while, they get command over us and influence us in some or the other way.

      This can also be argued with the support of the theory by Mathew Arnold that says how people of different classes have different interests and thoughts.

      Charlie McDonnell owns a channel named charlieissocoollike, one of the most subscribed in United Kingdom, with about 1.9 million subscribers as of now. By investigating and using all these in my research I will find out in what way this has an impact on popular culture.

Bibliographies:

-Arnold, Mathew (1869) Culture and Anarchy in Storey (2007) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. A Reader. London. Pearson

-Williams, Raymond (1961) ‘The Analysis of Culture’ in Storey (2007) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: a Reader. London: Pearson.

-Virtual Ethnography (2000) by Dr Christine M. Hine, Sage

-Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media, Carrie James

-Storey, John (2007) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture; London; Pearson

-YouTube For Dummies By Sahlin, Chris Botello

-Youth Culture and Net Culture: Online Social Practices edited by Elza Dunkels, Gun-Marie

Wide Awake - Katy Perry

Wide Awake a song by Katy Perry on her album 'Teenage Dreams' is one of the good examples to define connotations and denotations. The lyrics of this song contains many connotations and can be defined in either way.

Sign:

"I was born again, out of the lions den
Don't have to pretend and its too late"

Denotation:

She has had a rebirth, and has come out from a lion's den.

Connotation:

1) She has come out and had a rebirth from what had been haunting her for years. She had some hard times in her life and has had the courage to come out of it. The lion's den acts as a signifier her for the haunted place which has been signified here.

2) Other connotations that prevails along with this song is that, Katy had been on drugs for so many years and now she has come out of her addiction over it and signifies being on drugs as entering lion's den.

Post Modernism

This reading starts with Angela McRobbie's quote on post modernism. She says Postmodernism has entered into a diverse number of vocabularies. The recent debates on Postmodernism are positive attraction and its usefulness to analyse popular culture. Postmodernism is described as what comes after modernism. This reading analyses the positives and negatives of postmodernism.  It has become the 'buzz word'. This seems to have a lot of meanings connotative to it.

There are three post modern aspects. Susan Sontag and Leslie fielder found it to be 'new sensibility'. In 1960, postmodernism shocked and disgusted the middle class.Thus, as Jamenson said, as there was the shift from opposition to hegemonic position of the classics of modernism,the people conquered the university,art galleries and museum.The most important consequence of the new sensibility is the abandonment of Mathew Arnold's theory. Where the claim he did between the three different classes stands less meaningful.

This theory also rejected Arnold's 'best of what is thought and said' and preferred Raymond Williams's 'whole way of life'. The example he uses to explain this is the British and the American pop.While considering pop, Andrew Warhol is a key theorist mentioned of pop art in this reading. This explains how the commercial art was considered as a 'real art' as this was chosen by the ruling class. Objecting Warhol's merging of popular art and the elitism John Rockwell says, 'Art is what we perceive as art'.

Lyotard one of the theorists had his particular focus on the status of function of scientific discourse and knowledge. He explains how the postmodern pedagogy would teach us how to use the knowledge as a form of cultural and economic capital.

One of the most famous postmodern theory is Best and Kellner's theory. Baulliard says 'How it is not possible to seperate the economic and productive realm from the ideologies of culture'.He suggests that postmodern culture is of 'simulacrum' where there is very little or no difference between the copy and the original.

Totally this was a slightly confusing text for me. I couldn't figure out whether post modernism is considered to be good or bad from the text.

Structuralism and Post Structuralism

Reading Response (Week 3):

             In this reading, we get to understand clearly, what is structuralism. This has descriptions of Post structuralism from various theorists like Saussure,Barthes, Foucault,and many more.

            Firstly, Saussure divides language into two parts, Signifier and the signified. These combination of them forms the sign. He also mentions that the relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary. The sign together constitutes the meaning. He explains this idea by illustrating it with various examples of traffic lights, dog, etc.
         He points out words like syntagmatic axis which represents the horizontal axis where there are possibilities of combination of words to infer the meaning. Paradigmatic axis, the vertical axis, that represents the functional contrasts. He says "A sign can enter into Paradigmatic relations which can occur in same context but not at same time". The meaning of a sentence is formed by the combination of these paradigmatic and syntagmatic axes. In this discussion he adds that language plays a significant role in shaping what constitutes the reality of material world. He then introduces a new term Myths where the materials in the world are divided into categories.

           Will Wright, one of the theorists disagrees with the point made by Levi Strauss  a french theorist, by saying, "Structuralism is not to reveal a mental structure, but to show how myths of  a society, communicates a conceptual order to its members".  He quotes an example of Hollywood western which is divided into three, the Classic, the transition and the professional. The movie Dances with wolves, represents the transition theme as this anticipates the new social values in the system.

           Ronald Barthes argues that there are two levels of signification. The Primary and the Secondary level. Where the Primary level of signification denotes the natural meaning and Secondary level is he level where connotative meaning comes into existence. He illustrates this with an example from Paris magazine, with a picture of "a black soldier saluting French flag".

            Post Structuralism as described in the book rejects the idea of underlying structure upon which the meanings can rest secure and guaranteed. It says that this process is more complex than explained.

            Finally this reading concludes with the description of discourse by Michel Foucault. He says that discourse works in three ways, to enable, to constrain and to constitute. He also explains how knowledge and power imply each other. The interesting part was about the Panopticon, which can be described by these lines, "the whole social body into a field of perception". He illustrates how modern TV shows like Big Brother and some magazines like Reveal,Closer,Heat work with this phenomenon and are considered as a part of entertainment.

The Culture Industry - Enlightenment of Mass Deception

Reading Response: (Week 3)

                Adorno and Max Horkheimer, in this reading, discuss on the term 'Culture industry'. In this he explains how the people are kept under the control of capitalists and how they are not allowed to act with any individuality. They exclaim that in this era of mechanization and industrialization culture stands all same and identical. Films,Radio are no longer considered to be a art. The cultural economies produce products according to the customer demands. The power is not given to the people and that technology acquires more power over the society. They state that development of radio to television clearly portrays the authoritative nature and also subjects this to discussion over the welcoming attitude of public. They also mention that the culture monopolies are weak and are dependent on the economic power which holds them. As they discuss this further deep, they add that there is no room left for the consumer to imagine and if films are taken into consideration all the reactions which should have been spontaneous are also spoon-fed into them.

        With the term 'Culture industry' they proposed that 'popular culture' is completely related to standardized cultural goods like film,radio,television,magazine etc. These tend to manipulate the society and also put them to passivity. They add that the products which are produced always undergo a set of standardization and also all films hit a cliche point which are never interchangeable.  There is a clear illusion and the public is under the domination of capitalist communities. They call culture as a 'Paradoxical commodity'.

             What I feel about the views of Adorno and Horkheimer is that, the people are all kept under the mirage that they are being offered what they want, but then we generally don't quite feel that we are influenced by the power in some or the other way.

         
{Adorno, Theodor and Horkhemier, Max (1997) The Dialectic of Enlightenment. London: Verso}

'Sweetness and Light'

The media text in which I find sweetness and light are the shows covered by Discovery science. All the shows which are being broadcasted in discovery science explain science in a simple way and its a way of experimental learning too.

The best of the shows are 'Destroyed in seconds','Incredible India','Man vs Wild' and many more. The reason of why I chose Discovery Science as a media text that offers me Sweetness and Light is because it is the one that I consider as a network that provides 'the best that is thought'. Discovery network on the whole also produces various programmes that showcase and analyze different cultures that are prevalent in the society. They just deal with everything from the food, dressing, art, literature, institutions etc and explain every bit of it from the past to the future.

These sort of programmes being telecasted carry more value in them. The efforts that they put in each of their broadcast in making the viewer understand every concept being experimented are appreciable. So as these programmes, I find them very informative and  a fun way of analyzing different cultures and tradition. These shows provide 'Sweetness and Light' because these impart knowledge and also take culture to a higher level.Not only culture oriented broadcasts but their also exists various scientific programmes that are experimented on-cam and which bring out the excitement and spirit of watching the show over and over again.This is why 'Discovery science' offers 'sweetness and light' for me.

In shows that cover culture like 'Incredible India' portrays the life people led in olden times. The ease of access to a variety of shows that provide you entertainment and knowledge and makes you cultured is what Discovery perfectly describes. 

Mass civilization and minority culture- F.R. Leavis

Reading Response (Week 2)

        Leavis seems to have a different approach to culture. He mentions that there exist a small minority, though a significant one, who are capable of presenting an unprompted, intellectual, first hand judgement. He states and believes that culture is at its crisis.

         He makes his point clear that the developments in technology and industrialization has been pulling many families apart from their circle and this also destroys the 'High culture' and also illustrates it with an example how in Middletown families were affected due to the rise in automobile sectors. He feels that it has been accelerating and intensifying in the past. He clearly mentions that Americanization is the only cause which has been destroying the culture in films and also in literature.

         Leavis presents before us the fact that in Shakespeare's time how his texts were not considered as a high-brow culture as they were written for dramas and plays and with this he shows it paralleled to nowadays scenario.

         He concludes by quoting that 'It is vain to console us with the promise of mass culture as it is utterly new'. Even though we can argue that mass culture is better than losing the culture, he refrains it is futile.

Culture and Anarchy- Mathew Arnold

 Reading Response(Week 2):

       
        In this reading, Arnold defines culture as a way to get out of the present difficulties that mankind faces and also mentions that everyone should be able to receive the 'best which has been thought and said'. He also says that culture will create a stream of fresh thoughts and ideas over the things which we are staunchly following. Adding to this, he points out that the books which does not allow the fresh stream of thoughts are considered to be futile.

        The main idea that he tries to feed through this is that, the 'social idea' where with the modern spirit, we should try to bring in equality among the masses. He also talks about three different classes and how culture works differently for all kinds of people. The different classes as he mentions are, Barbarians- the high class,aristocracy; Philistines- middle class,Populace-lower class.

        He also specifically uses an idiom "Sweetness and Light" when he talks about culture, as he says culture has a passion for sweetness and light. The term stands imperfect if it doesn't reach the un-kindled masses. These are the marked happy moments in one's life. In my opinion this can be achieved when we become culture and when their exists perfection as denoted by Arnold.

        He concludes by saying that culture is needed to repress anarchy and it is the most resolute enemy of anarchy.

♫♥♫ What’s my culture? ♫♥♫ - Tiffanatic !

There was quite a bit of difficulty for me in defining my culture. But after some quick thoughts I was about to end up the struggle with only that person to whose culture I belong. Music is something that can kindle your emotions and passion. When you look closely, the kind of music you listen to defines you as a person.

The media text I chose is a music album ‘So Alive’ by Tiffany Alvord, a shining YouTuber, singer, vlogger who just started her career by posting videos in YouTube. She composes songs in all genres from melody to punk. But as a lover of music I think she is the best person I can ever think off. Apart from music, her pleasing personality and kind nature is the one that makes me relate more to her.  Her songs and covers are released in her channel and one of my favorites is called ‘So Alive’ one of her latest albums. 

I can associate to her songs and her way of life more as she is also a student and my life and her life revolves in quite similar circles. But another factor that attracts me more to her songs is that she is a flash of hope for anyone as she just started her career by posting random music videos and now with her passion, love, and affinity towards music has brought her into limelight. Most of her songs are uplifting, enchanting and more. She has been an inspiration to kindle my passion for music. So this is how I define the particular media text for my culture.

Raymond Williams – Analysis of culture (1961)

 Reading Response (Week 1):
  
        In this reading, Raymond Williams has categorized culture into three ways and has explained about the analysis of culture in these three types.

 *‘Ideal’- Where he defines culture as a state or process of Human perfection under a certain set of universal values to denote a timeless order.

 *‘Documentary’- Where culture is defined as a recorded form of intellectual and imaginative works by recording the thoughts and experiences. It can be related and is very similar to the ideal analysis denoted as discovery of ‘the best that has been thought and written in the world’

 *‘Social’-Where culture is designated as a particular way of life. This not only consists of the art and learning but also the ordinary behavior and institution.

He also mentions that there is no neat definition for culture as such and discusses about the problems in taking into account any one of those completely. To illustrate this he uses the example of the play ‘Antigone of Sophocles’ elaborating on the reverence and Kommos that the play deals with. The reading revolves around the lines that culture varies with different time periods and generations. “We never talk quite the same language”. There always exists some difference in style, speech and behavior. ‘Structures of feeling’ is a term that William uses based on the cultural artifacts. This promotes the general idea that any new generation would have its own structure of feeling which will not appear to have come from anywhere.  It also stresses on the fact that every culture belongs to a particular time period. Selective tradition employed in analyzing the culture should always follow the lines of growth of a society. Thus if more actively worked upon, the true value of culture can be viewed clearly and could be related to the whole organization within which it was expressed.