CMNS 130: Week 3: The Culture Industry PDF

CMNS 130: Week 3 “The Culture Industry”  This week... Tuesday: – Lecture: Ideology & The Culture Industry Friday: – Review Quiz – Burke, Grossberg, & Adorno & Horkheimer – Activity: applying the culture industry critique ...

CMNS 130: Week 3 “The Culture Industry”  This week... Tuesday: – Lecture: Ideology & The Culture Industry Friday: – Review Quiz – Burke, Grossberg, & Adorno & Horkheimer – Activity: applying the culture industry critique  Ideology Originally the word meant “science of ideas” (18C) in the context of philosophical inquiry (Grossberg, p.175) By the early 19C, it was used as a derogatory term to deride revolutionary ideas as abstract ideas that have no grounding in reality As we’ll see, this latter definition has persisted in common definitions of the term...  Ideology For Marx “ideology” = “unconscious systems of belief belonging to a particular class or social group” (p.176) =an unconscious (but incomplete) structure for thinking about and interpreting the world Marx and Engels: ideology is a distorted frame for viewing the world, used as a tool by the powerful to make unequal power relations seem natural or inevitable: “the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas” (Marx and Engels, 1846, p.61, cited in Grossberg, p.176)  Ideology Later thinkers have elaborated on the concept Gramsci: the notion of hegemony refers to the ways in which ruling ideologies are imposed covertly by the ruling class Althusser: focused on the role of ideological institutions (government, religious institutions, or media) in achieving domination-through-consensus Althusser: ideology = “our imaginary relation to the real conditions of existence." (1971)  Ideology Stuart Hall: ideology is difficult to ascertain directly from media texts. Instead, ideology is a struggle that audiences experience when they interpret a media text. Finally, “ideology” is again used by conservatives to dismiss ideas that are outside the norm. – e.g., socialism or critical race theory in North America are called “ideological” (meaning radical, extreme, or outside political norms). (p.177).  Ideology - Think/share/pair Get out a sheet of paper. Write down your reflections on how you think you see the world differently than does a person who has lived in Canada their whole life. Now, talk to a partner; share your responses to this question. Were there similarities or differences? Let’s discuss as a class.  The Culture Industry Adorno & Horkheimer (1947) were part of The Frankfurt School – a group of German Marxist scholars who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s for the United States The Frankfurt School were concerned that mass media institutions were diminishing political participation of working people, and alienating them from meaningful forms of cultural expression, substituting in formulaic commercial substitutes (via radio and cinema).  The Culture Industry A&H’s basic premises were that "all mass culture under monopoly is identical...films and radio...are nothing but business" Popular culture consists solely of "standard products (that) meet the same needs at countless locations" popular songs, films, and radio programs are embedded in "a cycle of manipulation and retroactive need" that is "unifying the (capitalist) system ever more tightly" (p.95)  The Culture Industry How do cultural industries reinforce systems of domination and unequal power? A&H answer… culture industries are "weak and dependent" on the underlying industries on which they depend (energy, petrochemicals, banking, manufacturing) (p.96), forming a "relentless unity" of companies and industry sectors this, they say, unifies politics  The Culture Industry A&H are harshly critical of the “sameness” of all cultural products, arguing that differences between cultural products merely reflect the classification of different groups of consumers [=what others call “market segmentation”] differences between different models of car, for instance, "serve only to perpetuate the appearance of competition and choice" (p.97) cultural products like films and pop songs are filled with "ready-made cliches" (p.98) They also argue that the outcomes of films and songs are utterly predictable because they always follow predictable formulae (p.99)  The Culture Industry Real/truthful art (of the precapitalist era), they argue, are oppositional and emancipatory - they challenge the social order (p.99) Art under capitalism oversimplifies creative expression: – jazz oversimplifies classical music (p.101) – Orson Welles (famous radio producer and film director) oversimplifies literature on radio (p.102) Art under capitalism merely tantalizes us, never bringing fulfillment: "reduc(ing) love to romance" (p.111). in this way, it represses. it denies love, the erotic, and pain, and calls this "amusement" (pp.111-113). Art & advertising are identical in the culture industry - they both tantalize and deceive; they never fulfill their promises (p.131).  The Culture Industry Further, they argue, cultural products mimic and normalize visions of “everyday life” under capitalism: "the whole world is passed through the filter of the culture industry", they argue, "creat(ing) the illusion that the world outside is a seamless extension of the one which has been revealed in the cinema" (p.99) This restricts or "withers" the consumer’s imagination (p.100).  The Culture Industry Finally, dominant ideology (of the capitalist order) is reinforced by cultural products. How? works of art are "packaged like political slogans" (p.129), and often include sentiments that are critical of the political order, but in ways that do not disrupt the ongoing consumption of them In this way, the culture industry is no different from fascism in terms of how it affects ideology: "All are free to dance and amuse themselves, just as, since the historical neutralization of religion, they have been free to join any of the countless sects. But freedom to choose an ideology, which always reflects economic coercion, everywhere proves to be freedom to be the same" (pp.135-6).  Ideology & the culture industry Louis Althusser: ideology = our “imaginary relation to the real conditions of existence." Our perspective on the world is shaped by ideology, but ideology masks its own existence. Normally, we don't notice ideology because it's the window through which we see everything, including that. Do you know what a green screen is, or how it works?  Discussion: ideology & the culture industry What would it mean to “put on the glasses” in today’s world? Would this be different in Canada than it is in your home country? Write down your thoughts, then let’s discuss as a class.  Keywords Work in groups on the handout – using the readings, look up the assigned keywords, and discuss (based on context) how to define them Write a definition of each term assigned to you, and we’ll go over them as a class.  Next up..Week 4 Journalism & The Public Sphere Read: – 1. Habermas – 2. Fraser Reminder: Midterm exam in Week 5