Exam Critical Issues Study Guide PDF

CHAPTER 6 TERMS/DISTINCTIONS/QUESTIONS Alienation: Feeling distant from others, losing your sense of self, or feeling powerless in life. In Marxism, it’s how capitalism separates people from their work and relationships. In psychoanalysis, it’s a split in the self, where hidden thoughts and feeling...

CHAPTER 6 TERMS/DISTINCTIONS/QUESTIONS Alienation: Feeling distant from others, losing your sense of self, or feeling powerless in life. In Marxism, it’s how capitalism separates people from their work and relationships. In psychoanalysis, it’s a split in the self, where hidden thoughts and feelings shape actions without your awareness. Citizen journalism: when ordinary people use digital tools and social media to report or document events, often challenging mainstream narratives. It plays a role in highlighting truth, representation, and marginalized voices, questioning traditional media and power structures. Culture industry: A concept by Adorno and Horkheimer, explains how capitalism in the mid-1900s made culture standardized and repetitive. This limited real choices and creativity, encouraging people to conform, stay passive, and believe in fake individuality, while supporting capitalism. Diaspora: communities of a specific ethnicity, culture, or nation living outside their homeland. Diaspora studies highlight the complexity of these groups, focusing on their memories of home, experiences of migration and displacement, and hybrid identities. Frankfurt School: a group of 20th-century scholars who used Marxist theory to analyze culture and society under capitalism. They criticized Enlightenment philosophy, arguing that reason became a tool for technical control and social domination rather than human freedom. Key figures include Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, and Jürgen Habermas. Many members fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s and continued their work in the United States. Global media events: large-scale, highly publicized occurrences—such as political events, natural disasters, or cultural spectacles—that are broadcast worldwide. These events shape collective perceptions and narratives, influencing how artists engage with themes of representation, media influence, and global interconnectedness in their work. Globalization: The growing interconnectedness of the world, especially since the postwar period. It involves increased migration, multinational corporations, global trade, advanced communication and transportation, and the decline of nation-state power. It also creates new local communities, like online networks, that aren't tied to geography. Mass culture/ mass society: The culture and society of large populations, often viewed negatively. These terms emerged during industrialization and became prominent after World War II, when urbanization and centralized media shaped public opinions and shared cultural experiences. Mass culture is often equated with popular culture, seen as conformist and uniform, but these terms have been criticized for oversimplifying diverse cultures. Mass media: Channels like radio, television, cinema, and print (newspapers and magazines) designed to reach large audiences and create dominant representations of events, people, and places. The term is less commonly applied to modern digital platforms like the Internet, which engage audiences differently. Media infrastructure: refers to the physical and technological systems that support the production, distribution, and consumption of media. This includes things like broadcasting networks, internet connectivity, and digital platforms that shape how art is created, shared, and experienced in a globalized world. It highlights the relationship between media technologies and artistic practices in contemporary society. Neoliberalism: The belief that free markets and economic liberalism should guide human behavior. It became the main value system of global capitalism, spreading since the 1970s with privatization and deregulation of businesses and media in North America and Europe. Public sphere: A concept from Jürgen Habermas that refers to a space (physical or virtual) where citizens come together to discuss important societal issues. Habermas envisioned it as a place for open, informed debate on public matters, separate from private interests. However, his ideal has never fully existed due to the influence of private interests and the unequal access to public space based on class, race, and gender. Today, the term is often used to refer to multiple spaces where people engage in such discussions. Spectacle: Something visually striking or impressive. French theorist Guy Debord used the term in his book ‘Society of the Spectacle’ to describe how images dominate modern culture and shape all social interactions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The medium is the message: is a concept from media theorist Marshall McLuhan, suggesting that the way a message is delivered (the medium) is as important, or more important, than the content of the message itself. The medium shapes how we perceive and understand the message. Broadcast media: refers to traditional forms of media (like TV and radio) that send content to a wide, general audience, reaching as many people as possible. Narrowcast media: targets a specific, smaller audience with specialized content, often focusing on niche topics or interests (e.g., cable TV channels or specialized radio stations). Webcast media: involves streaming content over the internet, typically in real-time, to a broad or specific audience. It combines elements of both broadcast and narrowcast media, as it can be used for wide-reaching or more targeted streams. Questions: Question 1: What constitutes the mass media? What are the main critiques regarding how it operates in culture? What options are there for working against it? Mass media includes tools and platforms like TV, radio, newspapers, social media, and streaming services that share information with large audiences. Critiques of Mass Media: 1. Control by Big Companies: A few powerful companies own most media, limiting diverse opinions. 2. Focus on Profit: Media often prioritizes entertainment and sensational news over facts. 3. Bias and Manipulation: Media can promote specific political or cultural agendas. Ways to Work Against It: 1. Support independent and diverse media outlets. 2. Create and share alternative media content. 3. Educate people to think critically about media messages. Question 2: The public sphere was said to have begun in the late 18th century. Define the term, and the conditions in which it arose, and discuss how it has been affected by modern and contemporary developments. The public sphere is a space where people discuss and debate issues important to society. It started in the late 18th century with the rise of coffeehouses, salons, and print media. Conditions for Its Rise: More literacy and education. New spaces for public discussion. A growing middle class seeking political involvement. Impact of Modern Developments: Social media expanded access but created echo chambers. Corporate influence limits open debate. Fake news and misinformation challenge trust in public discussions.  Screen shot from the film Triumph of the Will, dir. Leni riefenstahl, 1935 antenna cactus installation in tucson CHAPTER 7 TERMS/DISTINCTIONS/QUESTIONS Brand: A product or company’s identity, including its name, logo, and packaging. It started in the 19th century to distinguish goods. Today, branding builds deep consumer connections through advertising, design, and emotional loyalty. Capitalism: An economic system where individuals and corporations own and control production and trade, focusing on profit and market value over practical use. Industrial capitalism relies on industry, while late capitalism, more global, trades services and information alongside goods. Marxist theory critiques capitalism for exploiting workers and creating inequality. Commodity culture: A culture where goods and services produced for exchange are central to social life and personal identity. People often express their identity, values, and social status through the things they buy. Commodity fetishism: Goods lose their production meaning (labor and origins) and gain symbolic value through advertising, valued more for cost and image than use. Example: bottled water marketed as pure, hiding production details. Conspicuous Consumption: A term coined by Thorstein Veblen, refers to buying and using expensive goods to show off one's social status and wealth. It’s about displaying luxury items to gain social recognition. Consumer Data: Information gathered about a consumer's behaviors, preferences, and demographics, which businesses use to tailor marketing efforts, personalize offerings, and shape brand strategies. This data helps companies understand their target audience and make informed decisions. Consumerism: The idea that buying more goods and services leads to personal happiness and economic growth. Cultural Imperialism: One culture, often Western, dominates others through brands and media, shaping global consumption and reducing local cultures. Culture Jamming: An anti-consumerist movement that critiques media and consumerism, often by parodying or disrupting advertisements. Hybridity: Identities formed from multiple cultural, ethnic, or sexualities, often used to describe diasporic cultures that blend influences from different places. Pop Art: An art movement that uses imagery from popular culture, often critiquing or highlighting the influence of consumerism and mass production on modern life. —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shopping arcades VS Online Shopping Shopping arcades: Spaces where people can browse and purchase goods, creates a social environment and a sensory experince of shopping. Online shopping: Process of buying goods over the internet, offering convenience but lacking the tactile and social aspects, while often enabling targeted advertising and data tracking. Flâneur vs. Flâneuse Flâneur: A concept from the 19th century France referring to a male urban wanderer who observes city life. He represents a detached observer in consumer spaces. Flâneuse: A woman who leisurely strolls through urban spaces, observing and engaging with the city around her, often used to challenge traditional notions of public space and gender. —--------------------------------------- Questions: Question 1: Sturken and Cartwright assert that concepts of the human subject and human culture are increasingly interpreted through an economic paradigm. Explain the role that images play in commodity culture and describe their psychological and social consequences. Sturken and Cartwright argue that images in commodity culture shape how we understand ourselves and our world, often through an economic lens. In this context, images, like advertisements and media, promote consumption and define social status. Psychologically, this can create feelings of inadequacy or desire, as people are encouraged to associate happiness and success with material goods. Socially, it reinforces consumerism and the idea that identity is tied to what we buy. Question 2: What strategies do corporations and advertisements employ to encourage consumption? What alternative critical responses have developed as a result? Corporations and ads encourage consumption by appealing to emotions, using celebrity endorsements, creating urgency, and targeting specific groups. In response, movements like culture jamming challenge ads by parodying them, while others promote sustainability and minimalism, encouraging people to prioritize experiences over material goods. hank Willis Thomas, Scarred Chest, 2003 (lambda photograph, size variable) pavel Semechkin, interior view of the passage shopping mall in St. petersburg in 1850s (lithograph) CHAPTER 8 TERMS/DISTINCTIONS/QUESTIONS Genre: Cultural products are classified into genres based on familiar formulas and conventions. In cinema, genres include Westerns, romantic comedies, sci-fi, and action-adventure, while TV genres include sitcoms, soap operas, talk shows, and reality TV. Many modern genre products parody the genre they belong to. Hyperreal: A term by Jean Baudrillard, refers to a world where simulations of reality are created, often with no real-world reference. It emphasizes the "realness" of these simulations, using techniques like naturalistic sound or amateur camerawork to make things appear more authentic, even when they aren't. Intertextuality: When one text references or incorporates elements from another. In popular culture, like in The Simpsons, references to films, TV shows, or celebrities add extra meaning, assuming the viewer is familiar with those references. Irony: When the intended meaning contradicts the literal meaning, often the opposite. For example, saying "beautiful weather!" when it's actually terrible. It’s common in postmodern style, where meanings are hinted at with a sense of "knowingness." Master Narratives: A master narrative, or metanarrative, is a framework that seeks to explain all aspects of society or life, like religion, science, or Marxism. Jean-François Lyotard argued that postmodern theory is skeptical of these broad explanations and their claim to explain the human condition. Polysemy: The existence of multiple meanings for a single word or expression, depending on the context. For example, the word "bank" can mean a financial institution or the side of a river. Postmodernism: a period of radical change in society, economy, and politics, marked by global migration, digital technology, and the decline of traditional nation-states after the Cold War. It’s a shift from modernity, with new worldviews and ways of living. Jean-François Lyotard described it as a time of questioning broad theories about the human condition, while Fredric Jameson saw it as the cultural result of late capitalism. Simulation (simulacrum): A simulacrum, a term by Jean Baudrillard, is a sign or image that doesn't have a real-life counterpart and may even come before the thing it simulates. For example, a casino or theme park imitation of Paris can feel more real or appealing to some people than the actual city, even though it's not the real thing. Structure of feeling: A term by Raymond Williams, refers to the intangible qualities of an era that shape its lifestyle and style. These feelings, often expressed through the arts, capture the mood and tone of a particular time. Remix: Taking existing cultural products and recombing or reinterpreting them to create new works. It is central to post modernism as it emphasizes reusing and recontextualizng the past. —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pastiche, Parody, Remake Pastiche: Imitation of the style or aesthetic of another work, often celebratory and without critique. Parody: Humorous or satirical imitation of another work that often critiques or subverts the original. Remake: A new version of previous work, often updated for contemporary audiences but typically staying faithful to the orginal work. Modern vs Postmodern Reflexivity Modern: Self-awareness and often critiques artistic or social conventions to uncover deeper truths or meanings. Postmodern Reflexivity: The way artistic or cultural products often use playfulness or irony to question the nature of representation itself. Questions: Question 1: “Everything has been done before.” How does this phrase pertain to postmodernism? In what ways do history and past cultural products get utilized in postmodern works? The phrase "Everything has been done before" reflects postmodernism’s view that originality is less important than reworking or referencing past works. Postmodern art often uses past styles, history, and cultural products through techniques like pastiche, intertextuality, and parody, blending old ideas to challenge traditional notions of creativity and authorship. Question 2: What is distinctive about the development of postmodern architecture? How is the experience of space and the built environment altered? Postmodern architecture rejects modernism's simplicity, embracing diverse styles, historical references, and playful elements. It alters the experience of space by creating visually engaging, emotional environments that challenge traditional design and structure. screen shot from video Tech- nology/Transformation: Wonder Woman, dara Birnbaum, 1978 nikki s. Lee, The Hispanic Project (25), 1998, from the series Proj- ects, 1997–2001 (Fujiflex print) CHAPTER 9 TERMS/DISTINCTIONS/QUESTIONS Algorithm: A set of rules programmed into a system to guide how it processes data. For example, Facebook's news feed algorithm sorts and ranks posts based on certain criteria to show you content tailored to your preferences. Anthropometry: The study of human body measurements, often used to explore identity, body representation, and cultural themes. Artists use it to critique societal norms or examine the body in art. Cyborg: Introduced in 1960, refers to humans enhanced with technology. Donna Haraway expanded this idea to explore how technology shapes human identity. Today, anyone using prosthetics or pacemakers is considered a cyborg, and the concept applies to how everyone depends on technology in modern life. The digital body: The digital body refers to how technology represents or alters the human body, exploring the connection between the physical and virtual. It addresses themes like identity, surveillance, and how digital culture affects our understanding of the body. Eugenics: Refers to the idea of improving human genetics through selective breeding or genetic control. Art on this topic critiques the ethical and social issues, including discrimination and inequality, related to controlling genetics. Genome: The complete set of genes in an organism. Art exploring the genome looks at themes like identity, biotechnology, and the ethical issues around genetic manipulation. Morphing: A computer process where one image is layered over another to create a new combined image. Physiognomy: The study of facial features to judge a person’s character. Art on this topic critiques how society connects appearance with identity, often focusing on issues like race and stereotypes. Ultrasound images: Visuals created using sound waves to see inside the body. Artists use them to explore themes like the body, technology, and privacy. —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X-ray, ultrasound and PET scan images X-ray images: Visuals created using radiation to view the inside of the body, commonly used to examine bones and detect fractures or medical conditions. Ultrasound images: Images created using sound waves to capture internal body structures, often used in medical contexts like pregnancy or to examine organs. PET scan images: Images produced by a positron emission tomography scan, which uses a small amount of radioactive material to detect disease or monitor body functions, especially in cancer and brain studies. DNA and facial recognition systems DNA: The genetic material found in all living organisms that carries the instructions for growth, development, and functioning. It is used in various fields, including forensic science and genetic research. Facial recognition systems: Technology that identifies or verifies a person based on their facial features. These systems are used in security, law enforcement, and personal devices for identification purposes. Questions: Question 1: Define the medical gaze, along with its history, promises and defects. How has this form of the gaze shifted in the era of digital and genetic technologies? The Medical Gaze refers to doctors focusing on symptoms rather than the patient as a whole, emerging in the 18th century with a shift to clinical observation. While it allows for accurate diagnoses and efficient practices, it can depersonalize patients and create power imbalances. With digital and genetic technologies, the gaze has become more data-driven, focusing on records and genetics, which can reduce patients to their biology and distance them from personal care. Question 2: What are some of the ethical issues that were raised by Gunther von Hagen’s Body Worlds exhibition? Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds exhibition raised ethical issues regarding consent, as some questioned whether the bodies were obtained with full agreement. There were concerns about whether the display of human remains disrespected the dignity of the deceased, and the commercialization of bodies for profit also sparked debate. Cultural sensitivity was an issue, as different cultures have varying views on handling human remains. Additionally, the exhibition raised concerns about desensitizing viewers to death and the human body. Portraits by Martin Schoeller from the feature article “changing faces,” National Geographic, november 18, 2013 Thomas eakins, Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross (The Gross Clinic), 1875 (oil on canvas, 8’ × 6’6”)