Showing papers in "European Journal of Cultural Studies in 2007"
TL;DR: This article argued that postfeminism is best understood as a distinctive sensibility, made up of a number of interrelated themes, including the notion that femininity is a bodily property, the shift from objectification to subjectification, an emphasis upon self-surveillance, monitoring and self-discipline, a focus on individualism, choice and empowerment, the dominance of a makeover paradigm, and a resurgence of ideas about natural sexual difference.
Abstract: The notion of postfeminism has become one of the most important in the lexicon of feminist cultural an alysis. Yet there is little agreement about what postfeminism is. This article argues that postfeminism is best understood as a distinctive sensibility, made up of a number of interrelated themes. These include the notion that femininity is a bodily property; the shift from objectification to subjectification; an emphasis upon self-surveillance, monitoring and self-discipline; a focus on individualism, choice and empowerment; the dominance of a makeover paradigm; and a resurgence of ideas about natural sexual difference. Each of these is explored in some detail, with examples from contemporary Anglo-American media. It is precisely the patterned articulation of these ideas that constitutes a postfeminist sensibility. The article concludes with a discussion of the connection between this sensibility and contemporary neoliberalism.
1,395 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the relationship between the practices of do-it-yourself (DIY) micro-independent record labels in the UK and wider mediated discourses surrounding the music industry.
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between the practices of do-it-yourself (DIY) micro-independent record labels in the UK and wider mediated discourses surrounding the music industry. It is suggested that a heightened version of the art versus commerce dichotomy central to rock ideology provides the basis for a number of legitimizing theories through which the aesthetic and industrial conventions of these practitioners are justified and given importance. First, the article suggests that these legitimizing theories serve to narrow the scope of, and draw distinct boundaries around, small-scale cultural production. Second, through a self-conscious critique of globalized corporate media they serve as an engagement with the politics of cultural production and, ultimately, media power. Finally, using two prominent case studies relating to new technology (Arctic Monkeys and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) the article examines the ways in which discourses relating to DIY cultural production impact upon mainstream music industry practice and discourse.
94 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline the contours of an emerging sub-field within media and cultural studies, communication geography, and argue that post-industrial society nurtures a regime of hyperspace-bia...
Abstract: The article outlines the contours of an emerging sub-field within media and cultural studies — communication geography. It is argued that post-industrial society nurtures a regime of hyperspace-bia...
53 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a series of selected productions made by 12 to 14-year-old refugees were analyzed from a cultural theoretical perspective linked to an empirical analysis, which is based on a series.
Abstract: This article starts out from the European research project Children in Communication about Migration (CHICAM). It addresses questions about intercultural communication via the internet and about media production as a vehicle for personal expression and identity formation among excluded youth groups. The article starts out from a cultural theoretical perspective linked to an empirical analysis, which is based on a series of selected productions made by 12 to 14-year-old refugees. The productions represent various programme genres and formats. The use of visual language such as representational conventions are highlighted in order to find out how identities are (re)created in the process of media production. The article touches upon these productions as they reflect not only experiences in dealing with cultural tensions between the 'old' and the 'new' world, but also their views on their future life and on the conditions that they find crucial in developing themselves.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the functions of the new jihadist media, the ways in which it is granted legitimacy, and the compelling issue of radicalizing efficacy and recruitment in jihadist media.
Abstract: Within the last 10 years, the internet has become the principal platform for the dissemination and mediation of the culture and ideology of jihadism. The exponential growth of jihadist fora, with their increasingly 'high-end' production values, sophisticated critiques of prevailing narratives and ostensive attempts at impartiality, do not occur in a vacuum. To a great extent they are reactive, their raison d'etre supplied by the mainstream media's perceived collusion with governmental (mis)information, or at least its uncritical acceptance. The jihadist media are far from alone in these critiques and there has been a growing convergence of interests with other non-mainstream media outlets, which are also challenging conventional modes of mediation. This article seeks to explore the functions of the new jihadist media, the ways in which it is granted legitimacy, and the compelling issue of radicalizing efficacy and recruitment.
48 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed contemporary docudramas about Nazism and Second World War on German television and found that the tendency of historical television documentary is to adopt increasingly popular forms and elements of feature films.
Abstract: The 60th anniversary celebration of the end of the Second World War became an important political, social and media event. Memory rituals, speeches and official announcements, celebrations, movies and reports created an ensemble of social activities that re-dramatized the historic event. In these kinds of memorial rituals the re-dramatization of history becomes part of collective memory, in which a shared image of historic incidents is created. Media and especially television play an important role in this making of history. Today, television is one of the most important agents for communicating historical events. At the same time the tendency of historical television documentary is to adopt increasingly popular forms and elements of feature films. This has led to a popular form of historical event television. One of its main genres is the docudrama. The article reviews contemporary docudramas about Nazism and Second World War on German television.
48 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a collaborative UK research project examined how new security challenges are constituted in the intersecting relationships between political and military actors, news producers, news representations and discourses, and news audiences.
Abstract: This special issue reports on a collaborative UK research project which examined how new security challenges are constituted in the intersecting relationships between political and military actors, news producers, news representations and discourses, and news audiences. This article introduces the ethnographic reports which follow, and describes the theoretical premises and methodological strategies of the research. It outlines an innovative, multi-disciplinary methodology - `Integrated Multidisciplinary Media Analysis' - which integrates Collaborative Media Ethnography (a novel method in itself) with institutional and textual analysis. This combination of mutually informing approaches affords unique insights into social and cultural processes. The research process began with explorations of how public knowledge and understanding of security issues relate to and are shaped by everyday cultures of media practice, the subject of the following reports. Combined with the findings of researchers investigating ...
44 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a dilemma in cultural studies and sociology of culture regarding the politics of aesthetics is discussed, which concerns whether discourse about the evaluation of symbolic forms serves to reinforce power relations and maintain divisions between people and communities, or whether evaluation can serve as a basis for greater commonality.
Abstract: The first part of this article outlines a dilemma in cultural studies and sociology of culture regarding the politics of aesthetics. This concerns whether discourse about the evaluation of symbolic forms serves to reinforce power relations and maintain divisions between people and communities, or whether evaluation can serve as a basis for greater commonality. One way of at least beginning to address this issue is to attend to the 'everyday aesthetics' of media audiences, exemplified here in the ordinary evaluative discourse of music users. The second part of the article reports on interview research about musical tastes and values. It analyses these interviews for evidence of the ways in which evaluative statements might involve making connections with others, or alternatively how they may act as barriers to social connectivity or community. How and to what extent might ordinary musical evaluation be thought of as part of potential aesthetic public spheres?
34 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of sex toys in discourses of female sexual self-discovery and argue that women's consumption of sexual artefacts is dependent upon the intersections of gender and class identities and the construction of a particular form of hedonistic femininity.
Abstract: This article examines sex retailing in the United Kingdom and advancements in sex toy design in order to explore the part that these products play in discourses of female sexual self-discovery. As British culture appears increasingly transfixed by sex and sexual adventure, the proliferation of sex toys could be explained as just another instance of its relaxed attitudes. The existence of specialist erotic boutiques for women indicates a shift in perceptions of womens sexuality, although the focus on `acceptance of sexual practices ignores the ways in which womens consumption of sexual artefacts is dependent upon the intersections of gender and class identities and the construction of a particular form of hedonistic femininity. This article explores the ways in which High Street sex retailing engages with feminism and questions of identity and taste.
33 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the first major British television series about the First World War, The Great War (BBC, 1964), in terms of its cultural, historical and aesthetic significance, and looked at how the British television audience responded to this form of on-screen commemoration.
Abstract: This article examines the first major British television series about the First World War, The Great War (BBC, 1964), in terms of its cultural, historical and aesthetic significance. As a central component of the BBC`s 50th anniversary commemorative programme to mark the outbreak of war, the series was a major media event -a small-screen memorial cast in sounds and images instead of stone and bronze. This article looks at how the British television audience responded to this form of on-screen commemoration. Material for this article was derived from the series' extensive production records housed in the BBC Written Archives Centre at Caversham, Berkshire. This was supplemented by, among other sources, material from interviews and correspondence with several surviving members of the production team. This allows a broader understanding of the motivations of those involved in the production of a groundbreaking historical series, while acknowledging the wide-ranging nature of its audience. [From the Publisher]
21 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated viewer memories of former Flemish television fiction in order to investigate how its representation of Flanders has influenced national identification. Viewer memories show strong patterns, as the same serials are positively remembered by most respondents.
Abstract: This article investigates viewer memories of former Flemish television fiction in order to research how its representation of Flanders has influenced national identification. Viewer memories show strong patterns, as the same serials are positively remembered by most respondents. The strength and fondness of these memories suggests that these serials became part of collective memory. The importance of `Flemishness' also becomes apparent through the emphasis on realism and recognition. All the respondents said that they preferred domestic drama to imported serials, portraying `typical' situations of the past using Flemish dialects. They strongly identified with this image, and by sharing fond memories, they form a national 'mnemonic' community.
TL;DR: In this article, a new methodology is proposed for studying digital television audiences, which adapts the traditional metaphor of "flow" and combines an understanding of television-as-text with television-As-technology to explore the social contexts of new textual possibilities against the backdrop of claims made about new media.
Abstract: The more fragmented that engagements with the media become, the more important it is to understand changing audience practices for theories of social shaping. However, capturing the ways in which audiences respond to television is challenging when current technology makes new demands on the viewer: digital television packages offer 'interactive' choices coterminous with computer interfaces. This article proposes a new methodology and demonstrates the kind of data that it makes available for studying digital television audiences. It suggests adapting the traditional metaphor of 'flow' and combining an understanding of television-as-text with television-as-technology to explore the social contexts of new textual possibilities against the backdrop of claims made about 'new media' . This is achieved by allowing the phenomenological aspects of television to inform an empirical study of television in sociocommunicative contexts. Locating mediated communication within everyday social interaction invites question...
TL;DR: The authors examines a cycle of British drama-documentaries about the Second World War broadcast in 2004-5: Dunkirk, D-Day, When Hitler Invaded Britain D-day to Berlin and Blitz: London's Firestor...
Abstract: This article examines a cycle of British drama-documentaries about the Second World War broadcast in 2004-5: Dunkirk, D-Day, When Hitler Invaded Britain D-Day to Berlin and Blitz: London's Firestor...
TL;DR: This paper used a technique whereby Muslim teenagers in London and New York were asked to produce a two-minute news story on the 'War on Terror' that combined images from a digital archive with an accompanying voiceover.
Abstract: British Muslim frustration with the media is well researched and documented; their main concern is how news discourses on Islam influence opinions of majority audiences. This article argues that production-based audience research methods give insight into how minority audiences see themselves in relation to the majority and how groups negotiate a sense of belonging through media discourses. The study used a technique whereby Muslim teenagers in London and New York were asked to produce a two-minute news story on the 'War on Terror' that combined images from a digital archive with an accompanying voiceover. The article analyses how the participants position themselves as representatives of a global Muslim community-in-suffering to imagined mainstream audiences in the UK and US.
TL;DR: In this paper, a distinction exists between informed and uninformed audiences which is directly associated with two competing types of cultural recognition: specialist accreditation and public recognition; the domination of the former in their struggle is presented as decisive in art~s socio-cultural legitimization and as manifest in the content and limited range of the audience as an insider discourse.
Abstract: While postmodernist claims for contemporary art~s pluralism, inclusive character and interpenetration with everyday cultures proliferate, little attention is paid to the actual practices, discourses and realities of the art world, its institutions and the interest groups that are involved. Based on findings of the author~s recent ethnographic research on a leading contemporary art gallery in Britain and through an analysis of art~s audiences as an insider construct, this article argues that a distinction exists between informed and uninformed audiences which is directly associated with two competing types of cultural recognition. These are specialist accreditation and public recognition; the domination of the former in their struggle is presented as decisive in art~s socio-cultural legitimization and as manifest in the content and limited range of the audience as an insider discourse.
TL;DR: The Mecca Cola drink combines in its brand name two contrasting iconic images: one signifies authenticity, whereas the other signifies a 'commodity'. The conspicuous juxtaposition of ''Mecca' and ''Commodity'' can be found in this paper.
Abstract: The Mecca Cola drink combines in its brand name two contrasting iconic images: one signifies `authenticity', whereas the other signifies a `commodity'. The conspicuous juxtaposition of `Mecca' and ...
TL;DR: In this article, the understandings, responses and news viewing frameworks of young multi-ethnic, working-class Londoners following the war in Iraq and the so-called "War on Terror" were investigated.
Abstract: This article engages with the understandings, responses and news viewing frameworks of young multi-ethnic, working-class Londoners following the war in Iraq and the so-called 'War on Terror'. Is television news itself viewed as a monolithic entity, either in its own right or as the mouthpiece of whichever regime is in power? Are some viewers more prone to accept the invitations of certain television news discourses than others, while some remain aloof, sceptical and critical? Based on a sustained qualitative analysis of audience research in East London, this article problematizes the often taken-for-granted answers to these questions. It urges a rethinking of simplistic assumptions about the connections between discourses on the TV screen and in the living room. It finds unusual gaps and connections between discourses used by politicians at given points in time and those that affect communities in their material and psychic life in particular places.
TL;DR: This article found that people's sense of physical, cultural and emotional closeness and distance oscillate as a consequence of different push-and-pull factors encountered in the course of their face-to-face and mediated interactions.
Abstract: Perceptions and feelings of belonging and non-belonging, security and insecurity post-9/11 among multi-ethnic news audiences interviewed in Edinburgh are bound up with perceptions of nearness to and remoteness from places, people and threatening events. People's senses of physical, cultural and emotional closeness and distance oscillate as a consequence of different push-and-pull factors encountered in the course of their face-to-face and mediated interactions. National government policy and news media play major roles in constructing senses of closeness or separation. Also significant in the formation of relative senses of proximity are local authorities' responses to diversity, as well as lived experiences. News audience members actively attempt to assert some control over their senses of `belonging-security'.
TL;DR: The decision to go to war by the government of the day is assumed to be a decision taken on behalf of all citizens of the nation, conceived as a collective united by a harmony of interests.
Abstract: The decision to go to war by the government of the day is assumed to be a decision taken on behalf of all citizens of the nation, conceived as a collective united by a harmony of interests. Yet in the case of the Iraq War, there is clearly no unified voice of support from the British people. There is division between the state and its citizens, and the latter also reflect the multilayered identities of an increasingly multicultural society. How do individuals displaying multilayered identities relate politically, socially and culturally to the abstract, unified idea of Britishness, and how does this impact upon perceptions concerning the legitimacy of state action?
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative analysis of TV history programming in North America and Europe is presented, focusing on the use of the past outside the academy and the role of the historian's role as a mythslayer.
Abstract: During the 1990s, history programming made for television increased exponentially in both North America and Europe. As Vivian Sobchack noted, the decade was marked by 'a peculiarly novel \"readiness\" for history among the general population', which she ascribed in part to their awareness of the potential in future for the present to be commodified and represented as the past (Sobchack, 1996a: 4). Certainly, along with an increase in programming, the 1990s saw a proliferation of different genres across television which has continued into the current decade, into which historical representations continue to be inserted. It is pertinent, then, to ask how we get the kind of history we do on television and what kinds of representations of nation, gender and identity are offered to the 'general population' through these programmes. The contributions to this issue attempt to do so from a comparative, European perspective. The growth in TV history programming also led to revived interest among UK and US scholars and a continued interest in other European countries. In Germany, for example, where scholarly comment on history programming began in the 1970s, interest has been maintained for the last three decades.' However, despite this, in many cases debate about television history has not developed greatly since the 19 70s (Kuehl, 19 76; McArthur, 19 78; Watt, 19 76), and has remained couched in terms of the medium's inability to do 'proper' history. For example, the historian Jeremy Black's recent book Using History (2005), on the use of the past outside the academy, provides an extremely interesting and nuanced analysis of the 'private sector' of filmmakers and history TV programming alongside museums and popular history books. However, his comments often relate to the extent to which such representations are 'ahistorical' and rely greatly upon fictionalized or otherwise misrepresented individuals, groups or encounters. Perhaps, then, this reflects the 20th-century Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm's concern that the historian's role as 'mythslayer' should not be compromised by what Richard Johnson describes as 'the postmodern designation of History as \"fiction\"' (Black, 2005: 29; Hobsbawm cited in Johnson, 2001: 28 1).
TL;DR: The authors discusses how documentary film as site of memory has constructed the memory of the Second World War and their focus is on Dutch documentary films produced by the end of the 1980s and in the 1990s and their relation to both the discourses of memory and of documentary representation.
Abstract: This article discusses how documentary film as site of memory has constructed the memory of the Second World War. Its focus is on Dutch documentary films produced by the end of the 1980s and in the 1990s and their relation to both the discourses of memory and of documentary representation. The construction of memory is closely related to the debate on historical representation, centred around the Shoah as an event of extreme importance. This article addresses these debates as well as the interventions made by filmmakers. With the help of several examples from Dutch documentary practice, its aim is to illustrate how representational modes in documentary film are related to the construction of memory.
TL;DR: The authors showed that the religious and political cultures of families shape women's perceptions and experiences of security and transnational belonging, rather than education, and highlighted the ability of British Muslim women to construct their religious, national and gender identities by engaging in lively debates and questioning what appears to be unjust.
Abstract: Muslim women have often been stereotyped as being trapped in an oppressive and patriarchal system that neither provides freedom of expression nor develops their full potential. This study addresses such 'misconceptions', highlighting the ability of British Muslim women to construct their religious, national and gender identities by engaging in lively debates and questioning what appears to be unjust. Dominant public and media discourses currently often equate Muslims with 'terrorists'. Muslim women challenge this conception by participating in news cultures and negotiating their transnational citizenship. This study shows that the religious and political cultures of families shape women's perceptions and experiences of security and transnational belonging, rather than education.
TL;DR: The authors examined the interaction between perceptions of security generated within Northern Ireland and those shaped by the international media concerning 'global terrorism' post 9/11, and argued that the local conflict provides frames which shape attitudes to the media (typologically and sceptically).
Abstract: Drawing on interviews conducted between September 2004 and April 2006, this article examines the interaction between perceptions of security generated within Northern Ireland and those shaped by the international media concerning 'global terrorism' post 9/11. It offers insights into a society where security concerns are shifting from large-scale political violence to the consequences of social separation and paramilitary-related criminality. It argues that the local conflict provides frames which shape attitudes to the media (typologically and sceptically), and that Northern Irish society sheds light on the effects of long-term exposure to heightened security concerns and transnational media.
TL;DR: The authors examines two case studies from the 1950s: the BBC's popular serial The Grove Family and the interview-in-depth programme Face to Face, drawing out the different meanings which circulated around television's relations with fame.
Abstract: This article aims to contribute to historical knowledge about television's relations with fame, while simultaneously exploring the conceptual tools used to study this field. With this in mind, this article examines two case studies from the 1950s: the BBC's popular serial The Grove Family and the interview-in-depth programme Face to Face . A key aim is to draw out the different meanings which circulated around television's relations with fame. Television has always constructed its own `personalities' (the Groves), while simultaneously circulating personae `outside' of their primary public or media roles (Face to Face). The article suggests that returning to this earlier context raises important questions. Where do these later conceptual claims of television fame locate their historical roots? To what extent were the debates about television fame a continuation of those surrounding radio? And to what degree are concepts such as `ordinariness' historical?
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce cultures of media practice collectively shared by members of a specific social group, including gender, ethnicity, social class and generation, and discuss fundamental changes which people undergo in their attitude towards the subject-matter covered by the media and/or the media itself.
Abstract: This contribution introduces, from a media education perspective, two concepts which may be useful for further theoretical reflection upon the rich empirical material provided in the other articles of this special issue. The first concept, 'cultures of media practice', refers to habitualized patterns of media practice collectively shared by members of a specific social group. The articles provide many examples of such cultures of media practices, including different 'experiential spaces' such as gender, ethnicity, social class and generation. The second concept, 'media- bildung', covers fundamental changes which people undergo in their attitude towards the subject-matter covered by the media and/or the media itself. In the contributions to this special issue such processes of 'media- bildung'can be identified along with processes of media learning in which people acquire new knowledge and/or develop new skills without transforming their orientations.
TL;DR: The Global Social Justice movement is considered as an alternative framework for what security might mean in the absence of state violence as mentioned in this paper, and the importance of diasporic identities to such movements comes across in the research project that underpins this Special Issue.
Abstract: This commentary piece reflects on the range of contributions to this Special Issue, considering the ways in which the European context fails to offer more inclusionary notions of citizenship in the current era. A long-term decline in state legitimacy in Europe and in the UK cannot be offset by the intensified policing of insecurity that is known as the War on Terror. The Global Social Justice movement is considered as an alternative framework for what security might mean in the absence of state violence. The importance of diasporic identities to such movements comes across in the research project that underpins this Special Issue. States in Europe and the British state, which is focused on here, are experiencing what can be called a 'beseiged legitimacy'. The relative disbelief in official accounts of events by many citizens, such as those interviewed by researchers involved in this Special Issue, combines with a global economy that increasingly resembles a casino.
TL;DR: The post-9/11 developments in the UK and Germany contrast as mentioned in this paper, as a consequence of the 'War on Terror', a group which had been promised participation in a multicultural society has been increasingly stigmatized and branded with 'otherness'.
Abstract: Post-9/11 developments in the UK and Germany contrast. On the one hand, in the UK, as a consequence of the 'War on Terror', a group which had been promised participation in a multicultural society has been increasingly stigmatized and branded with 'otherness'. On the other hand, in Germany, groups that had previously been 'outside' as 'foreigners' are being selectively accepted into German society, but the groups which are excluded from this process (and even more branded with 'otherness') are notably the Muslims. These different trajectories led to different reactions: embitterment, disappointment and anger in the UK, and cynicism and resignation in Germany. An overall convergence of policies toward Islam is observable not only in Germany and the UK but throughout Europe. It seems to be more related to the construction of a collective European identity than to Islam itself.
TL;DR: The PEER license agreement as mentioned in this paper provides a nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches, and beschränktes Recht auf Nutzungsbedingungen.
Abstract: Nutzungsbedingungen: Dieser Text wird unter dem \"PEER Licence Agreement zur Verfügung\" gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zum PEER-Projekt finden Sie hier: http://www.peerproject.eu Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an. Terms of use: This document is made available under the \"PEER Licence Agreement \". For more Information regarding the PEER-project see: http://www.peerproject.eu This document is solely intended for your personal, non-commercial use.All of the copies of this documents must retain all copyright information and other information regarding legal protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the document in public. By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated conditions of use.