Showing papers in "European Journal of Cultural Studies in 2020"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the media attention paid to TikTok during the Coronavirus crisis was disproportionate to the root cause of the virus outbreak, and they argue that this is not the case.
Abstract: During the global lockdowns brought about by the Coronavirus crisis, TikTok saw a phenomenal rise in users and cultural visibility. This short essay argues that the media attention paid to TikTok d...
120 citations
TL;DR: The COVID-19 pandemic stirs up strong nationalist and localist sentiments; places pride themselves on containing the virus more effectively: We are doing better. as discussed by the authors analyse how the biopolitical efforts of these places are being compared, applauded and supported.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic stirs up strong nationalist and localist sentiments; places pride themselves on containing the virus more effectively: We are doing better. We call this ‘biopolitical nationalism’, understood by us as the dynamics between body, geopolitics and affect. When looking at mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, we analyse how the biopolitical efforts of these places are being compared, applauded and supported. Under a discourse of life and survival, this celebration of biopolitical control does not fall into the classic reproduction of capital, but speaks to geopolitical identification. Biopolitics has morphed into a field of competition, of rivalry, of nationalistic – or, perhaps more generally, localist – power games. What can we do as Cultural Studies scholars?
62 citations
TL;DR: In late April 2020, Matt Hancock, the Conservative government's Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom, has just announced that the critical care workers during Covid-19 are to be issued with a blue badge.
Abstract: As we write this short piece in late April 2020, Matt Hancock, the Conservative government’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom, has just announced that the critical care workers during Covid-19 are to be issued with a blue badge. This is a ‘badge of honour’ to mark their commitment to the nation during this pandemic and recognise that they put their lives at risk working at the frontline of the outbreak. Yes, a blue badge. This comes after weeks of national displays of gratitude that began with support for the National Health Service (NHS) and then extended to carers. ‘Clap for carers’ sees neighbours stand on their doorsteps every Thursday at 8 pm, banging pots and pans, sometimes accompanied by supportive police sirens and flashing lights, to show our united public affection for those saving our lives right now during the coronavirus pandemic. During the crisis, the United Kingdom is showing its appreciation in highly visible ways: the nation’s windows are adorned with children’s pictures of rainbows; buildings are lit up in the blue of the NHS; murals of masked nurses as heroes are springing up on the side of buildings; farmers are ploughing NHS signs into their fields; and some people have even put their Christmas lights back up. Reflecting this surge of ‘caring’ nationalism, even Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister (who contracted Covid-19 after displays of macho bravado, which included boasting about shaking hands with Covid patients) stated on his hospital release that the NHS was ‘powered by love’. How ‘caring’ and sentimental this all seems right now. This affective mood generated through the valorisation of our care staff may indeed be heart-warming, especially as a salutary response to our very real fears.
55 citations
TL;DR: This article examined sub-textual meanings connected to brand responses to COVID-19 which rely on an amorphous imagined "we" and which ultimately may aid brands' pursuit of productivity and profit, rather than symbolising support of and concern for people.
Abstract: The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and marketing approaches that are based on commodified concepts of human connection, care and community in a time of crisis. At the core of many brands’ marketing messages – whether these be supermarket advertising campaigns or celebrity self-branding - is the notion that ‘we’re all in this together’. While it is true that the impact of COVID19 has affected the lives of many people around the world, not everyone is experiencing this crisis the same way, due to structural inequalities and intersecting oppressions. What is the relationship between COVID-19, capitalism and consumer culture? Who is the ‘we’ in the messages of ‘we’re all in this together’, and how might such messages mask distinct socio-economic disparities and enable institutions to evade accountability? This article examines sub-textual meanings connected to brand responses to COVID-19 which rely on an amorphous imagined ‘we’—and which ultimately may aid brands’ pursuit of productivity and profit, rather than symbolising support of and concern for people
55 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors offer some initial commentary on the cultural impacts of COVID-19 and the current status of cultural workers, in the midst of (yet further) crisis, and pose questions of what might culture be or become, in and beyond the current state of emergency.
Abstract: This article offers some initial commentary on the cultural impacts of COVID-19. It first considers how the pandemic might already have shifted the focus - or challenged our capacities - for cultural studies scholarship. However, the article is more centrally concerned with how measures designed to combat COVID-19 have begun to transform patterns of cultural consumption, production and work. The article considers the current status of cultural workers, in the midst of (yet further) crisis, and poses questions of what might culture be or become, in and beyond the current state of emergency.
45 citations
TL;DR: As the COVID-19 crisis spreads around the globe, the rhetoric about the pandemic evoked by journalists and politicians harks back to that of prior diseases and epidemics as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: As the COVID-19 crisis spreads around the globe, the rhetoric about the pandemic evoked by journalists and politicians harks back to that of prior diseases and epidemics. This short article updates...
45 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate and critique the coronavirus' cultural agency, which thanks to this human assistance, worked in synergy with its biological form, looking at the virus as an "infodemic" a...
Abstract: This article demonstrates and critiques the coronavirus’ cultural agency, which thanks to this human assistance, worked in synergy with its biological form. Looking at the virus as an ‘infodemic’ a...
38 citations
TL;DR: In the wake of the so-called European migrant crisis, migration scholars have zoomed in on digital technologies and mobility as mentioned in this paper, however, are the affective entanglements of migrant d...
Abstract: In the wake of the so-called European migrant crisis, migration scholars have zoomed in on digital technologies and mobility. Seldom addressed, however, are the affective entanglements of migrant d...
25 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored how representations of the "hipster" in newspapers and blogs are bound up with processes of class distinction in contemporary Britain, and showed that the hipster representation can be seen as a metaphor for class distinction.
Abstract: This article explores how representations of the ‘hipster’ in newspapers and on blogs are bound up with processes of class distinction in contemporary Britain. The analysis demonstrates that the hi...
23 citations
TL;DR: Using the threatened yet ultimately reconfirmed celebrity status of pop singer and mental health advocate Demi Lovato as a case study, the authors analyzes how celebrity health narratives reflect celebrities' mental health.
Abstract: Using the threatened yet ultimately reconfirmed celebrity status of pop singer and mental health advocate Demi Lovato as a case study, this article analyzes how celebrity health narratives reflect ...
21 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that we live in the age of populism, and political parties, both Left and Right, have sought to take advantage of this moment to further their respective political pro-...
Abstract: Until recently it has been argued that we live in the age of populism. Political parties, both Left and Right, have sought to take advantage of this moment to further their respective political pro...
TL;DR: In Chile, the performance of "Un violador en tu camino" (A rapist in your path) by the Chilean feminist collective Las Tesis as discussed by the authors has attracted attention.
Abstract: Since its second public enactment in Chile on 25 November 2019, the performance of ‘Un violador en tu camino’ (A rapist in your path) conceived by the Chilean feminist collective Las Tesis began to...
TL;DR: In a critical moment in time, April 2020, when we are living with the cataclysmic event of Covid-19, television has become a vital resource for solace, daydreaming, social ritual, knowledge and storytelling as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: At this critical moment in time, April 2020, when we are living with the cataclysmic event of Covid-19, television – a medium declared almost dead at the beginning of this millennium – has become a vital resource for solace, daydreaming, social ritual, knowledge and storytelling. In conditions of lockdown, we turn towards television, not away from it (Ellis, 2020; Negra, 2020). We are checking news on national channels, and tuning to live broadcasting for campaigns to help the health services and communities in need, such as with the globally broadcast One World: Together At Home special. We are curling up on the sofa to engage with gripping drama, like Ozark streaming on Netflix, re-watching favourite series from the beginning, such as Buffy or Breaking Bad, and taking part in television quiz shows like Pointless, even watching repeats, to recreate a pub quiz atmosphere in the living room. On a darker note, we are also overloaded with corona news; the ritual evening news bulletin can be a source of anxiety and a cause of sleeplessness. Television infrastructure can break down, from broken satellite dishes to lost remote controls, which are tricky to fix when technicians are not so readily available to help; and television can be an economic burden. The cost of streaming
TL;DR: As part of the editorial team of a cultural studies journal, we have been thinking a good deal about what our response might be to the unfolding crisis as mentioned in this paper, and at times, it has felt as though any kind of intervention would be too soon or too opportunistic.
Abstract: As part of the editorial team of a cultural studies journal, we have been thinking a good deal about what our response might be to the unfolding crisis. At times, it has felt as though any kind of intervention would be too soon or too opportunistic. There is certainly a widespread unease among academics and writers who do not wish to be seen to jump on the bandwagon of what Priyamvada Gopal referred to as ‘hot take corona studies’ (‘Just do ensure you’re alive to see your pathbreaking essay in Journal of Corona Cultural Inquiry published’, she tweeted). But of course, on the other hand, anyone working within cultural studies traditions has coursing through their veins a sense of responsibility to document, chart, interrogate, and to say something, at least, about such a seismic global event that is set to re-order the material, cultural, social and political in profound, and yet still unknowable, ways. Stuart Hall (1988) wrote,
TL;DR: The 1917LIVE project as discussed by the authors was based on an analysis of a sample of tweets by users who engaged with the re-enactment, alongside focus group discussions with its followers.
Abstract: Throughout 2017, the Russian state broadcaster, RT (formerly Russia Today), commemorated the centenary of the 1917 revolution with a social media re-enactment. Centred on Twitter, the 1917LIVE project involved over 90 revolution-era characters tweeting in real time as if the 1917 revolution was happening live on social media. This article is based on an analysis of a sample of tweets by users who engaged with 1917LIVE, alongside focus group discussions with its followers. We argue that a cultural studies perspective can shed important light on the political significance of RT’s social media re-enactment in ways that current studies of public diplomacy as a soft power resource often fail to do. It can advance soft power theory by offering a more nuanced, dynamic analysis of how state media mobilise, and how audiences engage with, social media re-enactments as commemorative events. We find that rather than promoting a unitary propagandistic narrative about Russia, 1917LIVE served instead to soften attitudes towards RT itself – encouraging audiences to view RT as an educator and entertainer as well as a news broadcaster – normalising its presence as a Russian public diplomacy resource in the international news media landscape. Our analysis of audience interactions with and interpretations of 1917LIVE affords insights into how the 1917 re-enactment worked as didactic entertainment eliciting affective identification with the characters of the revolution. Such public diplomacy projects contribute in the short term to a strengthening of the engagement required to create longer-term soft power effects.
TL;DR: A critical intellectual, someone whose job is to think, reflect and critique can be the last thing one needs in times of practical urgency as discussed by the authors. If anything such people can be a hindrance to the recovery effort.
Abstract: A critical intellectual, someone whose job is to think, reflect and critique can be the last thing one needs in times of practical urgency. If anything such people can be a hindrance to the recovery effort. Pardoxically, in such times, critical intellectuals are more necessary than ever. Pandemics, for instance, invite war metaphors, and unleash reactionary themes of ‘cohesion’, ‘unity’ and ‘common purpose’ that require being challenged. To be a critical intellectual in such times is to be aware of, and learn how to negotiate, such a contradiction.
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of digital technologies on forced migration is examined from the point of view and situated experiences of refugees living in the diaspora, while there is increasing scholarly attention given to the impact.
Abstract: While there is increasing scholarly attention given to the impact of digital technologies on forced migration, the points of view and situated experiences of refugees living in the diaspora are und...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe how digital videos depicting the unboxing of new objects have become a lucrative revenue stream in the YouTube economy and are beginning to attract critical interest from media scholars.
Abstract: Digital videos depicting the unboxing of new objects have become a lucrative revenue stream in the YouTube economy and are beginning to attract critical interest from media scholars. Much of this w...
TL;DR: The authors presented the first academic analysis of 'national treasure' as a status designation for an elite category of British celebrities who hold a unique position in the Great British hall of... and used it to define a new category of celebrities.
Abstract: This article presents the first academic analysis of ‘national treasure’ as a status designation for an elite category of British celebrities who hold a unique position in the Great British hall of...
TL;DR: This article argued that the discourses and techniques of political journalism worked to make white working class identity sensible as an assumed norm in American politics during the 2016 US presidential election, and argued that white working-class identity was assumed as the norm during the election.
Abstract: This article argues that the discourses and techniques of political journalism worked to make White working class identity sensible as an assumed norm in American politics during the 2016 US presid...
TL;DR: This paper predicted that official Russian commemorations of the centenary of the 1917 revolutions would prioritise reconciliation and accord between pro- and anti-communists, which was not the case.
Abstract: Scholars predicted that official Russian commemorations of the centenary of the 1917 revolutions would prioritise ‘reconciliation and accord’ between pro- and anti-communists. Such a frame might he...
TL;DR: The authors unpacks the concept of "cultural populism" in multiple ways, and explores its value for the critical analysis of new formations and expressions of populism in the current conjuncture. But their focus is on the recent election of Donald Trump.
Abstract: This article unpacks the concept of ‘cultural populism’ in multiple ways, and explores its value for the critical analysis of new formations and expressions of populism in the current conjuncture. ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a thematic analysis of broadcast and print media representations of YouTube celebrities is presented, focusing on the role of youth-oriented media in placing vloggers along with celebrities.
Abstract: In this article, we present a thematic analysis of broadcast and print media representations of YouTube celebrity. Youth-oriented media have capitalised on the phenomenon, placing vloggers alongsid...
TL;DR: The authors analyzes social media representations of refugees in Turkey and discusses their role in shaping public opinion, concluding that the influx of millions of Syrian refugees has created heated debates and created heated deb...
Abstract: This study analyzes social media representations of refugees in Turkey and discusses their role in shaping public opinion. The influx of millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey has created heated deb...
TL;DR: In this article, social relations and ethno-religious identifications of pre-war Syria are remembered and narrated by Syrian refugees in exile, crossing the abyss of war, and negotiated through the shifting tim...
Abstract: How are social relations and ethno-religious identifications of pre-war Syria remembered and narrated by Syrian refugees in exile? Crossing the abyss of war, and negotiated through the shifting tim...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the cultural practice of four film tours in Edinburgh, Scotland, analysing how film tours like these contribute to more general placemaking processes.
Abstract: The current article focuses on the cultural practice of four film tours in Edinburgh, Scotland, analysing how film tours like these contribute to more general placemaking processes. Prior research ...
TL;DR: This paper argued that cultural studies had little impact on right-wing populism's assault on immigration and climate science, and suggested that this failure lies in three tendencies: first, a continued if increasingly cliche sunny optimism about the popular; second, the priority accorded to getting grants, which depoliticizes so much work; and third, an embrace of creative industry discourse.
Abstract: Why has cultural studies had little impact on right-wing populism’s assault on immigration and climate science? I suggest that this failure lies in three tendencies: first, a continued if increasingly cliche sunny optimism about the popular; second, the priority accorded to getting grants, which depoliticizes so much work; and third, an embrace of creative-industries discourse. The first tendency supposedly gives a link to our origins; the second, to legitimacy; and the third, to relevance. All render us ill-equipped to deal with contemporary and future crises.
TL;DR: This paper took up the theme that a significant but often ignored source for British Cultural Studies began in the interdisciplinary teaching of the Workers' Educational Association and universi... and showed that the most important source for this work was the WEA.
Abstract: This article takes up the theme that a significant but often ignored source for British Cultural Studies began in the interdisciplinary teaching of the Workers’ Educational Association and universi...
TL;DR: The key role of digital and mobile media for refugees is increasingly acknowledged, but while the literature on the topic tends to celebrate the advantages of digital media, it is important to also... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The key role of digital and mobile media for refugees is increasingly acknowledged, but while the literature on the topic tends to celebrate the advantages of digital media, it is important to also...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the downward celebrity migration, when a celebrity enters a field that is less legitimate than their field of origin, by studying the case of Lucia Etxebarri.
Abstract: This article explores ‘downward celebrity migration’, that is, when a celebrity enters a field that is less legitimate than their field of origin. It does so by studying the case of Lucia Etxebarri...