Ideology, narrative analysis, and popular culture
TL;DR: Cawelti and Wright as mentioned in this paper argue that a new conception of the ideological, if it is to draw on the findings of the study of myth, psychoanalysis and structural anthropology, must take as its privileged object of investigation narrative itself, now considered as a "form of reasoning" about experience and society.
Abstract: By showing that the formal analysis of mass culture has come of age, two recent books suggest that a new way of raising the old questions about the relationship of culture to society is possible Indeed, they make important, if unequal, contributions to the methodology of narrative analysis in general, at the same time that they suggest that a rigorous investigation of cultural forms of the internal dynamics of superstructures as such may prove a good deal more crucial to the student of social history, particularly in the area of periodization, than has often been thought Both Will Wright's Sixguns and Society and John G Cawelti's Adventure, Mystery, and Romance~ offer materials for a new theory of ideology-surely the key link or mediatory concept in any attempt to link cultural objects with social phenomena They demonstrate that a new conception of the ideological, if it is to draw on the findings of the study of myth, of psychoanalysis and of structural anthropology, must take as its privileged object of investigation narrative itself, now considered as a "form of reasoning" about experience and society (Wright, 200) of equal dignity to the various types of conceptual thought in service in daily life
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how social entrepreneurship is narrated as an "ideal subject" which signals toward others what it takes to lead a meaningful (working) life, and conclude that the promise of enjoyment which pervades portrayals of the social entrepreneur might cultivate a passive attitude of empty "pleasure" which effectively deprives social entrepreneurship of its more radical possibilities.
Abstract: Research on social entrepreneurship has taken an increasing interest in issues pertaining to ideology. In contrast to existing research which tends to couch ‘ideology’ in pejorative terms (i.e., something which needs to be overcome), this paper conceives ideology as a key mechanism for rendering social entrepreneurship an object with which people can identify. Specifically, drawing on qualitative research of arguably one of the most prolific social entrepreneurship intermediaries, the global Impact Hub network, we investigate how social entrepreneurship is narrated as an ‘ideal subject,’ which signals toward others what it takes to lead a meaningful (working) life. Taking its theoretical cues from the theory of justification advanced by Boltanski, Chiapello and Thevenaut, and from recent affect-based theorizing on ideology, our findings indicate that becoming a social entrepreneur is considered not so much a matter of struggle, hardship, and perseverance but rather of ‘having fun.’ We caution that the promise of enjoyment which pervades portrayals of the social entrepreneur might cultivate a passive attitude of empty ‘pleasure’ which effectively deprives social entrepreneurship of its more radical possibilities. The paper concludes by discussing the broader implications this hedonistic rendition of social entrepreneurship has and suggests a re-politicization of social entrepreneurship through a confronting with what Slavoj Žižek calls the ‘impossible.’
45 citations
Cites background from "Ideology, narrative analysis, and p..."
...Ideology thus pertains to the evaluative dimension underpinning particular narratives (Jameson, 1977)....
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01 Jan 1984
TL;DR: Although there has been a growth of interest in popular fiction over the last few years, one could not claim that it has been established in schools or colleges as a central component of literary studies as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Although there has been a growth of interest in popular fiction over the last few years, one could not claim that it has been established in schools or colleges as a central component of literary studies. The English lecturer who proposes a course in this area may well be told that it would be difficult to find space on the timetable for such a ‘minor’ field of study, although the same objections do not seem to apply when one of his/her colleagues suggests yet another option in seventeenth-century poetry. A course dealing with popular genres such as science fiction or thrillers is, apparently, a luxury which the department cannot afford. ‘It would be nice if we had the time, of course, but …’ Such entrenched resistance is not wholly surprising. Most intellectual disciplines harbour conservative as well as innovative tendencies. Once a field of study has been established within an academic institution it will attract a community of teachers and scholars who have a vested interest in its continuity and growth. Adherents to the discipline tend to work within its intellectual paradigms, taking them as given rather than exploring the boundaries of their subject in a critical manner.
9 citations
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01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the concept of modern and post-modern surveillance, and present new technologies of workplace monitoring and consumerism and the Panoptic Sort of consumerism.
Abstract: ix Chapter One: Conceptualising Surveillance 1 1.1 Modern and Post-Modern Surveillance 3 1.2 Surveillance and Political Economy 13 1.3 Surveillance and Ideology 18 1.4 Surveillance and Popular Culture 24 1.5 Research Outline 33 Chapter Two: Surveillance and Capitalism 43 2.1 The Workplace 43 2.1.1 (After) Fordism and Worker Surveillance 44 2.1.2 Taylorism and Exploitation 50 2.1.3 New Technologies of Workplace Monitoring 53 2.2 Surveillance and Consumption 59 2.2.1 Consumerism and the Administered Society 60 2.2.2 Consumers and the Panoptic Sort 63 2.2.3 Shopping and Ordered Consumption 70 2.2.4 Surveilling Consumers in Cyberspace 72
9 citations
Cites background from "Ideology, narrative analysis, and p..."
...Investigating the construction of a plot reveals dominant understanding of the nature of contemporary surveillance (Wright, 1975 as cited in Jameson, 1977: 543)....
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