Johannes Angermuller and Raj Kollmorgen
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198829911
- eISBN:
- 9780191868368
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198829911.003.0021
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
As a practice of meaning making in society, discourse points to important dimensions of social and historical change. This chapter discusses examples of discourse research on social transformation in ...
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As a practice of meaning making in society, discourse points to important dimensions of social and historical change. This chapter discusses examples of discourse research on social transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. It shows how methods from linguistic, semiotic, and cultural theory can be used to account for a changing social order (e.g., how change is narrated in Russia during the perestroika period or how Eastern Germans are represented in Western media discourse after the reunification). Against a background in Discourse Studies, we put special emphasis on macrosociological views of discursive change, which one can find, for instance, in Foucault’s power/knowledge approach, Laclau/Mouffian hegemony analysis, and Critical Discourse Analysis. The chapter concludes by pointing out the strengths as well as the limits of discourse research, which is based on the idea that language not only represents social realities but, through representation, also contributes to creating them.Less
As a practice of meaning making in society, discourse points to important dimensions of social and historical change. This chapter discusses examples of discourse research on social transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. It shows how methods from linguistic, semiotic, and cultural theory can be used to account for a changing social order (e.g., how change is narrated in Russia during the perestroika period or how Eastern Germans are represented in Western media discourse after the reunification). Against a background in Discourse Studies, we put special emphasis on macrosociological views of discursive change, which one can find, for instance, in Foucault’s power/knowledge approach, Laclau/Mouffian hegemony analysis, and Critical Discourse Analysis. The chapter concludes by pointing out the strengths as well as the limits of discourse research, which is based on the idea that language not only represents social realities but, through representation, also contributes to creating them.
Chris Heffer
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- August 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190923280
- eISBN:
- 9780190923327
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190923280.003.0011
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
The TRUST framework represents a radical challenge both to existing notions of untruthfulness and to the relevance of this topic to language research. This conclusion to the book All Bullshit and ...
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The TRUST framework represents a radical challenge both to existing notions of untruthfulness and to the relevance of this topic to language research. This conclusion to the book All Bullshit and Lies? returns to the three central propositions of the TRUST framework concerning the scope, ethical import, and discursive analysis of untruthfulness, and teases out some of their implications, limitations, and possible future directions. It then takes up the challenge of the relevance of this topic to language research and considers the possibility of an interdisciplinary Ethical Discourse Analysis. Finally, the potential impact of the framework is discussed in terms of the fight-back against epistemic partisanship, the judgment of knowledge on purely partisan grounds. It focuses particularly on applications to education, fostering a greater awareness of the economy of truthfulness, the training of journalists, fact-checkers, and advocates, and the regulation of political advertising and social media.Less
The TRUST framework represents a radical challenge both to existing notions of untruthfulness and to the relevance of this topic to language research. This conclusion to the book All Bullshit and Lies? returns to the three central propositions of the TRUST framework concerning the scope, ethical import, and discursive analysis of untruthfulness, and teases out some of their implications, limitations, and possible future directions. It then takes up the challenge of the relevance of this topic to language research and considers the possibility of an interdisciplinary Ethical Discourse Analysis. Finally, the potential impact of the framework is discussed in terms of the fight-back against epistemic partisanship, the judgment of knowledge on purely partisan grounds. It focuses particularly on applications to education, fostering a greater awareness of the economy of truthfulness, the training of journalists, fact-checkers, and advocates, and the regulation of political advertising and social media.
Ryan M. Milner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034999
- eISBN:
- 9780262335911
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034999.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This book presents an analysis of internet memes, the linguistic, image, audio, and video texts created, circulated, and transformed by countless cultural participants across vast networks and ...
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This book presents an analysis of internet memes, the linguistic, image, audio, and video texts created, circulated, and transformed by countless cultural participants across vast networks and collectives. They can be widely shared catchphrases, auto-tuned songs, manipulated stock photos, or recordings of physical performances. They’re used to make jokes, argue points, and connect friends. As these texts have become increasingly prominent and prolific, the logics underscoring them—multimodality, reappropriation, resonance, collectivism, and spread—have become lynchpins of mediated participation. Even as individual internet memes rise and fall, the contemporary media ecology persists in being memetic. In this ecology, vibrant collective conversations occur across constellations of mediated commentary, remix, and play. Through memetic media, everyday members of the public can contribute their small strands of expression to the vast cultural tapestry.
This book assesses the relationship between those small strands and that vast tapestry, exploring the good, the bad, and the in-between of collective conversation. Memetic media are used to connect participants across distance and context, but they’re also used to dehumanize others through the dominant perspectives they normalize. They’re used to express beyond narrow gatekeeping systems, but they’re still embedded in wider culture industries. Memetic media bring with them a mix of new potentials and old tensions, woven into the cultural tapestry by countless contributors. This book charts that intertwine.Less
This book presents an analysis of internet memes, the linguistic, image, audio, and video texts created, circulated, and transformed by countless cultural participants across vast networks and collectives. They can be widely shared catchphrases, auto-tuned songs, manipulated stock photos, or recordings of physical performances. They’re used to make jokes, argue points, and connect friends. As these texts have become increasingly prominent and prolific, the logics underscoring them—multimodality, reappropriation, resonance, collectivism, and spread—have become lynchpins of mediated participation. Even as individual internet memes rise and fall, the contemporary media ecology persists in being memetic. In this ecology, vibrant collective conversations occur across constellations of mediated commentary, remix, and play. Through memetic media, everyday members of the public can contribute their small strands of expression to the vast cultural tapestry.
This book assesses the relationship between those small strands and that vast tapestry, exploring the good, the bad, and the in-between of collective conversation. Memetic media are used to connect participants across distance and context, but they’re also used to dehumanize others through the dominant perspectives they normalize. They’re used to express beyond narrow gatekeeping systems, but they’re still embedded in wider culture industries. Memetic media bring with them a mix of new potentials and old tensions, woven into the cultural tapestry by countless contributors. This book charts that intertwine.
Peter Yeandle
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719080128
- eISBN:
- 9781781708354
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719080128.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
In addition to providing a summary, the conclusion offers thoughts on how to take the study forward. In particular, there is some tentative analysis of texts which makes use of discourse analysis. ...
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In addition to providing a summary, the conclusion offers thoughts on how to take the study forward. In particular, there is some tentative analysis of texts which makes use of discourse analysis. The conclusion also discusses the use of autobiography and oral history as means to capture memories of teaching and learning history. Finally, the conclusion returns to the contemporary politics of history teaching and assesses these debates within the context of discussion on citizenship and national identity.Less
In addition to providing a summary, the conclusion offers thoughts on how to take the study forward. In particular, there is some tentative analysis of texts which makes use of discourse analysis. The conclusion also discusses the use of autobiography and oral history as means to capture memories of teaching and learning history. Finally, the conclusion returns to the contemporary politics of history teaching and assesses these debates within the context of discussion on citizenship and national identity.
Manar H. Makhoul
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474459273
- eISBN:
- 9781474480765
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474459273.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Palestinian citizens in Israel are part of the Palestinian nation that was scattered and divided during the 1948 War (Nakba, a catastrophe), amidst which Israel was founded. Today, Palestinian ...
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Palestinian citizens in Israel are part of the Palestinian nation that was scattered and divided during the 1948 War (Nakba, a catastrophe), amidst which Israel was founded. Today, Palestinian citizens in Israel are not part of the emancipatory movement of Palestinians outside of Israel. The primary question, then, that this book aims to address relates to understanding the transformation in Palestinian discourse, from that which spoke of national self-determination, to a discourse that is not coherently nationalist. The study of literature aims to provide a view ‘from within’ onto Palestinian discourse. Incorporating almost the entire corpus of Palestinian novels published in Israel between 1948 and 2010, the book aims to deal with the widest possible spectrum of representation. This choice aims to complement existing sociological and literary analysis on Palestinians in Israel.
The book is divided to three chapters, corresponding to political periods in the life of Palestinians in Israel (1948−1967; 1967−1987; and 1987−2010). In the first period, Palestinians in Israel adapt to life under military rule, but they also undergo a process of modernization that aimed, so they believed, to facilitate their integration in Israeli society. Since the late 1960s, during the second period, Palestinians start to question the implications of modernization on their society, highlighting the ambivalence of their life in Israel. In the third period, Palestinians in Israel start to contemplate ‘solutions’ for this ambivalence, or alienation, bringing to the fore issues relating to their relationship with Israel as well as Palestinians across the border.Less
Palestinian citizens in Israel are part of the Palestinian nation that was scattered and divided during the 1948 War (Nakba, a catastrophe), amidst which Israel was founded. Today, Palestinian citizens in Israel are not part of the emancipatory movement of Palestinians outside of Israel. The primary question, then, that this book aims to address relates to understanding the transformation in Palestinian discourse, from that which spoke of national self-determination, to a discourse that is not coherently nationalist. The study of literature aims to provide a view ‘from within’ onto Palestinian discourse. Incorporating almost the entire corpus of Palestinian novels published in Israel between 1948 and 2010, the book aims to deal with the widest possible spectrum of representation. This choice aims to complement existing sociological and literary analysis on Palestinians in Israel.
The book is divided to three chapters, corresponding to political periods in the life of Palestinians in Israel (1948−1967; 1967−1987; and 1987−2010). In the first period, Palestinians in Israel adapt to life under military rule, but they also undergo a process of modernization that aimed, so they believed, to facilitate their integration in Israeli society. Since the late 1960s, during the second period, Palestinians start to question the implications of modernization on their society, highlighting the ambivalence of their life in Israel. In the third period, Palestinians in Israel start to contemplate ‘solutions’ for this ambivalence, or alienation, bringing to the fore issues relating to their relationship with Israel as well as Palestinians across the border.
Andrew Dilts
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823262410
- eISBN:
- 9780823268986
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823262410.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter offers an account of how “figures” are discursively produced and socially fabricated through practices that sit between distinct but overlapping domains of power/knowledge. Through an ...
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This chapter offers an account of how “figures” are discursively produced and socially fabricated through practices that sit between distinct but overlapping domains of power/knowledge. Through an extended reading of Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and his 1975 lecture course, Abnormal, this chapter takes up the figures of the “delinquent” and the “convicted offender”–paradigmatic figures of the rehabilitative ideal in penology–demonstrating how they are fabricated to manage the tensions and contradictions between discursive spheres of justice and the penitentiary apparatus. This reading is extended to consider the figure of the felon, who, though the practice of disenfranchisement, should be understood as a similar fabrication, managing the tensions that emerge in the unacknowledged overlap between discourses of punishment and citizenship.Less
This chapter offers an account of how “figures” are discursively produced and socially fabricated through practices that sit between distinct but overlapping domains of power/knowledge. Through an extended reading of Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and his 1975 lecture course, Abnormal, this chapter takes up the figures of the “delinquent” and the “convicted offender”–paradigmatic figures of the rehabilitative ideal in penology–demonstrating how they are fabricated to manage the tensions and contradictions between discursive spheres of justice and the penitentiary apparatus. This reading is extended to consider the figure of the felon, who, though the practice of disenfranchisement, should be understood as a similar fabrication, managing the tensions that emerge in the unacknowledged overlap between discourses of punishment and citizenship.
Anna Clayfield
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781683400899
- eISBN:
- 9781683401308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683400899.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
The introduction challenges the widely held view in Western scholarship that the supposed “militarization” of the Cuban Revolution is key to understanding its longevity. While the pervasiveness of ...
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The introduction challenges the widely held view in Western scholarship that the supposed “militarization” of the Cuban Revolution is key to understanding its longevity. While the pervasiveness of the armed forces in revolutionary Cuba is hard to refute, this chapter argues that it is the Revolution’s guerrilla origins, rather than its “militarism,” that partly explains its survival and the political authority of its leaders. Specifically, it is the promotion of a guerrilla ethos in the Revolution’s official, hegemonic discourse that, through the creation of a new political culture since 1959, has afforded historic legitimacy to the ex-guerrilla fighters in power. This chapter explains how the author, through discourse analysis, draws on the works of Michel Foucault and Norman Fairclough to examine a range of texts that span the Revolution’s six decades in power. This analysis reveals a consistent endorsement of the values and attributes associated with the guerrilla fighter, a phenomenon introduced here as guerrillerismo.Less
The introduction challenges the widely held view in Western scholarship that the supposed “militarization” of the Cuban Revolution is key to understanding its longevity. While the pervasiveness of the armed forces in revolutionary Cuba is hard to refute, this chapter argues that it is the Revolution’s guerrilla origins, rather than its “militarism,” that partly explains its survival and the political authority of its leaders. Specifically, it is the promotion of a guerrilla ethos in the Revolution’s official, hegemonic discourse that, through the creation of a new political culture since 1959, has afforded historic legitimacy to the ex-guerrilla fighters in power. This chapter explains how the author, through discourse analysis, draws on the works of Michel Foucault and Norman Fairclough to examine a range of texts that span the Revolution’s six decades in power. This analysis reveals a consistent endorsement of the values and attributes associated with the guerrilla fighter, a phenomenon introduced here as guerrillerismo.
Andrew Ryder
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781529200515
- eISBN:
- 9781529200560
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529200515.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
The chapter sets out the conceptual framework for the book describing Brexit as part of a paradigm shift in Britain’s socio-economic and cultural chemistry. Brexit is a multi-layered and ...
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The chapter sets out the conceptual framework for the book describing Brexit as part of a paradigm shift in Britain’s socio-economic and cultural chemistry. Brexit is a multi-layered and multidimensional phenomenon, at the intersection of many social, political and cultural forces and processes and the book’s introduction seeks to provide the context to these factors by exploring the nature of the economic, social and cultural drivers of Brexit. The introduction also explores the ‘tabloidisation’ of political rhetoric, basically the subtle manipulation of public thought through speech acts on identity and nationhood to further an agenda premised on achieving a new neoliberal order and the consolidation of power by existing economic, cultural and political elites. In this sense the book explores how a fear of risk and sense of anxiety is manipulated through securitisation. The introduction also sets out for the reader a conception of critical thinking and forms of discourse analysis used throughout the book to understand and dissect Brexit.Less
The chapter sets out the conceptual framework for the book describing Brexit as part of a paradigm shift in Britain’s socio-economic and cultural chemistry. Brexit is a multi-layered and multidimensional phenomenon, at the intersection of many social, political and cultural forces and processes and the book’s introduction seeks to provide the context to these factors by exploring the nature of the economic, social and cultural drivers of Brexit. The introduction also explores the ‘tabloidisation’ of political rhetoric, basically the subtle manipulation of public thought through speech acts on identity and nationhood to further an agenda premised on achieving a new neoliberal order and the consolidation of power by existing economic, cultural and political elites. In this sense the book explores how a fear of risk and sense of anxiety is manipulated through securitisation. The introduction also sets out for the reader a conception of critical thinking and forms of discourse analysis used throughout the book to understand and dissect Brexit.
Andrew Ryder
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781529200515
- eISBN:
- 9781529200560
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529200515.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
Britain and Europe at a Crossroads: The Politics of Anxiety and Transformation dissects the complex social, cultural and political factors that led the UK to take its decision to leave the EU and ...
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Britain and Europe at a Crossroads: The Politics of Anxiety and Transformation dissects the complex social, cultural and political factors that led the UK to take its decision to leave the EU and examines the far-reaching consequences of that decision. Developing the conceptual framework of securitization, the book uses primary sources and a focus on rhetoric and discourse analysis to examine the ways that political elites engineered a politics of fear, insecurity and Brexit nationalism before and after the Brexit vote. The book situates Brexit within a wider shift in international political ideas, traces the resurgence in popularity of far-right politics and explores how Britain and Europe now face a choice between further neoliberal reform or radical democratic and social renewal. The book posits a number of policy responses that might serve as antidotes to the causes of Brexit and radical right populism centred on a new Social Europe, redistribution and social justice and forms of deliberative democracy that extend participation and preserve representative judgement in the British tradition of ‘pouring new wine into old bottles’.Less
Britain and Europe at a Crossroads: The Politics of Anxiety and Transformation dissects the complex social, cultural and political factors that led the UK to take its decision to leave the EU and examines the far-reaching consequences of that decision. Developing the conceptual framework of securitization, the book uses primary sources and a focus on rhetoric and discourse analysis to examine the ways that political elites engineered a politics of fear, insecurity and Brexit nationalism before and after the Brexit vote. The book situates Brexit within a wider shift in international political ideas, traces the resurgence in popularity of far-right politics and explores how Britain and Europe now face a choice between further neoliberal reform or radical democratic and social renewal. The book posits a number of policy responses that might serve as antidotes to the causes of Brexit and radical right populism centred on a new Social Europe, redistribution and social justice and forms of deliberative democracy that extend participation and preserve representative judgement in the British tradition of ‘pouring new wine into old bottles’.
Christina Gerken
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816674725
- eISBN:
- 9781452947051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816674725.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter examines the neoliberal logic behind the restructuring of the family preference category, with a particular focus on the controversy over elderly parents, who are commonly portrayed as a ...
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This chapter examines the neoliberal logic behind the restructuring of the family preference category, with a particular focus on the controversy over elderly parents, who are commonly portrayed as a financial liability. The chapter discusses how politicians negotiated issues of age, race, and ethnicity among family-sponsored immigrants.Less
This chapter examines the neoliberal logic behind the restructuring of the family preference category, with a particular focus on the controversy over elderly parents, who are commonly portrayed as a financial liability. The chapter discusses how politicians negotiated issues of age, race, and ethnicity among family-sponsored immigrants.
Christina Gerken
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816674725
- eISBN:
- 9781452947051
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816674725.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This book focuses on the watershed political events of 1995-96. During this period, President Bill Clinton signed into law three pieces of legislation that have had a significant impact on the lives ...
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This book focuses on the watershed political events of 1995-96. During this period, President Bill Clinton signed into law three pieces of legislation that have had a significant impact on the lives of immigrants: the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), the Personal Responsibility Act (PRWORA), and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Taken together, these laws have significantly altered the rights and responsibilities of immigrants in this country. My work argues that these two years are of particular importance for the history of U.S. immigration. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s work on discourse and governmentality, this project analyzes the discursive strategies that created, shaped, and upheld a race-specific image of a “desirable” immigrant. My interdisciplinary critical discourse analysis is located at the intersection of linguistics, cultural studies, feminist theory, and critical race theory. This book explores the content and the social implications of the immigration discourse, drawing on extensive textual analysis of diverse sources including congressional debates, committee reports, and articles from The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Houston Chronicle. Using these sources, I argue that government debates, media discourse, and public perception were part of a larger regime of knowledge/power that continually produced and reinforced the neoliberal ideal of a responsible, self-sufficient subject. Concomitantly, my research demonstrates that despite this attempt to foreclose the terms of debate, the mid-1990s discourse on immigration was characterized by a productive tension between its underlying neoliberal assumptions and other often contradictory values and objectives.Less
This book focuses on the watershed political events of 1995-96. During this period, President Bill Clinton signed into law three pieces of legislation that have had a significant impact on the lives of immigrants: the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), the Personal Responsibility Act (PRWORA), and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Taken together, these laws have significantly altered the rights and responsibilities of immigrants in this country. My work argues that these two years are of particular importance for the history of U.S. immigration. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s work on discourse and governmentality, this project analyzes the discursive strategies that created, shaped, and upheld a race-specific image of a “desirable” immigrant. My interdisciplinary critical discourse analysis is located at the intersection of linguistics, cultural studies, feminist theory, and critical race theory. This book explores the content and the social implications of the immigration discourse, drawing on extensive textual analysis of diverse sources including congressional debates, committee reports, and articles from The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Houston Chronicle. Using these sources, I argue that government debates, media discourse, and public perception were part of a larger regime of knowledge/power that continually produced and reinforced the neoliberal ideal of a responsible, self-sufficient subject. Concomitantly, my research demonstrates that despite this attempt to foreclose the terms of debate, the mid-1990s discourse on immigration was characterized by a productive tension between its underlying neoliberal assumptions and other often contradictory values and objectives.
Ryan M. Milner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034999
- eISBN:
- 9780262335911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034999.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter introduces the fundamentals of memetic media. It traces the (imperfect) connections between conceptualizations of memes as cultural replicators and the mediated texts that have come to ...
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This chapter introduces the fundamentals of memetic media. It traces the (imperfect) connections between conceptualizations of memes as cultural replicators and the mediated texts that have come to bear the name in pop cultural parlance. It then outlines five fundamental logics central to memetic participation. Memetic media are unique for their multimodality (their expression in multiple modes of communication), reappropriation (their “poaching” of existing texts), resonance (their connections to individual participants), collectivism (their social creation and transformation), and spread (their circulation through mass networks). These logics persist beyond individual texts, and are lynchpins for public conversations occurring across mediated contexts.Less
This chapter introduces the fundamentals of memetic media. It traces the (imperfect) connections between conceptualizations of memes as cultural replicators and the mediated texts that have come to bear the name in pop cultural parlance. It then outlines five fundamental logics central to memetic participation. Memetic media are unique for their multimodality (their expression in multiple modes of communication), reappropriation (their “poaching” of existing texts), resonance (their connections to individual participants), collectivism (their social creation and transformation), and spread (their circulation through mass networks). These logics persist beyond individual texts, and are lynchpins for public conversations occurring across mediated contexts.
Ryan M. Milner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034999
- eISBN:
- 9780262335911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034999.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter focuses on the complex multimodal reappropriation at the heart of memetic media, outlining the socially-situated grammar that connects participants as they employ memetic media in their ...
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This chapter focuses on the complex multimodal reappropriation at the heart of memetic media, outlining the socially-situated grammar that connects participants as they employ memetic media in their conversations. This grammar is premised on bricolage and poaching, on participants “making do” by transforming media texts they didn’t narrowly create and don’t narrowly own. It addresses the tensions between imitation and transformation in this process, arguing that the bricolage and poaching at the heart of memetic media are creative, expressive acts. As it outlines the formal and social dimensions underscoring memetic media, it builds a case for the persistent power of memetic logics as a lingua franca for public conversation.Less
This chapter focuses on the complex multimodal reappropriation at the heart of memetic media, outlining the socially-situated grammar that connects participants as they employ memetic media in their conversations. This grammar is premised on bricolage and poaching, on participants “making do” by transforming media texts they didn’t narrowly create and don’t narrowly own. It addresses the tensions between imitation and transformation in this process, arguing that the bricolage and poaching at the heart of memetic media are creative, expressive acts. As it outlines the formal and social dimensions underscoring memetic media, it builds a case for the persistent power of memetic logics as a lingua franca for public conversation.
Ryan M. Milner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034999
- eISBN:
- 9780262335911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034999.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter focuses on the social dimensions of memetic practices, arguing that the memetic lingua franca is a vernacular premised on the creative transformation of expressions that have come ...
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This chapter focuses on the social dimensions of memetic practices, arguing that the memetic lingua franca is a vernacular premised on the creative transformation of expressions that have come before. In this way, memetic participation depends on the interrelations of fixed premise and novel expression. Just as spoken conversations are “prepatterned” by norms, tropes, and colloquialisms, memetic conversations are prepatterned by the expressions others have produced before. The chapter then outlines the vernacular creativity required in memetic conversation, emphasizing the collective standards guiding that creativity. Memetic expression is simultaneously influenced by and influences collective conversations. Because of this reciprocity, vernacular creativity is susceptible to the jargons, marginalizations, and antagonisms inherent to all collective conversations. Ultimately, memetic conversations are vibrant, if imperfect.Less
This chapter focuses on the social dimensions of memetic practices, arguing that the memetic lingua franca is a vernacular premised on the creative transformation of expressions that have come before. In this way, memetic participation depends on the interrelations of fixed premise and novel expression. Just as spoken conversations are “prepatterned” by norms, tropes, and colloquialisms, memetic conversations are prepatterned by the expressions others have produced before. The chapter then outlines the vernacular creativity required in memetic conversation, emphasizing the collective standards guiding that creativity. Memetic expression is simultaneously influenced by and influences collective conversations. Because of this reciprocity, vernacular creativity is susceptible to the jargons, marginalizations, and antagonisms inherent to all collective conversations. Ultimately, memetic conversations are vibrant, if imperfect.
Ryan M. Milner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034999
- eISBN:
- 9780262335911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034999.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter focuses on the everyday antagonisms that are perpetuated through memetic participation, specifically regarding race and gender identities. However, it also argues that memetic ...
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This chapter focuses on the everyday antagonisms that are perpetuated through memetic participation, specifically regarding race and gender identities. However, it also argues that memetic participation can be employed for the counterpublic contestation of those same antagonisms. The memetic logics, grammar, and vernacular introduced in the first half of the book are tools employed for both silencing marginalization and vocal pushback of that marginalization. The nature of this counterpublic engagement is ambivalent though, given that memetic media are often fraught with ambiguous irony and ambivalent humor. Genuine antagonisms and marginalizations can thrive under the “just joking” frame. But—even in the midst of this ambivalent system—there is value to the agonistic counterpublic engagement occurring through memetic media. Voice exists, even in the midst of the tensions evident throughout this discussion.Less
This chapter focuses on the everyday antagonisms that are perpetuated through memetic participation, specifically regarding race and gender identities. However, it also argues that memetic participation can be employed for the counterpublic contestation of those same antagonisms. The memetic logics, grammar, and vernacular introduced in the first half of the book are tools employed for both silencing marginalization and vocal pushback of that marginalization. The nature of this counterpublic engagement is ambivalent though, given that memetic media are often fraught with ambiguous irony and ambivalent humor. Genuine antagonisms and marginalizations can thrive under the “just joking” frame. But—even in the midst of this ambivalent system—there is value to the agonistic counterpublic engagement occurring through memetic media. Voice exists, even in the midst of the tensions evident throughout this discussion.
Ryan M. Milner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034999
- eISBN:
- 9780262335911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034999.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter argues that memetic media carry the potential for polyvocal public voice, even given their everyday antagonisms. Focusing on mediated conversations surrounding the Occupy Wall Street ...
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This chapter argues that memetic media carry the potential for polyvocal public voice, even given their everyday antagonisms. Focusing on mediated conversations surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement, it addresses tensions between populism and pastiche when popular culture is part of public commentary. Vernacular creativity can be utilized for collective civic talk, as participants create, circulate, and transform memetic media in the name of critique, discussion, and argument. Memetic logics, grammar, and vernacular underscore a system of assertion and response, of point and counter-point as public participants contribute their expressive strands to vast public debates. Even if individual contributions are ambivalent and factionist, memetic media can indeed facilitate vibrant polyvocal participation, and our public conversations are stronger when they do.Less
This chapter argues that memetic media carry the potential for polyvocal public voice, even given their everyday antagonisms. Focusing on mediated conversations surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement, it addresses tensions between populism and pastiche when popular culture is part of public commentary. Vernacular creativity can be utilized for collective civic talk, as participants create, circulate, and transform memetic media in the name of critique, discussion, and argument. Memetic logics, grammar, and vernacular underscore a system of assertion and response, of point and counter-point as public participants contribute their expressive strands to vast public debates. Even if individual contributions are ambivalent and factionist, memetic media can indeed facilitate vibrant polyvocal participation, and our public conversations are stronger when they do.
Ryan M. Milner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034999
- eISBN:
- 9780262335911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034999.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter argues that memetic participation complicates the culture industries that remain at the heart of public life. It assesses the ambivalent relationship between collective participation and ...
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This chapter argues that memetic participation complicates the culture industries that remain at the heart of public life. It assesses the ambivalent relationship between collective participation and individual expression, especially when age-old gatekeepers intertwine with new means of sharing information. It focuses on the complex relationship between collectivism, publicity, and fame in memetic media, as well as on concerns about commercialism and authenticity in a seemingly open media ecology. The tapestry of conversation afforded by memetic media is part new precedent and part established infrastructure. Memetic media intertwine with established culture industries; ambivalent network gatekeeping enables both restrictive commercial control of mediated participation and conversations open enough to cast doubts on the credibility of information. In this way, memetic media exhibit new potentials and old tensions.Less
This chapter argues that memetic participation complicates the culture industries that remain at the heart of public life. It assesses the ambivalent relationship between collective participation and individual expression, especially when age-old gatekeepers intertwine with new means of sharing information. It focuses on the complex relationship between collectivism, publicity, and fame in memetic media, as well as on concerns about commercialism and authenticity in a seemingly open media ecology. The tapestry of conversation afforded by memetic media is part new precedent and part established infrastructure. Memetic media intertwine with established culture industries; ambivalent network gatekeeping enables both restrictive commercial control of mediated participation and conversations open enough to cast doubts on the credibility of information. In this way, memetic media exhibit new potentials and old tensions.
Christina Gerken
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816674725
- eISBN:
- 9781452947051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816674725.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
The introduction examines how the immigration reform discourse of the mid-1990s differs from earlier debates. It also provides a brief overview of some of the main discursive strands and explains the ...
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The introduction examines how the immigration reform discourse of the mid-1990s differs from earlier debates. It also provides a brief overview of some of the main discursive strands and explains the tension between the explicit emphasis on economic concerns and the underlying anxieties about immigrants’ race, class, gender, and sexuality.Less
The introduction examines how the immigration reform discourse of the mid-1990s differs from earlier debates. It also provides a brief overview of some of the main discursive strands and explains the tension between the explicit emphasis on economic concerns and the underlying anxieties about immigrants’ race, class, gender, and sexuality.
Christina Gerken
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816674725
- eISBN:
- 9781452947051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816674725.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter examines three key concerns that dominated the discourse about undocumented immigrants: (1) Sexuality, birthright citizenship, and undocumented children. (2) The rhetorical connection ...
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This chapter examines three key concerns that dominated the discourse about undocumented immigrants: (1) Sexuality, birthright citizenship, and undocumented children. (2) The rhetorical connection between “illegal” immigration, crime, and homeland security. (3) The discourse about unauthorized workers’ impact on the U.S. labor market. This chapter argues that politicians criminalized undocumented immigrants to establish that they were unfit to join the national community and access the rewards a neoliberal state had in store for responsible and motivated legal immigrants.Less
This chapter examines three key concerns that dominated the discourse about undocumented immigrants: (1) Sexuality, birthright citizenship, and undocumented children. (2) The rhetorical connection between “illegal” immigration, crime, and homeland security. (3) The discourse about unauthorized workers’ impact on the U.S. labor market. This chapter argues that politicians criminalized undocumented immigrants to establish that they were unfit to join the national community and access the rewards a neoliberal state had in store for responsible and motivated legal immigrants.
Christina Gerken
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816674725
- eISBN:
- 9781452947051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816674725.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter provides a brief overview of major immigration laws and policies and analyzes the ever-changing criteria that are used to exclude certain categories of people and construct notions of ...
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This chapter provides a brief overview of major immigration laws and policies and analyzes the ever-changing criteria that are used to exclude certain categories of people and construct notions of deserving and desirable immigrants.Less
This chapter provides a brief overview of major immigration laws and policies and analyzes the ever-changing criteria that are used to exclude certain categories of people and construct notions of deserving and desirable immigrants.