In addition, they help demonstrate that modernity can help explain the eternal if one looks at discrete units of time and all of its qualities.
Anderson, Benedict. "Introduction." Imagined Communities. New York: Verso, 1991. 1-7.
Benedict Anderson begins his introduction by talking about the major transformation in Marxism that was occurring at the time of his writing. He believes that these transformations were self-evident because of wars occurring in Vietnam, Cambodia, and China. Furthermore, he states that these wars of historically important because the violence has been largely indefensible from a Marxist perspective, even if the world has to acknowledge the legitimacy of the original Marxist states. Post World War II revolutions have been characterized by self-defined nationalism, and such nationalism builds upon a history of imperial colonialism, which is how national borders were defined both before and after these revolutions. Anderson posits that this nationalism will face increasing challenges, as subgroups in these newly-formed nations seek recognition. He refers to this as sub-nationalism. However, rather than seeing sub-nationalism as the end to nationalism, he views nationalism as "the most universally legitimate value in the political life of our time." (Anderson, p.3). Despite the push for nationalism and sub-nationalism, Anderson recognizes a problem with nationalism, which is that the concept of the nation has been difficult to define. In fact, he thinks that nationalism is one of the problems that plagued Marxism, because Marx suggested that the working class in each nation tackle the problems of their own bourgeois, despite the fact that there was considerable overlap between nations of who controlled production and resources. As a result, he offers his book as a way to deal with the anomaly of nationalism. To understand nationalism, Anderson plans to look at its historical development, and examine how nations have come into being, how they have changed over time, and why they continue to be viewed as emotionally legitimate. Anderson attempts to define nationalism. First, he discusses the three paradoxes of nationalism: the objective modernity of nations vs. their subjective antiquity; the formal universality of nationalism vs. The irremediable particularity of its concrete manifestations; and the political power of nationalisms vs. their philosophical poverty. Acknowledging that he is unable to resolves these paradoxes, Anderson suggests the following definition of the nation, "it is an imagined political community -- and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign." (Anderson, p. 6). The nation is imagined because the members of a nation will generally remain strangers. However, the nation is also described as limited because even the largest nations have limits, described by their physical boundaries and the number of inhabitants. Anderson's introduction is helpful when examining cultural texts because it is too easy for people to confuse the idea of culture and nation. However, when one understands that nations are not synonymous with culture, it becomes much easier to understand how different cultures can and do exist within nations. Moreover, it helps one understand how cultural values can and do conflict with national values. While this may not lead to war in all cases,...
Stuart Hall/REVISED According to Stuart Hall, culture is about shared meanings; language is the medium through which meaning is produced and exchanged (Hall, 2003, p. 1). In linking language to identity and culture, Hall uses the word "culture" in an anthropological sense, meaning to distinguish groups of people, whether they belong to a community, nation or social group, by their shared values. The shared values are manifest in literature, art, music
Introduction As Stuart Hall shows, media representations are powerful. The problem is that the often present stereotypical images and characters that perpetuate and propagate biased beliefs. Because so much media is directed at and consumed by young people, youth culture itself becomes inundated with prefabricated ideas that are developed by the Culture Industry for their consumption. The Frankfurt School argued that the reason people in America never rose up against the
90s American Popular Culture and Self-Identity Formation Popular culture is the main force in America; it reaches our classrooms, cars and, even homes and influences what people think, watch, listen to, wear, and buy. Popular culture can be quite addictive, annoying, offensive, controversial, and pleasurable. It can also be difficult and almost impossible to avoid. In many cases it is challenging for us to differentiate between popular culture and the rest
Yes, the Oedipus complex aspect of Shakespeare it gives us and which in turn invites us to think about the issue of subjectivity, the myth and its relation to psychoanalytic theory. (Selfe, 1999, p292-322) Hemlet and Postcolonial theory Postcolonial theory was born as a result of the publication of the famous work of Edward Said, Orientalism (1978). This theory claim that some authors (Paul Gilroy, Achille Mbembe, Francoise Verges, etc.) and
The ad can appeal to women who want to be women in an old world view sort of way -- and not have to be the leader in a relationship or in a family. This dual appeal may also be discernible in the John White shoe ad, which at first glance appeals mainly to men. The John White shoe ad features a nude woman holding a John White men's shoe
Cultural Identity: Exploring the Diversity Within Cultural identity is a complex and multifaceted aspect of human existence that encompasses the beliefs, traditions, values, customs, and practices that shape individuals and communities. It is rooted in shared experiences, history, language, religion, and heritage, shaping our sense of self and belonging in the world. Our cultural identity influences how we perceive ourselves and others, our behavior, interactions, and relationships, as well as our
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