Chapter 50

This chapter discusses the ideas of Stuart Hall, a well known British scholar. In the excerpt he argues that "difference" is a key aspect of the way we make sense of the world. He also explains four different theories which explain "difference", which according to Hall is involved in how people find meaning in the world. The four ways he describes include linguistic, social, cultural, and psychic levels. Hall helps explain the first theory by citing Saussure. Saussure believed that meaning comes from the relationship that exists between concepts. For example we know what the color black looks like because we contrast it against white. Another theory works off the ideas of Mikhail Bhaktin, who argued that meaning comes from dialogue (dialogism). He makes it a point to explain that when people converse, they must keep in mind what is currently being said and what is probably going to be said. The third idea explaining difference involves the ideas of Mary Douglas, Emile Durkheim, and Claude Levi-Strauss. According to these theorists, difference is necessary because it is behind the classification systems that we make sense of the world. The fourth and final theory of difference involves psychology and stems from the role of others in our psychic lives. According to Freud, the way we define ourselves as human beings comes from our childhood. Difference focuses on the ways people strive to find meaning in relationships, objects, works of art and life.

Chapter 49

This chapter focuses on the ideas of Marx theorist Guy Debord and the role of media, popular culture and other forms of representation in justifying the status quo. Debord believes that life is now dominated by an endless succession of spectacles and we are now moved by representation rather than direct experience. He argues that images have taken over our lives and that now unreal aspects of life are now more important than real life experiences. According to Debord, the term spectacle, is not just a series of images, but the social relationships that exist among people that are mediated by these images. He goes on to discuss how the dominant class creates these images that control the rest of society and create false consciousness that runs throughout the common people. The "spectacles" or images are created by a group of artists and workers who are controlled by the dominating class. In fact Marx himself, argued that the ideas of the ruling class are always the ideas of the masses, because they control the media and can shape the ideas of society. I am somewhat confused by what Debord has to say in regards to the spectacle dominating a person's life. He does not cite any specific examples of this, which would help.

Chapter 48

Susan Sontag, author of Against Interpretation, describes interpretation as a conscious act of the mind, which illustrates a certain code, certain "rules" of interpretation. She believes there was an old way of interpreting works of art and now there is a different way. According to Sontag, the old way was insistent, but respectful. The new way of interpretation excavates, while at the same time destroying. She also mentions how human beings have begun to develop theories that explain many different phenomena from many different perspectives. The two perspectives mentioned in the chapter by Sontag are the psychoanalytic and the Marxist perspective. The psychoanalytic perspective argues that everything has manifest and latent functions; the manifest content being what happens in a story and the latent being what the events of the story mean and how they affect the reader. The Marxist perspective ties works of art to political and ideological considerations, arguing that these works are manipulated by the "ruling" class which often spreads "false consciousness" in the masses. Sontag argues that interpretation is the "revenge of the intellect upon art", however that is only true because human beings have intellects and feel it necessary to use them whenever possible.

Chapter 47

Since we may never be able to decide what art is, this chapter focuses on what art's function are and what they have been over the years. The chapter discusses four main functions of art that have been around for many years, including substitute imagery (photos, imagery, and other things that capture reality), illustration (works that tell stories or help to tell stories), conviction and persuasion (works that show beliefs, sell products), and beautification (works that please the mind and gratify the mind). According to Gowan, these functions help us to better understand art and are the only important functions in art. He believes that the styles of art may change over time, but the functions of art will always remain the same. In the chapter, Berger also compares the four functions of art with the four theories of art. He believes that substitute imagery is similar to the mimetic theory of art, illustration is similar to the objective theory of art, persuasion is similar to the pragmatic theory of art, and that beautification is similar to the emotive theory of art. People have spent thousands of years speculating on what art is, but in this chapter Gowan helps by discussing the functions of art and what art does.

Chapter 44

It must be pointed out in this chapter that Simon Lesser's views on fiction can be applied to all art forms and texts in media. Berger first discusses how criticism is always tied to the ideology of beliefs of the critic. This is the reason for many of the different types of critics we see and hear about today. According to Lesser, Psychoanalytic criticism, which focuses on the human psyche, the unconscious, various drives and mechanisms we use to keep our balance, has a large role to play because it explains the "secret significance" of stories and other texts and helps explain some of the inconscious reasons of why art speaks to us in the way it does. Lesser goes on to explain that we feel pleasure from understanding the hidden meanings in texts. He believes there is a certain type of communication from the unconscious of the artists of the texts to the unconscious of the readers and viewers of these texts. Works of art help a person deal with the ongoing conflict betweent the id and the superego, between a person's desire for pleasure and feelings of guilt. All types of art help a person deal with the feeling of unsatisfaction that is felt at every stage in life. The arts, provide for a more harmonious world, all the while helping people conquer different stages of life.

Chapter 28

In this chapter, Ian Watt's views on the novel Robinson Crusoe being classified as a myth are discussed. Watt begins his excerpt by describing the the three great myths of our civilization; Faust, Don Juan, and Don Quixote. All three of these myths exhibit a single-minded pursuit by a character including one of the characteristic aspirations of Western man. Faust, the single-minded pursuit of knowledge, Don Juan the single-minded pursuit of women and Don Quixote, the single-minded pursuit of chivalric ideal. Watt believes Robinson Crusoe can easily be compared to all three of these as his story is also based on the single-minded pursuit of something, in his case, the pursuit of achievement and enterprise. According to Watt, Robinson Crusoe, deals with three important themes found in modern civilization; back to nature, the dignity of labor, and the pursuit of economic gain. Not only do Crusoe's adventures reflect all three of these, but they also teach reader's to accept these values. In most cases, the readers tends to become one with the characters they see in movies or read about in books, therefore readers naturally accept the values put forth in Robinson Crusoe. Watt also points out an interesting assertion he made. "It is not an author, but a society that metamorphoses a story into a myth". He believes it is the public who has turned Robinson Crusoe into a myth, as it reflects the public's deeply held but unconscious beliefs and values. Writers often times have a good idea of what they are writing about, but they cannot perceive how the public will respond to it.

Hot Media

Cold Media

Chapter 43

This chapter discusses the power of art and the impact it has on people's lives. The excerpt was written by Yuri Lotman, who has written many books on the semiotics of film and other aspects of culture. This chapter explains why a person feels pleasure or can be entertained from seeing a movie many times or reading a book several different times. This can also be said for listening to music over and over again. Lotman explains that works of art are very "dense" and when a person reads a book or watches a movie for the first time, they "skim" over the information, not taking into account all of what was written or seen. Each time we see the film or read the book, we extract more information from it than we did the last time. This is a process that is never ending. Some critics believe that popular art is a much weaker form of art, as it doesn't help people deal with unconscious problems and gain an understanding of what it is to be human. This is opinion based, however Berger argues that elite art continues to be meaningful to people hundreds and even thousands of years after they were created, while most popular art tends to be discarded after short periods of time. When asked whether I would listen to music I know well or music I had never heard before, I believe it would depend on the situation. When I am trying to focus on something I would want to listen to something I already know, but different times I like to look for new music to add to my collection. One movie I've seen more than once is National Lampoon Christmas Vacation. I saw it again because it is extremely funny and it fits in perfectly with the holiday season. I think it got better the more times I saw it because I caught more of the punch lines.

Chapter 42

This chapter focuses on rock music and discusses the power behind not only the sound of the music, but the words within the songs as well. One argument brought up in the excerpt is that critics of rock music often make the mistake of focusing too much attention on the words of the songs and not enough on the music. Lyrics are often simple, however when music is added it changes the entire situation due to the emotion that is generated by the music itself. The impact of this rock music is very powerful. The size, lighting, power of amplification and some of the rituals in different rock concerts suggests this power is ever increasing. People are drawn to music of all genres because they want to experience the emotions and feel the passion in the music and in the voices of the singers. This conclusion may explain why music plays such a large role in the lives of younger people. Younger people relate to a lot of their favorite artists and it may help them get through different periods in their lives. I agree with him on this fact, as I personally listen to a certain type of music depending on my mood at the time. The music I listen to definitely shows the type of mood I am in at a certain time. Berger compares this to an earlier chapter where he explains that children cope with many of the stresses in their lives through fairy tales. Berger concludes the chapter by saying that he believes it is not only the quality of a singer's voice that is important, but the lyrics of the songs and the actual music is just as important.

Chapter 32

In this chapter, Jack Solomon shares his views on the postmodern world. He argues that new age technologies, one being television, has robbed people of the narratives that make life worth living. People now see the world through a "postmodern eye", viewing the world as a television camera views it. The perception created is that of one big variety show. Narratives, he argues, give meaning to life and because of these new digital technologies, our lives have become "decentered". He goes on to say that narratives have the power to make order out of chaos and create meaning from the blur of events that make up a person's life. Without these narratives, none of the events throughout life contain meaning anymore. This is why he believes life has become "meaningless". I think, along with many of the chapters in this book, this chapter is very radical. I do think new technologies have changed how people view the world, however I do not think life is meaningless because of it. In most cases, it has helped us better understand many of the things happening in the world today.

Chapter 31

This chapter discusses the ideas of author Frederic Jameson. He describes a change in culture that has taken place since about 1960, when postmodernism started to replace modernism within American society. Berger uses the differing styles in architecture to compare the two ideas. Modernist architecture is very formal, unified and simple, while postmodernist buildings are made up of many different architectural styles. The chapter also includes a chart that compares some of the ideas between the two different cultures. Modernism is made up of a unified style, it is hierarchical, harmonious, separates high culture from pop culture and also includes "serious" art, as well as a classical music style. Postmodernism, on the other hand, has a fragmented style, is very eclectic, anarchical, combines high culture with pop culture, and includes a "punk" music style along with Schlock art. Jameson believes that as the world has progressed, anything goes because there is no difference between high culture art and popular culture anymore. He also argues that the world is now made up of a "degraded" postmodernism landscape dominated by television series, motel design and advertising. I believe he is referring to the power of media in today's society. Television and advertising are very powerful and have the ability to control the world's view on society.