scholarly journals Between Glamorous Patriotism and Reality-TV Aesthetics: Political Communication, Popular Culture, and the Invective Turn in Trump’s United States and Putin’s Russia

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Kanzler ◽  
Marina Scharlaj
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Reality Tv ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Competitive Game ◽  
Campaign Speeches ◽  
Culture Strategies ◽  
The One ◽  
Vladimir Putin ◽  
New Strategies

SummaryThis article proceeds from the observation that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin—two politicians frequently correlated and compared since Trump’s bid for the Presidency—have been remarkably successful in mobilizing support for their politics and in seemingly immunizing their rhetorics against vernacular critique. To work toward an understanding of this phenomenon, we propose to look at how political communication by and around the two politicians draws on forms and venues of popular culture. Both contexts, we will argue, have developed new strategies for the instrumentalization of popular culture, strategies that, while actualized differently in the two settings, revolve around an ‘invective turn’ in political communication—a radicalization of the familiar nationalist rhetoric of ‘us versus them’ that seems specifically fueled by pop-cultural forms. To explore this traffic between pop and politics, this article puts into conversation two case studies: On the one hand, of Trump’s campaign speeches which, we contend, symbolically organize around the logic of agôn—of the competitive game—as it has coagulated in the reality-tv genre of the gamedoc. On the other hand, we look at (state-controlled) pop music in the Russian genre of

scholarly journals CLASSICS ON THE VERGE OF MASS CULTURE: STRATEGIES FOR REPRESENTATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (6) ◽  
pp. 199-208
Author(s):  
Dariya Yu. Gustyakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Pop Music ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
Classical Work ◽  
Interpretation Process ◽  
Culture Strategies ◽  
Academic Strategy

The article explores the problem of representation of musical classics in modern culture, due to the influences of popular culture and the characteristics of the perception of mass audience. Two main strategies for performing representation of musical classics in the space of popular culture are identified and substantiated: pseudo-academic representation and post-classical representation. Signs of a pseudo-academic strategy, which are uttered emotionality, «commenting» on the expressiveness of facial expressions and plastic, additional visual details and accessories on the verge of shocking – are revealed on the example of such famous musicians as pianist Lan Lan, conductor Valery Gergiev and singer Anna Netrebko. During pseudo-academic representation, the performance of academic music is transformed into the phenomenon of popular culture, while the quality of the performance of a musical work either becomes an element of the show (virtuosity is brought to the forefront of the representation), or the visual and expressive component of the performing act begins to prevail over the musical and technical component and the musical material becomes secondary to the interpretation process. During the implementation of the post-classical strategy, the text of the classical work itself enters the field of popular culture and begins to function as its product, while the interpreter is fully a figure in popular culture, transforming musical classics into the phenomenon of artistic «postculture.» It is proposed to include the phenomenon of classical crossover, a cultural strategy involving the integration of classical music into the field of popular culture. Classical crossover is a commercial product based on musical classics, the creators of which, solving the problem of listening perception (habitually, attractively, in demand), combine classical music with jazz, rock, pop music and other commercial areas, borrow techniques, instruments, methods of visual representation. An example of a postclassical strategy for representing musical classics in the space of modern popular culture, for example, is the implementation of classical crossover in the work of the art group M. Turetsky Choir.

scholarly journals Confronting the anomaly: directions in (German) economic research after the crisis

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-471
Author(s):  
Ulrike Jacob ◽  
Oliver A. Brust
Keyword(s):  
Economic Research ◽  
Economic Crises ◽  
Economic Theories ◽  
Word Analysis ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The One ◽  
New Strategies

ArgumentRecurring economic crises, like the one of 2007-2008, led to criticism of economic research and a demand to develop new strategies to avoid them. Standard economic theories use conventional approaches to deal with economic challenges, heterodox theories try to develop alternatives with which to face them. It remains unclear whether the 2007-2008 crisis led to a change in economic research as well as to a consideration of alternative approaches. We used co-word analysis to map the structure of economic research in Germany between 2005 and 2014. Core topics within economic research, such as “market” or “production” hardly shift and can be linked to standard economic theories. Peripheral topics such as “inequality” or “unemployment” show greater dynamics. However, only a few of these topics can be linked to heterodox approaches. Certain changes have occurred in reaction to the 2007-2008 crisis. However, the unchanged importance of standard economic topics raises the question whether these changes are sufficient to face coming economic challenges.

Becoming fertile in the land of organic milk: Lesbian and queer reproductions of femininity and motherhood in Sweden

Sexualities ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1021-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrika Dahl
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Family Formation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Organic Milk ◽  
Race And Class ◽  
Lesbian Motherhood ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship

This article draws on popular culture, ethnographic materials and mainstream commercials to discuss contemporary understandings of the relationship between fertility, pregnancy and parenthood among lesbians and other queer persons with uteruses. It argues that, on the one hand, same-sex lesbian motherhood is increasingly celebrated as evidence of Swedish gender and sexual exceptionalism and, on the other, queers who wish to challenge heteronormative gender disavow both the relationship between fertility and femininity, and that of pregnancy and parenthood. The author argues that in studying queer family formation, we must move beyond addressing heteronormativity and begin studying how gender, sexuality, race and class get reproduced in queer kinship stories.

Trends in Political Communication in Hungary

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella Szabó ◽  
Balázs Kiss
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Objective Reality ◽  
Political Communications ◽  
Strong Focus

The paper highlights the trends of political communications (PC) that have arisen in Hungary after the collapse of communist regime (1989). The authors have identified four main trends in the field of PC: fragmentation, the multiplication of PC channels and means, endless amount of PC arenas, Internet, Web 2.0, fragmentation of content, amateurism in PC; post-objectivity, the end of the requirement of unbiased and balanced coverage, more emphasis on the rise of opinion, on media as community focal point rather than window to the objective reality; the performative turn, the representation of self, a strong focus on act, dramaturgy, and aesthetics in PC; and popularization, the convergence of popular culture and politics, fan democracy, entertaining politics, involvement of citizens, etc.

scholarly journals Masculinity in Indonesian Popular Culture in the Early Era of the New Order Regime

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Ferry Fauzi Hermawan
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Mass Culture ◽  
Male Dominance ◽  
New Historicism ◽  
New Order ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One ◽  
Sexual Object ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Ideal

This study aimed to identify the forms of masculinity in the Indonesian popular culture in the beginning of New Order regime. This study was based on the two novels: Cross Mama and Kekasih-Kekasih Gelap, written by Motinggo Busye. The analysis used new historicism theory proposed by Stephen Greenblatt. The analysis also considered various cultural contexts emerged in 1970s. The results show three shared trends in the novels. The first trend shows that the masculinity tends to be represented by both men worshiping patriarchal values such as the myth of woman’s virginity and men perceiving woman as a sexual object. The second trend shows that masculinity is stereotyped based on masculinity, power, and male dominance. The third trend shows that masculinity relates to various products of mass culture at the time. This last trend shows that in that era,the ideal male figure is represented as the one who: (1) is sexually active with many women, (2) has a muscular body, (3) has a handsome look, and (4) has a financial capability. Besides the shared three trends, the result also shows that the texts in the novels do not only reflect the cultural situations in the 60’s and 70’s but also contribute in shaping the social values of the cultural situations.

scholarly journals Et Tu Ru? Entrepreneurship and the Commodification of Drag in RuPaul’s Drag Race

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Buck
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Reality Tv ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Drag Queen ◽  
The Face ◽  
Value Changes ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
Tv Show ◽  
International Success ◽  
Selection Of

Historically, drag is a taboo which has been marginalized in the face of centuries of repression against non-heteronormative activity. Yet today drag has become highly visible in popular culture, and this is in large part attributable to the international success of American reality TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-present). Its bold representation of drag on a mainstream television show is unprecedented and the selection of drag queen competitors by the show’s producers has demonstrated a plethora of representations as Drag Race showcases a diverse range of identifications from the world of drag performance. The blossoming of Drag Race’s success comes at a historical moment in which we are seeing a huge proliferation of queer representations (re)produced in US television and other media over the last decade. However, as I will argue, the apparent liberalization of drag queens in popular culture is not simply a celebration of so-called ‘progress’ in the recognition of the marginalized, but may also be prompting the promotion of other value changes within late capitalism’s ideals of consumerism and entrepreneurship. Contestants are increasingly pressured to construct their drag performances to conform to a recognizable brand to reach the heights of their own private ‘success’. Mainstreamed depictions of queer subjects are susceptible to co-option, particularly in televisual forms such as Drag Race which prospers by channelling the emancipatory and subversive desires of the subculture. Through trans-textual considerations and historical contextualizations, I show how the representation of drag in Drag Race is depoliticized through neoliberal discourse as the show’s continual demand for competitors to ‘work it’ privileges and maintains the impetus for competitive profitmaking above the needs and demands of disempowered groups.

Pandemic year in Spain. Political outcome

2021 ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Alexandra Kurakina-Damir
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Image Point ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The One ◽  
Regional Elections

Despite well-founded doubts about the viability of the coalition (which had insufficient support of the deputies for the adoption of important laws), a well-built strategy of political communication during the pandemic allowed the cabinet of ministers not only to withstand, but also to strengthen its positions. Over the past year, a number of strategically important decisions, both from a political and image point of view, have been adopted. The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the legislative process. The solution to the Catalan problem faded into the background. In part, this was due to the need for early parliamentary elections in the region and the alleged regrouping of political forces. The revealed facts of possible financial abuse of the honorary king hurt the image of the Crown, but the measures taken today to restore prestige are bearing fruit. Among the electoral trends noted, it is worth highlighting the strengthening of positions of socialists and rightwing populists (especially following the results of early regional elections in Catalonia), as well as a decline in support for left-wing populism. Ciudadanos' position remains unstable: on the one hand, it managed to slightly regain its position in early 2020, but further growth in support stalled, and poor results in the Catalan elections once again raised the question of whether the party has a future. Conservatives, by contrast, have established themselves as the leader of the bloc. Having lost a share of supporters at the beginning of the study period, they tried with all their might to restore the balance, periodically changing the strategy of actions.

Art and Brand Contamination

2019 ◽  
pp. 339-354
Author(s):  
Marta Massi ◽  
Chiara Piancatelli ◽  
Sonia Pancheri
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
The Other ◽  
Brand Awareness ◽  
Arts Organizations ◽  
High Culture ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Low Culture ◽  
The One ◽  
Cross Fertilization

Albeit often perceived as two worlds apart, low culture and high culture are increasingly converging to collaborate in mutually advantageous ways. Brands—including the name, term, sign, symbol, or combination of them that identify the goods and services of a seller or group of sellers, and differentiate them from those of the competitors—are the new territory where high culture and low culture co-exist and collaborate, creating new possibilities of cross-fertilization and hybridization between the two. Through the analysis of successful examples coming from different industries, this chapter aims to highlight how brands have blurred the distinction between low culture and high culture. On the one hand, brands can use the heritage of the arts world to gain authenticity and legitimate themselves in the eyes of consumers and the society. On the other hand, artists and arts organizations, such as museums and other art institutions, can indulge in popular culture in order to become appealing to younger target markets and enhance their brand awareness and image.

Reformulating Government-Citizen Relations in a Digitally Connected World

2016 ◽  
pp. 75-93
Author(s):  
Helin Alagöz Gessler
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Government Intervention ◽  
The Other ◽  
Security Dilemma ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
New Type ◽  
The One

This chapter analyses the effects of social media on political communication and the role they play in government-citizen relations by focusing on the Twitter ban phenomenon in Turkey in March 2014. The chapter asks the reasons of government intervention in social media, particularly Twitter. It argues that Twitter makes, on the one hand, a significant contribution to the evolution of political participation as it diversifies the process and methods of political communication. On the other hand, it introduces a new type of security dilemma which encourages governments to consider taking measures against social media to protect their authority.

‘The One about Sitting on His Top Hat and Climbing up His Shirt Front’: Fitzgerald and Musical Theatre

2019 ◽  
pp. 114-139
Author(s):  
Jade Broughton Adams
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Musical Theatre ◽  
Film Musicals ◽  
Dramatic Action ◽  
The One ◽  
Literary Techniques ◽  
Immersive Media

This chapter shows how Fitzgerald drew upon musical comedies of the stage and screen to inform his characterisation, plotting, and integration of song with dramatic action. Using his ‘playlet’, ‘Porcelain and Pink’, as a case study, this chapter shows how Fitzgerald’s use of song underscores themes of concealed identity and satirises the consumption and advertising practices of his era. This chapter argues that the intersection of morality and entertainment, depicted in the iconic flapper figure, characterises much of Fitzgerald’s presentation of popular culture. Though he did not continue his undergraduate occupation of writing libretti for Princeton’s Triangle Club, Fitzgerald continued to allude to songs from musicals throughout his career. This chapter explores how Fitzgerald’s use of the disguise motif, amongst other literary techniques, has analogues in musical comedies, and argues for certain of his stories, like ‘The Captured Shadow’, to be read in the context of the stage and film musicals Fitzgerald enjoyed, such as those featuring Irving Berlin’s work. It is argued that it is Fitzgerald’s fascination with the theatre that fuels his lifelong interest in participative, even immersive, media. This chapter analyses the influence of film musicals on Fitzgerald’s aesthetics, particularly in terms of their lavish visual spectacle.

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