Ideological Criticism

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Ideological Criticism

• ComS 169Television Criticism
• March 8, 2006

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So whats this ideology stuff anyway?

• Non-Critical definitions
• systems of belief or thoughts
• the study of the science of ideas
• Critical Definitions
• Jacques Ellul any set of ideas accepted by
  individuals or peoples, without attention to
  their origins or values.
• John Thompson the study of the ways in which
  meaning serves to sustain or alter relations of
  domination

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Three processes by which ideology operates.

• Legitimation--domination operates and is
  accomplished more easily when those you are
  dominating think it is natural or necessary
  (Example Law and Order)
• Dissumulation--the representation of sectional or
  individual interests as universal (CNBC)
• Reification--a world without history, inhibiting
  the recognition of the mutable, historical
  character of human society

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Marxism and ideological studies

• Key is understanding the nature of your
  connection to actual historical forces,
  recognizing the relationship between the owners
  of the means of production and those of us who
  sell our labor
• Most workers labor under false consciousness, not
  understanding that their interests are best
  served when they oppose the owners

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Hegemony and ideology

• Hegemony is the way in which one ideology comes
  to dominate others it is a form of social
  control, a means of symbolic coercion
• Granting that any culture features multiple
  ideologies, hegemony looks at the process of
  contestation.how does one ideology come to
  dominate the others?
• Resistance to hegemony is also important

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Foss on ideological criticism

• The primary goal of the ideological critic is to
  discover and make clear the dominant ideology or
  ideologies embedded in an artifact and the
  ideologies that are being muted in it.
• The ultimate aim of an ideological critic is the
  emancipation of human potential that is thwarted
  by existing ideologies.

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Interesting ideological questions

• What is the ideological function of shows like
  COPS, Dragnet, Law and OrderSVU, CSI and CSI
  Miami?
• What is different about The Shield?
• Is there an issue of ideology operating in shows
  like Joe Millionaire or American Idol?
• Are there issues of resistance in those two shows?