Theory and Cultural History of 20th Century Media
ENGL 236 - Winter 2002, William Warner
Mon, 2/11
Frankfurt school reads mass culture
The dialectic of enlightenment at work through the agency of the culture industry:
Genuine plurality and differences of Art and popular culture INTO the oneness and sameness of mass media formulas
The individual with privacy and reserve INTO the simulation of a person offered on screen (“the star”) as a model for real people who he/she already resembles
Delight and pleasure INTO the amusement of empty laughter, consumer gratification, “fun as a medicinal bath” to facilitate resignation
Values or a personal ethics INTO values read as propaganda or ‘mere talk,’ motivated by nothing but self-interest
Ideological strife and critical theory (as thought about foundational issues) INTO the status quo relentlessly affirmed as that which must be accepted ('resistance is futile')
Art as requiring literacy, effort and money INTO mass media as free, ambient, antiseptic, homogeneous, accessible, easy, immune from critique
Criticism that stands apart from the object to assess its value INTO culture as an ‘ad for the status quo’
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