Blog 3: Method of Choice

          The method that I will be applying to the critical perspectives term paper is Narrative Criticism. Narrative criticism was developed by theorist Sonja Foss and is based upon the notion that the stories people tell help us make meaning out of our daily interactions and experiences. According to Foss, narratives can be found in “short stories, graphic novels, comic strips, films, plays, and songs.” In addition, Foss believes narratives take place in our “dreams, conversations with friends, interviews, speeches, and even artifact such as paintings and quilts.”

Before one can begin to analyze a narrative, four criteria must be met to determine if the artifact is, indeed, a true narrative. Most importantly, a narrative must be comprised of two events. These events can either be “active (expressing action) or stative (expressing a state or condition).” The second characteristic of a narrative is the specific order of the events taking place. Although the events do not have to be in chronological order, they must be sequential order. The third characteristic is the prevalence of a causal or contributing relationship between the events in the narrative. According to the text, if one event leads to another, this must be accounted for and mentioned in the story in order to provide a clear depiction of what took place. The last requirement for a narrative is that it has to be about a unified subject. This means the narrative should create a, sometimes intimate, connection between the storyteller and the audience.

After these four requirements have been met, the selection of the artifact can be made. Once the artifact has been chosen, the analysis will ensue. During the analysis stage, one must identify the objective of the narrative, identify the features of the narrative, and assess the narrative. When identifying the objective, one is hoping to locate the “situation or condition the story is addressing. According to the text, an example of some objectives are to socialize into a community, to challenge perceptions of a situation, or to comfort or bring relief.

For the purpose of identifying the features of the narrative, Foss constructed a guide that provides questions one might ask themselves when analyzing the artifact. The key choices that are used by the storyteller when deciding how to develop their story are setting, characters, narrator, events, temporal relations, causal relations, audience, theme, and type of narrative. Links should forms when discussing these key choices, which will help in finding the objective of the story.

Lastly, one may or may not decide to assess, or evaluate, the narrative. This may be completed by scrutinizing the objective to determine if it is or is not appropriate and assessing the “strategies used in the narrative to see whether they accomplish the objective and allow it to work in the world in the way in which the objective suggests. The concluding steps will be to formulate the research question and to write the essay.

I believe that the theory of Narrative criticism will be appropriate for applying to my artifact and discussing in my term paper because the meme I am using is derived from a story. The specific meme is a still frame from a scene in the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. In the still frame is Boromir, a character from the film, warning the hobbits of the extreme complexity of entering into Mordor by saying, “One does not simply walk into Mordor.” I believe I can apply each of the narrative criticism components to the meme, such as determining the objective and identifying the features. Although I will have to be creative when determining the events of the meme, I am confident that I will be able to support my ideas. It makes sense to me to use a theory that is based on storytelling to discuss an artifact that began as a story and developed into a film.

My second choice for a theory applied to my artifact is Ideological Criticism. This form of criticism is my second choice because it is specifically concerned with finding traces of ideologies in an artifact and exposing the dominant ideology in order to locate the suppressed or silenced ideologies. According to the text, the “primary component of an ideology are evaluate beliefs---beliefs about which there are possible alternative judgments.” I think that if I can determine the overall ideology of my meme then I will be able to analyze it intelligently.

Blog #2: Are Internet Memes Creating Conformity?

Carl Chen, a Sociologist at Yale University, conducted an in-depth analysis in regards to the wide-spread popularity of memes entitled, “The Creation and Meaning of Internet Memes in 4chan: Popular Internet Culture in the Age of Online Digital Reproduction,” from the view point of various theoretical approaches. But before I dive in, I should first explain what 4chan is. 4chan is an imageboard website where Internet users can post and discuss with full anonymity. Literally ever user has the username, “Anonymous,” which, as you may have guessed, gives people the utmost confidence to say whatever they want about anything they want whilst receiving virtually no accountability or backlash. The website was created by Christopher Poole circa 2003 when he was only 15-years-old. The site has since grown to gigantic proportions and has served as the mother of Internet memes. In this particular article, Chen uses 4chan as an example of a site that promotes the production of Internet memes and creative control for everyone.

            There are two main differences of opinion in this study, which stem from Jurgen Haberma’s idea of public spheres, derived from social theories, and Dwight Macdonald’s theory of mass culture, specifically in regards to Folk Art and Avant-Garde communities. Haberms’s stand is a pessimistic one, explaining that through the public sphere lens, Internet memes create conformity. Theodor Adorno agrees with Haberma’s view in the article, even making a comparison of Internet memes to Nazi Germany: at one time conformity central. I highly doubt Internet memes will force the people of our nation to walk and talk in harmony, leading to eminent, negative repercussions. In fact, I believe it does the exact opposite. Adorno fears that Internet memes promote standardization, selfsameness, and the weakening of individual resistance due to the repeated replication of one photo. Although Adorno is correct in saying memes are excessively repeated, I have to disagree with his opinion that it could lead to standardization because it sounds like it stems from paranoia and, as the article mentioned, fear of fascism. Seemingly hinting that Internet memes could lead to the ultimate demise and mass conformity of our nation is extremely drastic and dramatic. Yes, memes are replicated hundreds, if not thousands of times, but that doesn’t make them the same, it makes them beautifully different. Each meme provokes a different reaction based on its word choice and audience, which I think takes a large amount of creativity, wit, and uniqueness.

My more positive opinion on Internet memes mirrors Macdonald’s, who shares an optimistic point-of-view, which discusses a plethora of benefits that arise from the prevalence of Internet memes. Aiding in Macdonald’s discussion is cultural theorist Bernard Gendron, who explains that technology is not as constraining as Adorno alludes to because it provides user-friendly templates, promotes creativity, and is simple in some aspects. Clay Shirky, another noted cultural theorist, also comes to Macdonald’s aid when he claims that we have entered into a “new golden era,” meaning people have shifted from passive culture consumption to active democratic culture production (e.g., people are capable of making their own memes instead of someone doing it for them). Shirky claims this is a benefit because people are now allowed to realize their greatest potential “through the act of creation.” I also think this is a benefit because people are in control of their own production and no longer have to look to large corporations to think for them. The creativity is in their hands and the possibilities are endless. Internet memes have taken over the Internet, this is very true, however,  it is not because people are starting to lack in original thought, but rather becoming more diverse.

http://www.yale.edu/habitus/habitus_design_6.625_%283%29.pdf

Blog #1 Meme

"One Does Not Simply..."

From the exceptional mind of J.R.R.Tolkien came The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which eventually flourished into a world-wide known feature films. Both the books and the films have won over fantasy genre addicts and applause for them still occurs today. However, along with its popularity came a plethora of memes that paid homage or playfully mocked characters and scenes from the films.

One of the most prominent memes that has taken over the Internet, pulls from a scene derived from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, when Boromir is explaining the complexity of approaching Mordor. Boromir says to Frodo and friends, "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume." The beginning of Boromir's speech, "One does not simply..." is the premise of these specific memes. Those who use this particular meme have a condescending tone or may be talking down to someone in order to explain the difficulty of doing something.

This meme will resonate differently among different audiences, specifically among people who have not yet seen The Lord of the Rings movies. This audience will not be able to fully grasp the full concept of the meme, which is to lovingly make fun of Boromir and his seriousness of the situation. Conversely, a fan of the trilogy will be able to instantly recognize the meme's condescending nature.


Examples of "One does not simply..." Meme