A very popular term which is used in cultural studies is the term hegemony. This term orginates in critical theory, particularly through the work of Antonio Gramsci.John Hartley in his book, Communication, Cultural and Media Studies: The Key Concepts, he explains that "The crucial aspect of the notion of hegemony is not that it operates by forcing people against their will or better judgement to concede power to the already-powerful, but that it works by winning consent to ways of making sense of the world that do in fact make sense..."
"In cultural analysis, the concept is used to show how everyday meanings, representations and activities are organized and made sense of in such a way as to render the interests of a dominant 'bloc' into an apparently natural and unarguable general interest, with a claim on everyone" (Hartley, p.99).
Hegemony reminds me of the Indian cargo elephant that is subdued into concession by having it tied to a stake as a young elephant. At that size, they are too small to break free of the stake. As they grow, they become convinced that they will never be able to enjoy freedom and therefore concede to the symbolic power of the stake.
All that it takes is the choice to use its' strength and the elephant would be free, but they willingly surrender their power.
As discussed in my paper, Essentializing the Evangelical: The Representation and Reception of Evangelicals in Popular Culture, I would argue that evangelicals have willingly conceded to an essentialized representation in the media which paints ALL evangelicals as embracing the values of what I call 'the KKK evangelical mythology.'
Rather than having this representation forced upon evangelicals, this representation has willingly been conceded to... There has been a hegemonic co-optation to a misinformed representation which narrows evangelicals into a group of radical fascists - which is pretty offensive...
As long as evangelicals remain in this hegemonic state, this representation will continue to manifest itself as the sole identity being represented in sitcoms, reality shows, films, music videos, books and other popular culture media.
Also, see:
No comments:
Post a Comment