Seminar 6: Sources workshop

How do we study cultural sources? 1) Think about the context of the source’s production When was it made? By whom? think about different types of studios, who financed a film, or different types of record label etc? what might the implications of this be? What censorship laws might have affected its production? In the case of a speech, who was it written for and by? What events might it be a reaction to? What trends and tastes might it have been marketed to? 2) Think about the content of the source In a film tv or radio programme, how has the director chosen to construct a view of the world. Remember films, music, images, speeches etc, like books don’t reflect the world they reproduce it. How are sound, editing techniques, performance styles used and how does this affect the content? Is the producer alluding to other known genres, for example using the style of particular films (e.g. opening credits of Casablanca or most episodes of The Simpsons - intertextuality, Tarantino) Sampling particular sections of music, or alluding to previous musical forms, What is the impact of this? 3) Thinks about the source’s reception How and why was the source was performed or presented? Do we know who went to see the film, where and when? Who listened to a speech, or song? How was a visual image or piece of art displayed? How was the source been received at the time? think about what sources would be useful here. Did a film become incorporated into a particular public debate or campaign? How has the source been received since? How have later audiences changed the way this source is understood? How might different identity positions affect readings of the source, e.g. women, gay, black readings. How have different historians or cultural commentators viewed the source? You might want to look at : Lisbet Van Zoonen's Feminist Media Studies (1994) Marris, P. and Thornham, S., (eds) Media Studies: A Reader, 2nd edn. (Edinburgh, 1999).