Blog #6

In "Identities as Multimedia Spectacle," Nestor Garcia Canclini considers how globalized media, information technologies, and the global circulation of cultural commodities challenges traditional models of national identity formation. Canclini writes:

"One of the greatest challenges for rethinking identity and citizenship today is finding a way to study how relations of continuity, discontinuity, and hybridization are produced among local and global, traditional and ultramodern systems of cultural development." (Canclini, 96).

Review Multiplicity's Solid Sea 04: (m)re-tourism on Moroccan residents abroad (http://www.multiplicity.it/index2.htm). Using one of the eight testimonies on page 3 (select an image to read text) and the Canclini article, explain how the selected testimony is an example of how the MRE's sense of national identity is transformed through their movement between Morocco and Europe (as temporary residents, tourists, or permanent residents), the development of space, and use of commodities (for instance, homes and tourist resorts).

Blog #5

Next week we begin our last module, "New Worlds/New Identities". Along with presentations, we will look at the work of Yinka Shonibare. From your readings this week by Guldemond and Mackert, Robert Hobbs and Manthia Diawara, answer the following:

• For Manthia Diawara, what is the significance of Shonibare’s work Cha Cha Cha (1997)?
• What does it suggest about the African independence and nationalist movements?
• From this week's reading and referring to our reading and discussion of Stuart Hall ("What is this 'Black' in Black Popular Culture?"), describe one way Shonibare challenges essentialist notions of "African" identity.

Extra Credit (2 points towards final take-home assignment)
Finally, in your own opinion, how does Shonibare's work help us think about and understand cultural hybridity in our current era of globalization? (minimum 150 words)

Blog #4

Still, Western Union: Small Boats (Isaac Julien, 2006/7)

Our readings for Week 10 take us to the Mediterranean border between Europe (the European Union) and north Africa, a border zone explored in Isaac Julien's Western Union: small boats (2006/7).

From your reading of F. La Cecla's "A border made of mirrors: Mazara del Vallo/Tunis: Osmosis," answer the following:

Discuss two ways in which the relation between the towns of Marzara del Vallo (Sicily) and La Goulette (Tunisia) undermines the traditional definition of the border as a "line that officially separates two countries or regions, or the land on either side of it."

How does the experience of Mohammed Beshir (fisherman) illustrate the permeability of the border and the transformations in our understanding of fixed, national identities that are brought about by border crossings?

Blog #3a

I hope everyone enjoyed our tour of the "Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism" exhibition at Inova. To conclude our discussion of the exhibition next week, I'd like you to answer the following based on the exhibition and our assigned readings for Week six:

Les Olympiades

Based on the essay, "A City in a Building: Paris Subversions," explain why "Les Olympiades" is called a "city in a building." Describe one way the once distinct domestic and work spheres are made to overlap one another in "Les Olympiades." Describe one way the changes enacted in the "Les Olympiades" create and constitute new, hybrid identities for the people who inhabit and work in the building.

Yves Belorgey "Preparation de la Muraille de Chine en Vue de son explosion" (2000)

Compare the transformations in "Les Olympiades" with Yves Belorgey's vision of post-industrial suburban public housing in "Preparation de la Muraille de Chine en Vue de son explosion" (2000) and "Destruction" video (2003). How do both "Les Olympiades" and Belorgey's work speak to the impact of processes of globalization on Western European urban centers?

Extra Credit
Finally, for extra credit towards your midterm take-home assignment (up to 3 points), write a brief paragraph (100-250 words) about any work in the exhibition that addressed an issue raised in our current era of globalization (immigration/anti-immigration debates, environmental sustainability, overpopulation, cultural hybridity, the impact of new communication and transportation technologies, economic disparity between the First and Third Worlds, labor, human rights, the "end" of the nation-state, etc.). You must provide the artist name, title of the work, and a brief description of the work.

The midterm review sheet is currently posted on the course D2L site.

Please write your name at the top of your response.

Blog #3

Referring to A. Aneesh's chapter "Virtual Migration", briefly answer the following:

1. Describe one way call center training and work conditions transform one’s sense of having a regional and national identity. In other words, how does globalization and the creation of a virtual labor force transform formerly geographically bounded identities? (Your answer must include at least one reference to A. Aneesh's chapter)

2. Review the "Reading Room: the economics of outsourcing" essay in the course reader. Visit "Alladeen" -- the website for The Builders Association's theatrical production "Alladeen Bangalore-London-New York."



Go to the "cyber immigrants" section and view the videos in:


My Strangest Phone Call
Perceptions of America and American Culture
Aspirations for the Future
(move your cursor over the "blue diamonds" on the left hand side of the screen to get section titles)

How does the "Alladeen" site, through its design (magic lamp motif), and its use and organization of video and sound clips, allow us, the users, to confront and challenge our expectations of call center workers and their lived experience as virtual laborers? (Provide one example from the video sections listed above)

Blog #2: Cultural Imperialism

"...the United States is no longer the puppeteer of a world system of images, but is only one node of a complex transnational construction of imaginary landscapes..."

Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy, Arjun Appadurai (327)

Let's examine the cultural imperialism thesis and debates regarding homogenization vs. heterogenization by looking at the popular Idol franchise created by the British media company, FremantleMedia. A significant aspect of current media globalization is the creation of the franchise model, the global distribution of a successful program format to local markets. Popular "reality" programs, sitcoms, and game shows are licensed and modified according to different cultural and social mores, while maintaining set genre conventions, program format and style.

Referring to the reading from Tomlinson's "Cultural Imperialism" essay and examples from Latin American Idol and American Idol (select titles to go to pages), answer the following:

1. Describe one way the franchise is an example of media homogenization. In other words, describe how the franchise functions to create and deliver a similar product across national boundaries (No, you don't have to know Spanish to do this; focus on the design and format of the programs).

2. In light of Tomlinson's discussion and your viewing of the Idol franchise, describe one argument put forth to challenge the cultural imperialism thesis.

3. Referring to Tomlinson's discussion "Multinational Capitalism and Cultural Homogenization" and the Idol franchise, describe one reason why Tomlinson suggests "cultural synchronization" (the loss of cultural autonomy as a result of the processes of multinational capitalism) is not necessarily detrimental to the receiving culture.



Respond by selecting the "comments" link below. Write your name at the top of your response. Limit your response to no more than 300 words.

Blog #1

Read the NYT article "Rural South Koreans' Global Links Grow, Nourished by a Satellite Crop" and answer the following question based on the assigned Appadurai reading.

Identify and briefly describe two ways the article illustrates Appadurai's argument concerning electronic and post-electronic media and migration as marking new ways in which to construct "imagined worlds and imagined selves."


Review the guidelines for blog posts listed on the course syllabus. Select the "Comments" link below the post and enter your response. It is suggested that you write your response in your word processing application, save it, then cut and paste it into the "Comments" section. Remember to write your name and course number (Art 309 or Film 301 ) in your "Comments" post.