Interpellation

Theories investigating subjectivity have dominated the field of literary and cultural theory during the modern and postmodern period. The way we understand subjectivity effects the way we understand the world around us, whether the subject is viewed in the Cartesian manner as a fixed entity, with a pre-existing nature that is not affected by the discourses that surround the it, or if we view the subject as one produced in and through the forces of power available in the time period, whether they

I have been for the most part skeptical about whether Louis Althusser’s essay on state apparatuses accomplishes anything not previously explained in more humanistic and less functionalist terms by Antonio Gramsci. Indeed, although there appears to be a clear divergence between the two insofar as Gramsci associates ideological work with civil society whereas Althusser locates it in the state, even this distinction is not as stark in light of certain passages in Selections from the Prison Notebooks

Barry Jenkins’s 2016 film, Moonlight, is a work that is characterized by its silences, both in what is unsaid, as well as the unresolved nature of many of its central tensions. In the film, silence functions to emphasize the interiority of the film’s subject, and to make the audience aware of itself. Such strategic use of absence recalls John Cage's groundbreaking composition, 4'33; a work that is distinguished by its lack of any audible musical accompaniment. For many, the piece is reflective of

America would like to believe that we do not live in a caste system but if asked anyone living in the inner city would say otherwise. A class system exists that is built on individual’s achievements but elements of a caste system are certainly practiced in the United States. Power and wealth is distributed amongst only 1 percent of the U.S population, therefore, their wealth is inherited from generation to generation, segregated from the rest of the population. Consequently, the ghetto poor families

What defines a woman; is it their grace, femininity, vagina, ability to give life or is it their ability to support a man who disregards her intellect for her heart? The manic pixie dream girl, the sweet, charming, slim, witty woman whose main purpose in the movie is to assist the man with his complex life problems who believes the world is against him. We have all seen this trope before with many of our favorite stars whether it’s Audrey Hepburn, Kristen Dunst or Natalie Portman. This stereotype

Karl Marx’s perspective thus pertinently illustrates the alienation of the modern individual from the self and their surroundings as a direct cause of their socio-economic circumstance. T.S Eliot’s poetry established him as one of the most eminent modernist poets; attempting to free himself from the constraints of the Victorian movement which pre-dated him, this is evident in the free verse and stream of consciousness narrative style of ‘The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock’. In doing so, Eliot turned

we pigs drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed our duty? Jones would come back! Surely comrades... surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back? (p.23) Althusser calls this Interpellation. A process where by a person is made to feel like they have a choice, when actually the 'choice' does not exist. Peter Barry offers an example: 'You can have any colour you like... as long as it's black' Animal Farm can also be linked to another

Carine Kessie Prof: Van De Water ENG 2010-29 Friday 3, 2017 Cinderella Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella. She lived with her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. They treated Cinderella very badly. One day, they were invited to a grand ball at the king’s palace. But Cinderella’s stepmother refused to let her go. Cinderella was only made to sew new party gowns for her stepmother and stepsisters, curl their hair, and she not complaining. When they left for the ball, leaving

Advertisements are a way to promote sales of a product or service through visual communication. Magazine covers, advertisements or any publication embed a set of ideologies. O’Shaughnessy and Standler describe ideologies as “sets of social values, ideas, beliefs, feelings and representations by which people collectively make sense of the world they live in” (2012; 174). Ideologies try to “manipulate people into buying a way of life as well as goods” (Dyer, 1982:5). Adverts such as the Pravda vodka

Freud’s development of the structure of the mind and its multi-layered levels, the conscious, preconscious and the unconscious, was a seminal moment in psychoanalysis, and it led to a greater understanding of human actions. For Freud (1900), the mind was similar to an iceberg, with a visible part and a larger invisible section housing the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind held the key to a deeper understanding of human behaviour, motives and impulses. Freud’s theory was premised on the understanding