Pre-class 10/30 Blog--RS

Hebdige brings up many of the points discussed by theorists we have discussed in class this semester such as Barthes, Marx, and Althusser and ties their ideas all together in a discourse about ideology and hegemony. He mentions that Roland Barthes helped reveal how arbitrary the system of language is, especially if used as an attempt to reinforce and maintain class differences.  He comments on the relative fragility of this system in becoming myth one day.

This reminds me of our class discussion on Tuesday, in which I mentioned how ideologies related to gender affect language use between men and women. For example, men tend to use more commanding, concrete, and demanding language, which is also reflected by their dominative position and tendencies in society. Women on the other hand, tend to use more language that is uncertain, polite, and less direct. A woman might say more terms related to "may, can, if, etc" whereas a man might tend to use more words such as "I will, I'm going to, I am, etc." Therefore, this language that is more direct and straightforward may result in more likelihood of promotions, getting what one asks for, not being taken advantage of, etc. This is one subtle way in which ideology and its relationship to language has taken hold and established this hegemony. Hebdige also notes that a struggle between discourses within ideology is always with a struggle with signs, which is relevant in this instance.

Hebdige brings up this idea of subcultures and the cultural elite with his words. He comments on the notion of "reading society" being a skill that comes with being cultured and belongs to the upper wealthier classes. This notion has become more deconstructed in our current age I think, and has proven to be an issue, especially within liberal or Democrats. The "Right" in particular has used this as an offensive tactic by accusing the "Left" as being elitist and stuck up. It has even become an accusation to be part of the educated. Educated symbolizes privilege, and those who sit in their figurative glass castles of academia can seem to be part of a type of cultural elite that excludes those on the Right. Although there has recently become more notice of hegemonic differences, certain sides have also utilized this to their advantage to engage in a sort of "cultural warfare" as some say.


On my honor, I have not given, nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance on this work. -Renee Sang