OUGD501 / STUDY TASK 03 / ESTABLISHING RESEARCH QUESTION

Suggested research question?

Themed around the inequality between the social classes, the roles of the bourgeoisie/proletariat, the different ways brands/advertisements are marketed towards the separate classes.

Which of the module resources does the question relate to?

Branding, advertising, new media resources relate back to my question.

Which academic sources are available on the topic?
D'amato, P, 2006, The Meaning of Marxism.

Packard, V, The Hidden Persuaders 1957

Berger, J (1973). Ways Of Seeing. Penguin Books. p45-64.

How could the research question be investigated through practice? 

Perhaps through a form of advertisement; either branding identity or a poster series. Rebranding a company/brand to appeal to the complete opposite social class, investigating why certain brands use different methods to appeal to specific classes. Looking into the way publications are designed to cater to various classes.

Peer Feedback: How could this be refined/developed?

A good concept, however in order to be more specific, it would be beneficial to determine a particular focus point such as a definite category/product for example a product that has differentiating advertisements depending on the class it is directed at, or the store it originates from; e.g Waitrose compared to Aldi. 

OUGD504 / STUDY TASK 02

By general definition a parody is a derisive imitation whereas pastiche is a complimentary emulation of visual art, literature, theatre or music. 

Hutcheon suggests that a parody reinstates a dialogue with the past, working towards a public discourse that will overtly shun modernist aestheticism/hermeticism. Hutcheon rejects patently critical authors and would suggest that they are unfair. In the way Hutcheon writes, she is clearly positive about parody. "The past as referent is not bracketed or effaced, as Jameson would like to believe: it is incorporated and modified, given new and different life and meaning." Hutcheon, L, 1989, The Politics of Postmodernism: Parody and History, Page 182.

Linguistically speaking Jameson’s tone of voice is formal, executed by alienating lexis and semantics. According to Jameson, pastiche, like parody, is the imitation of a peculiar or unique idiosyncratic style. As Jameson is a Marxist, he is obviously critical of pastiche as an author. "The producers of culture have nowhere to turn but to the past: the imitation of dead styles, speech through all the masks and voices stored up in the imaginary museum of a now global culture." Jameson, F, 1991, Postmodernism, or, The Culture Logic of Late Capitalism, Page 17-18. 

An example of these definitions in a design slant is Stranger & Stranger’s work. It is reminiscent of victorianesque wood cut, also exercising Americana style art and partly mythological. These features are a display of cultural appropriation; symptomatic of what Jameson refers to as pastiche; self conscious appropriation of symbols and signs embedded in a culture in order to be aesthetically pleasing.