OUGD501 - Seminar 3: Identity

• Essentialism- Some sort of innate characteristic - some people are born a criminal etc. - A pseudo-science
• Anti-essentialism proposes that we can reinvent ourselves constantly

Identity & 'The other' in visual representations

• Creation of identities
• Concepts or 'otherness'
• Analysis of visual example

Identity Creation

What makes you, you?

• Essentialist things - physical features etc.
• Parents/socilaisation
• Money
• Environment/era
• Diet
• Education
• Relationship status
• Personality
• Lifestyle

How do we express our identity?

• Mannerisms
• Social interactions
• Hobbies
• Possessions
• Accents
• Social associations - social circles

These are are subjectivities which create a sense of self. It is arrived at by a dynamic of these two lists.

The circuit of culture - Stuart Hall

Culture is the framework within which our identities are formed, expressed and regulated.

Representation - affected by what we buy and and how we present ourselves

Identity - social stereotypes - what you are expected to have/be

Production - what you do in society - a job

Consumption - what we buy/our consumption of products

Regulations - limitations of society

Identity Formation

Psychoanalyst - Jaques Lacan

• Identity is created and solidified through childhood - 'The Mirror Stage'
• Sense of self (subjectivity) built on receiving views from others
• This subjectivity is based on an illusion of wholeness & independence - the result is own subjectivity is fragile

Constructing the 'other'

• In the same way that we create our own identities, in opposition to what we are not, so does a society.
• To solidify our identity, we remove ourselves against what we are not - in the same way that we create our own identities - in opposition to what we are not - so does society
• Problems: relies on the assumption of opposition and radical otherness
• Shares up unstable identities through the illusion of unity

Task: Analyse one image from the media that attempts to secure an identity for the reader at the expense of others and what it offers you by doing this (Approx 300 words)

The image above is one that I found from an old national newspaper. It shows two very different stories, put on a page together to balance each other out and balance out the reader. The first is a story about the riots in Egypt, the second an avert for lastminute.com, talking about last minute holiday/activity deals for friends.

Focussing on the advertisement, it has been placed on a page with a story which is something in a completely different country, but still well known about all over the world. This is placed here to give the reader a sense of normality. When the reader looks at the image and story about Egypt, anxiety and empathy for the situation will arise, however, the moment they look  to the advertisement, they know that it is worlds away and doesn’t directly affect them. This is a form of othering as it shows a reader a serious situation what is happening, but then sugarcoats it with the advertisement and shows them that currently that story is of no threat to their everyday life and well being, and that instead this advertisement is something that will benefit their life immediately.

The imagery between the two is ironic. The people in each image are doing the same poses, with the hands in the air, but for two completely contrasting reasons. In the first, it is out of fury and indignation, but in the second it is because they are having fun and enjoying themselves. It is immediately more relatable to the reader, and shows what the reader could be experiencing right now if they follow the advertisement, putting them worlds away from the situation in the article. It gives the reader the sense of security and of being in a more civilised and solidified society than the one read about.