Response to “Toys”

In Roland Barthes's Mythologies, one of his myths is about toys. Before reading this piece, I had never thought of the fact that most all of the toys made for children are miniatures of adult life. There is a common belief that adults never really grow up and are children at heart. Barthes gives examples of the toys that mimic adult careers and jobs, and other tasks adults perform. He also does not like the fact that many toys are no longer made out of wood, which makes the toys seem unfriendly and break sooner. I think that plastic toys are better in some ways. They allow the toys to become available to more people, because they are cheaper and more can be produced. Also, just because adults make toys for children that may mimic their own lives, it doesn’t mean the children don’t like those toys. Little girls love playing house. With just plain dolls, little girls manage to come up with ways to play house. This, in part, shows that sometimes children want to imitate their parents, because they feel they want to be like them. This belief can come about without the influence of commercial toys. Barthes says that these toys don’t help the children become creative, just users of products, and I agree with him on that point. However, children have great imaginations, and, maybe without using these toys, they can be very creative in making something into something else, such as a box or dryer. Children will always be able to play with something, whether it is a commercial toy or not.

Summary of excerpt from “Course in General Linguistics”

In this excerpt from “Course in General Linguistics,” Saussure is explaining the object of linguistics, and how it can be studied to become a science. He started off the chapter by explaining that language can actually be studied, it is homogenous, and it is very concrete. Saussure said that language is “a storehouse of sound-images, and writing is the tangible form of those images.” There, according to Saussure, is a science that studies the signs of life, or language, it just doesn’t actually exist as a science yet. This science is called semiology. The only way that there could actually be a science to study signs and language is if it was separated from everything else and not studied with anything else.

Saussure then goes into the actuality of the sign and how it relates to language. While some people may believe every word has a sign, it may not always work that way. This is because it may be vocal or psychological. However, the sign may unite, “not a thing and a name, but a concept and sound-image.” He points out that we are using the psychological form of language and sound-images when we talk to ourselves, because we don’t move our lips or tongue. This is significant because it exemplifies how language can be used without actually speaking; it is more of a concept. Saussure shows a drawing that explains how the concept and sound-image are related, and the order can go back and forth.

Then he explains the arbitrary nature of the nature of the sign and how, when one uses signs and expressions solely for using them and not because they are required to do so, can realize the ideals of semiology. This makes language very complex. Saussure brings up the case of the symbol and why it can be such an important term. It has a specific connection to the sign and can not be changed. He then brings up onomatopoeia and interjections, as they may be objections to what he had talked about before. They, however, do exist because they are accepted, and are subject to the evolution of linguistics. In closing, Saussure points out the linear nature of the symbol, or signifier. It takes on a linear nature because when writing, because there is only one dimension in which to write.

Summary of "What is Popular Culture?"

John Storey wrote An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. In this book is the chapter “What is Popular Culture?” In this chapter Storey attempts to suggest some possible definitions of what popular culture is exactly. After giving a few definitions of culture, he explains that culture and ideology are very close, and that in order to understand one the other should also be understood. However, ideology often includes politics, which culture doesn’t.

Storey gives five different definitions of ideology. The first one is that ideology “can refer to a systematic body of ideas articulated by a particular group of people”, such as a professional of political group. The second definition is that it can suggest a certain distortion of things. This is also explained as “false consciousness”. The third definition is used to draw attention to how texts may “present a particular image of the world”. This is basically saying that all texts sway a person’s opinion of something, even if it is not intended to do so. Another definition is that ideology is not just a bunch of ideas, but a material practice. Storey uses the seaside holiday and Christmas as examples of this. The final definition of ideology Storey gives is that ideology is the underlying meanings of things.

With all of these definitions of ideology, Storey then gives six possible definitions of what exactly popular culture is. Some of the definitions include that popular culture that is not high culture; mass culture; culture that originates from ‘the people’; and how it is postmodernist culture that does not recognize high and popular culture. Storey explains all of these definitions in detail, giving reasons as to why each possible definition may or may not work. For example, popular culture can’t originate from the people because it can’t originate from raw material; it has to be commercialized. Storey concludes the chapter by discussing what the rest of the book will discuss on the subject of popular culture.

Summary of "Culture"

In the passage “Culture,” author Raymond Williams traces the ancestry of the word culture and how exactly it became the word it is today. He started off by stating that culture is one of the most complex words in the English language. The original meaning of culture in the English language was “the tending of something”. This meaning led into the meaning that developed in the 16^th century, when culture was also used as a metaphor towards the processes of human development. However, these two forms are not the most commonly used today. The independent form of culture, which we are familiar with today, didn’t become popular until the 19^th century.

In other countries, such as Germany and France, their versions of the word culture were taking on different meanings. In France, they used culture as it originally was used in English; as cultivating something. In the 18^th century, civilization emerged, and has been intertwined with culture ever since. In the 19^th century in Germany, the word for culture, kultur, was used just like civilization was used.

Williams explains the three different meanings of culture used today. They include the oldest one of cultivating something, the independent noun that usually describes a particular way of life, and the noun that describes the works of intellectual artistic ability. The third form is the latest form of culture, dating back to about the late 19^th century, and is probably the most common use. Since the independent noun of culture has come about, other forms of the word have arisen, such as cultural and sub-culture. In order for these forms to exist, the meaning of the original word must be accepted. Despite this, there is some hostility towards the word culture because some believe it is associated with class distinction. There is also hostility towards it because of the different barriers it can place between different groups of people, both good and bad. Culture is a word that has several complex meanings, and it may bring hostility with it when used.