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Week 1: Lecture
Legends & Myths:
- Fairytale: wonder tale involving marvellous elements and occurrences, not
necessarily about fairies
- Legend: traditional story told about a particular place/person
o Formerly the term legend meant a story about a saint
o Resemble folk tales in content: supernatural beings, mythological
elements, explanations of natural phenomena, but associated with a
particular locality/person
o Told as a matter of history
- Myth: symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin, at least partly traditional,
seems to relate to actual events, associated with religious belief
o Specific accounts of gods/superhumans involved in extraordinary
events in an unspecified time
o Very powerful: all societies are built upon myths (myths are
superstructures of society) interpretation of history makes the story
- Ideology: form of social/political philosophy in which practical elements are as
prominent as theoretical ones
o System of ideas that aspires to both explain the world and change it
Cognitive dissonance: when faced with a (new) fact that directly contradicts a longheld belief, people tend to resist against these facts. People should be critical
about their beliefs/knowledge
Week 1: Huntington (1993) Clash of Civilizations
Hypothesis: the fundamental source of conflict in the world will not be primarily
ideological/economic, but cultural
- Civilization: cultural entity, highest cultural grouping of people and the
broadest level of cultural identity people have
o Major civilizations: Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, SlavicOrthodox, Latin American, African
o Islam clashes with the most civilizations (bloodiest borders)
Reasons for future conflicts:
1. Differences among civilizations are real, basic and fundamental
2. Globalization: world is becoming smaller more interactions between
civilizations
3. Economic modernization/social change is weakening the nation state as a
source of identity (decrease of nationalism, religion has often filled this void)
4. Growth of civilization consciousness due to the dual role of the West (West is
at its peak of power non-Western civilizations react by going back to their
cultural roots)
5. Cultural differences are less changeable and thus less easily compromised
than political/economic ones
6. Increase of economic regionalism
Example of clash of civilizations: clash between the Island and the West
West vs. the rest
o
o
Need to understand:
- Human motives (group adherence, use of influential/authoritative figures)
- Special interests
- Functions/limitations of various media
Ideas must be dramatic/impressive to overcome the slowness of established
traditions/prejudices
o E.g. changing attitudes of whites towards blacks
Week 2: Walton (1997) What is Propaganda, and what exactly is wrong with it?
Propaganda has a negative connotation: unethical, illogical However, just because
its used to appeal to people (argumentum ad populum), its not automatically
wrong
Propaganda is not wrong just because of the fact that it is propaganda, but
can be because of individual arguments used in propaganda
Characteristics of propaganda
- Dialogue structure
- Message content (= an argument)
- Goal-directed structure
- Involvement of social groups
- Indifference to logical reasoning (appeals to emotion, not ratio)
- One-sided argumentation
- Involvement of persuasion dialogue
- Goal justifies the means (means = propaganda)
- Emotive language/persuasive definitions
- Eristic aspects
Week 3: Lecture
Hollywood: edutainment/infotainment major provider of knowledge
Eco: 70% of what we know comes from Hollywood Hollywood as global
communication/mythology
Hollywood as Dreamland:
- E.g. Americana (Rockwell): idealized America
- W.A.S.P. ideology: White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant males (E.g. Forrest Gump)
o Redemption
o Self-made men
o The frontier
o Capitalism & Liberalism
- Always about entertainment (and in early Hollywood: always about America)
The world according to Hollywood:
1. Birth of mythology
a. E.g. Birth of a Nation (Griffith, 1915): first real Hollywood movie
Infotainment: about history of Ku Klux Klan (extremely racist)
2. Old vs. new world
a. E.g. The Jazz Singer (Crosland, 1927): first talking movie
3. Good vs. evil
a. There are only two kinds of people in the world Binary
Propaganda?
i. Hollywood as propaganda: sometimes, obvious or not so obvious
b. Projection: seeing things that are not in the movie (so if you want to
see propaganda in it, you will)
4. Us vs. Them
a. The Green Berets (Kellog & Wayne, 1968): helps people relate to events
in the movie (in this case, the Vietnam War)
b. Moscow on the Hudson (Mazursky, 1984): patriotic or propaganda?
5. Violence
6. Stereotypes
7. Histories
a. Mythologies of America applied as fillers to the rest of the world (e.g.
Braveheart, Gladiator)
b. Biopics
8. Product placement
a. Pursuit of mass consumption
b. More efficient than advertising
c. Risk of altering stories (e.g. less movies will take place in the past,
since new products cannot be shown there)
9. Happy ending & redemption
a. Description of situation crisis Resolution of the crisis
b. E.g. Schindlers List: Redemption
Week 3: Shaheen (2000) Hollywoods Muslim Arabs
How screen images have an impact on Arab/Muslim identities Shows the effect of
Hollywood in the real world Note: article was written before 9/11
Stereotyping of Arabs in Hollywood movies leads to:
- Low self-esteem
- Impacting of policies
- Injuring of innocents (hate crimes)
- Encouragement of divisiveness
Reflects biases (e.g. Bloody Sunday: Brad Pitt as terrorist Hes Brad Pitt, he
cant be that horrible)
Movies create myths: stereotypes are often believed due to the repetitive effect
(movies only focus on violent Muslim minority)
- E.g. characterization of Palestinians as religious fanatics threatening our
freedom (even Aladdin is racist)
- Arabs are the modern day Native Americans of Hollywood
Feels like an undeclared war on Arabs by Hollywood But: Hollywood wants
to make money and thus makes what the people want to see
Negative images of Arabs in movies/TV are sometimes perceived as real
portrayals of Muslim culture
Cognitive dissonance: even though you know not all Arabs are violent, you can
perceive them to be because of all the images you are exposed to.
Week 3: Aug (2002) Hollywood Movies: Terrorism 101
General opinion: terrorists generally hate the US
- Hollywood portrays US as big/arrogant/violent
- Correlation between Americas broadcast of itself (big/arrogant/violent) and
the global image people get from this cultural transmission
Terrorism movies became the truth after 9/11
- Violence sells: violence is acceptable as long as its directed against forces of
evil
- Scary movies do well, as long as they are not too realistic
Conclusion: We learn about the world through Hollywood: films influence our
lives/perspectives
Week 3: Forrest Gump
Week 4: Lecture
Story: a narrative
1. Orientation (beginning/description)
2. Complicating action (explanation)
3. Ending (evaluation)
Power of a story does not come from its clarity/moral message, but from its
allusiveness and when & how a story is told Hall: encoding/decoding messages
- We all have different interpretations which lead to different readings
o Preferred reading
o Negotiated reading
o Oppositional reading
- Perception theories: the way in which you read media stories
Aimed at:
- Sharing knowledge
- Teaching something
- Sharing/spreading information
Framing vs. storytelling: both try to convey a message
- Frames: effective when clear/consistent, salient because of resonation, they
are created/constructs
- Stories: distinct in their ambiguity, they require interpretative participation
we read a story how we want to read it, which we cant do with frames
Narrative features
- Power to mobilize
- Understanding depends on credibility/familiarity
o A story might be in accordance with your reality, but not necessarily
- Folk concept, just like myths
Corporate storytelling
1. Composition (tension, context, explosion of action)
2. Literary techniques (perspectives, persona, tropes, motto, symbolism, style)
3. Motivators (money, community, family, safety, curiosity, health)
Why do stories matter?
- Decline of grand narratives (mostly linked to religion/ideology)
o Newer/smaller stories are replacing the grand narratives (e.g. Die
Welle)
o Todays stories: more focused around popular culture
- Confirming vs. challenging your point of view
o Hegemonic & counter voices (e.g. Blurred Lines parodies)
Ideology: system of ideas that both aspire to explain the world we live in as to
change it
of conspiracies
Enemy outside (pinpointing the enemy)
Enemy within
Enemy above (elites)
Enemy below (common people, e.g. Occupy movement)
Benevolent conspiracies (e.g. angels)
Week 5: Lecture
Public Relations: e.g. Thank You for Smoking (2005), Wag the Dog (1997) about
president running for office while hes involved in underage sex scandal invention
of war to distract media/audience
- Definition: the activity/job of providing information about a particular
person/organization to the public, so that people will regard that
person/organization in a favourable way (rebranding)
- Bernays: father of public relations (sounds better than propaganda is shift
of scene in itself)
Public Relations = propaganda
Elements of PR
- Newsmaking
- Media target
- Audience target
- Story, story, story
o Trendsetting
o Bandwagon effect
Elements of Marketing (Marketing is not the same as PR!)
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion
Elements of advertising
- Control
- Repetition
- Credibility
- Attractiveness
Place branding: the promoting of a place by identifying it with a particular brand
- Global competition
- Goal: attracting the right target
Cultural diplomacy
- International broadcasting
- Logos of countries/nations
- Education
- Gastrodiplomacy
- Social Media
Spin doctor: a person whose job involves trying to control the way something is
described to the public in order to influence what people think about it
Famous spin doctors:
- Alastair Campbell (Blair)
- Karl Rove (George W. Bush)
- Holtzman (Qatar World Cup 2022 among others)
- James Carville (Clinton Showed Clinton was a self-made man unlike Bush
sr. for example, who came from a wealthy family)
Ruder-Finn Company (Croatia among others Made Croatia seem the good
guy in the conflict)
Shows importance of PR agencies in global conflicts/relationsPublic opinion
can pose a real threat to governments/administrations
-
2. Violent
3. Performed by sub-national/supra-national groups
4. Use of media
Terrorism is theatre:
1. Staged
2. Scheduled for maximum exposure
3. Emotional: terrorism is about sending a message (Its not about the money,
its about sending a message - THE JOKER HELL YEAH)
Is fear the weapon of the weak? The poor? The rest against the west? No.
Freedom fighters example: Northern Ireland IRA (republicans, pro-Ireland) vs
Unionists/Loyalists (pro-UK)
- 300 people were killed but it was not deemed terrorism due to involvement of
the government
- Hollywood supports IRA (again, the Brad Pitt as IRA terrorist example)
Key when it comes to terrorism: communication to gain support from others
Other notable organizations:
1. Anonymous
a. Considering the characteristics, it is a terrorist group
b. Terrorism is about creating an atmosphere of fear which Anonymous
does
2. Wikileaks
a. Violent? Reveals facts that could lead to violence
3. Animal rights/Nature preservation groups
a. Earth Liberation Front: Eco-terrorism
b. Animal Liberation Front
Terrorism links to the clash of civilizations (Huntington)
The Netherlands: People often do not feel threatened, but think of cases like Breivik
in Norway: could easily happen here too
- Theo van Gogh
- Pim Fortuijn ( Geert Wilders?)
- Queensday 2009 Apeldoorn
- MH17
Week 7: Ganor (2002) Defining Terrorism
Main argument: an objective definition of terrorism is possible and is imperative if
we want to fight it successfully (an international agreed upon definition is needed to
combat terrorism)
- Guerrilla and terrorists can fight for the same cause/goal, but use different
means
o Guerrilla: target military
o Terrorists: target civilians
- Terrorism national liberators: terrorist attack = means, liberation = goal
Terrorism:
- Use of, or threat to use violence
State
1.
2.
3.
An Inconvenient Truth (2006): If you love your children, watch this plays
on fear, bandwagon (so clearly propaganda) Also: Us vs Them
o Soft Power
o Public diplomacy: targets and goals
o Place branding: audience and tools
- Case studies
o Edward Bernays
o Wag the Dog (1997)
o War in former Yugoslavia
Week 6:
- Key concepts
o Communications of suffering (Israel/Palestine)
o Pallywood
o Hasbara
- Case studies
o Hezbollah and communication
o Mohamed al Dura: martyrology
o Israel and nation branding
o United Arab Emirates: Burj al Arab vs Sex & the City
Week 7
- Key concepts
o Terrorism: definition, history, characteristics, modus operandi, use of
media, terrorism is theatre
o Illusion of safety
o Hollywood and terrorism
- Case studies
o Irish Republican Army vs Ulster Volunteer Forces vs British Army
o Anonymous
o Terrorism and the Netherlands
o Animal Liberation Front