Theories of Mind: Media and the construction of self
The self is a construction of media
But we also construct our media
And the content of our media
The construction of self through media is the real issue in the Psychoanalytic analysis of media
So Cutting through all the deep Freudian theory and its adaptation
It remains true that we forget everything we learn several times while we are young
But while we forget it, we don't lose it
It becomes a substrate of who we are
confidence
ability to trust
ability to love
discipline
jealousy
fear
patience
self-control
This "substrate" quality is what psychological constructs like Id, Ego, Superego, and Oedipus Complex are all about
The assumptions that emerge from the things we forget
We may not remember what happens when we are young, but it still deeply shapes who we are
That is the fundamental concept beneath the unconscious mind
Forget versus repress may simply be a value judgment
The unconscious is shaped by our experience of language and the expressed perceptions of others
It finds expression in our choices
The things we choose to watch
The meaning we assign to it
Our behavior
Freudian slips
Failures of memory
Jokes and Puns
Neuroses
Dreams
What's the right way to hang the toilet paper?
People often have strong views about "what's right" here
There is no "right" way
But we tend to view the way our parents do it as "right"
This is fundamentally what "the unconscious" is all about
The things that we assume are "right" without really thinking about them
When analysts view film or video as "dream expression", it is this forgotten unconscious that they are referring to
From the standpoints of both creation and consumption
Meaning exceeds the surface
We experience the unconscious as if it were a language - Jacques Lacan
We are "spoken" by our culture
We become what we assume by the messages we attend to
We commit to what we believe in the messages we create
X equals Sum Media
Relationships
Communities
Organizations
Societies
Our selves
In the end, psychological theory is largely an extension of semiotics
but with an ideological overlay of vocabulary
in which we oppress ourselves
Assignment due Monday
Write a one or two paragraph introduction to your term paper that establishes a thesis and the methodology you plan to use.
Assignment next Wednesday
Create an annotated bibliography of at least six sources (books, book chapters, or journal articles) that use or describe the method(s) that you have selected. They can apply the method to any body content in any medium. What matters is that they apply your method to some body of content. For each source, write a one paragraph statement of what seems to be important in the book or journal article. Note that each chapter of Allen points to many potential sources.
Assignment due the Monday before Thanksgiving (in two and a half weeks)
Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this page
were written by participants on the Media Space Wiki, operated by Davis Foulger,
and should be cited accordingly. For example (APA): Foulger, D. and other
participants. (August 27, 2008). Media Criticism Fall2006 Session17. MediaSpaceWiki. Retrieved on from
http://evolutionarymedia.com/wiki.htm?MediaCriticismFall2006Session17.