“What the theory?” Kulturna hegemonija, semiotika, fenomenologija, postkolonijalizam i ostalo s Tomom Nicholasom

The Frankfurt School get mentioned a lot on this website. Alongside being celebrated for their contributions to philosophy, sociology and political science, however, Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and the various other scholars who worked at what was (and is) officially known as the Institute for Social Research, are the target of a lot of vitriol.

Commentators on the political right including Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro will often invoke the Frankfurt School as a group of intellectual bogey men and the progenitors of political correctness, cultural marxism, postmodernism or whatever else they seek to porn scorn on that day.

In today's episode of What the Theory?, I seek to provide some insight into what the Frankfurt School actually was (and is). Beginning with the perceived failure of the German Revolution, I track the history of the Frankfurt School through formation, exile in the United States during the Second World War and up to the student revolts of May 1968.

Alongside this institutional history, I also provide some insight into the work of the Frankfurt School, introducing ideas such as critical theory and the culture industry as well as touching on seminal texts such as Dialectic of Enlightenment, The Authoritarian Personality, One-Dimensional Man and more.

If you'd like to support me to make more videos like this then I'd be very grateful if you'd check out my Patreon page at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas

Further Reading

Grand Hotel Abyss by Stuart Jeffries
US: https://amzn.to/2UwcjrU
UK: https://amzn.to/2SmepYC

Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Stephen Eric Bronner
US: https://amzn.to/2SjEjfw
UK: https://amzn.to/3b9GkDA

Dialectic of Enlightenment by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer
US: https://amzn.to/31t8h51
UK: https://amzn.to/31xgbKD

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Structuralism is a form of literary theory which, inspired by semiotics and the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure, emerged in France in the 1950s. In this week’s episode of What the Theory?, we take a look at how structuralism and structuralist theory enable us to identify the underlying structures which inform how literature, film, performance, visual art and all other forms of cultural text are created and read.

If you’re look for semiotics and structuralism explained simply and engagingly then, hopefully, this might be the video you’re looking for!

Also, if you’d like to get your hands on a copy of the script to this video with footnotes and references to pour over to your heart’s content then check out my Patreon at [http://patreon.com/tomnicholas](https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fpatreon.com%2Ftomnicholas&v=9045I_p45XU&event=video_description&redir_token=4zUaqQOVf-pAkqVbD1TqPqrOSup8MTU2NDA4ODM4MEAxNTY0MDAxOTgw)

We begin by looking at genre as a form of structuralist analysis before taking a brief overview of Saussure’s notion of diachronic and synchronic linguistics and his suggestion that it is only possible to understand an individual use of language (which he calls parole) by understanding the wider linguistic system of which it is a part (something Saussure calls langue).

We then take a look at how various literary theorists including Claude Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Vladimir Propp and (very briefly) Michel Foucault have taken used structuralist linguistics as a basis for literary and cultural analysis. Distinguishing between “high structuralism” and “low structuralism”, we take a look at poetics and the pursuit of a consistent narrative structure of myth as well as looking at Roland Barthes’ notion of cultural codes and cultural myths as he outlines them in his 1957 book Mythologies.

Further Reading

Structuralism and Semiotics by Terence Hawkes
US: https://amzn.to/2JRlCgd
UK: https://amzn.to/2ykzh9b

Mythologies by Roland Barthes
US: https://amzn.to/2YhNnTc
UK: https://amzn.to/2Mda7kI

Myth and Meaning: Cracking the Code of Culture by Claude Levi-Strauss
US: https://amzn.to/2y8cJYO
UK: https://amzn.to/2K00dAb

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

If you’ve enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

In this introduction to Foucault, we consider the relationship between knowledge and power through looking (primarily) at three books by Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, The Order of Things and The History of Sexuality (as well as, very briefly, History of Madness—sometimes published as Madness and Civilisation—and The Birth of the Clinic).

We unpack some of the terminology central to Foucault's philosophy such as episteme (and the shifts between epistemes), archaeology and genealogy. Finally, we look at how Foucault uses the panopticon—a plan for a uniquely utilitarian prison designed by Jeremy Bentham—in order to consider how discipline and punishment might have become a part of our everyday lives.

If you're look for the work of Michel Foucault explained simply and engagingly then, hopefully, this might be the video you're looking for!

If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of the script to this video with footnotes and references to pour over to your heart's content then check out my Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas

Further Reading

Foucault: A Very Short Introduction by Gary Gutting
US: https://amzn.to/2IFTx9E
UK: https://amzn.to/2KN2ocj

Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault
US: https://amzn.to/2XIPrUA
UK: https://amzn.to/2Ke4TFj

The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction by Michel Foucault
US: https://amzn.to/2MJ6G7f
UK: https://amzn.to/2KKGUwN

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Need The Society of the Spectacle explained? Well, in this episode of What the Theory?, we’re doing just that.

The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord (a key member of the Situationist International) argues that contemporary capitalist society has become obsessed with images and appearances over all else.

Debord argues that “the spectacle” has invaded our everyday lives not just in the form of image-based advertising but also in the way that we interact with one another.

In this Society of the Spectacle summary video, I provide a brief introduction to Debord’s concept of the spectacle, taking a brief look at the context in which the book was written (including both situationism and the May ’68 Paris uprisings) and unpacking the key arguments included within.

Further Reading

Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
US: https://amzn.to/2BWg9jO
UK: https://amzn.to/2SBnzOP

Comments on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
US: https://amzn.to/2IJvt9i
UK: https://amzn.to/2NJJvqx

The Gulf War Did Note Take Placeby Jean Baudrillard
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UK: https://amzn.to/2NAGjNA

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

Bibliography

Debord, Guy (2004 [1967]) The Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Ken Knabb. London: Rebel Press. Available online: http://rebels-library.org/files/society_of_the_spectacle.pdf

Debord, Guy (1988) Comments on the Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Malcom Imrie. [Online] https://libcom.org/files/Comments%20on%20the%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle.pdf [5 February 2019].

Marx, Karl (1867) ‘Chapter One: Commodities’. in Capital: Volume One. [Online] https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch01.htm [5 February 2019]

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britainnica (2019) ‘Situationist International’. Encyclopedia Britannica. [Online] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Situationist-International [2 February 2019].

Wark, McKenzie (2011) The Beach Beneath the Street: The Everyday Life and Glorious Times of the Situationist International. London: Verso.

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Neoliberalism (or neoliberal capitalism) is a term which gets thrown around a lot in cultural and political discourse. Is it often used to describe the policies of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s and 1980s and the subsequent premierships of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair and the adjective "neoliberal" continues to be used as a derogatory phrase in the ongoing Democratic debates in the US. Yet it is also used with reference to the "gig economy" and services such as Uber, Deliveroo and Airbnb.

Is neoliberalism, then, simply a synonym for capitalism or is there more to it than that? In this "neoliberalism explained" video, I aim to answer just that.

In this month's episode of What the Theory, I unpack what we mean when we talk about neoliberalism. From the early work of economists such as Milton Friedman (author of Capitalism and Freedom), Friedrich von Hayek (author of The Road to Serfdom) and the Mont Pelerin Society, through its implementation by Reagan and Thatcher to its infliction upon countries in the global south as described in The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, I undertake a brief history of free-market capitalism and consider some of its consequences.

Support me on Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas

Further Reading

A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey
US: https://amzn.to/2O4dD21
UK: https://amzn.to/2ZSygoR

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
US: https://amzn.to/32Hgxhg
UK: https://amzn.to/2Q6Fnp5

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

#neoliberalism #Reagan #gigeconomy

Modernism; it can be confusing. So, in today's What The Theory? I wanted to provide something of a modernism crash course. We'll be looking at many different forms of modernist art as well as a tiny bit of modernist architecture and modernist literature.

I've always struggled to find modernism explained simply and it can be a rather complex theory to get your head around. So, through looking at modernist art techniques, I provide an introduction to modernism as well as beginning to discuss modernism vs postmodernism (although, more of that in the next video!).

Hopefully, this will be helpful to those of you looking to gain a better understanding of modernism and the many different modernist art movements!

Further Reading

Introducing Modernism: A Graphic Guide by Chris Rodrigues & Chris Garratt
US: https://amzn.to/2SACmJJ
UK: https://amzn.to/2VsmWsQ

Modernism: A Very Short introduction by Christopher Butler
US: https://amzn.to/2UgtJWn
UK: https://amzn.to/2NAUnqw

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

If you've enjoyed this video then please do check out the rest of my channel where I put out a whole range of videos discussing theatre and playwriting from the perspective of an aspirant and (some might say) emerging playwright and theatre maker as well as reflecting on my experience as a PhD Student.

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Thanks for watching!

What is postmodernism? This is certainly my most requested What the Theory? video yet. In it, I hope to provide an introduction to postmodernist theory and postmodernist philosophy. Along the way, we'll look at simulacra and Baudrillard's concepts of a simulacrum and hyperreality as well as Wittengenstein's concept of language-games.

There are few places online where you can find postmodernism explained simply and clearly. It's a complex theory (as perhaps is made obvious by the length of this video) but, ss always with What the Theory? I hope its the start of such a resource, particularly with so many misconceptions of postmodernism running about online of late.

Further Reading

Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late-Capitalism by Fredric Jameson
US: https://amzn.to/2UaEA46
UK: https://amzn.to/2TdVwul

Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Butler
US: https://amzn.to/2Hb4q4w
UK: https://amzn.to/2SzzPj6

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

Furthermore, while I find the Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy entry for postmodernism to be far less helpfull than other (usually its pretty ace), here's the link to that if you want to check it out: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

In this latest episode of What the Theory? I take a look at phenomenology, time and dasein (Heidegger's concept of consciousness) through the example of Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, the narrative of which is incredibly playful with how human beings experience time and consciousness.

After the success of my video on semiotics, I was keen to move beyond those Cartesian modes of interpreting the world to those which engage in a more existentialist approach.

Further Reading

Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction by Simon Critchley
US: https://amzn.to/2GR91tj
UK: https://amzn.to/2Vx11Rq

Introducing Heidegger: A Graphic Guide by Jeff Collins & Howard Selina
US: https://amzn.to/2GV3aCX
UK: https://amzn.to/2BXwaWU

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

If you've enjoyed this video then please do check out the rest of my channel where I put out a whole range of videos discussing theatre and playwriting from the perspective of an aspirant and (some might say) emerging playwright and theatre maker as well as reflecting on my experience as a PhD Student.

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Thanks for watching!

Roland Barthes' From Work to Text is a seminal essay which lays out why, in the humanities, we have come to refer to pieces of literature, films and many other things using the catch-all term "text". Because, we refer a lot to reading a text or interpreting a text. But what do we mean when talk about a literary text? The use of the term text in English Literature and literary studies might seem fairly straight-forward, but, across the wider humanities, we also often hear references to artistic texts, filmic texts and performance texts.

On the face of it, these things may not seem like texts at all. So, what do we mean when we use the term text in film studies, for example, and how is that similar or different to our use of the term text in literary studies?

Starting from Roland Barthes' From Work to Text, in which he first employed the concept of the text to provide a new method for the analysis of literary texts, I seek to explore how the term has become used as a starting point for analysing culture more broadly.

Anyone interested in having a look at From Work to Text by Roland Barthes can find it here: http://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe/handouts/8500/barthes_work_to_text.pdf

In researching this video, I also found Peter Childs' book Texts extremely useful which, if you have institutional access to JStor, can be found here: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1r1zbd

Finally, the full text of Literary Studies: An Introduction can be found on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/stream/LiteraryTheoryAnIntroduction/literary-theory_an-introduction_terry-eagleton_djvu.txt

If you've enjoyed this video then please do check out the rest of my channel where I put out a whole range of videos discussing theatre and playwriting from the perspective of an aspirant and (some might say) emerging playwright and theatre maker as well as reflecting on my experience as a PhD Student.

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Thanks for watching!

In my previous video on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, I focussed on creating a summary of the Society of the Spectacle, explained in a fairly general sense, particularly placing within the context of the Situationist International, May 1968 and Debord's wider work on situationism.

In today's follow-up, I focus on a specific aspect of Debord's concept of the Spectacle: récupération (sometimes translated into English as recuperation and sometimes as cooption) with reference to "simulacra" as defined by Jean Baudrillard and "capitalist realism" as defined by Mark Fisher and explored through Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits and the Alfonso Cuarón film Children of Men.

In particular, I discuss the manner in which Debord suggests the Spectacle interacts with radical or subversive ideas and movements and how the Spectacle might work to protect late stage capitalism from critique.

As I mention in the video, if you'd like to download a free copy of the script for today's video complete with references and footnotes, you can do so for free over on my Patreon page (and, while you're there, I would really appreciate you considering supporting my work): https://www.patreon.com/tomnicholas

Further Reading

Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
US: https://amzn.to/2BWg9jO
UK: https://amzn.to/2SBnzOP

Comments on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
US: https://amzn.to/2IJvt9i
UK: https://amzn.to/2NJJvqx

Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher
US: https://amzn.to/2HkwEt2
UK: https://amzn.to/2Jm1jIR

[The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.]

Bibliography

Jean Baudrillard. "Simulacra and Simulations." Translated by Paul Foss, Paul Patton and Philip Beitchman. In Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings, edited by Mark Poster, 169-87. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.

Bernie 2016, "America | Bernie Sanders." 2016, accessed 14 May, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nwRiuh1Cug.
Cuarón, Alfonso. "Children of Men." 1:49Universal Studios, 3 September 2006.

Guy Debord. Comments on the Society of the Spectacle. London: Verso, 1998. 1988.

———. "Report on the Construction of Situations and on the International Situationist Tendency’s Conditions of Organisation and Action." Edited and Translated by Ken Knabb. In Situationist International Anthology, 25- 43. Berkeley: Bureau of Public Secrets, 2006.

———. Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Ken Knabb. London: Rebel Press, 2005. 1967.

Mark Fisher. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Alresford: Zero Books, 2009.

"M&S Launch Lgbt Sandwich and It’s Dividing Opinion." Pink News, 2019, accessed 13 May , 2019, https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/05/02/marks-and-spencer-lgbt- sandwich-dividing-opinion.

Ken Knabb. "Notes." In Situationist International Anthology, edited by Ken Knabb, 479-92. Berkeley: Bureau of Public Secrets, 2006.
17 Guy Debord, Comments on the Society of the Spectacle (London: Verso, 1998), 19.

Horacio N. Roque Ramírez. "Gay Latino Cultural Citizenship: Predicaments of Identity and Visibility in San Francisco in the 1990s." In Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader, edited by Michael Hames-García and Ernesto Javier Martínez, 175-97. London: Duke University Press, 2011.

Charlie Brooker and Konnie Huq. Black Mirror, Season 1, episode 2, "Fifteen Million Merits." Aired 11 December 2011, 2011, on Channel 4.

If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing.

Thanks for watching!

Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com