This paper examines how the television show Criminal Minds reinforces the culture of blaming the ... more This paper examines how the television show Criminal Minds reinforces the culture of blaming the victim of sexual assault and violence.
Since the often secretive beginnings of the internet in the middle of the twentieth century, it h... more Since the often secretive beginnings of the internet in the middle of the twentieth century, it has transformed into a global communication tool. As with any development in the field of communication, sociological and semiotician theorists were quick to see the potential for culture shifting change in the way humans shared experiences with each other. Cultural writers, such as Umberto Eco, played a significant role in the wider community's acknowledgment of the internet's part in changing the landscape of human interactions. In his 1996 lecture From Internet to Gutenberg, Eco traced the history of moral panics concerned with the perceived loss of certain forms of communication, and concluded that the computer is just another instrument in a long line of controversial communication tools. This changing nature of human interaction has given rise to innumerable blogs and user driven content internet sites where people have created communities based on shared understandings of textual and intertextual codes. One of the most well-known blog sites is the Cheezburger Network which features, among other sites, the famous Lolcats pages. This essay examines the Cheezburger Network in relation to various theories and writings by Umberto Eco, specifically in relation to his semiotic writing, the complex relationship between a reader and their text, as well as the concepts of aesthetics and ugliness. At seventy-nine, Umberto Eco is still considered by many to be at the forefront of the world's study of cultural theory. Since earning his Doctorate Degree in Philosophy in 1954 he has worked in the field of semiotic cultural analysis with particular reference to medieval history, aesthetic codes, readership and ownership of texts and linguistic structures (Scott, 2004). Through these disciplines he has published a wide variety of influential books such as The Role of the Reader (1984), Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language (1986) and The Limits of Interpretation (1994) as well as
This paper is a close reading of The Simpsons use of the Macbeth narrative in 'Four Great Women a... more This paper is a close reading of The Simpsons use of the Macbeth narrative in 'Four Great Women and a Manicure'.
Friendface: an analysis of representation of social network sites in The IT Crowd Since the explo... more Friendface: an analysis of representation of social network sites in The IT Crowd Since the explosion of Social Network Sites (or SNSs) at the beginning of the century, social theorists have written a plethora of literature examining the social interactions of the SNSs users. The early work was mainly devoted to sites such as MySpace and Friendster. However, when Facebook expanded from an exclusively university based system to an open site in 2005; it grew exponentially and gained more academic attention (boyd (sic) and Ellison, 2008). Facebook is one of the SNSs that encourage "convergence among the hitherto separate activities of email, messaging, website creation, diaries, photo albums, and music/ video uploading and downloading" (Livingstone, 2008, pg 397). As with other cultural trends that have entered the public consciousness, SNSs such as Facebook have been referenced in a number of films and television programmes. One such representation is an episode of The IT Crowd called Friendface. This essay examines Friendface using a textual analysis methodology with reference to the current sociological understandings of the phenomenon of social networking sites. It focuses on notions of friendship, advertising, the effect on face to face communication and how such sites are used. The IT Crowd is an English sit-com that centres on three characters, Jen, Roy and Moss, who work in the IT Department of Renholm Industries. Roy and Moss are self confessed computer nerds and the arrival of Jen, their computer illiterate manager in the first episode, disrupts their equilibrium. However, as the series progress (season four as of December 2010) the three characters develop a dysfunctional friendship.
This paper examines how the television show Criminal Minds reinforces the culture of blaming the ... more This paper examines how the television show Criminal Minds reinforces the culture of blaming the victim of sexual assault and violence.
Since the often secretive beginnings of the internet in the middle of the twentieth century, it h... more Since the often secretive beginnings of the internet in the middle of the twentieth century, it has transformed into a global communication tool. As with any development in the field of communication, sociological and semiotician theorists were quick to see the potential for culture shifting change in the way humans shared experiences with each other. Cultural writers, such as Umberto Eco, played a significant role in the wider community's acknowledgment of the internet's part in changing the landscape of human interactions. In his 1996 lecture From Internet to Gutenberg, Eco traced the history of moral panics concerned with the perceived loss of certain forms of communication, and concluded that the computer is just another instrument in a long line of controversial communication tools. This changing nature of human interaction has given rise to innumerable blogs and user driven content internet sites where people have created communities based on shared understandings of textual and intertextual codes. One of the most well-known blog sites is the Cheezburger Network which features, among other sites, the famous Lolcats pages. This essay examines the Cheezburger Network in relation to various theories and writings by Umberto Eco, specifically in relation to his semiotic writing, the complex relationship between a reader and their text, as well as the concepts of aesthetics and ugliness. At seventy-nine, Umberto Eco is still considered by many to be at the forefront of the world's study of cultural theory. Since earning his Doctorate Degree in Philosophy in 1954 he has worked in the field of semiotic cultural analysis with particular reference to medieval history, aesthetic codes, readership and ownership of texts and linguistic structures (Scott, 2004). Through these disciplines he has published a wide variety of influential books such as The Role of the Reader (1984), Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language (1986) and The Limits of Interpretation (1994) as well as
This paper is a close reading of The Simpsons use of the Macbeth narrative in 'Four Great Women a... more This paper is a close reading of The Simpsons use of the Macbeth narrative in 'Four Great Women and a Manicure'.
Friendface: an analysis of representation of social network sites in The IT Crowd Since the explo... more Friendface: an analysis of representation of social network sites in The IT Crowd Since the explosion of Social Network Sites (or SNSs) at the beginning of the century, social theorists have written a plethora of literature examining the social interactions of the SNSs users. The early work was mainly devoted to sites such as MySpace and Friendster. However, when Facebook expanded from an exclusively university based system to an open site in 2005; it grew exponentially and gained more academic attention (boyd (sic) and Ellison, 2008). Facebook is one of the SNSs that encourage "convergence among the hitherto separate activities of email, messaging, website creation, diaries, photo albums, and music/ video uploading and downloading" (Livingstone, 2008, pg 397). As with other cultural trends that have entered the public consciousness, SNSs such as Facebook have been referenced in a number of films and television programmes. One such representation is an episode of The IT Crowd called Friendface. This essay examines Friendface using a textual analysis methodology with reference to the current sociological understandings of the phenomenon of social networking sites. It focuses on notions of friendship, advertising, the effect on face to face communication and how such sites are used. The IT Crowd is an English sit-com that centres on three characters, Jen, Roy and Moss, who work in the IT Department of Renholm Industries. Roy and Moss are self confessed computer nerds and the arrival of Jen, their computer illiterate manager in the first episode, disrupts their equilibrium. However, as the series progress (season four as of December 2010) the three characters develop a dysfunctional friendship.
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Papers by Renee Howell