Week One 

IMAGE TEXT STRATEGY

The first part of the lesson was about introducing us to the module. The aim of the module is essentially to develop a critical appreciation of change and context within visual, material and spatial cultures of art and design. 

An understanding of change and context within art and design is important because our world is becoming more visual and we need to understand what we see and use and how it is affecting us. For example, how have smart phones changed our behaviours? As artists and designers, an understanding of the cultural significance of our work is important. 

DOMINANT, RESIDUAL AND EMERGENT

This week our aim was to read and summarise Williams, R. (1977). Dominant, residual and emergent. In Marxism and Literature (p. 121-127). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

I began by reading through the entire thing. I then read it a second time, highlighting, taking notes and looking up words as I went. 

Epochal - Characterising epoch. A particular period of time in history or a persons life. 

Feudal - According to, resembling or denoting the system of feudalism. Out-dated or old fashioned. 

Bourgeois - Belonging to the middle class, typically with reference to perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes. 

Then I read it a third time, put it aside and wrote up what the main points were from my perspective as a list. 

• The complexity of culture
• Putting culture in context (in relation to residual and emergent) in order for it to make sense
• Not seeing culture as static
• Seeing a culture as a process rather than just an 'epoch'
• We know nothing about a point in time if we do not look at what came before and after
• An understanding that a time period will contain active elements of its past, and there is always opposition. The dominant will never include everyone. 
• An understanding requires comparison

After writing up the main points, I re-read the text, put it aside and gave a rough summary a go, trying to link all the main points into a concise paragraph. 

In the chapter Dominant, Residual and Emergent, Williams discusses the complexity of culture. He believes that a culture should never be seen as static, as it is constantly evolving and moving. He argues that a culture should not be analysed is isolation from its past or future, as these are always informing and informed by the present. He explains that, in order to understand any point in time, it must also be understood that a time period also contains active elements of its past, as well as opposition to the hegemony, as the dominant will never include everyone. He believes that this must be understood in order for a historian to be able to fully analyse a culture, as understanding is made through comparison and context. 

In the second lesson, we were asked to define the terms residual, dominant and emergent and give examples for each. My definitions were:

Residual

Residual culture is the elements of the past that are actively a part of the present. The residual will partly inform the dominant culture, as it is never in complete isolation from what has come before it. Residual culture also provides insight into the dominant culture, as it reveals what the dominant culture rejects or suppresses from it's past. 

For example:

• Our culture is not dominantly Christian anymore, yet we still retain ingrained Christian values that inform what we do and how we behave.
• In the 1920s, the flapper girl fashion styles were rebelling against the constraints of the Victorian era. This could not be understood without an understanding of that era, as it informed the rebellion.
•  Post-modernism could not be understood without an understanding of modernism.

Dominant

At any one time, there will be a dominant culture. This dominant culture will posses an ideology that controls thinking, being and understanding, without appearing to be doing so. This ideology will be maintained in a subtle way through institutions and communications. However, the dominant school of thought is complicated by the residual and emergent cultures, never encompassing everyone, everything or every thought. Dominant cultures appear to be timeless, but the dominant and emergent remind us that they are temporary.

Emergent

New ideas are being created constantly that oppose or are different to the hegemony. Williams divides these into two categories, the alternative, and the oppositional. Some of these ideas will eventually take the place as the dominant.
For example:

• Marcel Duchamp's artwork Fountain can be interpreted as possessing post-modern ideas, but was created in the early stages of modernism. This is proof that, even when modernism itself was only just being established, new ideas were already being introduced. 

Why are we reading Williams?

I think it is important to read Williams and to keep his ideas in mind when we think about Modernism and Post-modernism, and also when conducting historical analysis in general. This is because we need to keep in mind that time-periods and movements are not simple or static, and perceiving them as such can be easier, but also very limiting and inaccurate. We need to acknowledge these complications and contradictions in order to have an understanding that is as complete as we can manage.

After some class discussion, defining these terms and thinking about examples of each, I gave the summary another go.I will continue to refine this summary.