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2/
This is the video everyone saw where she takes the flute, plays a coyple of notes, and the. Twerks while playing it.
Watch this, then I'll say a little bit about this.
This is the video everyone saw where she takes the flute, plays a coyple of notes, and the. Twerks while playing it.
Watch this, then I'll say a little bit about this.
3/
So after the twerking video went viral there was (of course) a hermeneutic and interpretive discourse of twitter about the symbolic importance of what @lizzo did.
Many people interpeted the video through the lens of race/social justice.👇
So after the twerking video went viral there was (of course) a hermeneutic and interpretive discourse of twitter about the symbolic importance of what @lizzo did.
Many people interpeted the video through the lens of race/social justice.👇
4/
Other people saw the twerking video as the careless disregard for a priceless piece of history (the flute is crystal, it could be easily broken in transport or use). They think it was done just to show that history and heritage of the U.S. has no value.
Other people saw the twerking video as the careless disregard for a priceless piece of history (the flute is crystal, it could be easily broken in transport or use). They think it was done just to show that history and heritage of the U.S. has no value.
5/
I can add many more tweets from:
Those who interpreted @lizzo twerking with James Madison's flute through a racial lens (pic 1)....and als from those who interpreted the video as an intentional disregard and devaluing of American history and heritage. (Pic 2)
I can add many more tweets from:
Those who interpreted @lizzo twerking with James Madison's flute through a racial lens (pic 1)....and als from those who interpreted the video as an intentional disregard and devaluing of American history and heritage. (Pic 2)
6/
What interests me here is that everyone on both sides saw THE EXACT SAME VIDEO. And yet, even though everyone on both sides saw THE EXACT SAME VIDEO, we still had two totally different interpretations of the **MEANING** of that video
*THAT* is what I want to look at.
What interests me here is that everyone on both sides saw THE EXACT SAME VIDEO. And yet, even though everyone on both sides saw THE EXACT SAME VIDEO, we still had two totally different interpretations of the **MEANING** of that video
*THAT* is what I want to look at.
7/
The exact same thing happened after the Kyle Rittenhouse Kenosha shootings on Aug 25, 2020. I watched in real time as two different narratives emerged from thebsame set of videos and I made a thread (24 hrs after the shooting!) about how that occured 👇
The exact same thing happened after the Kyle Rittenhouse Kenosha shootings on Aug 25, 2020. I watched in real time as two different narratives emerged from thebsame set of videos and I made a thread (24 hrs after the shooting!) about how that occured 👇
8/
What we are seeing here is very similar.
One video, two different interpretations based on how people "read" and understand James Madison, the value of historical objects, decorume around valuable artifacts, twerking, flutes, the current political situation, and so on.
What we are seeing here is very similar.
One video, two different interpretations based on how people "read" and understand James Madison, the value of historical objects, decorume around valuable artifacts, twerking, flutes, the current political situation, and so on.
9/
So, because we have no "shared meaning" with which to understand our current cultural situation, and no one agree about how to interperet our social and cultural situation... how we interpret cultural moments like @lizzo playing James Madison's flute is totally up for grabs.
So, because we have no "shared meaning" with which to understand our current cultural situation, and no one agree about how to interperet our social and cultural situation... how we interpret cultural moments like @lizzo playing James Madison's flute is totally up for grabs.
11/
The significane of thenflute, how to treat historical artifacts, how we interperet things generally, who shoulld decide, and basically everything else.
There is no *SHARED MEANING* at all when it comes to interpreting anything.
So every cultural moment that goes viral....
The significane of thenflute, how to treat historical artifacts, how we interperet things generally, who shoulld decide, and basically everything else.
There is no *SHARED MEANING* at all when it comes to interpreting anything.
So every cultural moment that goes viral....
12/
Starts a discourse where various cultural tribes battle for control over the **MEANING** of that viral cultural moment, and battle over how to interpret that viral cultural moment.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to postmodernity.
We are living in a postnodern world where...
Starts a discourse where various cultural tribes battle for control over the **MEANING** of that viral cultural moment, and battle over how to interpret that viral cultural moment.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to postmodernity.
We are living in a postnodern world where...
13/
We live in "a culture of fragmentary sensations, eclectic nostalgia, disposable simulacra, and promiscuous superficiality in which traditional values of depth, coherence, meaning, originality, and authenticity dissolve amid the random swirl of empty signals"
(Marni Gauthier)
We live in "a culture of fragmentary sensations, eclectic nostalgia, disposable simulacra, and promiscuous superficiality in which traditional values of depth, coherence, meaning, originality, and authenticity dissolve amid the random swirl of empty signals"
(Marni Gauthier)
14/
Daniel Bell and Cliffor Geertz, both quoted by Daniel Yankelovich in the April 1981 issue of Psychology today (sorry if my photo is blurry, not the best camera) said culture was in some sense about "shared meanings"
And today in the west we no longer have shared meanings...
Daniel Bell and Cliffor Geertz, both quoted by Daniel Yankelovich in the April 1981 issue of Psychology today (sorry if my photo is blurry, not the best camera) said culture was in some sense about "shared meanings"
And today in the west we no longer have shared meanings...
15/
We do not agree on the meaning of American history, the constitution, family, gender, sex, work, money, religion, communication, race, nationhood, identity, language, art, social norms, the meaning of life, how to raise children...or anything else.
Thers's no shared meaning.
We do not agree on the meaning of American history, the constitution, family, gender, sex, work, money, religion, communication, race, nationhood, identity, language, art, social norms, the meaning of life, how to raise children...or anything else.
Thers's no shared meaning.
16/
What that means is that there are no shared assumptions and no shared interpretive framework through which we can all interpret @lizzo playing James Madison's flute.
The result is an interpretive free for all and fight over whose interpretstion will reign supreme.
What that means is that there are no shared assumptions and no shared interpretive framework through which we can all interpret @lizzo playing James Madison's flute.
The result is an interpretive free for all and fight over whose interpretstion will reign supreme.
17/
We can't even settle it by asking @lizzo, because in one context she played beautifully and tweeted with graciousness. And in another tweet she makes light of twerking with a historical object...and people will interpret those tweets however they want.
We can't even settle it by asking @lizzo, because in one context she played beautifully and tweeted with graciousness. And in another tweet she makes light of twerking with a historical object...and people will interpret those tweets however they want.
18/
Postmodernism denies that there is any objective, correct, right way to interpret anything. All we have is our own interpretation of the meaning of various things. So different people will interpret words differently depending on their background and context...
Postmodernism denies that there is any objective, correct, right way to interpret anything. All we have is our own interpretation of the meaning of various things. So different people will interpret words differently depending on their background and context...
19/
The postmodern thinkers believe language is slippery, malleable, and unreliable...so there is no single, objective, clear meaning to be gleaned from any cultural or linguistic text, song, poem, speech, book, phrase, magazine, comic, or anything else...
The postmodern thinkers believe language is slippery, malleable, and unreliable...so there is no single, objective, clear meaning to be gleaned from any cultural or linguistic text, song, poem, speech, book, phrase, magazine, comic, or anything else...
20/
In addition to pessimism about meaning in language, in postmodernity there is a cynicism about intent. People often assume those who disagree with them are interpreting things with an agenda or an axe to grind and interpret things in order to get conclusions they like...
In addition to pessimism about meaning in language, in postmodernity there is a cynicism about intent. People often assume those who disagree with them are interpreting things with an agenda or an axe to grind and interpret things in order to get conclusions they like...
21/
And I think this is where we are.
Twitter is a deconstruction machine that allows everyone to slice and dice the world into little pieces and reinterpret what ever they find here in a way that fits their worldview.
That's why we have multiple narratives about @lizzo
And I think this is where we are.
Twitter is a deconstruction machine that allows everyone to slice and dice the world into little pieces and reinterpret what ever they find here in a way that fits their worldview.
That's why we have multiple narratives about @lizzo
22/
We are living in a postmodern age. It's not the age of narratives, or the information age, or anything else. This is postmodernism, and the only way out is through. We musit ind a way to reassert the value of truth, and create shared meaning because if we lose that ability...
We are living in a postmodern age. It's not the age of narratives, or the information age, or anything else. This is postmodernism, and the only way out is through. We musit ind a way to reassert the value of truth, and create shared meaning because if we lose that ability...
23/
(and it may already be gone, we may need to rediscover it) them society is going to very quickly fragment in a way which is irrepairable.
Thanks for reading.
/fin
(and it may already be gone, we may need to rediscover it) them society is going to very quickly fragment in a way which is irrepairable.
Thanks for reading.
/fin
PS/
I don't know and have never met @lizzo
But I don't think she was attempting to engage in a sort of "finger in the eye" disrespect towards Madison, nor do I think she was engaging in racial symbolism about Madisons view of slavery
I think she just likes flutes and history...
I don't know and have never met @lizzo
But I don't think she was attempting to engage in a sort of "finger in the eye" disrespect towards Madison, nor do I think she was engaging in racial symbolism about Madisons view of slavery
I think she just likes flutes and history...
PPS/
And she just got carried away with the twerking and was trying to have fun.
I really don't think she had a whole lot of culture war symbolism in mind. I could be wrong about that, but I honestly think she's a flute player who likes interesting and iconic flutes.
And she just got carried away with the twerking and was trying to have fun.
I really don't think she had a whole lot of culture war symbolism in mind. I could be wrong about that, but I honestly think she's a flute player who likes interesting and iconic flutes.
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