The document discusses issues of identity, representation, and culture through multiple perspectives and sources. It explores how identity is shaped by collective identities and media representations that are ideologically constructed. Several theorists are cited discussing how the media has power to influence attitudes and beliefs through the representations it transmits. The document also examines youth subcultures, music genres like grime, and the evolution of black British culture over time. It suggests identities are fluid and continually shaped by external influences like the mass media.

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2. USEFUL QUOTES and READING:
our identity is partly a matter of what we share with other people. Here, identity
is about identification with others whom we assume are similar to us (if not
exactly the same), at least in some significant ways.
David Buckingham
(Collective identity) It is a perception of a shared status or relation, which may be
imagined rather than experienced directly, and it is distinct from personal
identities, although it may form part of a personal identity.
COLLECTIVE IDENTITY AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS. Annual Review of Sociology,
January 01, 2001, Polletta, Francesca; Jasper,James M
“…media representations of ‘race’ and ethnicity are constructed in accordance
with dominant ideological positionings which serve to shape and control how
individuals understand others’, and their own, identities.”
Fatimah Awan, Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008 http://www.artlab.org.uk/fatimah-awan-phd.htm
Stuart Hall proposes that the media, as a principal form of ideological
dissemination, produces representations of the social world via images and
portrayals.
Fatimah Awan, Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008 http://www.artlab.org.uk/fatimah-awan-phd.htm
In agreement with Hall, a significant body of research suggests that the media, as
a key transmitter of representations and as a major source of information within
society, has the power to control and shape attitudes and beliefs held in the
popular imagination
Fatimah Awan, Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008 http://www.artlab.org.uk/fatimah-awan-phd.htm
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3. Hall (1990) argues that the methods in which black people and their experiences
are represented and subjugated under white ideology is not only a result of
political and economic agendas, but also, in accordance with Edward Said’s (1978)
principle of Orientalism, functions to construct blacks as ‘Other’. Furthermore,
Hall claims that the insidious and ‘invisible’ nature of this ideology leads black
people to understand themselves as ‘Other’
Fatimah Awan, Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008 http://www.artlab.org.uk/fatimah-awan-phd.htm
Hall demonstrates, representation not only affects the understanding of ethnic
minority groups within society as a whole, but also how ethnic minority groups
come to perceive their own identities.
Fatimah Awan, Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008 http://www.artlab.org.uk/fatimah-awan-phd.htm
We must also consider Hall’s (1990) notion that identity is not necessarily ‘fixed’,
but a fluid phenomena; ‘Perhaps instead of thinking of identity as an already
accomplished historical fact … we should think, instead, of identity as a
“production”, which is never complete, always in process…
Fatimah Awan, Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008 http://www.artlab.org.uk/fatimah-awan-phd.htm
Establishing that the media have the power to dictate which representations of
ethnic minorities are chosen and circulated in the public arena, research into
minority representation has revealed two fundamental issues underlying the
area: underrepresentation and stereotypical representation. It is suggested that
through such representations, ethnic minorities continue to be subordinated in
accordance with white ideological hegemony
Fatimah Awan, Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008 http://www.artlab.org.uk/fatimah-awan-phd.htm
Mass media plays a significant role in the transmission and maintenance of
cultural identity, through a repetitive display of cultural norms and values which
eventually become seen as simple ‘truths’.
http://www.newinfluencer.com/mediapedia/black-and-white-media/
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4. The repetitive framing of particular images in certain ways eventually leads to
those images being seen as the definitive statement on ‘those’ people and the
groups to which ‘they’ belong .
http://www.newinfluencer.com/mediapedia/black-and-white-media/
…in line with Gilroy's thesis that in a hybrid space such as twenty-first century
postcolonial and post-imperial Britain blackness and Englishness permeate each
other and ethnic absolutism is no longer tenable.
CENTRING MARGINALITY THROUGH BLACK BRITISH NARRATIVES:
SMALL ISLAND AND YOUNG SOUL REBELS, Francesca Giommi
http://journal.afroeuropa.eu/index.php/afroeuropa/article/viewFile/119/110
the media are highly selective in the way in which they construct and represent
the world back to us
Kruger, Stephen. Rayner, Philip. & Wall, Peter. (2004). Media Studies: The
Essential Resource. London: Routledge, London and New York.
The hegemonic model acknowledges that much of the media is controlled by a
relatively small group of people (who are generally male, middle class and white)
and that the viewpoints associated with these groups inevitably become
embedded in the products themselves.
Baker, James. Clark, Vivienne. & Lewis, Eileen. (2003). Key Concepts & Skills for
Media Studies:. London: Hodder Headline.
It can be said that the media choose to represent ethnic minorities in ways which
reinforce stereotypes in order to maintain a hegemonic society relating to how “a
dominant class or group maintains power by making everyone accept their
ideology as normal or neutral, through cultural influence rather than force
Williams, Kevin. (2003). Understanding Media Theory (Hodder Arnold
Publication). London:
A Hodder Arnold Publication.
Grime was essentially the UK's own authentic response to hip hop, an angst-
ridden, confrontational music conveying the hopes and frustrations of an
apolitical generation locked into decaying housing estates.
Don't Call Me Urban! The Time of Grime, Simon Wheatly (Northumbria Press,
2010)
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5. Many black youths reject the 'urban' label that has been imposed on them by
commerce and the media. There is a significant discrepancy between perceptions
of black culture as 'cool' and the often-harsh reality of being born black on a
London council estate.
Don't Call Me Urban! The Time of Grime, Simon Wheatly (Northumbria Press,
2010)
How mass media shapes personal identity.
http://fuknus.chrisdamitio.com/2008/12/how-mass-media-shapes-personal-
identity/
Think about how we form our identities and where the information our identities
are built on comes from. The influence of the mass media shapes our concepts of
who we are, what is important to us, and how we live our lives.
Michael Foucault – Text, Discourse and Ideology
‘By creating the way we think about things, our society is able to actually limit the
things we think about’
The mass media is able to shape identity through the conditioning of thoughts
towards thinking a certain way
In looking at the mass media today, one should look critically. What are those in
control of mass media trying to make us believe about ourselves? When I ask
myself ‘Who am I?’, how much of the answer comes from within me and how
much has come from sources outside of me? Who benefits from the conception
of self that is being taught, pushed, forced upon each of us through the mass
media? Are we being accidentally shaped into something different from who we
are by being an unintended audience? Are we developing new ideas or just
regurgitating the ideas that have been fed to us through print, video, and digital
media?
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6. Media Use in Identity Construction - Katherine Hamley
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/klh9802.html
‘Everything concerning our lives is seen to be ‘media-saturated’ identity is
something that is constructed over a period of time and can be constantly
updated or changed’
Do you Choose your Identity or is it Chosen for you? – Dana Mrkich
http://www.danamrkich.com/writings/essays/06/dycyi.html
‘Can people choose their identity and if so how much of our identity do we
choose?’
‘According to postmodern theories we don’t have as much conscious choice over
our identity creation as we think we do. Postmodernism suggests that we mould
ourselves, and are moulded by others, in response to whatever is currently
popular and accepted.’
‘The degree to which we choose our identity, versus having it imposed on us via
external influence, is arguably a matter of consciousness and awareness. When
we are unaware of the power of external influence we are akin to pieces of clay,
being unconsciously moulded to fit into the accepted or preferred norms of
someone else’s reality. When we are aware we can take responsibility for the
creation of our identity. We can make empowered choices that best serve our
selves, rather than serve people and systems outside of ourselves.’
‘In today’s world the choosing of one’s identity is a multi-layered experience,
consciously and unconsciously influenced by countless factors.’
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7. Music and identity among European youth – Keith Roe
http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/MIE/Part2_chapter03.shtml
‘The concept of subculture… became the unifying element in a new theory that
sought to explain the complex ways in which certain youth groups were using
music for the purpose of constructing a group identity.’
In the sociological literature subcultures are seen to emerge where groups of
interacting individuals, experiencing common shared problems, develop particular
meaning systems, modes of expression or life styles. Normally, these groups are
found in subordinate positions in society where their members are more or less
directly confronted by structural contradictions arising from the wider social
context.
‘According to Brake (1980), subcultures provide particular functions for the
young.
1. they offer an imaginary solution to certain structural problems which are
collectively experienced.
2. they offer a context for the selection of cultural elements such as style,
values, ideologies and life-style that can be used to develop an achieved
identity outside the ascribed identity offered by home, school or work.
3. they provide an alternative form of social reality, not infrequently a
symbolic community transmitted through the mass media.’
‘Brake saw subculture style as an expressive means of projecting an identity
which appears to be "magically" freed from social position.’
‘so far, research into the specific media use of minority ethnic youth groups is at
best very patchy. What is clear is that media discourses and mediated popular
culture have a central role in shaping the ways in which ethnic groups view
themselves and each other.’
‘music use may help to transgress or even dissolve ethnic boundaries… there is an
urgent need for more research into the specific ways in which young people of
different ethnic backgrounds use music for the purposes of identity creation.’
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8. ‘…we are entitled to speculate as to whether, in the future, it will continue to be
significant to the same extent as it has been for the past four decades… As society
changes, it creates the conditions for the generation of new social formations
whose members will choose cultural elements as part of their self-definitions.’
Identity Construction – Karen A. Cerulo
‘Collective identity – the notion addresses the “we-ness” of a group, stressing the
similarities or shared attributes around which group members coalesce1.’
How postmodernism controls your identity
http://newworldorderuniversity.com/?p=1574
‘The anthropologist James Clifford has pointed out that radio, TV, film, and the
internet change places, so that local cultures are no longer local. Local cultures
exposed to television no longer exhibit local qualities but new global qualities.
Clifford calls this virtual migration. Culture is now hybridized by media
penetration…’
‘Clifford believes there is no global homogeneous culture. Instead, imagined
places hold cultural and ethnic identities. This means the migrant recreates his
identity in each new place in relation to the homeland.’
In a postmodern world - Who am I... and does it matter?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A809895
‘The creation of a supposedly multicultural society has created a situation where
it's increasingly difficult to define what it means to be British.’
‘Since postmodern identity is about constructing an image by choice, it follows
that our identity is not fixed since we are at liberty to change our minds.’
1
Coalesce means to unite or join together
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9. What is Black British Culture? (BBC 1Xtra)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/tx/documentaries/black_british.shtml
Black British culture really began from the arrival of Windrush
Black British culture is symbolized through
 Food
 Clothes
 Music
 Patios – this is seen as a symbol of black identity
Food, music and accents once associated with black culture are now apart of
everyday life for many people around the UK
Over time it’s going to continue to evolve – it may lose it’s original African and
Caribbean culture along the way
Identities and ‘new ethnicities’ among British Bangladeshi and mixed--heritage
youth in London (Garbin, David, 2009)
http://www.swadhinata.org.uk/document/New%20ethnicities_Bangladeshis_
Mixed__Report_DGarbin.pdf
The focus of the sociological and anthropological research on youth subcultures
has gradually shifted from a study of 'resistance through rituals' (Hall and
Jefferson, 1975) during the 1970s and 1980s to a more post-modern conceptual
framework concerned with the formation of new ethnicities and the dynamics of
interculturalism (Wulff, 1995). While the study of 'hybridity' and fluid identities is
at the heart of the analysis of subcultural practices…
subcultures can be seen as an expression of both collective identity and an
individual sense of belonging.
Within this subcultural sphere, and particularly in music, the process of
hybridisation is closely linked to the construction of diasporic identities, which are
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10. said to challenge the hegemony of national, ethnic or cultural categories (Gilroy,
1993; Hall, 1992).
A growing body of literature has emerged concerning this new musical creativity
and its relationship to the formation of diasporic and intercultural identities in
urban settings.
Nick described the dominance of a 'black heritage' in the contemporary
subcultural sphere and its influence in the broader society and he also stressed
the positive dimension of the combination, the 'merging', to borrow the term he
used, of 'white' and black cultures. In other words, he not only suggested a
negotiation of 'black' and 'white' cultural categories but also acknowledged the
role of dialogic and intercultural dynamics, which were constructed in opposition
to the 'separation' of 'black people and white people', prevalent 'back in the days'
White culture doesn't do much, not as much stuff as the black culture...White
culture doesn't have as much...like food or, say, comedy of all sorts...Most of the
stuff has come from black heritage...! reckon it's bonded together right now...Cos
white people are following a black trend, so then it doesn't become a black trend,
it becomes a both trend, just a straight trend.
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11. There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack- Paul Gilrov 11987. ed 20021
Good Quotes
'...a history that show the necessarily complex relationships which have existed
between blacks and the cultural and political institutions of the white, urban
working-class communities that are transformed and reoriented by their
presence'
'As black styles, music, dress, dance, fashion and languages became a determining
force shaping the style, music, dress, fashion and language of urban Britain as a
whole...'
'Black expressive cultures affirm while they protest. The assimilation of blacks is
not a process of acculturation2 but of cultural syncretism3 (Bastide, 1978).'
'The effects of these ties and the penetration of black forms into dominant
culture mean that it is impossible to theorize black culture in Britain without
developing a new perspective on British culture as a whole.'
'They set about creating it [a cohesive culture] from the diverse influence which
were available and which corresponded to their predicament.'
'It would appear that long before the advent of 'rock ‘n' roll', the rise of soul, disco
and reggae, the cultural institutions of the white working class were hosting an
historic encounter between young black and white people. This meeting
precipitated4" not only fear of the degeneration of the white 'race' in general...
but also the creation of youth sub-culture in which black style and expertise were
absolutely central.'
'The involvement of whites, particularly young people, in the consumption of
black cultures was noted by commentators in the early 1960s.'
'Culture is not a fixed and impermeable feature of social relations. Its forms
change, develop, combine and are dispersed in historical processes. The syncretic
2
Acculturation - modification of the culture of a group as a result of contact with a different culture
3
Syncretism - fusion of differing belief systems the result is heterogeneous
4
Precipitated - caused
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12. cultures of black Britain exemplify this. They have been able to detach cultural
practices from their origins and use them to found and extend the new patterns
of metacommunication which give their community substance and collective
identity.'
'The defensive walls around each sub-culture gradually crumble and new forms
with even more complex genealogies are created in the synthesis 5 and
transcendence of previous styles. The effects of this can be seen not only where
the cultural resources of the Afro-Caribbean communities provide a space in
which whites are able to discover meaning in black histories, style and language,
but also where a shared culture, over determined by its context of the urban
crisis, mediates the relationship between the different ethnic groups that
together comprise black Britain.'
5
Synthesis - fusion
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13. KEY WORDS and TERMINOLOGY
Black-British
Original meaning a British resident with specifically Sub-Saharan African
ancestral origins, who self-identifies, or is identified, as "Black", African or
Afro- Caribbean.
Hegemony
Antonio Gramsci and the concept of hegemony, put simply ‘hegemony’
refers to the supremacy of one social grouping over the other. Gramsci
argued that the ruling elite always makes great efforts to persuade the rest
of the population that maintaining the status quo is ‘common sense’. This
involves convincing them that supporting the interests of the elite is in their
own best interests.
“…media representations of ‘race’ and ethnicity are constructed
in accordance with dominant ideological positionings which
serve to shape and control how individuals understand others’,
and their own, identities.”
Fatimah Awan, Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008
Imperial ‘Other’
Referring to Black migrants from former British colonies, who are seen as
not belonging in the country they have migrated to
Mediation
The process by which the media select, alter, interpret, edit or invent
aspects of the world before presenting it to the audience in the form of
representations. There is an important difference between mediated
experience and one’s direct personal experience
“…our knowledge of the world is constructed by media
representations” (Andrews, Maggie. Burton, Julia. & Stevenson,
Elspeth.(2009). AQA A2 Media Studies: Student's Book (Aqa Media
Studies for A2).Surrey: Nelson Thornes Ltd.
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14. Post-Colonialism
Refers to a complex and competing set of discourses that consider the
legacy and intellectual ramifications of colonialism. By colonialism we are
talking about the process of colonisation intrinsic to Empire building: one
country’s claim to sovereignty over another. When referring to colonialism
there is therefore a tendency to make implicit reference to the British
Empire.
Representation
 The constructed and mediated presentation of people, things, ideas,
places
 Representation is the process by which the media present the ‘real
world’
 Most importantly to represent is to ‘re-present’
“ In agreement with Hall, a significant body of research suggests
that the media, as a key transmitter of representations and as a
major source of information within society, has the power to
control and shape attitudes and beliefs held in the popular
imagination”
Fatimah Awan,Young People, Identity and the Media, PhD Research
Project, 2008
Syncretism
Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or
religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous.
Youth sub-culture
A minority youth culture whose distinctiveness depended largely on the
social class and ethnic background of its members; often characterized by
its adoption of a particular music genre
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