In my Paper 3, I want to examine the idea that a product in pop culture, whether made by one person or many, can be considered art. This is so as Dwight Macdonald, in the chapter "Division of Labour" of his thesis "A Theory of Mass Culture", predicted that as products in pop culture become something that is made by many people ("specialists") rather than one person ("artists"), they will become "bad qualitatively".
I find this (cynical) prediction to be at best, not all encompassing, considering how people do appreciate all sorts of products in today's world. I also noticed that it did not cover how technology or simply, one's will, will allow the creation of products by either one person or many.
Ultimately, I will show how prizes celebrate both types of products. In the case of products made by many people, I will also show how prizes celebrate the persons behind a particular section of it.
Here's the structure of my essay:
1. Introduction (Explanation of Dwight's Macdonald and my arguments)
2. Prizes celebrating products made by one person (I will use the case studies of manga and indie games here)
3. Prizes celebrating products (or products within them, e.g. characters) made by many people (I will use case studies of anime, Western comics, large-scale games)
4. Prizes celebrating the individuals behind such products(I will use case studies of the seiyuu/CV (voice actors) behind anime, specific designers behind games)
5. Conclusion (A slight concession to Dwight, but will make it clear that prizes help to show that there still exists "art")
What do you all think?
I find this (cynical) prediction to be at best, not all encompassing, considering how people do appreciate all sorts of products in today's world. I also noticed that it did not cover how technology or simply, one's will, will allow the creation of products by either one person or many.
Ultimately, I will show how prizes celebrate both types of products. In the case of products made by many people, I will also show how prizes celebrate the persons behind a particular section of it.
Here's the structure of my essay:
1. Introduction (Explanation of Dwight's Macdonald and my arguments)
2. Prizes celebrating products made by one person (I will use the case studies of manga and indie games here)
3. Prizes celebrating products (or products within them, e.g. characters) made by many people (I will use case studies of anime, Western comics, large-scale games)
4. Prizes celebrating the individuals behind such products(I will use case studies of the seiyuu/CV (voice actors) behind anime, specific designers behind games)
5. Conclusion (A slight concession to Dwight, but will make it clear that prizes help to show that there still exists "art")
What do you all think?
Dear Shi Rong, your primary texts anticipate a fascinating study. It is great that you are working on something you feel passionate about. I am a bit worried that you have too many texts. Would you consider reducing your focus to just one or two texts, such prizes celebrating the product of manga (produced by many)? You would also need to do a little research on how "art" is defined. Macdonald clearly has a specific understanding of what constitutes art. Perhaps you can find other definitions that help you challenge his claim? Then you can test your primary text against these definitions?
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