[Week 4: Sept 23] Introduction III: Basics of cultural analysis

1. Choosing a subject
1.1. About yourself

What media do you enjoy?

Do you belong to a cultural group, (e.g. a fan club) a small community (e.g. a village in NT), a group of identity ("ABC", gay and lesbian people, "new immigrant") ?

Some experience of your family or friends deserves investigation?

1.2. About your studies

What subject areas interest you most?

Is there an article or a research work you especially admire?

Do you have an assignment you particularly enjoy and you want to study in more depth?

1.3. About the subject

Have you noticed any new developments in Hong Kong or the communities you are familiar with?

Do you have access to an institution (a media group, a school, etc.) which might be a good topic of cultural analysis?

Example:
You or your friends are Disney fanatics.
You are puzzled by your own or their obsession with Disney.
You know some Disney staff.

2. Developing your research question

2.1. Define your object of analysis

-You want to know why Disney fascinates so many people.

-But what do you mean by "Disney"? Its animation? toy? theme park?

-Who are the people? Hong Kong people? People from mainland China? Children? Adult? Family?

Subject area	Focus	Examples of potential objects of analysis
Disney's animation	Texts	The represenation of woman in its early animations such as Snow White
	Audience	The oral histories of Hong Kong who grew up with Disney's cartoon
	Industry/institution	The transformation of Disney's animation (from Snow White and Little Mermaid to Mulan and Finding Nemo)
Disney's toy	Industry/ Instition	The production process of a particular toy (including design, manufacturing and marketing)
	audience	How do children play with the toys?
Disney's theme park	Industry/ institution	The history of Hong Kong Disneyland
	Audience	How do Hong Kong citizen respond to the Disneyland project in 2000 and the newly built theme park in 2005? What does "fantasy" mean for Hong Kong people?

2.2. Read around your subject area

-Analysis or reseach is based on previous works

-Seeking advice from your teachers and searching academic database (google scholar)

-Literature review--acknowledging others' contribution to a particular subject area
(Please learn how to cite academic works-- MLA)

-Think about concept and theory
Examples: Is the concept "suburbanization" useful for analyzing the history of Hong Kong Disneyland?
Is the fantasy promoted by Disney similar to religion?
Is Jean Baudrillard's "simulacrum" an accurate term for Hong Kong Disneyland?

-Think about method

Object of analysis	Method	Example
Media use	Observation	Watching TV in family
Media representation	Archival study and semiotic analysis	The image of women in media
Audience's reception	interview or focus group	Audience's reading of a TV program

2.3. Ask a specific question

-What? How? Why?

-Make the research question as much specific as possible

-Is the research problem manageable for you?

3. Example: The stories of "Yen Yi"
3.1. "Yen Yi" becomes a hit topic of Hong Kong

3.2. Object of analysis

-Audience's responses
-Media representation

3.3. Asking a question

Experience: Why does audience hate Yen Yi?
-How does the audience produce new meanings in media message?
-How does the audience negotiate with the dominant meanings?

Representation: What are Yen Yi's media images?
-Women as a symbol: What is her female image and femininity portrayed by media?
-Women in media narrative: What is the narrative structure of Yen Yi's story?

3.4. Literature review

-Experience:
*audience research
*Fandom and obsession:
Fiske, John. 1992. "The Cultural Economy of Fandom." in L. Lewis . Ed. The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media. New York :Routledge.
Jenkins, Henry. 1992. ““Get a Life!”: Fans, Poachers, Nomads.” Textual Poachers: Television Fans & Participatory Culture. New York: Routledge.

-Representation:
*Advertisement and gender stereotype
Week 8, 9, 10

3.5. Refining your question

3.5.1. What are the discrepancies between the audience's image of "Yen Yi" and their ideal image of "Snow White"?
-Object of analysis: Audience's responses, TV video clip, "Snow White" (animation) and Disney's advertisement
-Method: interview and textual analysis

-Some observations:
"Snow White": purity, elegance, innocence
Yan Yi: calculative and funny (杜汶澤的評論)

3.5.2. What are the ideologies (world-view, stereotype, convention, myth... ...) behind the audience's criticism of Yen Yi?
-Object of analysis: Audience's responses, discussion in online forum or media (such as radio talk show and newspaper)
-Method: interview, textual analysis

Some Observations:

"他約我去迪士尼" - 欣宜版

收了幾吋腰？　眼淚兩頭標
太胖會被人笑　甜夢是廿三吋
努力節食中　　卻沒有成績
吃藥也是無法　離絕望並不遠

(A desparate "fat" girl)

我害怕　這是無法達至太高的志願
我只昐　馬上纏住「別怪他」　深深的吻他

天天我為「桌希」　餐餐食樹皮
金曲今晚夜齊做對手戲
有亞「匪姐」　升職要識　導演多顧忌
不需色相我亦有機

(A girl dependent on mother's protection)

一般姐仔沒法比
不需要演技毋用合理只需夠勢利
公主怎會變豬頭　全沒在意令你生氣

我打算　成就白雪是我最終的意義
會堅信　我在樂園是冠軍　不屈的信心

即使我像隻豬
即使我是肥　即使食樹皮是會有口氣
「別怪他」　只想繼續演戲　被迫照做
真想不到嚇壞「桌希」

媽　她說我是最好
「講姐」封了后仍未及我不需要妒忌
青春的我有身材　無聊投訴極無天理

今晚我做個騷
家長要輔導　關燈看節目是會太恐怖
要變公主　此刻只想似天仙
發現衣衫改闊有辱老母

不肯相信實太糟
即使會嚇壞人仍無意改寫我命途
只因生於這家族　無法面對便要洗腦

Online forum about Yan Yi

3.5.3. How is Yen Yi perceived and constructed as "an icon to be hated"?
-Object of analysis: Media coverage on Yen Yi
-Method: historical study and textual analysis

Some observations:
The "transformation" of Yen Yi

Readings for next week
江文瑜1996＜口述史法＞《質性研究：理論、方法及本土女性研究實例》台北：巨流，249-270。