Politics Of Cultural Representation Research Articles

Introduction: Thirty Years after Cultural Capital

Abstract This essay considers the status of John Guillory's Cultural Capital thirty years after its publication. Responding to an ongoing crisis in the humanities (which seems never to have passed) and to the “canon wars” of literary studies in the 1980s and 1990s, Cultural Capital refocused the debate about literary canons and aesthetic value away from contests of judgment in order to describe the social and institutional contexts of canon formation. What emerges from Guillory's Bourdieusian framework is a brilliant account not only of the process of canon formation but also of the professional anxieties that attend arguments about canonicity and representation. The essay explores the structure of Guillory's argument and considers why this work has been largely absent in recent debates about the state of the profession and the discipline of literary studies. The essay then introduces each contribution to this special issue, which seeks to bring Guillory's theory of canon formation back into contemporary debates about the future of literary studies, the politics of cultural representation, and the state of the humanities in crisis.

The politics and practices of representing bodies in capitalism

This publication was produced from a roundtable discussion about the cultural politics of representation and metabolic illness commissioned by the organizers of the 2021 “Just Food” conference. The immediate occasion for the roundtable was a film that had been submitted to the conference titled, El Susto: Mexico’s Love Affair with Sugary Drinks Turns Deadly, produced by Karen Akins.
 Just Food conference organizers wished to screen the film and provide an academic roundtable discussion to unpack some of the tropes that frequently surround discussions of globalized markets of processed foods and the rise of metabolic illness (see also, for example, the NYTimes multi-part series on the rise of “globesity”). With questions posed by the Chair, Emily Yates-Doerr, the roundtable discussion focused broadly on the challenge of problematizing the inequitable burden of metabolic illness among equity-seeking groups without stigmatizing those who consume foods that are often seen as the cause of disease. More specifically, panelists considered how to redress the corporate greed that drives expanding global markets for processed food, without pathologizing racialized and fat bodies. We jointly insisted that academic inquiry and activism should keep the focus on political and economic structures, such as trade agreements and health policies, that undergird health inequities, rather than individual dietary choice or a lack of education. 
 The roundtable panelists were selected by the Just Food conference organizers because of their expertise on metabolic disorder, the cultural practice of capitalism(s), and techniques of representation. Because we believe the conversation has relevance for anyone working on or thinking about health and its representation – in or outside of Mexico -- we are reproducing it here. We have lightly edited the transcript of the conversation to help with readability.

The Politics of Participation in Documentary

The Politics of Participation in Documentary Sasha Crawford-Holland (bio) Curated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling. By Sujatha Fernandes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. 212 pages. $115.00 (cloth). $28.95 (paper). Immediations: The Humanitarian Impulse in Documentary. By Pooja Rangan. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2017. 254 pages. $99.95 (cloth). $26.95 (paper). The Undocumented Everyday: Migrant Lives and the Politics of Visibility. By Rebecca M. Schreiber. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2018. xvi + 379 pages. $120.00 (cloth). $30.00 (paper). Empower those who are powerless; make the invisible visible; give a voice to the voiceless—so go the platitudes that have shaped the common sense of documentary advocacy projects for decades. These phrases perform a double maneuver by constructing their subjects through lack and then mandating an intervention to rectify that deficiency. The interventionist gift is extended as a well-intentioned expression of ignorance and arrogance. For example, in her book Curated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling, Sujatha Fernandes argues that the Afghan Women's Writing Project constructs Afghan women as living in a primitive society that silences them before inviting these women to "speak out" in forums intended for Western readers. Erasing Afghan women's local activism, including that against US imperialism, Western workshop facilitators impose their own conceptions of freedom and gender equality as universal storytelling principles that women must learn to liberate themselves. The resulting narratives of individual empowerment disarticulated from structural context perpetuate orientalist fantasies that rationalize Western interventionism. It is only by preemptively depriving Afghan women of "a voice" that they can then be accorded one on Western terms. Documentary advocacy projects further instrumentalize the discourse of participation in order to gain political and epistemological legitimacy. Inviting [End Page 1021] people to collaborate in their own representation with varying degrees of autonomy, such projects promise their subjects empowerment and celebrate their engagement as a revolutionary act. In the 1990s, Saidiya Hartman influentially demonstrated how processes of reform and recognition can choreograph scenes of subjection that perpetuate the oppressions they claim to end.1 More recently, Herman Gray has elaborated on Hartman's insights in his effort to understand why the cultural politics of representation seem to have failed to deliver on their promise of social justice despite the proliferation of media cultures that champion diversity.2 Today, amid the growing accessibility of media production technologies and the hegemony of Web 2.0 platforms that solicit user-generated content, participation has developed into a pervasive cultural logic and arguably has even been elevated to an ethics. But this participatory culture only promotes diversity insofar as it diversifies markets; it nurtures engagement as a euphemism for consumer loyalty and a source of lucrative data. This condition supplants the media regime in which visibility equaled power and proliferates a new technique of power that operates through what Gray describes as the "incitement to media visibility."3 The books under review challenge the politics of representation that mistake visibility for empowerment, representation for justice, and participation for authenticity. Spanning a range of disciplines and historical and geographic contexts, the authors model a variety of approaches to the critical study of participatory media. What they share is a concern for the ways that recent advocacy projects endow self-representation with the currency of truth, extracting those truths from subjects in predetermined forms at the expense of their own political interests and desires. Self-representation functions as a truth claim in itself by promising that a text will be less mediated than other forms of representation on the basis of its subjects' participation. This fallacy elides historical realities, institutional priorities, and aesthetic proclivities, not to mention the constitutive characteristic of media: mediation. Fernandes, Pooja Rangan, and Rebecca Schreiber all insist that mediation demands our attention most when it seems not to be happening at all. Working from a Foucauldian understanding that contemporary power is not merely repressive but also generative, they attend to the scenes of cultural production, instruction, performance, and curation where documentary meaning is negotiated. In doing so, they interrogate the terms of subjects' participation in advocacy projects, revealing them to be premised on relations that they theorize variously as...

What Makes Privations Endurable?―Jeo Haneuredo Seulpeumi(1965) and Cultural Politics of Representation of Poverty

What Makes Privations Endurable?―Jeo Haneuredo Seulpeumi(1965) and Cultural Politics of Representation of Poverty

Carola Erika Lorea, Folklore, Religion and the Songs of a Bengali Madman: A Journey Between Performance and the Politics of Cultural Representation

Carola Erika Lorea, <i>Folklore, Religion and the Songs of a Bengali Madman: A Journey Between Performance and the Politics of Cultural Representation</i>

The Merchandizing of Identity: The Cultural Politics of Representation in the “I Am Canadian” Beer

The Merchandizing of Identity: The Cultural Politics of Representation in the “I Am Canadian” Beer

Translation as Testimony: The Politics of Cultural Representation in Daoud Hari’s The Translator and Laura Esquivel’s Malinche

AbstractWhen the Nahua woman known as La Malinche became the interpreter of Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of Mexico, she was not only carving her name as one of history’s most influential translators, but was also rendered one of the most enduring symbols of the cultural intricacies of translation. Malinche’s knowledge of both Spanish and Nahuatl and the way it made her instrumental in the conquerors’ success took her role from the level of linguistic mediator to that of an active agent in cultural transformation, or rather cultural erosion. Having used her linguistic abilities to help the invaders against her people, Malinche has since the conquest been labeled a traitor. Becoming Cortés’s mistress served to further confirm this idea. Yet, being arguably the bearer of the first “mestizo,” Malinche came to be perceived as the mother of the Mexican people and the progenitor of the new race. In both cases, La Malinche has till this moment been emblematic of the complexities of cultural representation.Laura Esquivel’s novel Malinche (2007) explores the heroine’s position at the crossroads between two cultures where the demarcations between the target and source languages are blurred as her allegiance is put into question. The act of translation is rendered ambivalent with the translator, being a slave to the Spaniards, lacking the free will for such a vocation, thus unable to choose sides or determine who she represents. She, however, could have played a major role in preserving the memory of her pre-Colombian world just before its eradication. Daoud Hari’s The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memory of Darfur (2008) offers a different perspective of the role of the translator. Hari, who belongs to the Zaghawa tribe in Western Sudan, acts as a mediator between his people, who are being subjected to systematic genocide by the government-backed Janjaweed militia, and the outside world. Through making the conscious decision to go back to Darfur, Hari turns his knowledge of English into the tool through which he can make the voice of his people heard, hence choosing to be their representative and taking upon himself the task of documenting their trauma.This paper tackles the nature of translation through comparing the role of the translators in both works and exploring the different levels of representation associated with the process of translation. This will be done through examining the loyalty-treason paradigm and how far it affects, positively and/or negatively, the role of the translator as the bearer of his/her people’s memory. The paper will, therefore, deal with the relation between translation and testimony and will investigate how far translation can, in this sense, complement storytelling as a means of chronicling and resistance.

The Politics of Cultural Representation: Afro-Ecuadorian Narratives in a Plurinational Framework

The Politics of Cultural Representation: Afro-Ecuadorian Narratives in a Plurinational Framework

An interview with King Kapisi, Awanui Reeder and Ryan Monga

In this Riff article, Jared Mackley-Crump speaks to three prominent New Zealand musicians with various Pacific ancestries: King Kapisi (real name Bill Urale) of S?moan descent, Ryan Monga (of the band Ardijah) of M?ori/Cook Island/Tahitian descent, and Te Awanui Reeder (of the group Nesian Mystik) of M?ori descent. The interview sets out to explore their experiences performing in Pacific festival spaces and their perceptions about the importance of these spaces. It provides first-person perspectives on how they view their music performances as situated within spaces where the politics of cultural representation are heightened. In doing so, they touch on the ongoing debate about ‘Pacific music’ and what constitutes this label.

The Politics of Cultural Representation

This paper focuses on the representational politics of the Aeta indigenous women healers in Cagayan Valley in the Philippines. Indigenous peoples have been represented as backward, irrational, and consequently non‐human. For racialized women, it is a double tragedy. They face race and gender misrepresentation. This identification interns them on the margins of society. This colonial representation is being questioned and subverted through the narratives of 12 Aeta women healers in the Philippines. In order to make clarifications as to how they have been represented, the Aeta indigenous women healers discussed and elaborated their indigeneity, language, and spirituality. In turn, they contrast their healing practices with public health. Their hope is to amend the way they have been signified. It is a point where the totalizing narratives meet the subjugated knowledge with a call for fairer representation. This paper confirms that Aeta women healers do not need external representation. They can represent themselves. In fact, they have already been representing themselves. The big question is, are we listening?

Situating Citizen Khan: Shifting representations of Asians onscreen and the outrage industry in the social media age

This article looks at the way that British Asians have been portrayed in UK postwar popular culture historically concentrating on onscreen representations and considers these alongside academic analyses coming up to date with the much remarked on BBC1 television situation comedy Citizen Khan of Autumn 2012. It is argued that whilst we have witnessed a shift from popular cultural examples that construct Asians by substituting them within pre-existing broadcasting formats to what could be termed self-depictions by Asian writers themselves, the word “Asian” has itself unravelled under the weight of heightened religious and national assertiveness. More profound still has been the growth in scale and extent of new media allowing a new cultural politics of representation which now empowers the (mis)represented to respond to their portrayal in mainstream media in a way that the consumers and producers of earlier cultural products could not have imagined was possible.

The Emergence of the Mona Lisa Battalions: Graffiti Art Networks in Post-2011 Egypt

During and after the January 2011 revolutionary protests, Egypt witnessed the surge and spread of graffi ti and street art activities. The story of graffi ti in Egypt is usually rendered as voices of dissent, modes of symbolic resistance, or expressive force of anger, solidarity, and commemoration. While it is true that the collapse of the state security services and the liberation of public space after the 2011 had fostered the growth of artistic revolutionary expressions, the story of artistic production implies more than politics of cultural representation. Rather, these artistic expressions are usually grounded in the formations, expansions, and contractions of social groups that keep on negotiating their identities, networks, capacities and limitations.

Transgressive Sexualities: Politics of Pleasure and Desire in Kamasutra: A Tale of Love and Fire

Utilizing feminist film theory, critical reviews, and viewer responses, this article examines visual representations of transgressive sexuality in two diasporic Indian women's films: Kamasutra: A Tale of Love by Mira Nair, and Fire by Deepa Mehta. The article draws from research on ancient discourses on sexuality in India to argue that contemporary constructions of women's sexuality in South Asia are not devoid of patriarchal and fundamentalist cultural politics of representation.

Being Maasai, becoming indigenous: postcolonial politics in a neoliberal world

Preface List of Key Organizations and Documents Introduction: Positionings--The Cultural Politics of Representation, Recognition, Resources, and Rights 1. Becoming Indigenous in Africa 2. Maasai NGOs, the Tanzanian State, and the Politics of Indigeneity 3. Precarious Alliances 4. Repositionings: From Indigenous Rights to Pastoralist Livelihoods 5. If We Had Our Cows: Community Perspectives on the Challenge of Change Conclusion: What Do You Want? Notes Bibliography Index

Cultural Politics of Representation in Contemporary Indonesia

AbstractThe organisation and representation of diversity is a crucial challenge for all countries and especially for post-colonial nations. Accordingly, the politics of multiethnic representation as well as multicultural rhetoric is constantly reformulated and adapted to new conditions, both locally and globally.Cultural theme parks are a typical arena for the display of multiculturality. In the case of Indonesia it is of special interest to investigate whether and in what ways the public staging of ethnic cultures has changed in the reform era (since 1998). This includes aspects of inclusion and exclusion. Which ethnic groups are defined as being constitutive for the Indonesian nation and how are they represented in the central theme park, Taman Mini, in Jakarta? In which ways are the political processes of democratisation and decentralisation reflected in the organisation of Taman Mini, which used to be a main icon of Suharto's New Order regime?This paper suggests that there is a need for Indonesia to re-imagine itself and to refashion a globally oriented multicultural—or, even better, transcultural—identity for the future. Popular public spaces like cultural theme parks have the potential to be appropriate places for such innovative visions.

The Politics of Cultural Representation: Turkish–German Encounters

This article considers the development of Turkish-German cinema, situating it in relation to both the early manifestations of a diasporic literature in Germany and the attempts by filmmakers associated with the New German Cinema to represent the experience of migrants in the Federal Republic. These films were frequently criticised for reducing their protagonists to stereotypes, portraying the migrant as victim and focusing excessively on conflict of an intercultural or intracultural kind. The 1990s saw the emergence of a younger generation of Turkish directors in Germany intent on breaking away from this ‘cinema of the affected’ by not foregrounding the problematisation of alterity. The article concludes by examining the recent work of one of these directors, Thomas Arslan, and assesses its success in representing ‘life in, as well as between, two cultures’.

Sol plaatje, orality and the politics of cultural representation1

(1999). Sol plaatje, orality and the politics of cultural representation. Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa: Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 75-91.

Moral Integrity in Costumed Identity: Negotiating "National Costume" in 19th-Century Bavaria

Maximilian II of Bavaria's wedding plans for 1842 illustrate the layers of moral and political intent that dress was made to carry. The administrative correspondence on folk costumes and their wearers reveals how locals and royals collaborated in the creation of regional types. Instead of a clear-cut nationalist or royalist agenda, the discourse reflects divergent political and economic allegiances within a monarchy struggling to appropriate national icons. RUSTIC LEDERHOSEN, THE BEER-HAPPY Oktoberfest in Munich, and the exploits of Mad King Ludwig are among the likely images associated with Bavaria abroad. Surprisingly, these three present-day representations are deeply interrelated. It was the Mad King's grandfather Ludwig I whose wedding initiated the Oktoberfest, and it was his father who began an overt politics of costume of which the lederhosen are the most lasting remnant. Both initiatives attempted to transform the nationalistic upsurge in the wake of French revolutionary wars into a tool to bolster a faltering monarchy. The success of their cultural initiatives, coupled with the failure of their politics, forged the Swan king Ludwig's demise. It was under his reign that Bavaria, at the high point of celebrating its national uniqueness, lost its independence to Prussia-a paradoxical situation that might have driven people of lesser descent into madness as well. The monarchs invested excessively in a politics of cultural representation, not least in the hope to divert the political revolution transforming the face of Europe throughout the 19th century. Their investment neglected the population's overt needs both financially and administratively. The case examined here illustrates the ambiguity that emerges whenever expressive culture-from song to dress-is made to carry ideological weight, as ideological intent diversifies when migrates from one broker to the next, acquiring new meanings and monetary value along the way. The politics of culture may ultimately detract from their goal-empowerment and selfdetermination-and instead undermine rather than strengthen the polity.

Ethnography and ideology: The politics of cultural representation

(1993). Ethnography and ideology: The politics of cultural representation. Western Journal of Communication: Vol. 57, Ideology and Communication, pp. 209-220.

The Politics of Cultural Representation: Visions of Fields/Fields of Visions 1

In this paper, I address the current debates around ethnography and propose a critical feminist ethnography which depends on the alternative narrative strategies suggested by experimental ethnography and the conceptual achievements offered by feminist standpoint epistemology and minor discourse theory. I argue, as have others, that the traditional scientistic-narrativc techniques associated with ethnography actively constrain theoretical knowledges, mystify power relations embedded in the text, while constructing Authorities with totalizing and omniscient vision. Experimental ethnography offers important textual interventions and revisions which challenge the orderliness and constructed Authorities imposed by realist narratives useful for those feminist projects which attempt to deal with the multiplicity of differences/domination. Postmodern feminist standpoint epistemology and minor discourse theory are concerned with recovering and representing historically repressed local knowledges and visions in ways that do not simply translate them into or through dominant critical/feminist theories. Such projects require ongoing critical dialogue among local voices, theory, and the ethnographer in which what counts as knowledge remains contestable and is contested. I argue that textual constructions of such projects must remain heteroglossic (representing multiple visions to readers) in order to potentially revise critical/feminist theory and practice.