Free sample - The influence of mass media on the social life.. translation missing

The influence of mass media on the social life.. The influence of mass media on the social life.1. Nowadays it is very hard to overestimate the influence of mass media on the social life. It provides us with big quantity of information- movies, news, informative and educational TV-programs and for sure there is a lot of commercial information- advertising. In order to pick needed information from the flow of differently-oriented information, it is necessary to outline the general principles of its ‘consumption’ and to understand the principles of its work. According to the Stuart Hall â€Å"Encoding and Decoding†, it is possible to say that people get all needed information, especially commercial on the subliminal level. In other words, advertising and propagandistic films influence human mind indirectly, with the help of specially-developed psychological tools. Stuart Hall outlines the four staged theory of communication, which includes the following steps: production, circulation, use and reproduction. [1] According to the â€Å"Encoding and Decoding†, it is possible to outline three following hypothetical reader/viewer positions: first of all, the sender never determines the meaning of the message; secondly, it is very hard to understand the essence of the message for the audience, because the message is not transparent; and finally, the audience is not a passive recipient of meaning[2] According to the Halls concept, it is possible to say that sender never makes a strict determination of the message, because each viewer would make those conclusions, which are supported by his own moral standards and attitude towards some subject matter. In the Ang’s "Dallas and the Ideology of Mass Culture" we have found the following interpretation of mass culture: it makes its great impact on the social, life, while the mass serials like Dallas are widely watched and discussed by wide auditory; some of people like that serial, others do not, but it is still discussed, watched and it does not lose its popularity. It has become being the part of the social life. People live together with the main characters and they are waiting for watching the new episode in order to get the information, concerning the plot development. There is such an attitude towards mass consumption serials: some people feel comfortable and do not consider their life problems, while watching serial, such people live together with their heroes and do not care about their own and global problems. Mass culture serials development allows stage director (or letter-writer) to outline new ideas in the current culture and to create new mass culture – they include into the plot of the serial those issues and aspects, which would make significant influence on the social life: beginning from the fashions and accomplishing with the behaviour ideas. People would follow their beloved characters of serials and in such manner they would be trying to be alike to the serials’ main heroes.[3] According to the David Morley THE NATIONWIDE AUDIENCE, it is possible to make conclusions about the influence of the mass culture on different aspects of human lives. In such manner it is possible to create public opinion the desired way- to involve public opinion polls in order to ‘outline’ the general attitude towards some event. In such manner those people, who are not involved directly into the problematic, would be influenced by such ‘mass’ opinion. That allows preventing panic and at the same case such mass media tools mislead people, concerning current situation in the country.[4] Finally, Jacqueline Bobo has outlined in her THE COLOR PURPLE the possibility of using mass media tool for paying additional attention on the situation (in Jacquelines’ Bobo case - with the racial discrimination.   To conclude, we would like to stress that getting the message from the author means understanding all ideas, which laid the foundations of the movie or serial or advertising. The quality of such message could be measured by the number of those people, who have made conclusions, alike to the authors’ ones.[5] 2. Currently, is possible to outline one of the most powerful cultural moving today- fun clubs. They were developed and created in order to integrate different people with the same attitudes towards life values, towards some popular persons or towards some works of art. These people are usually very friendly and they are integrated by the common idea about development the mass culture tool- promoting, supporting and admiration with some person or group of people. Different actions, participants meetings and future actions consideration are the main directions of the fan clubs activities. To our opinion, it is possible to consider fan clubs as extension of audiences for some cultural activities. In order to prove the above said, we would like to consider the Star Trek fans, who have tried to achieve the social understanding if the homosexual relations and to prevent wide judgement this movement. They have considered the homosexual relations as a normal social event, which should be understood and supported by their society. They have achieved that level with the help of the following tools: they have proclaimed the slogan 'Out of the closet and into the universe’ – tending to be visual and ordinary and by mass national letter-writing campaign organisation. As a result, both these tolls have attracted mass attention towards that issue and that has made its influence of the situation improvement in the whole country. [6] Talking about the Titanic and DiCaprio funs, we would like to pay additional attention that the majority of its fans are young females (more that 60 percents of the general quantity) and their age does not exceed 25 y.o. in majority of cases. Titanic with DiCaprio is the blockbuster, which is based on the real historical events. It concerns such topics as welfare, love and human relations. Also such philosophical issue as the sense of life is outlined indirectly, because it is up to the audience to decide whether hero has made right decision of it would have been better to act another way to prevent such misfortune. The fun clubs have supported the popularity of this movie   for durable period of time and have significantly increased the revenue from its screening - majority of young ladies have watched it for several times- from 2 to 14 and that has attracted additional interest towards that issue from another female representatives of young age. In order to defend the favourite movie from the different negative journalistic and star discourse its fans have marginalized their desires, the fan club representatives have widely involved press into that process and there they have printed different articled, supported with DiCaprio photos and some desired of personal meetings, love and devotion towards main hero of this movie. In such manner young fans have constantly attracted some interest towards the Titanic and they have saved its popularity and the interest towards this movie for a durable period of time. [7] To conclude, we would like to stress that mass media and fun clubs create the populations’ attitude towards some social events, works of art and persons. It is very important to support such movements and to direct their activities into the positive course. Only in such manner it is possible to achieve the highest results and to combine the fan club legal activity and mass culture creation, support and development. Reference list: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ang, Ien. "Dallas and the Ideology of Mass Culture." The Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. Simon During. New York: Routledge, 1993. 403-420. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bobo, Jacqueline (1988 ) Black women's responses to The Colour Purple. Jump Cut, no. 33, Feb. 1988, pp. 43-51 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hall, S. (1973) Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse Birmingham: CCS 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Henry Jenkins (2001) OUT OF THE CLOSET AND INTO THE UNIVERSE' Queers and Star Trek 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   MELANIE NASH AND MARTTI LAHTI (2001) "Utmost Ashamed to Say I am the One of Those Girls " Titanic, Leonardo Dicaprio, and the paradoxes of girls' fandom   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Morley, David (1980) The 'Nationwide' Audience: Structure and Decoding. London: BFI. ISBN 0-85170-097-7   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Procter, James. (2004) Stuart Hall, Routledge critical thinkers.

Biography of Toussaint Louverture, Haitian Rebel Leader

Biography of Toussaint Louverture, Haitian Rebel Leader Franà §ois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (May 20, 1743–April 7, 1803) led the only victorious  slave revolt in modern history, resulting in Haitis independence in 1804. Toussaint emancipated the slaves and negotiated for Haiti, then called Saint-Domingue, to be governed briefly by black former slaves as a French protectorate. Institutional racism, political corruption, poverty, and natural disasters have left Haiti in crisis for many of the succeeding years, but Toussaint remains a hero to Haitians and others throughout the African diaspora. Fast Facts: Franà §ois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture Known For: Led a successful slave rebellion in HaitiAlso Known As: Franà §ois-Dominique Toussaint, Toussaint LOuverture,  Toussaint Brà ©da, Napolà ©on Noir, Black SpartacusBorn: May 20, 1743 on the Breda plantation near Cap-Franà §ais, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti)Father: Hippolyte, or Gaou GuinouDied: April 7, 1803 at Fort-de-Joux, FranceSpouse: Suzanne Simone BaptisteChildren: Isaac, Saint-Jean, multiple illegitimate childrenNotable Quote: We are free today because we are the stronger; we will be slaves again when the government becomes the stronger. Early Years Little is known about Franà §ois-Dominique Toussaint  Louverture before his role in the Haitian Revolution.  According to Philippe Girards Toussaint Louverture:  A Revolutionary Life, his  family came from the  Allada kingdom of West Africa. His father Hippolyte, or Gaou Guinou, was an aristocrat, but around  1740, the  Dahomey Empire, another West African  kingdom in what is now Benin,  captured his family and sold them as slaves. Hippolyte was sold  for 300 pounds of cowrie shells. His family now  owned by European colonists in the New World, Toussaint was born on May 20, 1743, on the Breda plantation near Cap-Franà §ais, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), a French territory. Toussaints gifts with horses and mules impressed his overseer,  Bayon de Libertat, and he was trained in veterinary medicine, soon becoming the plantation’s chief steward. Toussaint was fortunate to be owned by somewhat enlightened masters who allowed him to learn reading and writing. He read the classics and political philosophers and became devoted to Catholicism. Toussaint was freed in 1776 when he was around 33 but continued to work for his former owner. The next year he married Suzanne Simone Baptiste, who was born in Agen, France. She is believed to have been his godfathers daughter but may have been his cousin. They had two sons, Issac and Saint-Jean, and each had children from other relationships. Contradictory Personal Traits Biographers describe Toussaint as full of contradictions. He ultimately led a slave insurrection but didnt take part in smaller revolts in Haiti prior to the revolution. He was a Freemason who  practiced Catholicism devoutly but also secretly engaged in voodoo. His Catholicism might have factored into his decision  not to participate in voodoo-inspired insurrections in Haiti before the revolution. After Toussaint was granted freedom, he owned slaves himself. Some historians have criticized him for this, but he may have owned slaves to free his family members from bondage. As the New Republic explains, freeing slaves required money, and money required slaves. Touissant remained a victim of the same exploitative system hed joined to free his family. But as he returned to the  Brà ©da plantation, abolitionists began gaining ground, convincing King Louis the XVI to give slaves the right to appeal if their overlords subjected them to brutality. Before the Revolution Before the slaves rose in revolt, Haiti was one of the most profitable slave colonies in the world. About 500,000 slaves worked on its sugar and coffee plantations, which produced a significant percentage of the worlds crops. The colonists had a reputation for being cruel and engaging in  debauchery.  The planter Jean-Baptiste de Caradeux, for example, is said to have  entertained guests by letting them shoot oranges off the tops of slaves heads. Prostitution was reportedly rampant on the island. Rebellion After widespread discontent, slaves mobilized for liberty in November  1791, seeing an opportunity to rebel against colonial rule during the throes of the French Revolution. Toussaint at first was uncommitted to the uprising, but, after hesitating a few weeks, he helped his former master escape and then joined the black forces fighting the Europeans. Toussaints comrade  Georges Biassou, who was leading the rebels, became the self-appointed viceroy and named Toussaint general of the royal army-in-exile.  Toussaint taught himself military strategies and organized the Haitians into troops. He also enlisted deserters from the French military  to help train his men. His army included radical whites and mixed-race Haitians as well as blacks, whom he trained in guerrilla warfare. As  Adam Hochschild described in The New York Times, Toussaint used his legendary horsemanship to rush from one corner of the colony to another, cajoling, threatening, making and breaking alliances with a bewildering array of factions and warlords, and commanding his troops in one brilliant assault, feint or ambush after another.  During the uprising he took on the name Louverture, which means the opening, to emphasize his role. The slaves  fought  the British, who wanted control over the crop-rich colony, and French colonizers whod subjected them to bondage. French and British soldiers left journals expressing their surprise that the rebel slaves were so skilled. The rebels also had dealings with agents of the Spanish Empire. Haitians had to confront internal conflicts that sprang from mixed-race islanders, who were known as  gens de couleur, and black insurgents. Victory By 1795 Toussaint was widely renowned, loved by blacks and appreciated by most Europeans and mulattoes because of his efforts to restore the economy. He allowed many planters to return and used military  discipline  to force former slaves to work, a system that was virtually the same as the slavery he had criticized but ensured that the nation had sufficient crops to exchange for military supplies. Historians say he maintained his abolitionist principles while doing what was necessary to keep Haiti secure, intending to free the laborers and let them profit from Haitis achievements. By 1796 Toussaint was the leading political and military figure in the colonies, having made peace with the Europeans. He turned his attention to putting down a domestic rebellion and then set to work bringing the entire island of Hispaniola under his control. He wrote a constitution that gave him the power to be a lifelong leader, much like the European monarchs he despised, and to choose his successor. Death Frances Napoleon objected to Toussaints expansion of his control and sent troops to oppose him. In 1802,  Toussaint was lured into peace talks with one of Napoleon’s generals, resulting in his capture and removal from Haiti to France. His immediate family members, including his wife, were captured as well. Abroad,  Toussaint was isolated and starved in a fortress in the Jura mountains, where he died on April 7, 1803, at Fort-de-Joux, France. His wife lived until 1816. Legacy Despite his capture and death, Toussaints biographers describe him as far savvier than either  Napoleon, who ignored his attempts at diplomacy,  or Thomas  Jefferson, a slave owner who sought to see Toussaint fail by alienating him economically.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If I were white I would receive only praise,† Toussaint said of how hed been slighted in world politics, â€Å"But I actually deserve even more as a black man.†Ã‚   After his death, Haitian revolutionaries, including Toussaints lieutenant Jean-Jacques Dessalines, continued to fight for independence. They finally won freedom in January 1804, two years after Toussaints death, when Haiti became a sovereign nation. The revolution Toussaint led is said to have been an inspiration to abolitionists such as John Brown, who attempted a violent overthrow of the American system of slavery, and to many Africans who fought for independence for their countries in the mid-20th century. Sources Berman, Paul. â€Å"A Biography Reveals Surprising Sides to Haitis Slave Liberator.†Ã‚  The New York Times.Hochschild, Adam. The Black Napoleon. The New York Times.Harris, Malcolm. Giving Toussaint Louverture the Great Man Treatment. The New Republic.Toussaint LOuverture  Biography. Biography.com.Toussaint Louverture: Haitian Leader. Encyclopaedia Britannica.