Representation Theory - David Gauntlett

1) What is collective identity? Write your own definition in as close to 50 words as possible.

Collective identity is primarily based around a group (collection) of individuals who share a similar set of traditions and values and generally have a similar understanding of their surroundings. Groups may also share similar common interests and experiences.

2) Complete the task on the factsheet (page 1) - write a list of as many things as you can that represent Britain. What do they have in common? Have you represented the whole of Britain or just one aspect/viewpoint?

-The Queen / Royal family
-Red telephone/post box
-Fish and chips
-Union Jack flag
-Big Ben
-London eye
-Buckingham palace

3) How does James May's Top Toys offer a nostalgic representation of Britain?

It offers a nostalgic representation of Britain as they are from a certain time period meaning they are not used or known by children / the youth of todays society, so people who used to have these toys feel a sense of nostalgia as they remind them of the past and represent how things have changed over the years.

4) How has new technology changed collective identity?

New technology has allowed people to interact with people from all over the world and actively engage with the content of the culture around them and then go on to use it as resources for their own cultural productions. It also offers passive audiences the opportunity to voice their own opinions on platforms such as YouTube.

5) What phrase does David Gauntlett (2008) use to describe this new focus on identity?

'identity is complicated and everyone; thinks they have got one'

6) What does Gauntlett suggest about creativity and identity?

Gauntlett argues that there is a shift from a ‘sit-back-and-be-told culture’ to a ‘making and-doing culture’, and that harnessing creativity in both the internet and in other everyday creative activities will play a role in changing how a collective identity is created.

7) How does the Shaun of the Dead Facebook group provide an example of Henry Jenkins' theory of interpretive communities online?

The key aspect of this group is the fact that the collective identity created is one which has no national barriers to the understanding of the cultural identity created. The creation of this group conforms to the following ‘repeated’ view from Henry Jenkins: ‘fan genres grew out of openings or excesses within the text that were built on and stretched, and that it was not as if fans and texts were autonomous from each another; fans created their own, new texts, but elements within the originating text defined, to some degree, what they could do’.