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Genre and Utopia, or 48 Hrs. for the Future: Perspectives in Media Aesthetics

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Symbolism 2020
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Symbolism 2020

Abstract

This essay considers genre as a symbolic form arising from existing sociocultural practices that the form both reflects and shapes. From this perspective, genres do not only assure societies of their unity but also have an impact on the thinking about temporalities, i.e., the past and future of social formations. Looking at the diptych of 48 Hrs. and Another 48 Hrs. by Californian film auteur Walter Hill, the essay discusses two genre productions with a unique utopian potential in detail. Hill uses the genres of crime fiction and comedy to show how a shabby, racist white cop must collaborate with an elegant, mischievous black crook, both protagonists slowly becoming friends. However, in the end it is less the narrative of a bildungsroman and of diasporic African empowerment that is crucial in this constellation. Rather, the two genre productions paradigmatically demonstrate that instead of focusing on characters and situations in the generic context, the key concern has to be the arrangement of the non-representational signs that elude linguistic representation, but nonetheless function as its very predisposition. Drawing on theoretical arguments by Richard Dyer, Slavoj Žižek, and Alain Badiou, among others, the essay identifies the actual utopian potential of genres in color, texture, movement, rhythm, melody, or camerawork. Therefore, it argues that the major challenge of the analytical view lies in the fundamental significance of a performance in media aesthetics precisely through elements that direct the reception of the fiction of generic entertainment. The latter draws the percipients’ attention primarily to itself and thus leads to a genuine aesthetic experience of utopian gratification. If a central element of generic entertainment is showing a non-representational performance, a sound reflection of entertainment must cover the complex game of signs beyond its mere representativeness.

Abstract

This essay considers genre as a symbolic form arising from existing sociocultural practices that the form both reflects and shapes. From this perspective, genres do not only assure societies of their unity but also have an impact on the thinking about temporalities, i.e., the past and future of social formations. Looking at the diptych of 48 Hrs. and Another 48 Hrs. by Californian film auteur Walter Hill, the essay discusses two genre productions with a unique utopian potential in detail. Hill uses the genres of crime fiction and comedy to show how a shabby, racist white cop must collaborate with an elegant, mischievous black crook, both protagonists slowly becoming friends. However, in the end it is less the narrative of a bildungsroman and of diasporic African empowerment that is crucial in this constellation. Rather, the two genre productions paradigmatically demonstrate that instead of focusing on characters and situations in the generic context, the key concern has to be the arrangement of the non-representational signs that elude linguistic representation, but nonetheless function as its very predisposition. Drawing on theoretical arguments by Richard Dyer, Slavoj Žižek, and Alain Badiou, among others, the essay identifies the actual utopian potential of genres in color, texture, movement, rhythm, melody, or camerawork. Therefore, it argues that the major challenge of the analytical view lies in the fundamental significance of a performance in media aesthetics precisely through elements that direct the reception of the fiction of generic entertainment. The latter draws the percipients’ attention primarily to itself and thus leads to a genuine aesthetic experience of utopian gratification. If a central element of generic entertainment is showing a non-representational performance, a sound reflection of entertainment must cover the complex game of signs beyond its mere representativeness.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Foreword from the Editors V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Special Focus: Symbols of the Future. The Future of Symbolism
  5. Introduction: Symbols of the Future. The Future of Symbolism 1
  6. Symbol’s Risks: A Note on the Interrelationship of Art and the Use of Symbols 19
  7. ‘Symbolic Futures’ as Investment 33
  8. On the Future Role of Symbols in Environmental Modelling 51
  9. The Symbolization of the Female Body in Western Culture from Ancient Greece to the Transmodern Period 69
  10. Genre and Utopia, or 48 Hrs. for the Future: Perspectives in Media Aesthetics 89
  11. The Past Is Immutable: Technology’s Symbolism and the Future in Black Mirror 111
  12. “Players and painted stage”: Symbolizing the Future in Shaw’s Back to Methuselah 123
  13. Herzlian Matrix: Theme Parks, Promised Lands, and Simulacra 139
  14. Reading the Future through the Past: Symbolism in Amitav Ghosh’s Anthropogenic Fiction 167
  15. The Cyborg, Symbol of the Evolution of the Human, or The Human of the Future 191
  16. “An ocean of thought”: AI, Robots, and Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me and People Like You (2019) 205
  17. Book Reviews
  18. Sarah C. Bishop. Undocumented Storytellers: Narrating the Immigrant Rights Movement 223
  19. Sandra Dinter. Childhood in the Contemporary English Novel 229
  20. Johannes Riquet. The Aesthetics of Island Space: Perception, Ideology, Geopoetics 235
  21. Lyndsey Stonebridge. Placeless People: Writing, Rights, and Refugees 241
  22. List of Contributors 247
  23. Index 251
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110716962-006

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Foreword from the Editors V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Special Focus: Symbols of the Future. The Future of Symbolism
  5. Introduction: Symbols of the Future. The Future of Symbolism 1
  6. Symbol’s Risks: A Note on the Interrelationship of Art and the Use of Symbols 19
  7. ‘Symbolic Futures’ as Investment 33
  8. On the Future Role of Symbols in Environmental Modelling 51
  9. The Symbolization of the Female Body in Western Culture from Ancient Greece to the Transmodern Period 69
  10. Genre and Utopia, or 48 Hrs. for the Future: Perspectives in Media Aesthetics 89
  11. The Past Is Immutable: Technology’s Symbolism and the Future in Black Mirror 111
  12. “Players and painted stage”: Symbolizing the Future in Shaw’s Back to Methuselah 123
  13. Herzlian Matrix: Theme Parks, Promised Lands, and Simulacra 139
  14. Reading the Future through the Past: Symbolism in Amitav Ghosh’s Anthropogenic Fiction 167
  15. The Cyborg, Symbol of the Evolution of the Human, or The Human of the Future 191
  16. “An ocean of thought”: AI, Robots, and Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me and People Like You (2019) 205
  17. Book Reviews
  18. Sarah C. Bishop. Undocumented Storytellers: Narrating the Immigrant Rights Movement 223
  19. Sandra Dinter. Childhood in the Contemporary English Novel 229
  20. Johannes Riquet. The Aesthetics of Island Space: Perception, Ideology, Geopoetics 235
  21. Lyndsey Stonebridge. Placeless People: Writing, Rights, and Refugees 241
  22. List of Contributors 247
  23. Index 251
Heruntergeladen am 29.4.2026 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110716962-006/html?lang=de
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