Xin, Zhao, and Russell W. Belk. "Politicizing Consumer Culture: Advertising's Appropriation of Political Ideology in China's Social Transition." Journal of Consumer Research 35.2 (2008): 231-244. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Apr. 2011. Related through this article, the research of Zhao and Belk examine the effect of the transition from “a communist country toward a consumer society” in China. First, they establish a link between advertising and myth in culture, and then contextualize the study within China’s economic reform. An advertising model is referenced to relate how communist, anti-consumerist propaganda is re-appropriated to serve a consumerist agenda. Zhao and Belk find the consumerist, advertising shift in China to have application in other cultures. Despite the last claim, I have doubts about the relevancy of this study in my research. The title would indicate otherwise, and the article does demonstrate the power of re-appropriating aesthetics through advertising, but the relationship between the Chinese government and its citizens does not appear to be sufficiently relatable to my actors; i.e., they are not opposed. Also, I am not sure it is necessary to demonstrate the power of advertising to my audience.
Patrick, as always your annotations look great. You've hit the limit for the semester, so don't feel like it's necessary to blog anymore unless you find it helpful for you. Please keep your blog open, because there will be an eventual extra credit opportunity for people to post their final papers on their blogs.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff!