Methodology
The research method chosen for the present project is discourse analysis. Such methodological approach to the subject of this dissertation, FCKH8.com’s viral activity, would allow me to view the processes that allow the company to construct the identity of an activist-minded ethical consumer amongst their audience. The unity of commercially driven strategy and strife for “good cause” is observed to be a relatively new phenomenon in consumer culture, and the analysed material, being rather explicit and direct in its form of expression, is an exemplary contribution to the academic interest in the shift within the contemporary consumer culture and the new discursive processes within it.
Discourse is a notion used widely across humanitarian …show more content…
Foucauldian notion of discourse overcomes the dualism of language and practice, the author observes the discursive processes of construction of the meaning as not originating from outside of the society, but rather as the process of society rethinking and reconstructing itself (Layder, D., 2005). Discourse analysis would be applied to the analysis of the text of the videos in order to reflect upon the factors that constitute the changing profile of a contemporary consumer and the ways he or she is addressed. These observations would allow for the reflection on the social circumstances conditioning such discourse. There are two types of analysis that consider discourse and move beyond linguistic concerns of static structures of language in itself discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis, both understanding language in use but critical discourse analysis moves further to see the effect of ideology and power social identities and systems of knowledge (Mills, 2001: 133). Application of Foucauldian terms is useful for the present research for a number of ways, firstly because Foucault does not provide a …show more content…
Working with text, transcribing and interpreting it, is the process in which the voice of the researcher is inevitable. Transcription of the analysed text is the crucial step in the research process, as it nevertheless allows to present the material neutrally, minimalizing the bias on the researcher’s part. Moreover, it is the first stage of the analysis itself, which involves recognition and detailed outline of the key visual and rhetoric elements of the text. The next step of the data processing involves data coding, which allows to structure data into variables for more efficient examination and on which the analysis is based. The analysis itself consists of three parts: description, which lays out the type and purpose of the text, interpretation of the material with reference to the broader academic context and the explicatory part. Prior to drawing a conclusion of the observation, the research results have to be validated in order to confirm the methodological and interpretative thoroughness, avoiding the potential ontological disadvantages of the chosen method (Taylor, 2001: 22-48). Due to the scope of this research I will allow myself to combine the interpretative and analytic parts, moreover, the evaluation will follow in each paragraph as opposed being put in a separate section as I will refer my
The research method chosen for the present project is discourse analysis. Such methodological approach to the subject of this dissertation, FCKH8.com’s viral activity, would allow me to view the processes that allow the company to construct the identity of an activist-minded ethical consumer amongst their audience. The unity of commercially driven strategy and strife for “good cause” is observed to be a relatively new phenomenon in consumer culture, and the analysed material, being rather explicit and direct in its form of expression, is an exemplary contribution to the academic interest in the shift within the contemporary consumer culture and the new discursive processes within it.
Discourse is a notion used widely across humanitarian …show more content…
Foucauldian notion of discourse overcomes the dualism of language and practice, the author observes the discursive processes of construction of the meaning as not originating from outside of the society, but rather as the process of society rethinking and reconstructing itself (Layder, D., 2005). Discourse analysis would be applied to the analysis of the text of the videos in order to reflect upon the factors that constitute the changing profile of a contemporary consumer and the ways he or she is addressed. These observations would allow for the reflection on the social circumstances conditioning such discourse. There are two types of analysis that consider discourse and move beyond linguistic concerns of static structures of language in itself discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis, both understanding language in use but critical discourse analysis moves further to see the effect of ideology and power social identities and systems of knowledge (Mills, 2001: 133). Application of Foucauldian terms is useful for the present research for a number of ways, firstly because Foucault does not provide a …show more content…
Working with text, transcribing and interpreting it, is the process in which the voice of the researcher is inevitable. Transcription of the analysed text is the crucial step in the research process, as it nevertheless allows to present the material neutrally, minimalizing the bias on the researcher’s part. Moreover, it is the first stage of the analysis itself, which involves recognition and detailed outline of the key visual and rhetoric elements of the text. The next step of the data processing involves data coding, which allows to structure data into variables for more efficient examination and on which the analysis is based. The analysis itself consists of three parts: description, which lays out the type and purpose of the text, interpretation of the material with reference to the broader academic context and the explicatory part. Prior to drawing a conclusion of the observation, the research results have to be validated in order to confirm the methodological and interpretative thoroughness, avoiding the potential ontological disadvantages of the chosen method (Taylor, 2001: 22-48). Due to the scope of this research I will allow myself to combine the interpretative and analytic parts, moreover, the evaluation will follow in each paragraph as opposed being put in a separate section as I will refer my