Posting Assignment #7 (due Sunday 11/20, 11:59 P.M.): So how Romantic are we really--and so what?

We've been working around the concept of a 'structure of feeling' as a way of getting at why some things (like movies, pictures, poems, songs, even ideas) just move us to tears or happiness or pleasure while others are just, 'like, uh, whatever.'  The key (and scary) idea here is that what we feel is as much a 'cultural construction' as anything, and that this is how 'culture gets inside us.'  It forms our feelings.  And feelings are not 'natural facts.'  And feelings are—always—tied up with ideology; they're political because they guide our actions ('what we think changes how we act' (Gang of Four)).

[Double Rainbow--Oh Wow!]

The Romantic—a short list:

• feelings or emotions over reason or fact

• the individual self over anything collective or social

• nature over civilization

• intuition over learning or knowledge

• art (big sense) over science

• rural over urban

• child over adult

• innocence over experience

• poor over rich

• 'hands' (manual labor) over 'heads' (intellectual labor)

• maybe even 'feminine' over 'masculine' (because of how they've been constructed)

Reservations and Hedges: Got to remember that no 'structure of feeling' is ever universal (lots of us don't 'like the woods').  Or better: at any one historical moment, there may be several 'structures of feeling' operating (if you're part of 'Hip-Hop Nation,' you probably don't shop at REI or NorthFace).

Scavenger Hunt:

1)  Find an example of the ROMANTIC IN ACTION—ads, songs, movie scenes (Bella and Edward got married), public spaces (parks, golf courses), and so on.  Remember that you can do the 'anti-romantic,' too—if your idea of the perfect place is a mall or a club.   Try for the small, clear and  unexpected.  Post the image, quote the words, offer a link.

2)  Analyze the RHETORIC and POLITICS.  How is 'the romantic' constructed in the example you found?  And what political / ideological position is it advancing?

3)  Based on evidence from your analysis, make an ARGUMENT about the 'message' your example conveys.  Make sure you can DEFEND every point you make with specific, detailed evidence from your analysis. 

* 300 words or more – again, you'll need some space for this.
* No keywords required -- but you're welcome to use them if they'll help you make your points.  (And whether or not you end up using words like 'intertextuality,' and 'structures of feeling' in your post, you'll want to be thinking in those terms anyway. ) '
* No text-references required — but again, you're welcome to use them if they'll help you make your points.

Happy hunting.