Gramsci  used  the  term   hegemony  to  denote  the  predominance  of  one  social  class  over  others
(e.g.   hegemonic  masculinity ).  This  represents  not  only  political  and  economic  control,  but  also  the  ability   of  the  dominant  class  to  project  its  own  way  of  seeing  the  world  so  that  those  who  are  subordinated  by  it   accept  it  as  'common  sense'  and  'natural'.  Commentators  stress  that  this  involves  willing  and  active   consent.  Common  sense,  suggests  Geoffrey  Nowell-­‐Smith,  is  'the  way  a  subordinate  class  lives  its
subordination'  (cited  in  Alvarado  &  Boyd-­‐Barrett  1992:  51).
“Racism,  of  course,  operates  by  constructing  impassable  symbolic  boundaries  between  racially   constituted  categories,  and  its  typically  binary  system  of  representation  constantly  marks  and  attempts   to  fix  and  naturalize  the  difference  between  belongingness  and  otherness”  (Hall  587)
“We  think  about  identification  [or  identity  formation]  usually  as  a  simple  process,  structured  around
fixed  ‘selves’   which  we  either  are  or  are  not  [emphasis  added]”  (Hall  586).
“Identity  is  not  as  transparent  or  unproblematic  as  we  think.  Perhaps  instead  of  thinking  of  identity  as
an  already  accomplished  fact,  which  the  new  cultural  practices  then  represent,  we  should  think.  Instead,   of  identity  as  a  ‘production’,  which  is  never  complete,  always  in  process,  and  always  constituted  within,   not  outside,  representation.  This  view  problematises  the  very  authority  and  authenticity  to  which  the   term,  ‘cultural  identity’  lays  claim”.  (Hall  1990:  222)
Subjectivity :  a  term  used  by  sociologists  or  cultural  critics  to  indicate  how  we,  as  individuals,  must   situate  ourselves  in  relations  to  power—how  we  are  “subjected”  to/by  the  forces  of  economics,  law,   societal  convention,  the  circumstances  of  history,  and  the  physical  world  generally.  Subjectivity  is  part  of
the  process  that  “naturalizes”  these  relations  and  our  place  within  them.  Still,  the  Subject,  the  individual,   is  at  the  centre  of  the  process.
De-­‐centred-­‐subject :  focusing  on  the  ambiguity  of  language,  it’s  a  position  –  held  by  Foucault  and
Derrida  (as  well  as  other  post-­‐structuralists)  –  that  argues  for  the  absence  of  human  agency.  Essentially,   any  “I”  (or  sense  of  self)  is  always  inscribed  in  language,  and  as  language  is  ambiguous,  the  subject  loses
its  Enlightenment  power,  superiority,  etc.  (Everything  –  even  self  –  is  embedded  in  language,  in  history,   in  discourse).
Subaltern  –  The  lower  or  colonized  classes  who  have  little  access  to  their  own  means  of  expression  and   are  thus  dependent  upon  the  language  and  methods  of  the  ruling  class  to  express  themselves
Hegemonic  masculinity  places  men  –  white  men  –  in  a  social  position  of  power.  This  discourse  is  also  bound
up  in  binary  oppositions:  one  is  female  because  she   is  not  male,  because  she  lacks  what  it  takes  to  be  male.
Can  we  see  this  at  work  in  popular  culture?  Can  we  see  it  being  questioned?  What  about  in   Foe ?

Group  A:
How  does  the  text  –  as  a  whole  –  position  Other  (non-­‐white,  woman)  identities?  How  are  individual   characters  (Friday,  Susan  Foe)  constructed  as  reinforcing  this  view?  How  are  they  constructed  as  subverting   it?
Return  to  Hall’s  text  and  find  quotes  to  support  (or  contest)  your  argument(s)  regarding  Other  identity,   which  in  Hall  may  be  classed  as  black.  (Hint:  584  has  relevant  information  and  586  has  at  least  two  useful
points  –  there  are  others,  though  –  impress  me!)
Group  B:  Something  on  Spivak
Spivak  deals  thoroughly  with  issues  of  representation,  particularly  two  kinds:  1)  ‘representation’  as
‘speaking  for’  (like  in  politics)  and  2)  ‘re-­‐presentation’  (art  or  philosophy).  First,  think  through  the   differences  (and  maybe  similarities)  between  the  two  notions  of  representation.
Return  to   Foe  and  find  examples  (give  me  quotes)  of  both  kinds  of  representation.