Class 6.1

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Critiques of Consumerism

Over the last 100 years, consumerism has risen to become perhaps the most widespread answer to the problem of alienation and anomie. Though family, nationality and religion remain powerful sources of identity, we define ourselves to a considerable extent by what we purchase: if not particular brands or products, then hobbies, songs, and shows we cherish. Our final class session focuses on two responses to consumerism: street art and a powerful short story by George Saunders.

Class Prep: the Politics and Aesthetics of Street Art

The Politics and Aesthetics of Street Art

Viewing:

  • Keith Haring, Crack is Wack (1986)
  • Jean-Michel Basquiat, Melting Point of Ice (1984)
  • Banksy, Parking (2010)
  • Banksy, If Graffiti Changed Anything (2011)

Reading:

Writing: Respond to ONE of the following prompts. Keep your response short, posting as a reply under the appropriate heading in the comments section:

  1. Point out a key contrast OR continuity in the street art featured above.
  2. Post a photo you took of street art here in London, then comment on how it draws upon or violates the tradition shown above.
Class Prep: Barbie and Consumerism

Purchasing Identity with Barbie and Ken

In 2024 I attended an exhibit on the history of the Barbie line of dolls and toys. It struck me as an instructive example of consumerism, for good and for bad.
Viewing:

No HW, but come to class having thought a bit about how kids play with Barbie and similar toys. What fantasies do these toys embody? What ideology do they deploy?

Class Prep: “The Semplica Girl Diaries”

Keeping Up with the Joneses

One of the most talented writers of short fiction working today, George Saunders published “The Semplica Girl Diaries” in The New Yorker in 2012. The story appeared in slightly longer form a few months later in his 2013 collection Tenth of December. Saunders’ fiction blends realism with surrealist touches to comment on contemporary life.

Reading:
George Saunders, “The Semplica Girl Diaries” (Blackboard)

Writing: Respond to ONE of the following prompts. Keep your response short, posting as a reply under the appropriate heading in the comments section:

  1. Saunders’ narrator has a peculiar voice and perspective in this story. Quote a line and use it to comment on what makes the narrator unusual.
  2. Should Saunders’ story be classed as Surrealist? Explain your answer briefly by reference to specific details from the story—and perhaps from the Surrealist Movement.

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