Summer SAVY 2017, Session 4/Day 3- Theory, Criticism, and The Force (Rising 6th/7th)

Posted by morganr1 on Wednesday, July 12, 2017 in SAVY.

Padawans and Younglings:

On our first day, we crafted a structural analysis of an episode of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”

On our second day, we began a thorough structural analysis of Star Wars: A New Hope. We also examined the film through formalist and semiotic lenses.

Today – wow, guys…

Today we continued our structural, formalist, and semiotic analyses of Star Wars. And then, with three modes of analysis firmly under our belts, we threw this class’s analytic content into Hyperspace.

Marxism. Feminist Theory. Fascism. Pacifism. You added these analytic concepts to your collection, and in so doing your ability to seek and ascertain meaning increased exponentially.

You know that Marxist critical theory seeks meaning in the evidences of economic inequality. Feminist Theory functions similarly, finding meaning in examples of gender parity and its absence. Fascist theory seeks meaning through examples of totalitarian force and threat of violence – (a pretty good bumper sticker for Darth Vader and the evil Empire) while Pacifism seeks meaning through non-violent conflict resolution, a practice espoused by the Jedi… even if knights like old Ben aren’t always great about avoiding fascistic tendencies.

And then, at the tail end of our day, you began to play with mixing and matching. You hybridized analytic forms: Hearing you critique Princess Leia’s treatment of Han via “a Marxist-Feminist lens” made my day.

We have two more days together, my friends. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, when we will finish Star Wars. And on Friday, we’ll move into uncharted, unexpected territory. You may even get to hear “Bushes of Love.” Maybe.

Best,

David